James G Group - CLOSED (Page 5)

Hey all, James asked me to post some thoughts on bike training.  After reading this stuff, let me know if you have any other questions. 

Lemond once said about cycling, and I live by this: "it never gets easier, you just get faster." 

So here's the good news about bike training: it's probably the least technical of the three sports in the sense that there is no great need to spend loads of time working on technique. Get on, turn the pedals fast, done. Pretty simple.

Here's the "bad" news, although this is really more like a reality check: biking is a blue collar sport. Really, triathlon is too, I just think that there is too much literature and talk about power meters, training techniques, intervals, etc., that would have you believe that there is some magical shortcut to bike fitness. Generally speaking, if you are putting in more quality miles than the guy next to you, you'll be faster.

So here are the basics:

(1) Technique basics:

(a) Learn to sustain 90 rpms for long periods of time. Higher cadence cycling puts less stress on the legs to produce power in each individual pedal stroke, thus reducing the fatigue in your legs over long distances. So, get a computer with cadence function and practice pedaling 90 rpms all the time. I mean ALL THE TIME. When climbing, do not drop below 90 until you have exhausted all of your gears. When you are in the granny, and you can't hold 90, then drop the cadence. If you have a double chain ring and can't hold 90 up to about a 5-6% grade in the granny, you probably need a triple chain ring. There are exceptions that you will learn later, but as a beginner, learn to hold 90 forever.

(b) Handling - practice simple things like riding no hands, and then ride no-hands to get your jacket on and off, nutrition out of your jersey, etc. No-hands is really hard on a tri-bike, and some bikes are so squirrelly that it's basically impossible. Don't worry if you can't ride no hands on the tri bike, but work hard on this on your road bike (assuming you have both). Also, when you are waiting on friends to show up, or just screwing around on the weekends, practice rolling past a water bottle and picking it up, setting it back down, picking it back up. Good for learning bike stability and makes you feel like a kid.

(c) Braking - most of the braking power on a bike comes from the front brake. Learn to apply steady power to the front brake with light to moderate pressure on the rear. Shift your weight back when braking hard on the front for quick stops.

(d) Drafting - ride with friends and learn to get within 6-12 inches of their back wheel and hold steady. The best thing to look at is the hub of the rear wheel or the lower back of the rider in front of you. Don't stare at the tire or you'll crash. Small adjustments for distance include lightly tapping the brakes (without quick slow downs to affect the rider behind you), getting out of the draft slightly to slow down, slightly increasing cadence to speed up, gear selection, etc. Pack riding is great for bike handling skills and it's just more fun to ride with friends.

(e) Descending - find a good rider and follow their line downhill. Pay attention to what they do and then ask questions after. Generally, enter the turn wide, lean through the apex, exit the turn wide. Always descend in the drops with your fingers near the levers (or on the bull horns on the tri bike). Counterbalance the bike through sharp descents - lean hard on the hand to the inside of the turn while leaning into the turn and releasing pressure off the hand on the outside of the turn, at the same time putting balanced pressure on the pedals with the outside pedal in the 6 O'Clock position. When you have these basic techniques down, practice on the same hill seeing if you can touch the brakes less and less on each descent. Nothing is more discouraging than kicking someone's @ss uphill and then seeing them fly past you on the downhill, so work on your descending skills.

(f) Pedaling "circles" - there's a lot of confusing talk about pedal stroke and efficiency. What you need to know is this - don't just "mash" the pedals by pushing on the down stroke. Try to make a make a nice even circle by pulling up on the back end of the pedal stroke. Think about scraping mud off your shoe at the bottom of the stroke, pulling up on the up stroke, releasing all pressure at the top of the pedal stroke, and pushing steadily (not stomping) on the down stroke. When guys are really tired you'll see them "pushing squares" - which means their legs are too tired to pedal smoothly throughout the entire stroke and they look clunky. Eliminate the squares and make nice circles. Try some one legged drills, which will help you identify where your pedal stroke is clunky or out of rhythm. Winter time trainer sessions are the best for this - do 3x1' individual legs on each side.

(2) Training

(a) Ride hills to get stronger. There really isn't much more to say. If you live in a really, really, really flat area, then ride hard intervals as a replacement for hills. Hills are simply the fastest, best and most fun way to get stronger on the bike.

(b) Building endurance on the bike is pretty basic. Go a little longer each week. Repeat for three weeks, rest for one, repeat for three weeks, rest for one, etc.

(c) Heart rate monitor or watt meter on the bike is a pretty big deal, but probably not for the reason you think. The bike is an easy place to go way too hard, and without a HRM or watt meter, people go out and hammer every ride. Get a monitor, do an LT test, and then do the majority of your riding in Heart Rate Zone 1 and Zone 2. Lots of long moderate efforts will make you extremely fit, and they also have a nice fitness cross-over effect on the run.

(3) Gear - I think James covered this, but I'll just add that comfortable and well fitting clothing is a big deal. Getting the clothing right for the temperature, location, etc. makes cycling a lot more fun.

That's it. I would be happy to answer any questions about racing different distances (haven't done IM yet, but working on that now), nutrition on the bike, bike to run workouts ("bricks", gear (I am the Gearwhore after all) or any other biking topics you might want to discuss.

Thanks Gearwhore!!! Really useful info for the bike!!! I have a long ride this Sunday and will be keeping those techniques in mind.

No but it will cost you $10 per race extra and you then can;t get a USAT ranking for your AG. Google USAT and then just fill out the membership on line...

This can probably be answered better in terms of time and money, and then you can decide for yourself whether this is important to you.  As to the "need" part of the question, of course you don't NEED it, the only thing you absolutely need to finish a triathlon is a bathing suit and goggles, a bike of any kind, and a pair of running shoes.  Beyond the basics, everything is a luxury item. 

Time - In a 40K time trial (standard distance for an Olympic distance event), the difference in time between a road bike and a tri bike would be about 3-5 minutes.  This is, of course, an estimate based on the set up of the bike, frame materials, how much time you actually spend in the aero bars, the speed you ride, course conditions, etc.  But suffice to say that 3-5 minutes is probably a fair estimate. 

The reason is that a tri bike is simply MUCH more aerodynamic than a road bike.  Setting aside the tube shapes and other aero features, a tri bike puts the rider in a position relative to wind resistance that is simply faster.  And what's the biggest obstacle to going faster?  Wind resistance. 

The other time saving is harder to quantify, and you'll see lots of disagreement here.  But running off the bike is faster on a properly fitting and properly set up time trial bike.  TT bikes rely more heavily on muscular contribubution from the hamstrings, saving the quads for the run.  Some people think it makes little to no difference, studies have shown otherwise, but the exact amount of time is up for debate.  I would guess that I run about 1:00-2:00 faster in a 10K off a tri bike.

Money - Expect to spend about $3000 on a TT bike.  In my opinion, the Cervelo P2C, which both James and I ride, is one of the very best TT bikes on the market and can be had for slightly less than $3000.  There are other options, but for someone that already owns a really nice road bike, there's no particular reason to go out and get the cheapest tri bike made.  If you're going to commit to a TT bike, plan to spend the money on a full race set up.  The exception is for those buying one, and only one, bike, with no intention of doing any riding other than triathlon training and racing. 

Difference - Understand that a tri bike is not simply a road bike with aero bars.  It's a different frame geometry with the seat post at a steeper angle relative to the bottom bracket than a road bike.  In fact, adding aerobars to a road bike is tricky business, and requires adjustments to the fit of the bike that go beyond tightening the bolts on the bars.  You might check out SlowTwitch.com for some suggestions about how you properly set up a road bike with aero bars.  PM me if you want more specifics, but this requires some homework.

Should you get one?  I haven't taken the time to look at your profile or what you hope to do in the sport, but here are some thoughts off the top.  If you are looking to give triathlon a shot, but you don't expect to be near the front of your AG, then I don't see any reason to rush right out and get a TT bike.  If, on the other hand, you have a competitive endurance background and want to go right out and place Top 5-10 in AG, then you should consider a tri bike.  If you are new to competitive sports, and you are into triathlon for the challenge, give it a few years, and if you turn into more of a "competitor" than a "participant," you might want to spend the money.  If your goals include qualifying for another event (Nationals, Alcatraz, Kona, etc.), you should definitely get a tri bike because your competitors will be riding them and will have a distinct advantage that will be difficult to overcome. 

Hope this helps.

Adam

Molly - Adam gives some really good advice here I went throught this thought process this year.

Started with a fairly decent road bike with-out aeros on and got these properly fitted by my LBS. I was definitely faster with these on than what I was without.

As Adam says I was getting passed in my races on the flats by people on tri bikes only and as he references I was in the 5 - 10 place catergory in my AG, all the people above me had tri bikes. . In my opionion a road bike is better for ascending hills.

Three things to think about in my opinion.

1/ It is your first season and your background is running. An important part of becoming a fast rider is bike control, my tri bike is a lot harder to handle at speeds than my road bike. Maybe you should test drive a tri bike at your LBS get the feel of it first, no point shelling out $3000 on a bike if you crash it in the first week or have to constantly come out o fteh aerobars which negates the aero benefits.

2/ You have to build the engine, you can have the fastest bike in the world but you still have to peddal it.

3/ Road bikes in my opinion ascend better than tri bikes, if you are doing mainly hilly races not sure you will get the benefits mentioned.

Oh btw - I love my tri bike but I did 2000 hard miles on my road bike in 6 months and 4 - 5 races before purchasing it...

Happy weekend all.

WHOOPS - This was actually my comments wife was logged on at teh home PC under her log on.... 

Hey Tom PF is not a weenie issue, I started to get a little of this last year right at the end of the season. I think in your post you aren't running with proper running shoes. I would recommend you get some ASAP. Get fitted from a proper running store which can do a run gait analysis. That should help out. the other thing I was recommended is to stretch the achilies lots and also I keep under my desk at work a tennis ball which I roll teh arches of my foot around thsi helps break down the stifness in the plascha which is in the arch. This really works.

I woudl suggest looking on google to get some further tips. 

"This Saturday it begins again in earnest. Working the next two days so leaving the house at five to return after eight leaves no time for frivolities. Hence Saturday. No, I did not set a fitness resolution, though I did set a resolution for the first time ever. My GOAL for this year is to complete the NYC tri and perhaps the hamptons marathon (still up in the air, I'll see how my body tolerates the mileage, could be '09). My RESOLUTION is that I will once again drive the '65 Mustang I took apart 3+ years ago before my first daughter was born. That will be long nights scratching my head in the garage wondering where all the extra bolts go.

So Guy's - So we are now in January, only 5 - 6 months before the season starts for most of us. 1/ How do we think our training is going? 2/ and what is concerning us?.

For me..

1/ My training had been going well started to build some real consistency around Nov & Dec and working on building my base a lot of slow Z1 and Z2 stuff and swim focus.

2/ Biggest concern I have is my shoulder it is really starting to impact on my training, just trying to be smart and rest when it is at it's worst start Physio this week so hopefully back in the pool soon. Other big concern I have is I am changing IM programs to a Power training program as I now have a new Power Meter. So come March the 1st I need to have built my base up slowly to a 12 hour training week without getting injured. 

I am working at the moment on teh next swimming piece hopefully have something today tomorrow.

JG 

1. So far (day 9 lol) I feel like training is going well. My new program is very challenging for me, but there is definitely a sense of accomplishment in getting these long 2-a-day workouts completed.

2.I have two main concerns. First is motivation...right now its pretty easy...new year, new training program, new goals, but I definitely know that I am the type of person who is very gung ho at the start of something new, then my motivation slips and I find it so hard to push myself through and train anyway. The second concern I have, and it probably shouldn't be a concern, is my speed. I know I shouldn't compare myself to anyone else, but I look at all the training logs and see that I am comparatively very slow in all three disciplines, and that bugs me. It actually feeds into my first concern...ie: I'm so freakin' slow, why do I even bother? What do you all do when motivation is an issue?