What do you need to work on to improve your cycling?

kennyb3

A real friday thread.

for me its realising that there are small hills on even flat roads and take my time going over them, rather than trying to power my way over them (in an attempt to keep my average speed high) and ending up fecked on the other side anyway.

davgtrek

power over them and tip away. your recovery will improve in time but its prob harder to get out of the relaxed psyche for hills than to improve your stamina.

it is friday alright. not even sure what i am saying above but anyway.

thebouldwhacker

What do you need to work on to improve your cycling?

1. A wiggle account
2. 3 pairs for carbon soled Sidi's
3. A boards kit (and design a jersey for the wool one)
4. At least 4 bikes
5. Be single
6. Have recoverd from the big C

Oh yea do some hill/flat/mtb training too:D

kennyb3

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

1. Be single

must mention this one to my gf, tell her she is getting in the way of my cycling career

Lumen

blorg

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

1. Be single Be fixed

Fixed

victorcarrera

kennyb3 wrote: »

What do you need to improve your cycling.

Lots of Kilometers and your ability will improve unbeknownst to you.

ednwireland

ride regularly

i'm down 1st since may starting to feel the power come back into the legs (still crap on the hills but getting better on small ones) loads more weight to lose, just looking at my training logs (nokia sporttracker is great for this). my short evening ride in may was 16kmh/h last night was 22.5km/h, i live in donegal everythings up and down (and there is no such thing as a flat road and demoralising as such)
the speed increase is purely from powering over small rises and keeping up the momentum.

just keep at it the power will come i also need to do long rides at the weekend . these are about 20km/h over a 100km

all my rides are solo as well i beleive group riding (fnarr) helps a lot as well but wouldn't know

TheBandit

Gotta start doing longer distances. 60k is the longest i've done so far although it was bloody hilly. And once i figure out how to stop the wind my cycling is sure to improve

.....just realised that sounds like i have a farting problem.

witty username

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

Have recovered from the big C

Is that what we're calling Contador now?:)

Lumen

ednwireland wrote: »

all my rides are solo as well i beleive group riding (fnarr) helps a lot as well but wouldn't know

In my experience of riding (with boardsies), group rides more fun and more "bursty".

I'm not sure they're necessarily higher quality training, ISTR one of the commandments is "train with groups infrequently"...but then doing group hill sprints is much more fun than 30 second solo training intervals.

The biggest benefit of group riding is being exposed to higher levels of insanity. I'd never have done the WW200 this year without boardsie goading.

ROK ON

To improve try not to have kids. If you have kids, while they have their moments, they do interfere with cycling. Wives can be reasoned with, small children can't.

Also, eat food that you hate (so you will eat less) and avoid any type of food that may actually taste of something (taste is. The clue that it is probably bad for you).
Train a lot.
Get a sports massage - I did this the other day and feel pretty supple after it.

ROK ON

Also get training gear for every conceivable weather type. That way you have no weather related excuses not to go out.
In ireland that invariably means leggings, winter jacket, overshoes, waterproof socks, beanie hat - you get the picture.

ednwireland

Lumen wrote: »

In my experience of riding (with boardsies), group rides more fun and more "bursty".

I'm not sure they're necessarily higher quality training, ISTR one of the commandments is "train with groups infrequently"...but then doing group hill sprints is much more fun than 30 second solo training intervals.

The biggest benefit of group riding is being exposed to higher levels of insanity. I'd never have done the WW200 this year without boardsie goading.

yeh know what you mean used to ride with a MTB club in the UK used to throw ourselves down stupid stuff, also wouldnt have raced without the goading. unfortunately i hardly ever see another cyclist (apart from a poor woman on a brand new full sus apollo yesterday) nearest clubs are over an hours drive away (prefer to spend that time cycling). so unless i suddenly find loads of cyclists i'm stuck with solo riding (yeh i do get bored sometimes)

beans

Personally, my flexibility. I have very limited flexibility in my lower back and legs.

Went out last night for a hard 55km spin to test the efficacy of a new energy-drink for the bottles and recovery. While my muscles and energy-levels are fine, my hamstrings are buzzing like an electric fence. I found it hard to stay in an aero position down in the drops for long periods of time, again lack of lower back flexibility to blame there.

Have been neglecting my stretch-routine recently. Lesson (re)learned.

petethedrummer

Lumen wrote: »

I'd never have done the WW200 this year without boardsie goading.

For a fella with such a lack of belief in his own ability, you certainly hammered up the Cooley Mountains.

DualFrontDiscs

ROK ON wrote: »

<snip>
In ireland that invariably means leggings, winter jacket, overshoes, waterproof socks, beanie hat - you get the picture.

And even more if you plan to cycle in Spring, Autumn or Winter

DFD

scottreynolds

In order of importance.............

1. Ride More -- Frequency is the most imortant adaption for your body.
2. Slowly Increase intensity. Find out about intervals rides etc like 2x20 or Uphill Grind Riding (don't go over 60 rpm).
3. Hard workouts should be followed by easy ones (this is a general statement everyone is different).
3. 1 and 2 lots more times
4. Rest ... You can't ride hard all the time.
5. Nutrition- I read that the body you have now is a result in the decisions you made in the past, the decisions you make today will dictate how you look in the future.

If you want to skip 1,2,3,4,5 get a coach ...

DualFrontDiscs

It's important not to confuse talking about bikes and cycling on an Internet forum with actual cycling