Sunday, another 2 hour endurance ride along the coast but started in Del Mar and rode to Carlsbad and back. Great day. Solid legs. I threw in longer SST / Threshy efforts on the way out whenever possible. My HR is normal for the power but breathing is the limiter. Lungs seem to be improving albeit very slowly. Z2 on the way back.

Joined the Tuesday morning Fiesta Island ride today, best ride in San Diego IMO. Quality riders just riding real hard. It's a paceline ride that is punctuated by 30s - 2 min ebike attacks from a local coach. The tough guys hold pace or even attack eachother between the ebike accelerations. Awesome ride.

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I agree. I have about 15 min (great warm up) to get to a loop where I can just turn right, have roundabouts available, and good shoulders. It’s on the fringe of the suburbs so the roads are nice but not much traffic. Great place to go hammer.

I would probably need 5 fans to do intervals inside. Most of my trainer time is winter zone 2, and that takes two fans. I really don’t mind the heat outside in the open air, but inside feels different. A race effort indoors? 😬

Tuesday - Indoor track - 4x flying kilos.

Wednesday - Strength training.

Thursday - Birthday and Zwift: 3 sets of 5x(30"on 1'off). Chainless day.

still struggling with the trainer. Trying to take hermes advice to heart, not really look at the power numbers but go off perceived effort. I still end up grinding away and my legs fail before I get my hr where I want it. I’ve had one good workout since I got out in Dallas the rest have been Fubar. Will prolly just do pace bots the remainder time I am out here. Work training is stressing me out too much to really have any focus on my cycling training anyways.

bampilot06 HR is a poor metric for me on the trainer. It is lower per watt of power produced. It is the same for my wife. At the track, she was maxing out HR and racing on Zwift, it is lower and got flagged for being too low during a race.

If you want your HR higher, spin faster. Try 95+ cadence at the same power target. That will increase HR but will not necessarily be easier on your legs until you adapt to it.

Do not try to be valedictorian of Zwift.:D I set my FTP for the structured workouts on Zwift at a value that I will have a high probability of achieving and ignore HR. And I go for lower cadence on Zwift (that is part of the instruction).

We have guys in our training group, older than you (by a lot) that do a Zwift structured workout in the morning and then another structured workout at the track in the afternoon. Beastmode.

As always, thanks. This makes me feel better. Going to try and ride outside tomorrow AM. Then after work training will fly home for two days. Bikes will be ridden but just not in the mind set for anything structured. Work Training is beating me up.

I forgot to bring my computer with me this weekend, so I did not record my training efforts or racing. So, I guess it didn't happen, right?

Really would have liked to see the data though.

Bampilot - I do A LOT of training on the trainer. In fact, my coach has asked me how I can chose to ride the trainer over going outside. (My reasons: 1. To maintain consistency of efforts, 2: To maximize my time, and 3: To avoid dealing with increasingly aggressive and dangerous drivers in my area, which has developed a lot in the last 10 years.)

Anyway, for me, I focus solely on the relevant metric for my effort - power, cadence, time or combination of those. I do not Zwift and I do not use erg modes. I use my Kickr like a dumb trainer - that has no wheel slip issues. I have tried playing with the setting in my Kickr to adjust level and resistance, but I find that if I have a strucutred workout, just using the Kickr like a dumb trainer works best.

I also have lots of fans on me in my garage. I've set the garage up as a home gym. I have one big fan in a corner that gives me good air flow through the whole garage. That is always on. Then I usually have one fan about face level and one on the floor angled up. Fans are necessary on the trainer.

I also have lower HR per watt on the trainer. I wonder why that is? I think on some level, it's less mentally taxing to be on the trainer, since you don't need to worry about crashing and the associated hazards of being out on the open road.

This, plus the fact that I HATE structured training, but can hope into a race on Zwift (or make one against bots on indieVelo if I can't find one) that tests what I feel I need to work at any time day or night pretty much describes my reason for spending more time on the trainer. That, and the fact that the last time I did a structured training ride on the road I got hit by a car, so it's easier in the "keeping my spouse calm and supportive of my cycling" sense to do trainer rides too.

I do my structured intervals in Zwift as well, but in free-ride mode. There are climbs or segments that cater to each system you might want physio adaptation for (e.g. 2, 3-5, and 20+ min long). So I just warm up on my way out to the segments and then "session" them, like you would IRL.

Tough week for work and training, but I got in two good anaerobic sessions and some weight training. I did a 1' test with some fatigue in the legs on Saturday and almost hit 10 w/kg. Hoping to blow past that in a couple of weeks...

dang procrit, 10 w/kg for 1' is pretty elite at your size! Not nearly as impressive as it is for my 65 kg self, and even then it's still a major effort.

Took a PTO day to feel the wind in my hair out on the road, and get some chores done around the house before I pick up Liz and Lilly at the airport tomorrow. They were gone for two weeks.... too long! I miss Liz a regular amount (she likes to travel), but I miss baby a lot! She recognizes me over facetime, so it has been fun to see her smile and get excited when I talk to her. Also, she grew her first tooth while she was gone.

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Outside of that, pretty easy this week minus the district TTT on Saturday and one final team practice. I assume you are racing as well Hermes, good luck!

#bonkers

No not racing...boo. Recovery is proceeding and my lungs came back on line at the track last night. Back to 28 mph efforts and riding in the TT position. I am about 6 weeks out from any "event" other than Zwift.

I told my wife that I should drive up just to stay at the Marriot Courtyard just 30 minutes from the course, suffer the experience and then drive back.:D

Good luck!!!

Indoor track at VSC last night. Warmup, 2 x 4 lap accelerations. Set one: two laps behind the motor, two laps solo at slower pace. motor leads two laps at that pace then two laps solo return to original pace. Set two: two laps behind the motor, two laps solo at slower pace. then two more laps solo return to original pace. Set three: one lap solo at fast pace. then one lap slower, then another lap at that pace and final lap return to original pace. Fun workout.

Lots of health issues this year (probably posted about above). Last night was the first Zwift race where I "tried" in a long time. A month ago, I put forth similar efforts in a goal of just trying to stay with the pack. Before that, it was probably at least another month or two since I'd put in an all out effort (least real "healthy" race was early January). Since that last race in mid-April, I've either done straight Z2/tempo rides or done Zwift races where I would give a moderate push to stay with the pack for a bit and then Z2 to the finish after feeling I'd put in enough of an effort and dropped myself. About 10 days ago, I did a race in Innsbruck up that KoM where I tried to put in a solid 20 minute effort just to see what I could do. Intervals.icu, calculated my estimated FTP based on that effort (sure it wasn't a true FTP test, but decent push out of the gate to clear anaerobic capacity, 5-ish minutes at tempo, and then 20-some minutes at threshold is probably almost as good as a ramp test), and it said my FTP as ~20-25W down from where it was in January before my health went sideways and ~40W down from its peak 18 months ago. Got a long way to go.

Anyway, I did that Zwift race last night to try to see where I stood. 28 minutes of averaging just about at what intervals said was my new FTP. Tried to take part in the bunch sprint at the end and couldn't get above 7W/kg (or hold above 5). I was just empty. Wow. It was even worse than I'd thought when I saw that eFTP number. It also made me reconsider all those pace partner rides that I'd thought I'd been doing at mid to high Z2. Sure they were high Z2 based on my old FTP, but they were at least mid-tempo if not higher. Clearly wasn't doing what I thought I was doing, which makes sense as tired as I was when I finished them.

My racecraft was also shot to hell. Because I knew I didn't have the top end to fight through stuff (haven't done a sprint worth mentioning in months), I kept getting worried that, if I stayed in the back of the pack, someone in front of me was going to get gapped off, so I kept trying to stay ~3rd wheel and chased down a lot of moves other people made. In the end, that meant I spent way too much time in the wind and probably put out quite a few more watts than I should have. Racing smarter might have let me have something in reserve to contest the bunch sprint (or try to go with the 2 riders than left with ~1 km to go because they didn't want to be part of the sprint), but I was just shocked how drained I was after 28 minutes of what seemed like a really low power. Totally need to recalibrate my expectations.

It is quite unfortunate how remote it is... With an 8 AM start too in the high desert 90 minutes from the IE or LA basin.... yeah that's tough. Some of my San Diego teammates have reported 3:30 AM wake up times - yuck. Fortunately I have in-laws in Rancho Cucamonga so I have stayed there the lats couple of times I rode the TTT, offering my a nice, luxurious 5 AM wake up time :).

In 2019, I stayed with a teammate in a random motel in Lancaster, and that was absolutely horrible. Trash all over the parking lot and clear signs of drug activity. Not a restful night.

7:07 pace today for my weekly 15' jog. Almost skipped it too since we were butting up on dinner prep time, and I was feeling lazy and unmotivated. But I felt peppy like right away, negative split the whole time too, well under 7' pace by the end. One of these weeks I'll find a track, do a warmup mile and then just pin it. No freaking clue what I'd do on my 15' weekly jog training. Sub 6' for sure. But how close to 5'?

Yesterday, strength training via split workouts but no bike. Chest and low row. Bench press and standing one arm cable chest press and low row plus standing TRX row. I wanted to pop my legs so I decided to push the sled / tank. I did 4 x 25 second reps.

As I turn around, an old guy on a the leg extension machine asks me what muscles that works. I have to stop and I say quads (not really accurate). And then start another rep. I am always happy to assist and talk with people but in the middle of my workout...not so much. And we have a lot of professional trainers available who would be delighted to explain the benefits of the sled and how to use it. Why ask me?

Now if one of the hot women would have asked, I would have stopped my workout and provided a dissertation.:D

Getting more adaptive to the trainer.
This week I did a zone 2 ride with erg mode locked at 160 watts. Outside it would have used 175-180 watts. ERG in this case helped. I was able to focus on cadence and kept the candence in the high 90s for the durations.
Day 2 I did 40/20s 3 sets of 10. ERG off had the gates set at the bottom of zone 6, so 310 was the target. First set I maintained the 310 for the duration. Second set I pushed for 320, last set I pushed for 350. Wasn’t perfect but felt good about it.
Today 90 mins tempo. I opted to ride with Coco which helped. I usually launch off the front but made an effort to stay in the pack.

Tomorrow I plan on doing either 15 min thresholds or 6 min vo2 intervals undecided.

Knee started hurting today around mile 22. Pain lasted about 4 mins. Last time I was in long training for work and utilized my trainer I ended up giving myself runners knee which sucked so I hope I am not heading in that direction again.


I really want to complete the 101 mile course on zwift just to do it. I prefer long rides 100 mile plus but I can’t seem to get past about 90 mins on the trainer. Plus with the climbing involved in that course I would imagine it would take me over 6 hours. I have some days off this weekend and getting home is not an option, but riding around Dallas is pretty sketch so not sure what I will do.

bampilot06 for long trainer rides, all of the configuration makes a huge difference. Optimized fan cooling, keyboard, big screen, nice speakers to make it more immersive. The keyboard helps, you can join group rides and socialize which makes time in z2 just fly by for me. TBH, I would not attempt a long indoor ride with an ipad while traveling. Or, you could try it and just not beat yourself up if you throw in the towel and aren't feeling the vibe.

As mentioned before, you should invest in a better experience with some of the items I mentioned above, for your home setup. For me, I'll do 3 hrs of z2 on the trainer pretty routinely like its NBD. 4+ takes some effort, even with the sweet setup I have in my garage. I try to do a 5-6 hour trainer ride once per season just bc it feels epic :)

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TT bike session in the garage

another advantage of a nice home setup: you can work and ride. I have taken meetings, calls, done emails, messaged staff, and billed the time. I can only manage that at z2 or lower so I don't sound like I'm working out hard. Don't tell my boss :). Case in point: I am riding right now. EZ day, road bike, 45' capped at low z2. I'm feeling good and the watts are going up, but I will keep the tiger under the hood. Race tomorrow.

Final TTT practice yesterday, race tomorrow. There is one other team registered in the 4-man 140+, which is an average age of 35+ for those not inclined towards mathematics. Things are getting more streamlined, pull length, rotation order, rider-specific strengths and weaknesses.

It's such a unique and cool event and so simple/pure - 4 guys trying to cover 40 km ASAP. Like ITT, the element of circumstance and luck is taken out compared to road racing. And even more so than ITT - TTT is about execution. It's all execution, and rewards practice.

This is my first time in the captain's role, and all together we are a notch or two down in speed compared to the supersonic teams I've done in the past where I've hung on for dear life. Now I'm the leader and strongest rider. A different vibe - still tons of fun!

Bigger screen is definitely nice. A keyboard you can easily access helps a lot (I also like the Zwift Plays to let me see if I can give everyone in my pack a ride on or something when my mind starts to wander). A rocker plate is helpful too.
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bampilot06 I have injured my knee and a muscle in the back of my right leg on the trainer. I have not, in 16 years of racing, injured a muscle or joint on the bike crashes not included. So I am careful with too much of anything on the trainer. That is a big YMMV comment.

And there are the men of steel trainer riders who are able to ride long duration, sprint and whatever on the trainer with impunity.

If I ride constant power ERG mode, I choose a big gear and let the indicated speed go high. My opinion is that the high rotation rate of the flywheel makes it feel more like riding a flat road. That could be my idiosyncratic muscle composition.

Maybe one day I will have that set up. Not really a priority for me. When I am home I ride outside almost exclusively out doors. We do plan on creating a workout room eventually. Ceiling fans, two TVs, etc. Just don’t know when that will be.

The Ipad doesn’t really bother me, and honestly the chat is kind of annoying. Maybe it just happens to be the people around me that are annoying.

OK. As long as you are ready to hear me suggest it each time you complain about poor experiences on the trainer :). Good luck on the workout room! That's essentially what I did to the top of my tandem garage.

EDIT: I will also second that I have knee issues flare up on the trainer more often than outdoors. I think it's because you're more immobile and there is less overall body movement. Like many others here, I mitigate knee pain with a holistic approach including stretching, foam rolling, but really strengthening/weights which has minimized my frequency of significant knee pain in recent years. Hermes had suggested glute work, as had others that I know IRL or in the community. procrit also has had knee pain that he manages through his own unique routines and holistic approaches.

I am also a huge fan of Kinesiotape. The KT Tape brand stuff is nice but cheaper stuff can be had. A bit of a learning curve on how to apply correctly but there are videos on Youtube. To me, it's a band-aid that I can use when experiencing low grade pain or even sometimes as a preventative measure before major events. It does not treat anything per-se but it's great at keeping things in place and not getting misaligned or pulled this way or that due to muscle imbalances or tightness that you are working on off the bike. It's really great stuff. The combination of the tape and strength exercise has prevented me from really having to take any significant time off the bike due to knee pain for a few years.