Bridging the power gap

Dizzy12

I'm a light guy (5,10 @62kgs) (and could probably get a little bit lighter if I laid off the chocolate). I ride with a club and also do lots of c.100 mile sportives. I guess this is my first road 'season'.

With my club, I ride in the fast group and am a fairly decent climber. However, toward the end of rides, I struggle to keep up on the flats or decent's that require a shove.

What type of training would help me close the gap?

Thoughts are much appreciated.

frisbee

Interval training should help with the mad dash, sprints and attacks at the end of club rides.

Lighter riders struggle to maintain their energy levels over longer rides, so make sure you keep yourself fuelled up on the club rides

Conserve energy on the climbs at the start of the ride and make the others suffer on climbs at the end of the ride.

Team4Luke

less riding with the club and more "training".
Riding with others/club is not training.

imposter2.0

Team4Luke wrote:

Riding with others/club is not training.

Chaingangs are training. Midweek crits are training. Both involve riding with others. Or did you not think before you typed?

olake92

IMO I wouldn't worry about getting lighter - I'm considered light at 5'11 and 65.5kg (on a good day) and hover at 9-10% body fat. A bit more muscle wouldn't be too bad! It would certainly help with efforts requiring more power. Importantly, I just don't think you need to lose weight if your goal is more power.

Aside from that, more structured 'hard' training would help, as others have mentioned; hill reps, short intervals and long intervals. If your club has chaingangs/evening 10s they're good fun and will bring you on.

meanredspider

Maybe I've misread the OP's original post but I picked up on the words "towards the end of the ride" and "flat" and "decent's"[sic]

That would suggest to me a lack of endurance rather than aerobic power (which, by most of the suggestions about intervals etc, I assume most people are suggesting is the issue). If power was the issue, the OP would simply be struggling to keep up, full-stop.

As suggested above, maybe you're going too fast at the beginning (a friend says "a second at the start of the ride is worth 3 secs at the end" - something I think is one of the truest in cycling).

If it is crazy sprinting at the end (or middle or beginning) then maybe intervals will help. If it's endurance, long slow rides will help.

Small light guys are never going to do well downhill - I'm 85kg and I destroy the small guys downhill. I also give them a hard time on the flat where weight doesn't matter. Clearly, I suffer up the hills.

Smithster

Imposter wrote:

Team4Luke wrote:

Riding with others/club is not training.

Chaingangs are training. Midweek crits are training. Both involve riding with others. Or did you not think before you typed?

I'm guessing he meant 'it's not training' dependant on who the others/club are?

I sometimes go out with my Wife, trust me it's not training! Although it does make for a pleasant evening out

imposter2.0

Smithster wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Team4Luke wrote:

Riding with others/club is not training.

Chaingangs are training. Midweek crits are training. Both involve riding with others. Or did you not think before you typed?

I'm guessing he meant 'it's not training' dependant on who the others/club are?

I sometimes go out with my Wife, trust me it's not training! Although it does make for a pleasant evening out

We can all guess at what he 'meant'. I'm just responding to what he wrote.

DeVlaeminck

Yeah given the OP can't keep up with the group unless Smithster is married to Marianne Vos the OPs rides don't sound that much like a spin with the wife.

olake92

meanredspider wrote:

Small light guys are never going to do well downhill - I'm 85kg and I destroy the small guys downhill. I also give them a hard time on the flat where weight doesn't matter. Clearly, I suffer up the hills.

This is true - on my team's training camp earlier this year, on a straight descent the guys 10kg heavier than me were putting almost 5kph into me once we could no longer pedal any faster, just by virtue of being fat... I mean heavier

However, there's no reason that being light should be a barrier to being strong on the flat - just get better

dw300

meanredspider wrote:

Maybe I've misread the OP's original post but I picked up on the words "towards the end of the ride" and "flat" and "decent's"[sic]

That would suggest to me a lack of endurance rather than aerobic power (which, by most of the suggestions about intervals etc, I assume most people are suggesting is the issue). If power was the issue, the OP would simply be struggling to keep up, full-stop.

As suggested above, maybe you're going too fast at the beginning (a friend says "a second at the start of the ride is worth 3 secs at the end" - something I think is one of the truest in cycling).

If it is crazy sprinting at the end (or middle or beginning) then maybe intervals will help. If it's endurance, long slow rides will help.

Small light guys are never going to do well downhill - I'm 85kg and I destroy the small guys downhill. I also give them a hard time on the flat where weight doesn't matter. Clearly, I suffer up the hills.

This ^

"First road season"

Takes 2-3 years to get to the point where a 100 miles club run at 20mph doesn't phase you.

Dizzy12

Guys and girls, thanks so much. All of the advice here is really appreciated. As @dw300 noted, this is my first road season; therefore, all of these tips are really valuable.

Pocket Rocket

How close do you ride to the wheel in front?
Just tuck in nicely when you get tired an you should be fine on flat sections.

celbianchi

frisbee wrote:

Interval training should help with the mad dash, sprints and attacks at the end of club rides.

Lighter riders struggle to maintain their energy levels over longer rides, so make sure you keep yourself fuelled up on the club rides

Conserve energy on the climbs at the start of the ride and make the others suffer on climbs at the end of the ride.

Really? You sure?

frisbee

celbianchi wrote:

frisbee wrote:

Interval training should help with the mad dash, sprints and attacks at the end of club rides.

Lighter riders struggle to maintain their energy levels over longer rides, so make sure you keep yourself fuelled up on the club rides

Conserve energy on the climbs at the start of the ride and make the others suffer on climbs at the end of the ride.

Really? You sure?

Based on my personal experience, yes.

celbianchi

frisbee wrote:

celbianchi wrote:

frisbee wrote:

Interval training should help with the mad dash, sprints and attacks at the end of club rides.

Lighter riders struggle to maintain their energy levels over longer rides, so make sure you keep yourself fuelled up on the club rides

Conserve energy on the climbs at the start of the ride and make the others suffer on climbs at the end of the ride.

Really? You sure?

Based on my personal experience, yes.

Well not in mine. So you should have written about yourself rather than a incorrect generlisation

frisbee

madasahattersley wrote:

Duh, why do you think Contador, Nibali, Valverde, Quintana and Pozzivivo are always so terrible in Grand Tours?

Yep, and they aren't constantly getting mussettes and bottles and Froome didn't get a penalty last year for an illegal feed in the last 5km!

celbianchi wrote:

Well not in mine. So you should have written about yourself rather than a incorrect generlisation

Well aren't you a special sausage.

imposter2.0

frisbee wrote:

madasahattersley wrote:

Duh, why do you think Contador, Nibali, Valverde, Quintana and Pozzivivo are always so terrible in Grand Tours?

Yep, and they aren't constantly getting mussettes and bottles and Froome didn't get a penalty last year for an illegal feed in the last 5km!

You think they get bottles and musettes because they are light..?? Or maybe because they are on the road for 5-7 hours per day..??

When you're in a hole, mate - stop digging.

frisbee

Imposter wrote:

frisbee wrote:

madasahattersley wrote:

Duh, why do you think Contador, Nibali, Valverde, Quintana and Pozzivivo are always so terrible in Grand Tours?

Yep, and they aren't constantly getting mussettes and bottles and Froome didn't get a penalty last year for an illegal feed in the last 5km!

You think they get bottles and musettes because they are light..?? Or maybe because they are on the road for 5-7 hours per day..??

When you're in a hole, mate - stop digging.

Don't bother. My original post was perfectly clear and easy to understand.

frisbee

madasahattersley wrote:

frisbee wrote:

Imposter wrote:

frisbee wrote:

madasahattersley wrote:

Duh, why do you think Contador, Nibali, Valverde, Quintana and Pozzivivo are always so terrible in Grand Tours?

Yep, and they aren't constantly getting mussettes and bottles and Froome didn't get a penalty last year for an illegal feed in the last 5km!

You think they get bottles and musettes because they are light..?? Or maybe because they are on the road for 5-7 hours per day..??

When you're in a hole, mate - stop digging.

Don't bother. My original post was perfectly clear and easy to understand.

Indeed, it was perfectly clear and easy to understand how outstandingly wrong you are. What's your logic? That bigger people don't need to take mussettes and bottles? Surely you must understand that the lighter you are the less energy you use when riding at a given speed?

Of course riders with a heavier build need a mussette and a bottle.

My point was simply, if you have a light build (I think) you have more risk of hitting the wall if you don't keep on top of your fuelling.

If you are riding at a "given speed", weight has nothing to do with how much energy you use. Build/weight will affect energy when climbing but on the flat, the extra power beats the extra drag.

But who cares.

OP just make sure you eat and drink on longer rides.

okgo

frisbee wrote:

Imposter wrote:

frisbee wrote:

madasahattersley wrote:

Duh, why do you think Contador, Nibali, Valverde, Quintana and Pozzivivo are always so terrible in Grand Tours?

Yep, and they aren't constantly getting mussettes and bottles and Froome didn't get a penalty last year for an illegal feed in the last 5km!

You think they get bottles and musettes because they are light..?? Or maybe because they are on the road for 5-7 hours per day..??

When you're in a hole, mate - stop digging.

Don't bother. My original post was perfectly clear and easy to understand.

And was also absolute horseshit, much like how riding in a group is not training LOL - some of the stuff on here beggars belief at times.

To the OP, you will likely always be at a disadvantage to bigger riders as they will have more power, weight on the flat means nothing, so more power will usually win out. So your best bets will be to get aero, try and gain a bit more power, and then make sure you hurt them when it goes up hill