furiousferret

First Tuesday Night Worlds ride in a over a year. Its a good thing I can't afford to replace my bike because I wanted to throw it off a cliff after that.

Looking back on it, that was largely predictable. I went up the first hill not fighting for position when I had the energy to get to top 20. I was near last wheel around 50th and that far back when others get dropped you do too and you're not catching the top group. My descending was horrid; maybe it was good I didn't bomb it like Alaphilippe after Zwifting for essentially a year but I lost 30 seconds each loop (4 minute descent).

Its all fixable stuff. My power is there, I just need to get better at the nuances of riding outside...

burnthesheep glad you're okay!

Hermes

Velo Sports Center (Carson Veldrome) is reopening April 1. Can I say stoked. Yes, we can say stoked on BF.

TMonk

COVID shot two this morning, so I think the weekend will be particularly lite, but that's fine. Did 3 hrs at a solid z2 (~3.0 w/kg) yesterday morning on Zwift by stringing together two group rides. Last hour was 3.6.

Next week I will be FTP testing (Wednesday) and I expect to see a good bump if my recovery and preparation is correct.

TheKillerPenguin

Gonna try out a vo2 sesh tomorrow. Will be my first structured vo2 in a LONG time. I guess I'll start with 4x5?

TMonk

I was doing VO2 sessions on Tuesdays for a while and would do 3' intervals bookended on 3x5' as my protocol. The 3' were up hills, and were hugely different in their power lol . For the second (and last) 3' interval I barely squeak out 120%, but the first is like 127% or more lol.

TheKillerPenguin

So, I've tended to do VO2 a couple of different ways. Way #1 is to aim for progressively more time in zone over a handful of workouts, starting with 20min, then 25, then 30, 35, etc. Each workout can mix and match 3-5min intervals as long as time in zone is hit. Also back to back vo2 days after a couple of weeks of building up to it.

Way #2 is to smash every single interval as hard as you can, which means you get a couple of reps at monster watts and spend the rest of the time wanting to die as you slowly deteriorate to threshy.

I am not sure which method works best and I've never done both methods in the same season - different coaches, different approaches. But I am self coached now, so I think I'll mix em together and see what happens.

Hermes

I am a negative split guy for everything. The coaching I have had over several years emphasizes that it is the finish of an event that matters the most versus the start. And starting out too hard, assuming one is not dropped, is generally not a great strategy.

Whatever VO2 protocol I use, I start at the low end and try to raise it each interval or set. And what is also interesting about VO2 work is the 30 second carryover after the effort is stopped. So if one does 30/30 where the first 30 seconds is VO2, the carryover into the next 30 seconds or off extends the on effort. Hence, I do a lot of 30/30 as VO2 / threshold builder. And it works really well done on the velodrome just ride at the stayers line and dive into the pole lane for the 30 seconds on and return to the stayers line for the off segment such that it adds an execution element to the VO2 work.

I like to think that a coach is someone who can take me to a place I cannot take myself. So for those that self coach, do you have an alter ego where the alter ego calls BS on your BS? For me, I know that I am believing my own BS and cannot wait to start with my coach again and get up against some real competition.

furiousferret

I did the Zwift Fondo today which is really serious stuff. Over 3 hours of riding and 2400 kjs (or close). I hit my best hour (250) and my best 2 hour (230) despite having descents in about a quarter of the time. After getting my tail kicked in earlier this week it feels pretty good. Now I just need to lose these last 8 pounds...

My mFTP is almost 300 which there's no way I'm calling that legit until I actually do a real test outside, but its nice to see those numbers and I definitely feel strong right now.

rubiksoval

I didn't think I had any side effects from my second one 10 days ago. I rode easy the next day and then easy again the day after that in the morning, but the second day's afternoon I tried a harder effort and got nowhere. Same for the next day. So no noticeable effects other than not being able to go above threshold for very long. Then finally I had a really, really good 1 hour ride, putting out the power I was expecting to, but that night I got some crazy heart palpitations, such that it woke me up at 3 am and lasted for about 15 minutes. Then again the next morning I had more when I tried a ride again.

I've had these in the past and have also had an ablation a couple of years ago, but haven't had palpitations so noticeable and frequent since the ablation, so I'm guessing it was a result of the vaccine and possibly trying to do a bit too much physically... I don't know, but it was super irritating. I've taken the last few days off to hopefully let my body cope a bit more. Hopefully a few days of rest and I'll be back into the swing of things on Monday.

A couple of guys I know have both reported different effects (one knocked him out for a day or two, the other was okay except he said he had no legs for a few days), but it's frustrating if you're in the midst of a solid block of training!

caloso

MTB race today. 4th in the Sport 50-somethings. Really pleased that I did not crash into a tree or end up in the creek. And that my laps got faster. I was dying in the 2nd lap so I made myself focus on being smooth in the 3rd lap. That worked!

TMonk

Very cool! I like the athleticism that MTB requires.

TMonk

I haven't heard many anecdotes from other competitive cyclists. That sounds like a drag, and I hope that you're feeling well again soon.

I rode for 1.5 hrs today on the coast with some non-racer buddies. Day after the shot. I never really let loose for more than a couple minutes, but I def. wanted to hammer, which is a good sign. In the morning ~22 hrs after the shot, I was still a bit fatigued and achy, but not too bad.

At this point I want to do a similar ride tomorrow. Off Monday. Openers (on Zwift) Tuesday, and hopefully I should be ready to smash an FTP test on Wednesday. I certainly would under normal circumstances, and I think that I will at this point, but we'll see.

wktmeow

Long ftp test on Alpe du Zwift today. Time was 20 seconds slower than my PR from the summer,at 49:50, as my weight is a little higher than last summer. Up 15w in about 6 weeks and more watts than August at least. Pretty ok with that considering the inconsistent volume. Need to work the vo2max efforts back in I think, heart rate was higher than the legs were hurting.

Hermes

Today was like Groundhog Day. I got up and it was wet outside and did not see my shadow so opted for the trainer.

hubcyclist

Last day of recovery week, it’s nice and I’m at my parents house so I went outside to ride, so of course it was anything but easy endurance lol did a loop that is pretty flat for steady efforts and did it in a little under 37mins with an IF of 0.9. Overall it was almost 2hrs of tempo 0.83 IF

Tuesday may be an attempt at doing that loop as close to ftp as I can

furiousferret

Recoveryish day, rode with a friend for the first time in a year which is nice to getting back to socializing with others on the bike. Apparently I was the only one in town that actually took a year off the bike because of COVID (which I can understand why a lot of people wouldn't worry about it as much).

Also my ass is raw from the 3 hour trainer session; only at the edges of the shammy so I can still ride outside because its a different angle. Always happens when I wear my cheap shorts on tough indoor rides. I'm sure I'll forget and this will happen again in 3-6 months!

topflightpro

I got my first shot on Wednesday night. On Thursday, I felt absolutely fine, but on Friday, everything fell apart. I just felt exhausted and off balance. I skipped my workout. Saturday, I felt better, but I had no snap in my legs. Same with yesterday. I was trying to do an easy ride, but anything up hill just sucked, and my legs ached all night. Either I'm incredibly fatigued from the block of training or it's a side effect to the vaccine.

But I'm glad to hear that I am not the only one experiencing weird side effects.

Hermes

Ski week. 12,000 vertical feet leg opener with great weather. Nap time.

gsteinb

Which flavor shot?

I had pfizer. I felt fine after the first. Rode the same afterwards. Shutting things down after the second to be on the safe side.

furiousferret

Great Day for an easy lunch ride. First pic is our local mountain range with Mt San Bernardino (10,800) on the left and Mt San Gorgornio on the right (11,503 ft). The latter seems less impressive as its the peak of a ridge and nestled further into the mountain range. Big Bear is somewhere in between.

Second pic is a rando hill with Mt Palomar in the background; its roughly a 50 mile ride just to get to the base of the mountain though. One day I'll climb it...

topflightpro

I also had the Pfizer. From what I hear, the vaccine seems to hit some people hard and others not at all, though everyone seems to say the second shot is worse than the first.

So I've got that goin for me, which is nice.

hubcyclist

My parents got their 2nd pfizer shots last week and have felt fine. My wife is going for her 2nd today so we’ll see. I’m still at zero shot lol

ridethecliche

Yup, second pfizer demolished me and quite a few people I know of all ages.

hubcyclist

I’m still at my parents and went outside today and did a 13mile loop I like to do, did it over a min faster than I did on Sunday, had an IF of 0.94 for 35mins, then did endurance around that for a total of 2hrs

Hermes

Day 2 skiing and another 12K of vertical with great ski legs but this time longer runs. Another day of perfect weather. This AM SpO2 was 97% which was my highest recorded at altitude over the last few years. I am still feeling the altitude change which probably has more to do with pressure than O2 level.