Taking cycling a step up.

teiti93

Hello Bikeradar.

After a rough summer/fall with a car accident and a planned jaw surgery, i have over the winter improved alot. Im 21 years old and i want to improve my cycling. I've got a fine bike, garmin 800, read both The Training Bible and Core Advantage. My diet is also based on High carb low fat and i have as much time to go out on the bike as i desire. i have cycled 3 times a week for the last 1,5 years, since i bought my first road bike.

Now to the questions:
I have had a bit of knee problem on hometrainer, so i have a scheduled bikefit in next month.
I also go with the desire of getting a powermeter, especially the power2max, since stages and garmin vector is not really in my interest.
http://www.power2max.de/europe/en/Produ ... r688-road/
Is that a solid choice in powermeter? and hows the crank?
If i get the powermeter after bikefit will that affect me in any bikefit-related way?
I see you recommend a book to all new users of a PM, i plan on buying that aswell.
Please share anything that would help me in the right direction.

My Goals:
Be healthy and fit.
My mind is competetive, and i might wanna race in a few years time, when i have more experience.

I hope you can help me a bit
Best regards
/Teit

crikey

I would suggest that you stop buying things and start doing things.

1. Instead of a bike fit, learn as much as you can about how you fit on your bike and make changes to your position based on what you learn. The things you learn will stay with you and allow you to develop your position over time while understanding what is going on.

2. Stop riding the hometrainer and start riding outside. If you have as much time as you say, you can develop a big base of endurance and then train to get faster.

3. Stop reading books and start riding with other people; you will learn far more from riding with experienced riders than you will from a book.

4. Join a club.

5. Don't wait until you think you are ready to race; start race training now.

Do it, don't think about it, don't buy it, do it.

sloppyschleckonds

As Crikey says, and give up that High carb low fat diet.

jgsi

crikey wrote:

I would suggest that you stop buying things and start doing things.

1. Instead of a bike fit, learn as much as you can about how you fit on your bike and make changes to your position based on what you learn. The things you learn will stay with you and allow you to develop your position over time while understanding what is going on.

2. Stop riding the hometrainer and start riding outside. If you have as much time as you say, you can develop a big base of endurance and then train to get faster.

3. Stop reading books and start riding with other people; you will learn far more from riding with experienced riders than you will from a book.

4. Join a club.

5. Don't wait until you think you are ready to race; start race training now.

Do it, don't think about it, don't buy it, do it.

Crikey, you are on a hiding to nothing, that is just not the 'modern way' ;-)
I just dont think the Op is willing to put the clocks back.. I mean
its all about
time crunched
power meters (even tho I love 'em but OP seems to be expert already in eliminating certain choices)
faddy diets
why bother with clubs
racing - sounds like it might hurt too much ( it does)
stuff base fckin miles its all about intervals innit

matt-h

JGSI wrote:

crikey wrote:

I would suggest that you stop buying things and start doing things.

1. Instead of a bike fit, learn as much as you can about how you fit on your bike and make changes to your position based on what you learn. The things you learn will stay with you and allow you to develop your position over time while understanding what is going on.

2. Stop riding the hometrainer and start riding outside. If you have as much time as you say, you can develop a big base of endurance and then train to get faster.

3. Stop reading books and start riding with other people; you will learn far more from riding with experienced riders than you will from a book.

4. Join a club.

5. Don't wait until you think you are ready to race; start race training now.

Do it, don't think about it, don't buy it, do it.

Crikey, you are on a hiding to nothing, that is just not the 'modern way' ;-)
I just dont think the Op is willing to put the clocks back.. I mean
its all about
time crunched
power meters (even tho I love 'em but OP seems to be expert already in eliminating certain choices)
faddy diets
why bother with clubs
racing - sounds like it might hurt too much ( it does)
stuff base fckin miles its all about intervals innit

Amen brother!

JayKosta

First get the knee pain issue resolved. It might be 'bike fit', but it might also be pushing too hard a gear at too slow cadence. When on the trainer, pay attention to your pedal stroke - are both of your feet and legs doing near the same motion and effort? Are you 'reaching' with one foot more than the other? Is one knee moving sideways as you pedal? Do your feet feel the same on the pedals, etc.

Regarding your being able to train 3 days per week 'as much as you want' ... can you devote 3 continuous hours - 2 for riding, and 1 for post-ride clean-up and eating, AND then be physically tired for the remainder of the day - NOT exhausted, but too tired to find additional physical activity appealing? Your 'riding time' will need some portion for warm-up and cool-down, but for effective training, the bulk of the time needs to be at an intensity that is more difficult than 'pleasure' or 'recreational' riding.

Reading about training plans, nutrition, etc. is fine - but it shouldn't detract from your time doing actual training.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

teiti93

First of all, thanks for your inputs.

@crikey
I agree that hard work is the way to progress, but if i can get faster, more comfortable and more efficient training by getting bikefit and powermeter, then i will invest in that. Money is not that big a factor.

I do clubrides once a week from April-October with some old guys, not fast rides but its good fun and good km's.

@SloppySchleckonds
Why should i quit a diet that makes me energized, ready to ride, better recovery, better digestion and more happy in general?

@Jaykosta
I tried to look at my knees and my spinning but i couldnt seem to find anything. But i think my clambs are a bit off and maybe need to tighten up the pedals, but not sure this will help my knees. Im all about high cadence, staying at 90+ at all time, i dont like to do slow cadence, except for when im out of the saddle.

I work 3 days a week(in the evening), so i have all the time in the world for cycling. No school, girlfriend or family obligations. Just friends and my band in spare time. I cycle 4 times a week, while i only did 3 rides a week last year. Normally 1 longer and 2 medium rides with hill intervals and 1 slower ride, nothing too fancy. Been doing intervals all winter long on hometrainer. I probably need to be more organized with my training. But i have ridden to wattage on my hometrainer(virtual power),and that has really learnt me alot about zones and how hard you actually can push the body. I think a PM is what i need. I like numbers aswell, analyzing and my cycling motivation is huge.


Once again, thank you all!
/Teit

Grill

How many hours and miles are you putting in each week? If you have all this free time and you're not doing at least 20 hours then you're doing it wrong.

I don't see how a PM would be of any real benefit to you as you don't really have a goal that requires one ('a few years time' is a lifetime away). When/if you get a PM you should invest in coaching as well.

In regards to diet, all you need is a balance. Everything else is marketing BS.

teiti93

@Grill
I do about 6-10 hours a week atm, last week i did 175km all outside alone. Would i benefit that much more from going rather slow and doing 15-20 hours a week instead? Remember i come from no sport at all and now i have cycled for 1,5 years. Will such a dramatic change not increase the risk of injury? Should i ramp up with ½ an hour each week for instance till i get to that point?
Thanks

Eebijeebi

It matters not how good you are, want to be, or will be. If you can afford and want a power meter then get one - I don't think many who use one would go back to not doing so. As for the bike fit, why not?
Ask, listen, read, decide, ride and be happy.

Grill

Injury? Hardly, cycling is as low-impact as it gets. Where you are now, the best way to improve is to ride as much as possible. Sign up for some audaxes and do lots of long rides. It's good to keep a few short sharp intervals in your program, but besides that get on your bike.

10 hours isn't much, in fact it's what most time-crunched cyclists put in (myself included and most of that is on the turbo). When I had more free time I was outside almost everyday getting in the miles. If I didn't have so much responsibility outside of cycling, I'd go back to that in a heartbeat.

Look at it this way, if Steve Abraham can put in over 90 hours a week on a bike, you can do 20.