Struggling to do my turn

RyanB

Hi.

I'm 38, 5ft 6 tall and weigh 62.5 kg. Used to race on the local club scene but gave that up 4 years ago for simple leisure/club cycling. I can zip up hills perfectly fine, but when it comes to doing my bit on the front of the group, I'm holding the pace ok (but its knackering my legs - which I don't like to publicise, as I want to do my bit), When it comes to a windy 60+ miles club-spin, I'm having to just sit-in.

I know I'm slim, but I'm not exactly a big guy either. Would I be better with putting on some more weight? (i.e. the old adage about losing weight = losing power?)
I know the simple answer is to "just ride your bike more", but is there anything more I can be doing?
I know squats and leg weights won't help me too much.

Helpful suggestions appreciated.

NeXXus

Take a short turn if you need to, but riding a bit more might also help

imposter2.0

Riding more at higher intensities would probably help, as that seems to be where you are stuggling at the moment..

Newlife

It is natural for a lighter rider to not be as strong on the flats and descents but stronger climbing. The only answer to getting better at pacing is to get fitter and to devote training time to riding at high tempo/threshold pace. I weigh a similar amount to yourself and have learnt not to let my climbing ability convince myself that I am fitter than I am. The truth is we punch above our weight when the road tips up and can hang with the normally faster guys easier, but this does not mean that we can expect to match them on the flats or that we are as fit as they are. The bigger guys punch a hole through the air easier but there is no reason why a smaller guy cannot vastly improve in this area and before too long help drive the pace without blowing up.

The solace in all of this is that over a bumpy ride the 9st guy will usually have an advantage over a 12st guy if fitness levels are equal. What is lost on the flats is overcompensated for on climbs of a reasonable length. Power to weight ratio is king.

JayKosta

Unless you are intentionally limiting the amount you eat to stay at your current weight, then I doubt that trying to gain weight would be helpful. If you are not already doing so, I suggest some type of soon-after-exercise recovery nutrition - simple as low-fat chocolate milk, etc., or a commercial recovery product.

Another factor is the age and fitness of the other riders in the group.
Sad truth is that after about age 35, maintaining and improving physical fitness becomes more difficult.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

imposter2.0

JayKosta wrote:

Another factor is the age and fitness of the other riders in the group.
Sad truth is that after about age 35, maintaining and improving physical fitness becomes more difficult.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

Sorry, but that is a ridiculous thing to say on a cycling forum, where countless numbers of riders remain competitive and retain high levels of fitness and sustainable power well into their 50s and beyond. The fitness of the other riders might have been an issue, but their age almost certainly wasn't.

ric/rstsport

RyanB wrote:

Hi.

I'm 38, 5ft 6 tall and weigh 62.5 kg. Used to race on the local club scene but gave that up 4 years ago for simple leisure/club cycling. I can zip up hills perfectly fine, but when it comes to doing my bit on the front of the group, I'm holding the pace ok (but its knackering my legs - which I don't like to publicise, as I want to do my bit), When it comes to a windy 60+ miles club-spin, I'm having to just sit-in.

I know I'm slim, but I'm not exactly a big guy either. Would I be better with putting on some more weight? (i.e. the old adage about losing weight = losing power?)
I know the simple answer is to "just ride your bike more", but is there anything more I can be doing?
I know squats and leg weights won't help me too much.

Helpful suggestions appreciated.

When the road tilts upwards, the factors that slow you down are power to mass ratio.

On the flat, the factors that slow you down are power to CdA ratio (CdA being the measure of your aerodynamics).

Your issues suggests that you either your power is insufficient or your aerodynamics are poor (or a combination of the two).

You should be doing some specific training that will increase your sustainable power output

There's no reason why you can't be competitive on the flat if you're competitive uphill (it's fine that you have strengths and weaknesses where there may be some disparity between the two modes of cycling, but you should be more similar in ability than your message suggests)

Southgate

JayKosta wrote:

Another factor is the age and fitness of the other riders in the group.
Sad truth is that after about age 35, maintaining and improving physical fitness becomes more difficult.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

The OP is 38, just 4 years older than Wiggo and 5 years younger than Chris Horner.

He's not 78, you know!

He's not trying to win the Paris Roubaix or even his Club 10, as far as we know. All he is trying to do is keep pace with a bunch of club riders on a club run.

ADVICE for OP: Do some interval training which mimics the time you need to spend on the front of the group, e.g. if you are expected to do 60 seconds on the front every 5 minutes, then practice that as an interval. If that doesn't work, buy an electric Zimmer ;-)

mr_poll

Have this exact same problem - for me I have been a bit lazy in group rides and some time off injured this year meant the group I rode with had stepped up and I haven't. I can sit in the wheels but on the front; I either slowed the group down or buried myself so that I suffered for the rest of the ride.

Took a long look at myself and realised I need to get out solo more and build up my fitness and speed - I have also swallowed my pride dropped down a group, helping lead it, and now spend more time on the front in that group pushing myself more.

Early days for me but taking stock of where you are at and what you need to change may reap more benefits than sitting in the wheels of your current group.

blackpoolkev

Why not try riding solo? It sounds like you're pretty competent on the hills - which, let's face it is the hard part. Don't let comparing yourself against other riders detract from enjoying your ride.

RyanB

Ok. Thank you everyone for your contributions and some good suggestions in there. And some home truths.
It's entirely possible that I allow myself to think I'm fitter than what I actually am.
I've always been lean and aim to eat healthily (as opposed to any specific calorie goals)

As expected, more time on the bike is what's needed. In the group I ride (av 18-20mph), turns at the front are typically 4-5 mins (which I'm guessing is normal for most clubs?). As suggested, competition is very much not my aim. Been there, done that and found out I don't have a competitive side to me (only took me 4 years), but I do like to do my share of the work.

Ok, I'm going to leave it there. A long winter ahead. Thanks everyone.

mm1

Don't try too hard when you get to the front. Lots of people smash themselves and the group by going through too hard in an excess of enthusiasm when its their turn on the front. My problem, being naturally very slow, has always been hanging on to the back of the group when I've done my turn. Sitting on the back and missing turns is harder than one might think too. Intervals and learning how to hide are the answer.

supermurph09

I would imagine that doing some Over / Under sessions would help? To my knowledge these workouts improve your ability to handle those changes in pace. So you're in the group pedalling away just "Under" your threshold, you then move to the front and pedal at "Over" your threshold, then back to the group so "Under" again, then to the front "Over".......... etc etc.

PompeyPaul

It never hurts to lose a bit of fat ..... the trick is to lose weight without losing muscle.. perhaps combine a weigths session into your weight loss plan, lost loads of weight but increased my power.

Is your mind in the right place when you are doing through and off? its quite possible that you just need to talk yourself into a better place?

A turn on the front is taken at your pace perhaps you are knocking yourself out when there is no need?