procrit

Couple more hours of zone 2 today. My power in zone is definitely moving up based on RPE and heart rate. Pedal strokes just feeling easier and average speed is creeping up. I am noticing much less fatigue as well from similarly difficult rides. Who’d have guessed consistency pays off lol.

procrit

45’ sweet spot, 45’ zone 2.

Still in the newbie gains phase of rebuilding fitness, every week my power zones increase and endurance improves without much intensity or volume. I’ll probably go for a 20’ test this weekend if I don’t race the last spring MTB race of the season.

procrit

More zone 2 today. Legs feel good, endurance is good, but my body just feels like it's stressed somehow. Wondering if I should ignore it or press on until my performance actually dips.

himespau 

Took my first ride on the trainer using a rocker plate today. That's going to take some getting used to. Scared to think what it says about what my road form has deteriorated into given that Ihaven't ridded on the road (outside of little JRA with the kids rides) since getting hit 2 years ago tomorrow. Had too much air in it and had the backwards bike lean on all the sprints, but I'm hoping to slowly let the air down in the balls to where I get things going the right way as my balance comes back. I've sure gotten lazy with my bike locked into the trainer.

BTinNYC

Gents, I really enjoyed hanging out here this spring, sharing training ups and downs and getting great common sense advice. Today was the Gran Fondo I was training for and it went great. My goal was finishing/surviving as it was about 3,500' more elevation and about 20 more miles than I have ever done. So after 1.5 years of cycling, I finished a Fondo (hurray!) and of course, I want a bit more. So I'm joining a cycling club so I can train towards racing...and I have a LOT of work to do, just to play at the Cat 5 level.

Thanks and (Arnold voice) I'll be back.
Brent

Hermes

BTinNYC Well that is quite an accomplishment and a very well deserved congrats. With respect to racing, there is only one level to start - novice And if you want to upgrade to a Cat 4 so you can ride masters, then you have to pick races that qualify to get the required number of races in. Generally, these will be criteriums or circuit races but if you have road races available in your area, those count as well. Time trials / hill climbs do not count unless the hill climb is a mass start of sufficient length.

As you look for racing clubs, find one that offers a novice program with a coach. IMO, one of the most beneficial aspects of training for mass start races is the skill sets of cornering, sprinting and practicing at speeds that are representative at a race. Good luck.

topflightpro

I think Cat 5 is now optional, but I could be mistaken.

Hermes

As far and I can tell, USAC renamed the beginner categories for men and women to novice. I checked some race registration pages and there is men's novice racing. I did not see any masters novice racing combined with higher categories. For example, there was an entry possibility for master 50+ novice but no masters 3/4 novice and etc.

BTinNYC

I've looked at the local clubs and the Century Road Club Association looks like they're strong on training rookies. I'm planning to work over the next year and try to race in the Central Park crit races in 2024. In the Training Peaks Power Profile, only my 20 minute interval is in the Cat 5 level, so, umm, probably not skipping an entry level.

procrit

Had 2 1/2 hours of zone 2 planned but I got rained out this morning and decided to try the local crit race this afternoon, because why not? I haven't raced road in 13+ years, so I jumped into the C race just to see if I remembered how to do it. I ended up holding my own and stayed in great position near the front the entire race, and with half a lap to go, sitting on the wheel of the winner from last week, I peeled off and let everyone go. Legs definitely had enough to be in the mix for a sprint, but I realize I can't officially take points and didn't want anyone upset with me for messing up their race. Next time I'll just do the A race and take my beating LOL.

Phatman

Haha, its funny how that works. I've found that being consistent with any type of plan at all is better than the best plan implemented inconsistently.

I think that my issue with a lot of the "time crunched" plans is that they don't account for **** that comes up...I've found that when I'm time crunched, I have weeks were I have 12 hours to ride and weeks where I have 0 hours, and that just results in fatigue, illness and injury. A consistent 5-7 hours is dramatically better, but mostly unrealistic for the average time cruncher.