How do you pace yourself on solo rides?

[Louis]

The beeper on my Polar HRM died a few months ago, so I have lost my electronic cattle prod. I have the alarm set to warn me when I drop below 130 bpm, but now I have to look at the display, which I don’t do that often. The net result is that as I begin to tire I slack off much more than I used to. That shows when I compare my average speed and heart rate these days to my log entries for previous rides along the same route.

During my ride yesterday I made a point to check often in the second half of the ride and nearly every time I looked I was down around 120-125. I’d pick up the pace, and bring my heart rate above 140, but eventually would apparently slack off again.

(My rides are typically rolling hills, so tracking speed or average speed during a ride is way too variable to be useful.)

Of course one solution is to get a new HRM, but I’m sure there are plenty of cyclists who use other methods to push themselves. I’d be interested in hearing what other folks do.

Also, I'm not talking about any serious, methodical, training here, just riding. IMO cycling's too much fun to ruin it with rigid by the book training stuff. I just ride and try to push myself to improve. No intervals or stuff like that. I know, that limits how much I will improve, but that's how I've decided that I am going to ride.

Louis

[swoop]

the old trick is keep your mouth closed and just breathe through your nose. its gods little rev limiter. on easy days when i don't want to be plugged into anything... it works.

if your mouth opens ever so.. back off. there's z1-2.

[mschol17]

I would think that with all that beeping you're fairly in tune with what 130 bpm feels like, right?

All I know is that something beeping at me all the time would ruin a perfectly good bike ride.

[chuckred]

Use the perceived exertion scale is "10" = Maximal, and "1" is flat on your back...

The idea, as mschol mentions - know how to tell your zones by feel. Once you know what 130 feels like, it should be repeatable.

I use a monitor all the time, but in all honesty, it only confirms my perceived exertion, or if there's a discrepancy between how I feel and my heart rate, tells me I'm fried...

This is important because if you suddenly don't have a monitor, you need to be able to know how to pace yourself.

[Fixed]

the rhythm method bro
cheers :beer:
imho

[Onno]

T
Also, I'm not talking about any serious, methodical, training here, just riding. IMO cycling's too much fun to ruin it with rigid by the book training stuff. I just ride and try to push myself to improve. No intervals or stuff like that. I know, that limits how much I will improve, but that's how I've decided that I am going to ride.
Louis

It sounds to me as though you should just throw away the HRM. Even if you are training seriously, you don't need to be above 130 all the time. Long slow rides, or even short slow rides where you rarely or never break out of zone 1 or 2 are ideal. Pushing yourself always to be above 130 could well be pushing yourself into rides that are neither recovery nor intense enough to build upon. If you are riding in hilly areas, as I am, then a good way of getting an intense workout it to push it just on hill climbs, and let yourself relax and recover on flats and descents. Then do a few slow recovery rides. Again, you don't need an HRM, and you become your own task master.

[Tom]

I go: "Is this easy?"

If I say yes, then good.

If I say no, then I slow down.

Easier said than done, though.

[Grant McLean]

Also, I'm not talking about any serious, methodical, training here, just riding. IMO cycling's too much fun to ruin it with rigid by the book training stuff. I just ride and try to push myself to improve. No intervals or stuff like that. I know, that limits how much I will improve, but that's how I've decided that I am going to ride.

Louis

I hear you saying conflicting things, like a lot of riders.
You say you don't want to train with a method, but you want to improve?

If you're not riding for training, get rid of the electronic junk! Be free to have a good ride!
That's not to say you can't do some "real" training too. I'm personally in a place
with my riding like you are. My #1 training goal is to enjoy cycling. But i love
to feel like I can drop the hammer and smack down some power too.

I do intervals, and I train indoors in winter. It takes some mental preparation,
and the choice to work sometimes, and not others. Mostly, the quality of the
work you do can give you the benefits, without the suffering all the time.

My best advice is to really set out periods throughout the year and do different
plans across the season.

If you have even the slightest notion of being better and faster, don't just go
and ride the same thing all the time. Know when to have fun, and when to
get the work done. It sounds kinda like putting 'fun' on the calender, but
some organization and planning can really keep you fresh, and improving.

g

[rwsaunders]

I just try to stretch out my bathroom stops in between coffee shops. I'm afraid that if I used a HRM that I would be bummed at my numbers and give up the sport. Flonase....the new EPO.

[Fixed]

go 20 on a 39x19 bro imho
cheers

[regularguy412]

I've found that as I become fitter on the bike throughout the year, my average HR tends to drop slightly. I've been tracking it pretty closely this year and on the same routes my average might be as much as 10 bpm lower for the whole ride than it was four months earlier. That's also riding the route at roughly the same average speed.

If your HRM has a feature that calculates both the average HR and the average SPEED for the ride, try tracking it over the course of a month or so. You might be surprised to find that you can cover the same route quicker even though your HR is lower ( compared to what you _WANT_ your average HR to be). This is the training effect.

I usually do my long rides on Sundays alone. On these rides, I try to start out conservatively. I'm usually riding my CSI. I've not put a computer back on it, now, since I got it back from Saratoga Springs. I just use only my HRM. That said,, I 'do' know the approximate distance of my routes and I know about how long the rides have taken me in the past. So, I'm mentally calculating about what my average speed is,, even without a computer.

I try to ride by heartrate on these longer rides. This helps to take into account the length of the ride and weather / natural factors ( heat, cold , hills, headwind), so I'm not just a slave to average speed all the time.

Mike in AR

[Mshue]

the old trick is keep your mouth closed and just breathe through your nose. its gods little rev limiter. on easy days when i don't want to be plugged into anything... it works.

if your mouth opens ever so.. back off. there's z1-2.

I perennially overdo it, so I tried this on my commute this morning. Worked great. Slowest average speed yet on that route on a day where I REALLY needed it.

[davids]

I go: "Is this easy?"

If I say yes, then good.

If I say no, then I slow down.

Easier said than done, though.
+1

I tried that technique this morning, with mixed results...

[rpm]

I hear you saying conflicting things, like a lot of riders.
You say you don't want to train with a method, but you want to improve?

If you're not riding for training, get rid of the electronic junk! Be free to have a good ride!
That's not to say you can't do some "real" training too. I'm personally in a place
with my riding like you are. My #1 training goal is to enjoy cycling. But i love
to feel like I can drop the hammer and smack down some power too.

I do intervals, and I train indoors in winter. It takes some mental preparation,
and the choice to work sometimes, and not others. Mostly, the quality of the
work you do can give you the benefits, without the suffering all the time.

My best advice is to really set out periods throughout the year and do different
plans across the season.

If you have even the slightest notion of being better and faster, don't just go
and ride the same thing all the time. Know when to have fun, and when to
get the work done. It sounds kinda like putting 'fun' on the calender, but
some organization and planning can really keep you fresh, and improving.

g

+1 My sentiments exactly. I bike for fun, and I've thrown away all my gizmos, but I like to do intervals a couple of times a week, and to occasionally throw in a hard effort on my long rides. Fun isn't always slow and easy!

[Orin]

The beeper on my Polar HRM died a few months ago, so I have lost my electronic cattle prod. I have the alarm set to warn me when I drop below 130 bpm, but now I have to look at the display, which I don’t do that often. The net result is that as I begin to tire I slack off much more than I used to. That shows when I compare my average speed and heart rate these days to my log entries for previous rides along the same route.


I have difficulty keeping my HR down to 130, even when I want to!

I do find that perceived exertion doesn't match HR for me, especially in the winter when my HR goes flying up to 160 with relatively little effort.

For long distance riding, I use it to pace myself - up to 140 good, over 150 means I'm not digesting food and heading towards trouble.

Orin.

[Cary Ford]

If I want to go easy, I find a rhythm and ask myself, "Does this feel 'easy'?"

If the answer is YES, then I shift up one and slow down a little.

[stevep]

talking speed.
easy to talk?


all the way up to.
cant talk.
breathing too hard

and everything in between.

or do what swoop says...
buy a better bike and forget about training.

[J.Greene]

Try eating refried beans for lunch. you'll know when the effort gets out of zone 2.

JG

[Grant McLean]

buy a better bike and forget about training.

Preferably a carbon Time frame with shimano parts and michelin tires...

:)

g

[Stealth]

The battery on my computer died halfway through the summer and since I was riding almost entirely solo this year I never replaced it. Pretty soon I forgot all about the data and heartrate feedback and just found my own rhythm on the bike. I have never enjoyed riding more and doubt if I will ever replace the battery. Be the bike baby!

[jimp1234]

Show tunes... no really.. Try singing (or actually humming if you don't want to appear to be a complete wacko to the cars passing you) your favorite tunes, and pay attention to how you're breathing while you're doing it. The "zone" of just a little trouble catching your breath will work wonders.

:beer:

[Erik.Lazdins]

I'm late to this thread...

I don't pace myself - I ride by feel.

If I feel slow I go slow
If I see a hill and want to jump I do

If I promise my darling wife that I'll be home by 9AM so that I can play with my kids and I plan to do 50 - I suffer and go balls out

Any ride is better than not riding.

[Kevin]

After enough years with zone training and a heart rate monitor I have just developed a sixth sense. With that said, I feel naked without a heart rate monitor and always try to ride with it.

Kevin

[fstrthnu]

The beeper on my Polar HRM died a few months ago, so I have lost my electronic cattle prod. I have the alarm set to warn me when I drop below 130 bpm, but now I have to look at the display, which I don’t do that often. The net result is that as I begin to tire I slack off much more than I used to. That shows when I compare my average speed and heart rate these days to my log entries for previous rides along the same route.

During my ride yesterday I made a point to check often in the second half of the ride and nearly every time I looked I was down around 120-125. I’d pick up the pace, and bring my heart rate above 140, but eventually would apparently slack off again.

(My rides are typically rolling hills, so tracking speed or average speed during a ride is way too variable to be useful.)

Of course one solution is to get a new HRM, but I’m sure there are plenty of cyclists who use other methods to push themselves. I’d be interested in hearing what other folks do.

Also, I'm not talking about any serious, methodical, training here, just riding. IMO cycling's too much fun to ruin it with rigid by the book training stuff. I just ride and try to push myself to improve. No intervals or stuff like that. I know, that limits how much I will improve, but that's how I've decided that I am going to ride.

Louis

Time your loops. Time your climbs. Be aware of how many times you stop and keep it to a minimal. That's what I do on the days I want a solid ride but don't want to get super analytical with wattage outputs, heart rates and the like. Consider it old-school Italian style training.