FTP and cycle racing.

Chumpski

Macy0161 wrote: »

Only done one club league race, but I think the racing bug has me. Would it be nuts to try and drop into A4 later in the season, when fitness levels are up/ everyone else has months of racing in their legs? Kinda thinking of seeing how I get on with the remainder of the spring league and then maybe upgrade the licence to dip my toes later in the summer...

I did that last year, for me, initially, i didnt have a great level of fitness but it was enough to hang in flatter A4 races, not enough to hang in there on hillier ones.

After a month of racing was able to hang in on all terrains.

Do, if you are comfortable with large bunches, but I prefer the club league suggestion from CramCycle.

Macy0161

Cheers, I'll hold off for now, and see how the longer club races go and see where I am after the spring league (fitness wise/ able to hang on - no pretentions). They get longer as the league goes on, so next weeks is 40km, so I guess that'd be more of an indicator. Got around with my group ok-ish - well it was feckin hard, but made it around but nothing left for the sprint.

dahat

Did a club league race last night and Training Peaks gave me a notification of Threshold increase by 8 watts, should i accept this value or leave as is?
It isn't a massive increase but its an increase i suppose.

sullzz

dahat wrote: »

Did a club league race last night and Training Peaks gave me a notification of Threshold increase by 8 watts, should i accept this value or leave as is?
It isn't a massive increase but its an increase i suppose.

Id do an ftp test to confirm .

dahat

sullzz wrote: »

Id do an ftp test to confirm .

I'd rather not tbh!!!! Gone soft these days.

sullzz

dahat wrote: »

I'd rather not tbh!!!! Gone soft these days.

dahat

Anyone coming to Clonmel this weekend?

sullzz

dahat wrote: »

Anyone coming to Clonmel this weekend?

Yeah I've signed up for it , 2nd stage doesnt suit me though .

dahat

sullzz wrote: »

Yeah I've signed up for it , 2nd stage doesnt suit me though .

It's a power climb, be handy after the golf club if you can. Registration. Is a good bit away form start so the rollout will take 10-15mins.

Doing the A3 myself for the laugh, total last minute decision but good prep for Raparee Cup next week.

Chumpski

dahat wrote: »

It's a power climb, be handy after the golf club if you can. Registration. Is a good bit away form start so the rollout will take 10-15mins.

Doing the A3 myself for the laugh, total last minute decision but good prep for Raparee Cup next week.

I’ll be there, how long are the stages?

Can’t find info on how many laps we are doing.

sullzz

Chumpski wrote: »

I’ll be there, how long are the stages?

Can’t find info on how many laps we are doing.

Quite short , 1st stage is about 56km and 2nd stage is 26km or so .

dahat

Chumpski wrote: »

I’ll be there, how long are the stages?

Can’t find info on how many laps we are doing.

Stage 1 is 4 laps of a rolling 12.5km circuit with a couple of tasty digs but they arent savage long.

Stage 2 is 23.6km with the last 8km at 4% gradient to finish. That's just the 1 lap.

dahat

Just a heads up for anyone racing Clonmel, there is a small section of resurfaced road loose chippings on the 2nd stage, when you cross the river and turn right en route to the climb its about 2km from there, only about 800m in total but be careful.

sullzz

sullzz wrote: »

Yeah I've signed up for it , 2nd stage doesnt suit me though .

Well that was a disaster of a day

Chumpski

What happened? I had to bail as i got a migraine Saturday evening and couldn't travel.

sullzz

Chumpski wrote: »

What happened? I had to bail as i got a migraine Saturday evening and couldn't travel.

Stage 1 i was sitting sweet with a couple of km to go and i was moving up into position and i hit a deep pothole pretty hard , i didnt realise i had burst my front Tub until the left turn , when i couldnt turn , my bike just went straight across the road , luckily i was on the outside so nobdy got cut off .
I had to do the last couple km on the flat tub so lost a serious amount of time .
The incentive to do anything on stage 2 was non existent as there were no points available for each stage , just overall GC which i could never contest as i was so far back due to stage 1 .
So with a couple of km to go on mountain road i just said to myself feck this and did a u turn and headed back to the car .

dahat

sullzz wrote: »

Well that was a disaster of a day

Agreed...

CramCycle

Anyone doing the Noel and Kieran Hammond Memorial TTs this Saturday morning. Planning on getting up early to get to sign on first thing and get home early.

Anyone recommend TT bars or is it lumpy enough that you'd be better off without them.

Thud

CramCycle wrote: »

Anyone recommend TT bars or is it lumpy enough that you'd be better off without them.

it's lumpy and surface is poor in some places, there's a few stretches TT bars could be used on but overall would say drops would be better

mind you these guys used look to be using TT bars:
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/ian-richardson-nails-noel-hammond-tt-victory-after-catching-every-elite-rider-in-the-field/
http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/eoin-morton-enjoys-late-season-win-at-noel-hammond-memorial-as-gavin-heberlin-wins-a3/

Chips Lovell

All the fast times are set by guys on TT bikes. While it's certainly not flat, if I was doing it, I'd be bringing the full rig.

CramCycle

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

All the fast times are set by guys on TT bikes. While it's certainly not flat, if I was doing it, I'd be bringing the full rig.

My full rig is a road with a cheap pair of TT bars

Chips Lovell

Deffo stick 'em on!

sullzz

CramCycle wrote: »

Anyone doing the Noel and Kieran Hammond Memorial TTs this Saturday morning. Planning on getting up early to get to sign on first thing and get home early.

Anyone recommend TT bars or is it lumpy enough that you'd be better off without them.

Ah Balls !!! Had planned on doing this but have to work , thought it was on Sunday

dahat

At a crossroads with my training at this stage of the season and with a holiday coming up i'm looking to try formulate an 8 week plan with an aim to start racing again second week in July. I have had a pretty awful season so racing on backburner till then.

I normally go the indoor route but i'd like to base it mostly on road work where possible. I will also be using this period to try shift some lard which is badly needed!
The thing is i'm clueless as to how to structure it myself and looking for some guidance. Below is about as good as i can get it without any technical stuff within the session, cadence work etc. (i see now why folk fork out for coaches)

Monday: Rest/ Recovery fasted spin day
Tuesday : League race / VO2 intervals
Wednesday : ????????
Thursday Sprints / Hill repeats alternating weekly
Friday : Rest Day
Saturday: 2hr z2/z3 spin ???
Sunday : Club Spin- 4 hrs with efforts throughout, climbs, sprints etc...

Any input welcome or a favourite session suggestion.....

CramCycle

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

Deffo stick 'em on!

Do you know is order based on sign on? As in if I am there early for sign on, I will most likely be off early?

Chips Lovell

They usually seed it. So A4s before A3s before A2s and so on.

CramCycle

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

They usually seed it. So A4s before A3s before A2s and so on.

Hooray, so an early start either way.

harringtonp

dahat wrote: »

At a crossroads with my training at this stage of the season and with a holiday coming up i'm looking to try formulate an 8 week plan with an aim to start racing again second week in July. I have had a pretty awful season so racing on backburner till then.

I normally go the indoor route but i'd like to base it mostly on road work where possible. I will also be using this period to try shift some lard which is badly needed!
The thing is i'm clueless as to how to structure it myself and looking for some guidance. Below is about as good as i can get it without any technical stuff within the session, cadence work etc. (i see now why folk fork out for coaches)

Monday: Rest/ Recovery fasted spin day
Tuesday : League race / VO2 intervals
Wednesday : ????????
Thursday Sprints / Hill repeats alternating weekly
Friday : Rest Day
Saturday: 2hr z2/z3 spin ???
Sunday : Club Spin- 4 hrs with efforts throughout, climbs, sprints etc...

Any input welcome or a favourite session suggestion.....

I'd take the Ras training plan in another thread, substitute Monday core for rest, Tuesday session for your league race and on the Thursday do hard intervals of choice in the 30 sec - 8 min range. You are then essentially following a 80/20 polarized workout plan. Don't go too hard on the Sunday spin.

Macy0161

Pulled the trigger on the licence upgrade on Monday. Considering the Eddie Tobin, assuming the licence arrives in time - tough enough course but would be fairly strung out? Before I apply for my pass for the day, any opinions for my first day out to get shelled out the back early on?

sullzz

Macy0161 wrote: »

Pulled the trigger on the licence upgrade on Monday. Considering the Eddie Tobin, assuming the licence arrives in time - tough enough course but would be fairly strung out? Before I apply for my pass for the day, any opinions for my first day out to get shelled out the back early on?

Eddie tobin is a hard race , a really good course but very hard . There is a long climb each lap , i think about 5 km long with the finish on the top on the last lap , Make sure you are at the front end for these so you can filter back through the bunch if you struggle .