From weekend warrior to racer...

flying11

Intro:
OK, so following a few years of doing sportives/charity cycles and club rides, i think i need to take the plunge and go racing at some point this year, most likely in my local county league races from June-September.

First a bit of background about me:
So to start of with, age is on my side (i hope anyway ) as i am only in my mid-twenties, so hopefully i can adapt to the stresses and strains of competitive cycling fairly quickly. I have always played sport during my life and played Gaelic football, soccer and basketball during my teenage years and still continue to play Gaelic to a fairly high standard at club level. I also competed in athletics to a decent level during my teens where i specialized in sprint events (100m, 200m and hurdles). I took up cycling 2 years ago and have done the Ring of Kerry a few times, a few of the An Post series and loads of smaller local events (charity/fundraiser cycles etc). I done 3500 miles last year and have 400 done this year (would have been more except i was sick for a few weeks in January).

Also, I have been having a pretty tough time of it lately too, so i really feel that the bike could be a very welcome distraction for me to take my mind off things.

Some observations:
As mentioned, I still play Gaelic and will continue to do so for the forseeable future at least. This has created a few problems for me when trying to train for cycling. Firstly, Gaelic training takes up 3/4 nights of the week which in turn limits my cycling time which is a big problem. Looking forward to the clocks changing at the end of march as this will give me a bit more time to go cycling. Next, i feel that the training i am doing for Gaelic is the opposite of the training i need to be doing if i am going racing. In Gaelic, during a match it is all about short sharp bursts of speed followed by recovery periods. Whereas from what i can see, cycling is all about speed endurance and fatigue resistance over prolonged periods. Would love to hear from anyone else who has combined cycling training simultaneously with another sport.

What type of rider am I?
Do any of us really know the answer to this question? Well i am relatively light (69 kg and just under 5'11 tall) and on club rides i am always in the first 4/5 over climbs (most of the time anyway). The guys who are 1st/2nd race already. I really enjoy short sharp hills (e.g. ramps of 10-15% for ~500m) in particular. I think this may be partly due to my sprinting background as i feel short sharp hills suit the type of explosive power that i have developed from my time as a sprinter and from Gaelic training. I am grand on the flat too although i don't have a diesel engine like some fellas who seem like they could keep going forever. I have developed decent group riding skills too as i have been cycling with a club for the past 12 months.

Where i really struggle, is with endurance. I always feel good and strong until ~45/50 miles into a spin and then i seem to slow down drastically as the legs begin to seize up. I am going to have to do a lot of endurance work before my first race evidently. Also, i think my nutrition on the bike could be influencing me here.

Aims:
For my first season, i want to be realistic. Having watched a few of the county league races last year, there are approx 30-40 A4s in each race. I know it is highly probable that i will be dropped during my first few races but my ambition is to get a top 10 placing by September. Maybe a bit ambitious for a total noob at racing but better to aim high i guess.

Also, just being able to prove to myself that i can do it is a big motivator too.

Where to start:
For the next few weeks i am going to try and build at least 2 endurance spins (>4 hours) into my weekly schedule. I also have a turbo so hope to make use of that too, gradually bringing in some interval work.

I will try to update this every week or so and i would love to hear any advice for a guy going into his first season of racing.

So onwards and upwards from here i guess! :cool:

Smalltom

Very best of luck with it. Not a million miles from my GAA/soccer/canoeing background and I started racing in my mid 30's and love it. It's great to have a target/goal IMO which helps keep you focused. I'm 5'10 and 70kgs so you're in a good place I think. I race a3 now fwiw. Enjoy.

Lumen

flying11 wrote: »

I really enjoy short sharp hills (e.g. ramps of 10-15% for ~500m) in particular. I think this may be partly due to my sprinting background as i feel short sharp hills suit the type of explosive power that i have developed from my time as a sprinter and from Gaelic training.

Those climbs probably take you 2-3 mins. That's not explosive sprinting, that's aerobic power. The fact that you fade after that just means you're not pacing properly for your level of aerobic fitness.

In road racing the constant accelerations are really draining and the level of acute suffering can be quite surprising. Don't overthink your preparation - the season is long and you'll adapt to the stresses soon enough.

Whatever you do, try not to hang out at the back of the bunch. You'll have to work harder and are more likely to get dropped.

flying11

Thanks for the words of advise lads. First race is 10 weeks away yet so i wont worry about tactics too much for the time being.

Only managed to get in one hour long spin (including 20 mins @ threshold power + 3 VO2 max intervals) on the turbo this weekend as i have been battling head cold all week. Also did a flexibility workout for 30 mins as-well. Have found my hammers get quite tight if i do a lot of training on the bike.

Plan for the week ahead is to alternate between turbo and core workouts during the weekdays and then hopefully the head-cold will have cleared by next weekend and i'll tackle an endurance spin or two.

Jack Joll

First off, best of luck with the upcoming season! Second I think you may find the transition pretty hard in the first off. Don't dig too deep into what and how your going to develop as a racer without even raced, take the first few races as a learning curve and you'll figure out what you need to improve on.
As a matter of interest how are you rating your exertion levels, I seen you carried out a threshold and VO2max turbo session, only reason I ask is If it was true VO2max and you had a cold I doubt you would have succeeded in completing the session, which leads me to believe you are over estimating your effort. Get your proper training zones nailed down firstly, and remember the zones are different for all sports.
Again good luck with the season, and trying to maintain what will become a busy sporting week for you!

Chips Lovell

Why are you waiting for 10 weeks to start? The season's already under way. That'll bring you into late May and at that stage of the year most guys will be flying. Races tend to tail off into the summer, so you may not even get to race every weekend.

flying11

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

Why are you waiting for 10 weeks to start? The season's already under way. That'll bring you into late May and at that stage of the year most guys will be flying. Races tend to tail off into the summer, so you may not even get to race every weekend.

Well for a number of reasons really. I know i haven't the training done at the moment so i want to get a solid block of training under my belt before my first race.

Also, the races i am targeting form part of a local racing league. It involves races and time trials every 2 weeks all throughout the summer (6 races in total + 2/3 time trials). Looking at last years reports, approx 60 entered each race.

I will more than likely wait until next year before i enter the bigger races. You have to walk before you run and all that!

Jack Joll wrote: »

First off, best of luck with the upcoming season! Second I think you may find the transition pretty hard in the first off. Don't dig too deep into what and how your going to develop as a racer without even raced, take the first few races as a learning curve and you'll figure out what you need to improve on.
As a matter of interest how are you rating your exertion levels, I seen you carried out a threshold and VO2max turbo session, only reason I ask is If it was true VO2max and you had a cold I doubt you would have succeeded in completing the session, which leads me to believe you are over estimating your effort. Get your proper training zones nailed down firstly, and remember the zones are different for all sports.
Again good luck with the season, and trying to maintain what will become a busy sporting week for you!

Well i am using trainer-road for my turbo sessions so i am basing my data off that (via heart rate + power). As you suggest, its the constant surges during races that i think may be hardest to deal with. I'll be honest though, my aim for the first race will just be to not get dropped before the finish - i'd be happy enough with that and build from there!

Chips Lovell

Local leagues are a great place to start out alright. Does your one really not get going though till the end of May though? If so, fair enough. If it starts earlier, then get in there right from the start.

Postponing starting because you think you need to train more is one of the classic beginner's mistake. If you're in a club and going on training spins with the racers, then you're ready to step up. Until then, you're training to some degree in the dark. For example, you're worried about your endurance beyond 50 miles. That's about 80km and as an A4 or in most club leagues you'd rarely be racing anywhere near that distance.

Jim Stynes

30 and still playing gaelic as well. It is really hard to manage both! Most sundays are out window for cycling as I have a match. Saturdays is my only day for long rides until the light nights come in. But even then I am worrying about my legs being too tired for the game the next day. During the light nights it can mean I am doing something every night and not getting the proper rest either. If you find the magic formula for doing both then let me know!!

flying11

I had a fairly productive time training last week, so quite happy with how my fitness is coming along.

I chalked up 130 miles last week on the road, spread over 3 days. Was out on my own on both wednesday and thursday which was a good workout with the wind that was there. Battling a headwind for ~25 miles on your own is'nt to much fun! Got a long spin in on saturday too to build some endurance.

I also got 2 sessions in on the turbo with some high intensity stuff from trainerroad so overall a good mix of endurance, tempo and high intensity stuff spread out during the week. About 9 hours total on the bike during the week.

Also had GAA training once and had a match on sunday so it was a busy week for me all in all. Also incorporated a 30 minute flexibility session on wednesday evening as the legs were begining to feel a bit heavy at that stage. Hamstrings were very tight but felt better after some thorough stretching.

A week closer to my first race, May won't be long coming around now!