Zero to hero in 5 months... possible??

carlcsl

Ok chaps, how realistic is it to go from my current state of near zero form to being competitiive in 4th cat racing by March/April. I should add that I'm not completely naive to the size of the task, I used to compete to a high standard in my early twenties, some 14 years ago, I know how competitive 4th cat can be

I'm lucky to have a reasonable body shape being tall and lean... well, leanish.. I'm currently around 14 stone, I used to compete at 11 stone so I'm looking to shed at least a stone by March. Time wise I have weekends and evenings free, so I'm currently doing the usual pattern of two 2hr rides on the weekend and three 1hr turbo sessions.

4th cat races seem to be around the hour mark so that's what I'm aiming to be quick for. Do you think I need to be extending my weekend rides?? Turbo sessions are longish, medium to high intensity intervals... oddly I quite enjoy those sessions and I'm keen to stick with them as I'm parranoid about developing enough power by the start of the season?

Im based down in sussex, just north of Worthing, any suggestions of routes, club rides etc would be gratefully received

Carl

jgsi

You might not 'know' the state of your game until your actual first race back.
I'd certainly be looking to fill early 2012 with some local ish reliability runs to test your recon engine out. These are usually guaranteed, weather permitting, to get back into bunch and try to hold on mode.

ratsbeyfus

A good racing focussed team in Sussex is the Brighton Mitre - http://brightonmitre.typepad.com/ . You could also look at http://ontherivet.ning.com/ for info on rides in the Brighton area - the guy who runs it is trying to set up his own club at the moment.

carlcsl

Reliability trails are something I've heard of but never taken part in one... If I'm honest the word 'reliability' sounds a bit.. steady Do they evolve into something a bit more racy as the season approaches??

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if the timeframe I've set myself is realistic or not..

Herbsman

Of course it's possible. Don't overdo it between now and January. If you're not fit enough by the start of the season, a couple of months of racing might make you fit.

Pokerface

Just guessing, but I would suggest extending all your rides now if you can. 7 hours a week doesn't sound like much if you want to be competitive next spring.


(I know some people may say that's enough - but they also already are fit, not trying to get fit).


But yes - it's possible, assuming you have some natural talent to begin with. Just curious - how old are you?

bigpikle

Reliability rides are simply rides in late winter/early spring meant to be a test of your equipment and fitness ahead of the season. In reality they are often like early season sportives in cold wet weather rather than mid season July/Aug sportives in cold wet weather...

Many boast large fields and plenty of people looking to rip your legs off...

inseine

I'm guessing he's in his late thirties, if you read the op;)
Depends how good you used to be. High standard= 1st cat? If so you'll get it back easily in that time.

billy whippet

well, yes, he already said he was in his late thirties - so no need to guess...

carlcsl

I'm 36...I prefer to call it 'mid' thirties Yes used to be 1st cat standard, but in fairness that doesn't feel particularly relevant at the moment after a 14 year break... but I think I know what you mean, my brain knows what it should be doing it's just the body needs to play catchup.

I think Pokerface has raised a valid point regarding the amount of time on the bike. 7 hours a week doesn't sound much, I'm mindfull of the fact that 4th cat races are fairly short... do you think a longer weekend ride would be a good use of time??

Thanks for that bigpickle, sounds like fun.. I think.. Can't wait

ozzzyosborn206

i think you could probably get away with just two hour rides if they were hard enough, but if you are doing them now you would just stagnate it you kept them the same all winter, you should add 15 mins to a ride each weekend, so next weekend sat 2hrs 15, sun 2 hrs, then week after both 2.15 and increase it like that as and when you feel ready. 4th cat is a pretty basic standard if you used to be 1st cat it shows you have the ability and i imagine with a solids winter training you will probably move to 3rd then 2nd within the season if you can race most weekends. I doubt there is many 4th cats who train 5 times a week all winter?

carlcsl

Thanks for that ozzzy, good insight there. That progressive build up is a good solution, nice managable way of building up the hours, I'll go with that.

I suspected that I probably would be training more than most other 4th cats, but it's nice to hear that from someone else. Things have moved on so much from when I raced, the availability of training info on the net is staggering. I kind of expect everyone who turns up to race will have spent the winter adhering to the latest super mega training plan... with any luck though you'll be right and I might progress quite quickly... we'll see

Alex_Simmons/RST

carlcsl wrote:

Things have moved on so much from when I raced, the availability of training info on the net is staggering. I kind of expect everyone who turns up to race will have spent the winter adhering to the latest super mega training plan... with any luck though you'll be right and I might progress quite quickly... we'll see

There's also more good information about diet too, but that doesn't mean people eat better.

Progressive overload is a good idea (provided it is at a sustainable rate), but even so, there is a lot you can do with 7 hrs / week to progress your workload if you are doing turbo work and consistent.

If you were Cat 1 when younger, you will likely respond to training well and 36 is still young in my book! If you were dedicated enough, you could race cat 1 again, just not first season in.

carlcsl

Your quite right Alex, just because the information is available it doesn't necessarily follow that people put it into practice. I'm not in a hurry to get back to cat 1, I'm actually quite looking forward to the feeling of progressing through the categories.. should be fun.

I had a nose through your blog, interesting stuff there. Liked the alpe d'huez power table, very cool.. brought back a few memories.