Pros vs Joes..

[chris_the_wrench]

In case you're not depressed today...

Duh! The guys in the lime colored kits are the domestiques, they already lead out their boy and he's way up the road!

 

[Tony Storaro]

A yearly cycling total that constitutes a "lot" by my standards is three or four thousand miles.

4000 miles is...what? 6500 km or thereabouts yes? It is doable. Problem for me is more than 8000 km. No matter what I do and how carefully I plan it, it just does not happen. For now. We will see in the future but given I do not ride in the months when I ski and this is 4 months, I doubt I will reach 8000 km any time soon.

 

[martyg]

Yes I'd say this is true. When my buddy who is actually fit goes riding, his easy day is like an EASY day... I can easily keep up..as a matter of fact it's pretty easy for me. OTOH, his hard day is ballistic.

This. Exactly this. Although you need performance metabolic testing to really dial it in. I have two really hard days per week. The rest of the time it is what many would term "junk miles". Although without testing you really gave no udea.

 

[Tom K.]

I have two really hard days per week. The rest of the time it is what many would term "junk miles". Although without testing you really gave no udea.

Pretty much my approach when I was still training for endurance mtb.

But I called the "junk mile" days FUN DAYS!

 

[Tony Storaro]

Pretty much my approach when I was still training for endurance mtb.

But I called the "junk mile" days FUN DAYS!

I do not understand the meaning of "junk miles". I mean, I do know what people mean by this, people who do real training, intervals, structured and whatnot, people with goals and ambitions in cycling, but for me every single second in the saddle is pure joy and I am thankful for every km, every hour on my bike no matter how slow or fast I move.

But then again, I ride because I just love to ride bike so much. And of course, to quote that Hambini guy: I do it to offset my drinking and eating habits.

 

[Tom K.]

I do not understand the meaning of "junk miles".

But then again, I ride .......... to offset my drinking and eating habits.

(probably you are kidding, but) When you are training seriously, junk miles is just a term used for rides when you aren't going hard enough to improve, or easy enough to recover.

Although I was fairly serious during my endurance racing years, I mostly avoided this problem by doing alternate activities on recovery days -- I mean, nobody was paying me, so LIFE, right?!

And I more than occasionally share your offsetting of eating and drinking habits as motivation!

 

[cantunamunch]

And I more than occasionally share your offsetting of eating and drinking habits as motivation!

I've already admitted that this is my only motivation.

For some reason the direction this thread has taken reminds me of Joe ( ) Rogan videos - specifically when he talks about statistical measures of morbidity.

I mean sure, having enormous VO2max can override any number of bad habits when it comes to morbidity indicators - statistically.

What floors me is the number of non-Rogan Joes who think that they a) should work on VO2 max directly and b) can improve VO2max in any significant way without training specificity.

"Oh, hey, I'm doing 50-70 flatland miles per week and lifting weights, tell me about VO2max? I hate hills, I don't want to do them. No, I don't want to deal with power or heart rate numbers, what's the minimum I can do to get big VO2max?"

 

[Tony Storaro]

"Oh, hey, I'm doing 50-70 flatland miles per week and lifting weights, tell me about VO2max? I hate hills, I don't want to do them. No, I don't want to deal with power or heart rate numbers, what's the minimum I can do to get big VO2max?"

Seems to me, it is time we resort to foreign literature once again:

“The good (shreya) and the pleasant (preya) are two different things. They motivate a person to pursue two different goals. The one who embraces the good meets with auspiciousness. But the one who chooses the pleasant is lost.”

—Katha Upanishad 1.2.1

In the mystical world of road cycling, these two things are interconnected and one is a direct consequence of the other. See, deep waters here.
I do hills and climbs although I hate them- you can't go 40 km/h on 12-15% gradient climb even if you are Tadej Pogačar's stronger brother, just because 3-4 days after a climbing day that left me half dead I am like a rocket on the flats. Like slightly overweight and a bit slow Peter Sagan man.
So the good leads to the pleasant.

I am quite sure the ancient sages-the authors of the Upanishads would lose no time in agreeing with me, had they been introduced to the beauty of road cycling.

 

[cantunamunch]

“The good (shreya) and the pleasant (preya) are two different things. They motivate a person to pursue two different goals. The one who embraces the good meets with auspiciousness. But the one who chooses the pleasant is lost.”
—Katha Upanishad 1.2.1

given I do not ride in the months when I ski and this is 4 months, I doubt I will reach 8000 km any time soon.

One of the local-to-me forums features a little winter game...to score full marks you have to ride 75 days of 16km each. You are allowed to miss days, of course, but each day you miss costs 88km to make up

 

[Tony Storaro]

One of the local-to-me forums features a little winter game...to score full marks you have to ride 75 days of 16km each. You are allowed to miss days, of course, but each day you miss costs 88km to make up

Are we talking riding outside here? I mean, no indoor trainers and stuff?
You mean, you miss one day and the next day you should do 104?
Not easy this one.

 

[cantunamunch]

Are we talking riding outside here? I mean, no indoor trainers and stuff?
You mean, you miss one day and the next day you should do 104?

You read that exactly right.

 

[Tony Storaro]

You read that exactly right.

Dayim ...our Winter Series here are far more relaxed-so long as you can do 150km a week, you are good.

 

[Tom K.]

One of the local-to-me forums features a little winter game...to score full marks you have to ride 75 days of 16km each. You are allowed to miss days, of course, but each day you miss costs 88km to make up

Ausgezeichnet!

Does anybody make it?!

I mean, how do you go SKIING?!

 

[cantunamunch]

I mean, how do you go SKIING?!

I might have to seriously cut into my forum time

 

[Tony Storaro]

Ausgezeichnet!

Does anybody make it?!

I mean, how do you go SKIING?!

Yeah. On paper it looks easy. 16 km is nothing after all. But when you have to do it every single day no matter what or else you have to do 88 more...it is really really tough if you think about it. Almost impossible.

 

[Tom K.]

On paper it looks easy. 16 km is nothing after all.

I could maybe do this -- I'd need a fat bike 2/3 multiplier in the winter -- but there would have to be some reward, and the respect of my peers would not make the cut!

There is a saying/riddle in the fat bike world: How do you get in a good 2 hour workout? Go for a 1 hour fat back ride in new snow!