How do i get faster?

Repolho

So I did the Sean Kelly 100k yesterday. Finished the course in 3:49 rolling time which I was reasonably happy with. Reached the clonmel foodstop (60k) in 2:06 and was feeling good but I found the last 40k tough. I ended up doing alot of it on my own which I know only made it tougher.

There were a few groups of 3's and 4's that passed me and I tried to stay with them but could only keep with them for so long before having to go back to my own pace.

So my question is what should I be doing in training to be able to keep my pace up?

PS i'm not a serious cyclist and I have don't want to race or anything but I could see myself trying a few more of these in the future! (eve if its only for the jerseys!)

carly_86

Eat more spuds

Acoustic

always top end advise

i reckon its just a case of fitness on the bike

the more u go out the faster u get

i started at 18km an hour now up to close to 30

hope to be higher in a few months

Lumen

Training techniques

Training is specific, focus first on your endurance.

Repolho

Lumen wrote: »

Training techniques

Training is specific, focus first on your endurance.

Thanks, I'll read through that article in detail later and see what can be learnt from it!

I suppose it is more endurance that I need as I could cycle the same speed as them for a while but just couldn't maintain the pace.

I was thinking of joining a club but I'd be afraid that I would be too slow for them on spins and I hate being a dead weight on people.

ednwireland

same here, lose more weight would be a good start - for me (Down 1.5 stone in 3 months loads more to go) was out on sat with innisfree wheelers and held the group for the first hour or so 30+kmh on rolling roads then got dropped on climbs (that damn weight again)
ask at a local club tell them what your doing i'm sure they'll help you along

unfortunately i dont have a club nearer than an hours drive away.

Lumen

Repolho wrote: »

I was thinking of joining a club but I'd be afraid that I would be too slow for them on spins and I hate being a dead weight on people.

Everyone thinks that, but better to join the club sooner rather than later - they'll probably be more worried about your bike handling skills than your pace. Clubs tend to run beginner spins once the racing season is over (i.e. soon) which would be ideal.

Repolho

ednwireland wrote: »

same here, lose more weight would be a good start - for me (Down 1.5 stone in 3 months loads more to go) was out on sat with innisfree wheelers and held the group for the first hour or so 30+kmh on rolling roads then got dropped on climbs (that damn weight again)
ask at a local club tell them what your doing i'm sure they'll help you along

unfortunately i dont have a club nearer than an hours drive away.

Yeah, the weight could be a factor allright. Currently tipping the scales at 88kgs with a BMI of 28.17 accoring to my wii fit!

A diet might be a good starting point!

blorg

Diet is essential. If you are significantly overweight I think you are best off losing the weight first and only then working on improving speed on the bike. To a large extent to develop speed on the bike you need to refuel and this is directly opposed to your goals with losing weight. So best do that first and not worry about how fast you go- when the weight is off then work on the speed. That is what I did anyway when I was losing weight, strict calorie controlled diet and plenty of long spins on the bike but at a leisurely pace. The problem with trying to lose weight while going fast on the bike is that you can't really go fast without the fuel or you will bonk... You can however cycle 160km on next to _no_ food if you do it slowly enough.

Jumpy

I am not sure why, but some parts of the Sean Kelly I could barely keep up with my mates, other times I could power ahead at 50km/h on the flats.
My energy fluctuates so much its annoying.