Training Vs. Just Riding

[saab2000]

So lately I am starting to actually have more time to ride. :banana: Enough riding to have even developed one of the nasty side effects, a nice and painful saddle sore.

Anyway, I have really been able to increase my mileage and that is a good thing.

My main riding partner in Grand Rapids has a nasty habit. He rides less than I do and thinks that by riding really hard he is getting maximum benefit. So he really pounds up every hill. Full speed. Drops me a lot of the time and it pi$$e$ me off. But he can never just ride. Every ride is like a time trial. I keep telling him that to get faster he needs to ride slower. At least on the slow days. And faster on the fast days. With something of a plan.

Now I am not the best at disciplined 'training', but I think I do a better job than he does.

We are both trying to increase our fitness so as to be competitive on the Weekday Night World Championships around Grand Rapids. Nothing more, but you folks know what they are like. More or less races with racers who ride them. Hard.

I am better than my friend on the flats and he is stronger than I am in the hills.

Anyway, just sort of thinking out loud here.

But I need to now develop more of a training plan since I can actually train now rather than the 2 days per week riding I had been doing.

We are both trying to lose a few Kgs along the way knowing that that is really a big issue for both of us.

Today I went on the Hayne's Point ride and that is my flat interval ride. You folks from Washington know what they are like. Fast for a mile and a mile or so of recovery. Not a disciplined interval ride, but a good workout nevertheless.

Opinions? Thoughts?

There will be times now when I will actually be able to ride up to 4-6 days per week.

[e-RICHIE]

lose the partner.
ride alone atmo.

[93legendti]

Only ride with him when you want to go hard. Do your easy days solo.

Push the pace on the flats and hope to weaken him on the hills--or make him do more work on the flats to weaken him on the hills.

[znfdl]

Saab:

Continue to ride with your training partner. When you want to go easy, tell him that it is an easy day. If he goes hard, just wave good-bye.

When he sees that you are making more progress, he might adapt to your training regiment.

[stevep]

im w/ e richie.
why aggravate yrself?

[e-RICHIE]

pucci gets it atmo.


ps don't forget our wager for gloucester.

[J.Greene]

lose the partner.
ride alone atmo.

roger this.....

but if you need a punching bag a partner can make for a fine workout atmo :beer:

JG

[Climb01742]

more often than not, solo = progress. + less frustration.

[swoop]

lose the partner.
ride alone atmo.


ditto that.

pm me your email and i'll send you a look at what base one looks like.

[e-RICHIE]

swoop and pucci get it atmo.

[mschol17]

There are hills in GR?

[fstrthnu]

If you really want to get fast:

Buy a Powermeter.
Learn how it works.
But a book on training with a power meter.
Learn how that works.
Commit... within reason.
Make your old training partner look silly on those Wednesday night club races.

;)

[TimB]

Back in the days (before children, that is) when I had time to ride more and more seriously, on days when I wanted to ride hard I rode with one group or friend to push me, and on the days I wanted to ride easy I rode with my girlfriend/wife or another friend who was much slower than me. Riding with them help me to ride easier - more so than I would have if I'd ridden alone.

You don't need to ditch your friend, you just need another one.

[saab2000]

There are hills in GR?

There are some hills. More or less just rolling terrain, but yeah, there is some stuff for the small chainring and larger cogs. Some of the roads are really up and down. Nothing too steep or long, but it can really get your heart rate up if you're on the wheel of a stronger rider. That is good interval training. But without structure.

BTW, I do know what 'hills' are, having lived in Switzerland for 15 years.

[Fixed]

bro you know what to do
solo no half ast riding imho
cheers

[swoop]

days like today i'll ride down to coffee with the goon squad.. john brady, will ford, slover, nammy, myself.. and then afterwards go off to my ride. so you get breakfast with the apes and all the fart jokes a grown man can handle and then you get to train. of course it helps that i don't work thursdays.. i just lose potential income for no particular reason. smart heh?

its nice to have a friend with an srm that understands the goodness of going slow.... i've got cary ford (no srm but the cat is steady and a freak) and slover.... otherwise i'd go insane. but 9 out ot 10 times i ride alone.
sniff sniff. *pouts.

[fiamme red]

lose the partner.
ride alone atmo.70 minutes a day. Relentless atmo.

[toaster]

Most of my buddies make a big deal about not riding with me. They think I train too hard solo and I will rip their legs off. Not true.

It's just that riding solo I'm always pushing the wind and I let the terrain determine my intervals, except on scheduled interval days and generally I do long (sub-TT) 15-20 minute intervals.

Training solo has lots of benefits. Maintaining a focus and keeping a pace that's perfect for you means you are going to do best by yourself.

[e-RICHIE]

this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyuT6enERiE) is how i train atmo.

[stevep]

pucci gets it atmo.


ps don't forget our wager for gloucester.

im down w/ it.
never fear.

you in the race w/ munroe and mangan? i got a $5 spot for whichever beats the brains out of the other...
motivation.
they will kill each other for $5...
im like freakin' bruyneel...

if either of them beats you you should give me a frame.
neither of them knows what they're doing out there... could be dangerous.
if you beat both i will buy you a coffee...
called odds.

believe me..they are in yr favor.

jaysssus jimmy v just bought a freakin cross bike...
they are all after you atmo.
better hire william as a bodyguard.
i put up $2 for the first guy to beat you silly.

[cadence231]

If you really want to get fast:

Buy a Powermeter.
Learn how it works.
But a book on training with a power meter.
Learn how that works.
Commit... within reason.
Make your old training partner look silly on those Wednesday night club races.

;)
That's a big hairy +1!
10-4.

[Peter P.]

I'm impressed. E-richie came up with an answer that never would have occurred to me. It was truly outside the boundaries of the replies I expected, and in some ways it makes more sense than the others. I'd say it was a good job of "thinking outside the box". Sounds to me like your buddy's riding style is dictating how your rides go, and it's getting old to you.

I would suggest you go on a SECRET plan to lose the weight, because that's where you'll make the greatest gains against your buddy. Hill climbing is YOUR weakness and not his, and weight loss isn't that much of a factor on flat land riding, so your buddy isn't gonna benefit that much if he loses weight. The fun part is formulating this plan, executing it, keeping it secret, and letting the results speak for themselves, without ever saying a word that you've lost weight.

It's never too late to start, and with the off-season nearing, it'd be a perfect time to start shedding the fat so come spring time...ouch.

[saab2000]

I would suggest you go on a SECRET plan to lose the weight, because that's where you'll make the greatest gains against your buddy....


...It's never too late to start, and with the off-season nearing, it'd be a perfect time to start shedding the fat so come spring time...ouch.

Trying to cut back on the sweets and beer. It may take more than just that, but those are my biggest weaknesses. Gonna shoot for 5 lbs first. See how that works. Then another 5 lbs.

[Too Tall]

Back in the days (before children, that is) when I had time to ride more and more seriously, on days when I wanted to ride hard I rode with one group or friend to push me, and on the days I wanted to ride easy I rode with my girlfriend/wife or another friend who was much slower than me. Riding with them help me to ride easier - more so than I would have if I'd ridden alone.

You don't need to ditch your friend, you just need another one.

Time never rides alone.