Originally Posted by
PeteHski
Okay, for me it's the big century sportives that are my main goals. Last year I did a few national events and the L'Etape du Tour as my main focus. Beyond that I'm in it for health, fitness and fun. Mountain biking for pure fun with no performance goals. Road biking for fitness and performance. Now I think about it, I'm not really sure what my next level of performance would actually be. I just work on improving my power over the whole range, but with a focus on endurance and VO2 max.
For me, health, fitness and fun are like the anti of a poker game. Then the real betting commences.
I read about the L'Etape du Tour. It sounds like a lot of fun and a challenging event - just to complete.
I am a power junkie, like most and look at my mean maximal power curve - meh. To me, the next level is about speed. Power is ones currency to buy speed but speed really matters.
For a sportive that has the same venue every year, I would think that a next level goal would be a significant increase in average speed. I pulled this out of my ass but why not 2 mph or whatever. Years ago, one of my coaches sent me out on a training ride over a course and said the goal is 20 mph average speed solo. My calculus immediately changed. I thought about terrain, riding position and etc. Where would I put in power and where could I rest. Most group rides did this course in 22 mph. I got 19.8 but thought I was dead at the end.
For me, I need a coach for next level achievement. I cannot do it on my own. In fact, I am worse than that, I cannot even conceive of it sometimes. And I am really good at believing my own BS. I do not let myself get into that thinking. Why? I know in advance, it yields mediocrity.