gauge of fitness

1_reaper

Hi all
Just wondered what the following time and distance of my training rides gives to those more experienced riders out there about my fitness levels . I am totally pants at hill work but like doing them. Anyway 25 miles in 1hr 22 min's with two 14% short and Sharpe climbs, 55 miles in 3 hrs with three climbs and 12 1/2 miles flat in 37 min's. I know there is room for improvement but not sure how much ? do around 250 miles a week. Any good ? training tips and comments welcome to improve my riding. Thanks

Anonymous

Quality not quantity...

And factor in good rest...

BeaconRuth

1_reaper wrote:

Any good ?

Any good for what? You're asking a "how long is a piece of string" question. You're undoubtedly too strong for the local Wobbly Wheelers social clubrun, but then again you're not quite ready for the Tour de France yet. What are your aims and aspirations?

Ruth

1_reaper

Guess my aim is to get fitter and knock a few minutes off here and there. Would like race at some point but never took the plunge as not plucked up the courage as yet. would also like to get more distance in if i could. but as been said quality over quantity. used to do a few triathlons a few years ago but now can't run due to knackered knees and swimming limited to knackered shoulder So just leaves the bike really. I'm no racing snake i know. I tend to have one to two rest days per week. I'm lucky in respect i work part time so go out mainly in the afternoon so can rest in the evening but sating that do the odd group ride in the week and weekends. There very kind and wait at the top of hills(sometimes) for me to catch up only to zoom off for me to chase them down and catch up. All good fun

kettrinboy

What you want to do even more miles when your already on 250 a week! unless you just like mile munching, with structured training you could make gains on considerably less than 250 a week, more than that and you might verge on over training especially if your new to it.

1_reaper

Guess structured training is the way ahead. Not a mile muncher by any means 55 miles being my max mileage. Used to to a lot more before my body started falling apart That being down to 15 years service in the forces and doing silly physical courses. Guess what i need and when funds allow is a bit of coaching maybe and or some good advice ? Some of my mates say mileage is the key but i beg to differ. Not that i'm racing or anything which they do

kettrinboy

spot on about the coaching and good advice,just doing more miles per se might improve your times by a few minutes here and there over time but as you say your bodys falling to bits and stuctured training over a lower weekly mileage should give you better gains and will be kinder to your knees, as far as racing goes on my local cat 3/4 handicap race series the winners time for a 30 mile race over 5-6 laps is around 1m18 to 1m 22 with the last finishers coming in at anything up to 8- 10 mins behind, so i,d think you need to get your 25 mile time of 1m 22 improved considerably to around 1m 15 or better to not be at the back of the field.

Bronzie

kettrinboy wrote:

i,d think you need to get your 25 mile time of 1m 22 improved considerably to around 1m 15 or better to not be at the back of the field.

I disagree - if you are averaging over 18mph for 55 miles you probably have more than enough base fitness to be able to sit in the wheels in a cat 3/4 bunch race.

What you will almost certainly struggle with is the changes in pace during the race when the speed can shoot up to 30mph for short periods.

If you wanted to get into racing, I'd look at adding in some short sharp intervals into your steady miles (ie a couple of sessions of 5 x 5 mins as hard as you can go per week for 2-3 weeks and then maybe some shorter intervals still like 3 x 10 x 30 sec on / 30 sec off for a couple of weeks after that).

liversedge

BeaconRuth wrote:

the local Wobbly Wheelers social clubrun

I love that expression, might have to steal it :-)

freehub

Bronzie wrote:

kettrinboy wrote:

i,d think you need to get your 25 mile time of 1m 22 improved considerably to around 1m 15 or better to not be at the back of the field.

I disagree - if you are averaging over 18mph for 55 miles you probably have more than enough base fitness to be able to sit in the wheels in a cat 3/4 bunch race.

I dunno, I can average over 21mph on my own for up to 55 miles on my crappy road bike and when I've done some Cat 3/4 races on my wrote off CAAD9 I was nearly getting sick and doing pretty rubbish.

Bronzie

freehub wrote:

I dunno, I can average over 21mph on my own for up to 55 miles on my crappy road bike and when I've done some Cat 3/4 races on my wrote off CAAD9 I was nearly getting sick and doing pretty rubbish.

What are your bunch riding skills and bike handling ability like?

celbianchi

freehub wrote:

Bronzie wrote:

kettrinboy wrote:

i,d think you need to get your 25 mile time of 1m 22 improved considerably to around 1m 15 or better to not be at the back of the field.

I disagree - if you are averaging over 18mph for 55 miles you probably have more than enough base fitness to be able to sit in the wheels in a cat 3/4 bunch race.

I dunno, I can average over 21mph on my own for up to 55 miles on my crappy road bike and when I've done some Cat 3/4 races on my wrote off CAAD9 I was nearly getting sick and doing pretty rubbish.

Bad bunch positioning. If your capable of riding >18mph over an undulating course for >60 mins you SHOULD be able to ride a 3/4 race easy enough. As Bronzie said, you need to condition your body to be able to handle the short bursts of pace where you are on the verge of saying "I can't do another 10 secs at this pace" before it eases off again.

Your some boy Will, I have been racing for 6 years at road and TT and even though I have won a handful of races and generally top 10 in TT's, I don't average 21 mph for >50 miles training. You should be ripping the legs off the field.

Bronzie

celbianchi wrote:

Your some boy Will, You should be ripping the legs off the field.

+1

Anonymous

Will's problem is similar to the OP's in that he does monster miles at a steady (fast) pace(He did 180 yesterday according to Twitter) but doesn't work on the change of pace necessary for 1hr races.

Whereas I train 6hrs a week, mostly on the turbo, have a duff right leg and am asthmatic yet have scored BC Points.

amaferanga

freehub wrote:

Bronzie wrote:

kettrinboy wrote:

i,d think you need to get your 25 mile time of 1m 22 improved considerably to around 1m 15 or better to not be at the back of the field.

I disagree - if you are averaging over 18mph for 55 miles you probably have more than enough base fitness to be able to sit in the wheels in a cat 3/4 bunch race.

I dunno, I can average over 21mph on my own for up to 55 miles on my crappy road bike and when I've done some Cat 3/4 races on my wrote off CAAD9 I was nearly getting sick and doing pretty rubbish.

Wasn't there a race that you would have won though if you hadn't been dropped?