Advise about cycling buddy

[sellsworth]

I have a friend who I ride with frequently. He is 51 and in very good aerobic shape. For a big guy (210 lbs.) he is a good climber. Last July he finished the Death Ride.

Here's the issue - every time, and I mean every time, he climbs he puts in a maximum effort as if he were going a time trial. He doesn't have a heart rate monitor but I imagine that he is nearly always at 90% max or above when he climbs. I can't tell you how many times we've talked about the value of 70%-80% efforts for developing aerobic capacity and sprinting and intervals for developing anaerobic capacity and strength. He seems to agree but then continues to go all out and work like mad to keep up with faster riders. He does have strong goals to ride both faster and farther.

So would you:
1. Keep pestering him about the value of slowing down;
2. Drop it and let him ride like mad with comment; or
3. Realize that his way is better and ride like him.

[SoCalSteve]

Buy him a HRM as a gift, make sure he puts it on is bars next to his computer. Everytime he looks down he will realize at how hard he is working out and it should slow him down.

Good luck!

Steve

[djg]

If he were 14 years old I'd figure he didn't understand you. If he were 84 I might worry about diminished capacity. But at 51 years of age and with no obvious signs of cognitive disability . . . if you've said it twice you've said it plenty. At his age and weight he is, in all respects, a big boy.

[coylifut]

let it go. make sure to go on rides with hills at the beginning and very end of your rides. Make him pay late in the ride.

[Ozz]

If his doctor says it's O.K. to push 110% of the time, let it go.

Maybe you could suggest he get a coach to help him train to his goals. He might listen to someone he is paying to tell him what to do.

[dgauthier]

let it go. make sure to go on rides with hills at the beginning and very end of your rides. Make him pay late in the ride.

And if he can afford the payment, and continues to do so week after week, then more power to him!

Some people just like to work out with great intensity. According to all the info I've read, no harm will result from sustained effort at or near one's maximum heart rate. So let it go.

[spiderman]

one of those AED's
(automated external defibrillators)
and ride with that...
and don't be afraid to use it
if he collapses from a terminal cardiac dysrhythmia...

[sellsworth]

Thanks for the responses. My friend does seem to have a psychlogical need to ride all out. He did own a HRM at one time but got rid of it. I like the advise of just leaving him alone and not saying any more - except maybe to chuckle occasionally! I just hope he doesn't keel over one of these days. An AED sounds like a good recommendation.

[Jeff N.]

He's a big boy. Let'm do whatever he likes. Jeff N.

[bostondrunk]

Like others have kind of said......what the heck are you worried about??? Sounds like he has a great training ethic in that he is constantly doing hard lactate threshold type of efforts. Whats wrong with that? Wish I were that motivated!!!
Mind you, when I'm climbing, I seem to be at 90% to get to the top whether I like it or not! :beer:

[Dekonick]

Eventually wont he train himself into shape?

I know its not the fastest way, or best way - but if it makes him happy let him. Heck - as long as he rides who cares?

[M_A_Martin]

Perhaps he thinks his effort up hills *is* 80%!

Without a HRM, he really doesn't know. Its sort of useless to tell someone to go at 70-80% when they have no measuring device, or evidently can't tell without one (I realize, some people can tell when they're at certain levels of exertion without an HRM).

For most people, if they're going to use scientific, measured zones to train in, they have to be able to measure where they are.

[Russ]

...He does have strong goals to ride both faster and farther...

After reading what you have mentioned, it's still not obvious to see how he could have goal! Does he knows that for riding faster and father, rest days, recovery days and so on are a crucial part of one's training regime... My old coach used to say: Some of us don't learn or listen until we are struck by our own mistakes!

So, I would:

2. Drop it and let him ride like mad... he will learn...

[Too Tall]

Help him to find and focus on an specific cycling goal (sub 6 hr. century, Time Trial). Accomplishments do much to diminish self doubt.

The other thing that comes to mind is your pal might be skrewin' up your idea of a well paced ride. If that is so, you both need to get it out and find a happy in between.

[csb]

get him a set of mike piggs lead bike weights

[Ken Lehner]

I have a friend who I ride with frequently. He is 51 and in very good aerobic shape. For a big guy (210 lbs.) he is a good climber. Last July he finished the Death Ride.

Here's the issue - every time, and I mean every time, he climbs he puts in a maximum effort as if he were going a time trial.

How long are the climbs? If they are long enough (~20 minutes), then he is doing great training for his functional threshold.

[sellsworth]

Ken - we live in Reno and the regular climbs we do are longer ones. Geiger Grade is 7.8 miles with 2100' vertical and Mt. Rose Highway is 14 miles and 4400' vertical. On the Geiger climb my buddy has a goal to do it is 45 minutes. Not too long ago he went out hard three consecutive days and went as hard as he could each day. He also will race another guy who weighs about 40 lbs. less - a few times he has nearly gotten sick at the top.

Too Tall has a good point that our riding styles aren't compatible. He's glued to his speed and distance numbers and I don't even have a computer on my bike. I often do wear a HRM and like to put myself at 85% max and keep it consistent over the entire climb. When I follow my buddy's wheel my heart rate fluctuates like mad because he'll put really hard efforts on the steeper parts of climbs and then have to recover on the less steep portions.

[Ken Lehner]

Sounds like your friend is doing excellent training, though perhaps without enough recovery. Some people recover faster than others. What you perceive as "maximum effort", is more likely what your friend knows to be his threshold pace. No wonder he's a good climber. Also, putting out more power on the harder bits and recovering on the easier bits is good technique for managing your available power, assuming you don't blow up.

I'd suggest you not follow his pace, but stick to your own threshold pace on these climbs.