Training Section

[Chris]

I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day about the great cycling websites. We were talking about this one. I count myself lucky that I was there in the early days with a lot of you guys and have been able to see this thing grow into one of the most well-respected cycling forums, and I think, one of the most reputible in terms of the people.

I don't want to add more work for our hosts, but I was wondering if there would be any interest, and how much work it would be to start a training section. We have a bike fit section already. The general discussion gets a ton of stuff, but I know that a lot of us race or just want to go faster. It seems that a specific area for that, would be beneficial to keep threads from getting buried in a day, when the topics might be less time-sensitive than things like what is on eBay right now, who died, and other current events...

Just like we have a wealth of knowledge here in terms of bike design, wheels, etc., I think we also have a good group of guys and could attract a few more, who know what they are talking about when it comes to training to go faster. The cyclingforums are dead now because of spam. Bike.com doesn't exist anymore. I know those guys have to make a living and don't like to give out free training plans, but I have seen lots of well-known coaches chime in on threads on other forums. Beyond that, I think a lot of us who don't coach, but have been racing long enough to know what we are talking about could benefit from bouncing ideas off of each other.

Thoughts?

[DRZRM]

I'd certainly second that request.

[Pete Serotta]

I will check into it with "management" it will probably take me a week at least for they are out at the FIT SYMPOSIUM in BOULDER this week/next.

PETE

[bocarider]

I would be very interested in participating in that type of forum

[Sasha18]

3

[93legendti]

I will check into it with "management" it will probably take me a week at least for they are out at the FIT SYMPOSIUM in BOULDER this week/next.

PETE

Pete, what about a Training Thread that is a sticky?

[swoop]

yeah .. lets call it uncle fred's bad advice corner!

[Tom]

What do you really need to know about training, anyway?

(1) No screwing the night before a race.
(2) Always eat your meat raw. (OK, covered in number 1)
(3) No screwing the morning of a race. (That's for the lawyers, always looking for a loophole so to speak.)
(4) Add one letter to number two and change always to never.
(5) No screwing during a race. You thought the locals complained about water bottles getting thrown on their lawn? You have no idea.

This stuff is easy.

[Acotts]

What do you really need to know about training, anyway?

(1) No screwing the night before a race.
(2) Always eat your meat raw. (OK, covered in number 1)
(3) No screwing the morning of a race. (That's for the lawyers, always looking for a loophole so to speak.)
(4) Add one letter to number two and change always to never.
(5) No screwing during a race. You thought the locals complained about water bottles getting thrown on their lawn? You have no idea.

This stuff is easy.

What about new bike every 6 months?

[Ti Designs]

Every time I give any sort of training advice I get called an idiot. Do we need a whole section for that? I think most training advice should be done on the bike, not on the internet. For that matter, I think people should call me an idiot on the bike too...

Ed Sassler
in-person idiot cycling coach

[Chris]

Maybe you are giving the advice to the wrong people. :rolleyes: Not everyone has the benefit of having someone like you or Too Tall, or any others with the experience, know how or hopefully both to ride with regularly, so I thought it might be nice to have a place where we can have the better than nothing conversations.

[Floyd Dakil]

I think a training thread is a great idea. If nothing else, it might help some older guys. There's a recent thread about what to expect when you turn 40. Some of the older crowd seem to think that you can't fool around doing base training, and that more of your training should be at a higher intensity to compensate for getting older. It's as if guys should take fewer easy days as they get older. And going for a long easy ride is somehow a waste of time and may even cause you to race more slowly.

[SoCalSteve]

I think a training thread is a great idea. If nothing else, it might help some older guys. There's a recent thread about what to expect when you turn 40. Some of the older crowd seem to think that you can't fool around doing base training, and that more of your training should be at a higher intensity to compensate for getting older. It's as if guys should take fewer easy days as they get older. And going for a long easy ride is somehow a waste of time and may even cause you to race more slowly.

I think Swoop had it right when he said that it would be a place that BAD ADVICE (not on purpose) will be given...

Training is a very individualized thing. Everyone has different goals, expectations and outcomes. Some people race, other ride for fitness, health, to lose weight, etc. and some just ride because they enjoy it and have no other goals than that.

So, to generalize and say that everyone over 40 needs to train a certain way just because they are over 40 is like saying that Serotta only makes one certain type of bike for one purpose. It just aint so!

I think it should be added, but with a caveat that it is just a bike forum (a special one at that) but that the advice given should be taken with a grain of salt (see, some people should have more salt, some less)...See the point?

Just sayin'

Steve

PS: Maybe a sticky stating that the best way to train is to get a personal coach-trainer (or some such nonsense like that). :banana:

[regularguy412]

+1 on SocaSteve's post.

There is no panacea when training for improved cycling. That said, there may not be any truly 'bad' advice, only advice that doesn't work for that individual. Each person must find out what works for him or her. Anything that gets a cyclist out on a bike is a plus. No one gets any better without doing the heavy lifting.

Mike in AR

[93legendti]

There's only been ~168 threads with training in the title of the thread--I can see why people are resisting the notion that someone might find benefit from the suggestion.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/search.php?searchid=353488

OTOH, maybe the Forum's filter should turn every entry of "training" into *******g.

[Ozz]

best advice I ever heard was "ride more".

I wish...... :crap:

[PoppaWheelie]

+4 (or 5 or whatever) on the training section idea.

I don't worry about the "bad advice" issue. There are plenty of topics openly discussed where this risk also applies ("bike fit" for one, which already has its own heading). Most anyone with a shred of common sense knows not to take anything here as a cookie-cutter solution.

I, for one, would love a spot where the gurus could share their thoughts. And Ed, I can't think of the last time I read something by you that didn't get me thinking (in a good way) about my habits...keep it coming....

[keno]

1. Get a good in-person coach and/or

2. Arnie Brown's "Smart Cycling".

Either you have a program of some kind, with or without a coach, designed to accomplish something specific to which you are dedicated or you don't. Otherwise, I believe that you are flailing using the "this and that" approach, picking what you like best (it's usually what you like least that gets you somewhere).

It is like getting a golf tip from someone at a driving range who can't hit the ball out of his shadow. I've read "advice" on this forum that well qualifies. Not that you have to be a strong rider to give good advice, but I'd start there myself when taking advice.

On the other hand, if the only advice rendered had to be from a certified coach, that would be interesting.

keno

[Chris]

I think some of you guys think that I was hoping that coaches or others would get on here and provide entire training plans for people. That isn't the case. If you look at some of the other training forums, such as the now essentially dead cyclingforums, you had guys like Hunter Allen, Ric Stern, Andy Coggan and others who would discuss and answer questions about training approaches. These tidbits, I thought, were invaluable. Topics that were covered that I think were helpful without telling people how to specifically train, were race analysis stuff, proper use of power meters, discussing which workouts (such as 2 x 20s) tend to be generally accepted as good for raising functional threshold, what approaches tend to raise CTL when other harder intervals may cause a peak too soon, discussion on training in the weight room, etc.

Look, we are all adults here (except for junior of course) and I think we can discern whether a thread is applicable to us or not. I have read tons of the stuff on cyclingforums and thought to myself that the approach being espoused just wouldn't work for me. This isn't meant to replace the advice of a good coach. Otherwise I don't think you would see coaches of the quality who contribute to those forums elsewhere, doing so. Having such a place, that you don't have to go to if you don't want to :) , simply provides those who are interested in that topic a less cluttered manner to look for things of a general topic. Like someone said earlier, even bad training advice is potentially much less dangerous than bad bike fit advice...

I would even go so far as to guess that if some coaches of any quality were to chime in, people might find that their approach or personality may be what they need, thanks to the exposure to some of their thoughts on training and they may be encouraged to actually establish a relationship with a coach. There are very few cycling forums that I look at; Serotta, Weight Weenies, and previously cyclingforums. I think that the Serotta forum has simply become one of the top cycling sites on the web and, selfishly, it would be nice to have something like this as a part of the forum.

[J.Greene]

Look, we are all adults here (except for junior of course) .

Junior will win the junior boys FL state cross champs tomorrow without a special section atmo.

I'm all for a special training section myself. It's more opportunity for swoop to spread his special brand of bike love.

JG

[Chris]

BUMP--Pete?

[Ginger]

The biggest complaint I've heard about other forums is that they're too broken up and you have to go from section to section to see what's going on.

I'm not against a training section. Heck, those threads are some of the most hilarious (until an actual coach pipes up and provides some direction) to read.

That said, Chris, which other forums do you participate in? The Hammer Nutrition egroup has lots of training discussions to pick up tidbits from as do the different power forums/groups. Just curious.

[Chris]

This is really the only one I participate in. I lurk at Weight Weenies and used to do the same at Cyclingforums until the spam took over. I've not heard about the Hammer Nutrition. I will check it out.

I agree that too many sections make it difficult to maneuver and catch everything.

[WadePatton]

What do you really need to know about training, anyway?

(1) No screwing the night before a race.
(2) Always eat your meat raw. (OK, covered in number 1)
(3) No screwing the morning of a race. (That's for the lawyers, always looking for a loophole so to speak.)
(4) Add one letter to number two and change always to never.
(5) No screwing during a race. You thought the locals complained about water bottles getting thrown on their lawn? You have no idea.

This stuff is easy.
Well just hogtie me and leave me for the buzzards if that's the way we gotta play. :bike: