jackbombay

11 weeks till Eroica!!!


And I need to get some riding in!

We just had a 2 week storm cycle roll through here (10' of new snow in the mountains) AND I had possibly the worst cold I've ever had, but I am well enough to ride again thankfully...

The only riding here is fatbiking on snow, which is fun, but you don't go very far for your efforts, so I prefer to measure my rides by time instead of distance :-P

1.5 hours today, 1 hour yesterday, I am feeling in vaguely sort of ok shape. I'm hoping to pedal 4 days a week till I leave for California, and once this cold if finally gone *completely* I'd love to get 2 hours on the bike a couple times a week...

I have a bit of a hang up about getting 2 hours on the bike as Mark Beaumont (the record holder for riding around the world) said moderate intensity 2 hour rides is how he trains for his big rides, and if it works for him it can't be a bad way to go about it!

Brad L 

My coach used to say that you don't gain any fitness until after the 2 hour mark, so when I need to improve from my current condition, I shoot for 3+ hours.

At 57 years of age, my fitness seems to come on much slower than it used to. To train for Eroica, I've changed my normal rides from speed oriented to distance by riding with a slower group than normal, but putting in more miles. I'm getting close to the 4 hour mark now but I feel pretty rough near the end. At least the weather here has been fairly kind (so far), and I haven't had to resort to long, indoor trainer sessions. My biggest problem is training for hills similar to those on Eroica. It's flat prairie near home and a 60 mile ride from the house will net less than 1000 feet of climbing. I can drive about 45 minutes west to get into rolling hills that will net around 3000 feet per 60 miles, so I've been doing a lot of rides out there recently. The hills are not terribly steep (≈10% max) and no longer than a mile or so. The closest I can get to long climbs are long, straight roads into the tough winds we can have here.

I signed up for the Scalatore route, but will use the Santa Lucia route as a bailout if necessary. I'm beginning to feel like I may be in over my head.

Classtime 

I'm lucky to have the clothes to ride comfortably for 5-6 hours when it is only in the high 50s to low 60s

It is the high intensity stuff that I have been avoiding. And the promise I made last year(and the year before that and...) when I had to stop and catch my breath on Cypress, to increase my strength for steep climbs on vintage gear has not been kept. I hope ther is still time.

Spaghetti Legs 

If I lived in your climate, I would cross country ski.

Besides having fun and hanging around fellow vintage bike nerds, I don’t really have any goals for the Eroica ride other than finishing in one piece.I view it as a series of 20-ish mile rides between rest stops, so I focus any training on riding as often as I can weather permitting and getting as much climbing in as possible. I search out the 15+% dirt/gravel climbs and make sure I get some reps on those with my Eroica bike.

jackbombay

Thanks for the info!

I admittedly don't know all that much about "proper training", just bits and pieces I pick up here and there, be it from friends more experienced than me or youtube vids with riders more experienced than me.

So far I have been able to finish all the century+ rides I've done and feel great at the end, I am 46 years old. I was planning on a fat bike half century about 3 weeks before Eroica, which will burn more calories than Eroica itself, if that goes terribly I can opt for a shorter course at Eroica. The big one for me on longer rides is making sure I don't blow up due to "improper throttle operation" :-P

jackbombay

RIding in 50 degree weather?!?! The HORROR!!!!! ;-) I'd love a sunny day on the bike down there right now!

High intensity? Put 4 laps back to back up Mount Dissapointment! ;-)

I do a bit here and there, but it's not really my thing, and it doesn't keep your butt used to a bike seat like biking does. I can go up the local ski resort for my own duathlon, the plank and crank, start with some snowboarding, plank, then hit the groomed fat bike single track, crank, an hour and a half to ride all of it, 10 miles and 1000' of climbing, at 8,200'. They should have a couple more loops groomed before too long so there will be 15 miles or so up there.

Thats one I certainly don't have this time of year, but the fat bike will not climb if you get out of the saddle, so I'm getting practice sitting and grinding out climbs on my fatty.

gugie 

My goal is to not have you wait for an hour at the top of the climbs for me. Oh, and if they don't plough Kiler (like they did last year) is to make it to the top without walking.

jackbombay

Did they run a road grader on some of the climbs just before the ride last year? Leaving the road surface loose/soft?

fvernon

Yikes I'm getting my training started for Eroica California now, too. Telemark skiing 1-2x/week for the lunge/leg work, and I swear I'll start my core exercises soon. I think I make that promise to myself at least 1x/week. Signed up for the Scalatore ride as well, so I'm going to need to start some long rides. A few weeks ago I towed my daughter from SLO to LA as a winter bike tour to kick off my winter training and did some mountain biking in PHX last weekend, but I really need to get back on my bike and start regular long rides to train. Looking forward to seeing folks in Cambria this April!

Has the actual event site been named yet? I heard last year's site is a no-go, and I want to book a hotel/BnB within close walking/riding distance from the festivities asap but haven't heard where in Cambria it'll all be.

gugie 

Yep, probably just the day before on Kiler. All of the tire tracks were fresh.

gugie 

Don't wait to book, Cambria's a small town, it'll get booked up early. Pretty much anywhere in Cambria is a short bike ride from the start.

jackbombay

I imagine they thought they were doing the event/riders a favor when it was graded, but if there is no moisture in the gravel when it gets graded, and it doesn't have some car traffic on it to pack it, it can be so soft and loose. Washboard is of course fairly annoying as well, but at least it's more rideable.

rccardr 

I don't think they were thinking of the riders at all when they graded that road on Firday night or early Saturday morning. Or if they were, it was only to p*** everyone off. Pretty sure that road is privately maintained by the local landowners. Given the amount of organizational apptitude last year, anything is possible.

Like Spago mentioned, look at Eroica as a series of 20-ish mile intense rides: the sprint down to Cayucos, then the hills to and up Santa Rita (and the lovely downhill that follows), up Kiler Canyon (and then the up and down through the ridge that follows), then the long and curvy climb up Cypress (and the death-defying descent afterwards).

To that end, when I can't ride outdoors, I spin in intense 20-mile/90 minute sessions three to five times per week, with a fairly slow 45-70 cadence and consistent power numbers in the 180-200 range. Works for me, also burns calories.

3speedslow

You’re all worthless and weak! Now drop your gearing and give me 50 miles!

Motivated yet?

jackbombay

Thank you sir may I have another!

Slightspeed

I decided to ride every day I can this year, today is January 21st, and I've missed 2 days, so far, 350+ miles total. Today I did a 48 mile run along PCH to Malibu and back from Camarillo Airport. It was a club ride, on my carbon modern bike, but miles are miles. I have ridden my Eroica Super Course ride many times on this ride, but overnight rains left the connecting farm roads a muddy mess, and modern molded carbon is so much easier to clean than lugged steel. The only setback, besides being 70 years old, is that I haven't dragged out the dreaded toe clips and straps yet. I need to get more miles on them. They increase the level of difficulty at least 50% for me on climbing. I used to race with them (including cleats), commute and tour with them (never on dirt, it wasn't invented then!), but discovered SPDs 20 years ago, and never looked back. Ride all the hills you can. If you are doing Piedras Blancas, no big deal. Its a scenic, nice mostly flat ride that anybody should be able to ride and enjoy, toe clips and all. I did it last year on my Legnano with 42/28 best gear, following two minor surgeries a month before, and enjoyed every mile. If you are doing the hilly rides, better get your climbing legs on, or find some comfy walking shoes. If these pictures don't motivate you to get going on training, well, good luck.

jackbombay

YES!!!!!

Due to winter and life I can't ride that frequently, but I'm so happy that you have been able to get out that much, here's to both of us *not* walking any of the climbs! ;-)

gaucho777 

I just booked my hotel, so it finally feels real. Fortunately, the weather here in the SF Bay Area doesn't ever get that cold, and I don't mind riding in a bit of rain. This will be my second Eroica CA, and first time back since 2016. My regular commuter is my Eroica bike. I usually climb a 4-mile hill to work with bags stuffed full of books, papers, and computer. Shedding the rack/panniers and swapping the wheels for a tubular set is such a magical feeling--worth at least a few weeks of training!

Narhay

An indoor trainer and the myriad of available programs (zwift, Garmin, wahoo, etc) makes riding indoors not so bad these days. I've been on the trainer since December but the accessibility and data metrics mean I can see progress in terms of my fitness.

Millstone

Good luck guys! I've never been to one but I still like this thread, espescially the pictures. Looks like a ton of fun .

daviddavieboy

I was basically off the bike for almost a year and from October to now I have lost almost 25 lbs and shooting for another 20. Outside training is out of the question here due to the weather so I went to Zwift and TrainingPeaks . While I find Zwift really fun TP seems more focused. I was able to put the Eroica date and event type details into TP and it built a plan for me as well as the expected training stress for the week progression chart including proper taper before the event. As far as my fitness according to TP my FTP is right around where is was for my last century in 2018 but my weight is still 20lbs higher. I am more of a tourist so I am really looking forward to this adventure !

mgopack42 

daviddavieboy Did you buy a training plan from TP? if so which one did you settle on? all of the choices make it hard. Or did you use some other method to build a plan.

jackbombay

Rode 1.5 hours on the fat bike today, for a whopping 12.5 miles!

daviddavieboy

I didn't buy a training plan, I entered Eroica as an event with 8h of riding and 100 mi distance and the estimated CTL based on the last century I did. I then created a ATP(annual training plan) including the event and TP gave me the weekly training load and ramp rate I would have to do to build up to Eroica. As far as workouts there are lots of workouts to do all over the web, personally I use Zwift for the workouts and as long as I stay on track and continue to ramp up on schedule I should be OK. If you are looking for a workout plan Trainer Road has a free month trial if you can find a code or sign up for Zwift and use a workout plan there. From what I can tell Zwift and TrainerRoad have no way to put a plan together for a specific event like TP but the workouts are good.

jackbombay

hour and 15 minutes today for 7.7 miles. 2" of new snow on the groomed fatbike single track, slippery! And slow. I also STILL have a nagging bit of a cold that just will not go away, I'm so looking forward to being able to ride without hacking/coughing for 15 minutes after the ride, *sigh*... It sucks, because I'm not particularly sick, but I'm certainly not fully healthy...