BikeMax

I liked this summary; "You can picture it like you're trying to push a swing, if you time your pushes when the swing is stationary or going pretty slow you can get a good push in. If you try to push it when it's getting away from you pretty fast it's hard to push with a lot of force -- like if you time your pushes late. When riding on the flat, or downhill, this effect is manifested as little drops in power which result in a lower average power. This is the so-called inertia effect, and it's independent of cadence or the nature of resistance. This might be why some people feel they can ride faster on the flat on a fixed gear, it provides immediate feedback when you let up, so it reminds you to stay on the gas."

Do a search for "flat Vs uphill power" on the wattage forum and you will unearth hundreds of posts on the topic - most of the answers seem to stem vary from specificity of training, to motivation, to dealing with the speed on the flat etc - but there is pretty much no physiological explanation for any difference.

Different zones for flat or uphill are not necessary - the second reply is correct IMO, in as far as it is generally easier to put out higher power when faced with a constant resistance in the form of gravity. When you are climbing it is easier to keep the power consistent whereas on a flat or rolling course it requires concentration and focus. Even IDT - with practice, differences become virtually nothing and no adjustments required, although many of us just don't spend enough time or don't cool ourselves sufficiently (just outdoors is not enough - you need air flowing over you to cool you) It comes down to specificity - TT bike , MTB, Hills, Flats, IDT - ride them enough and your power will be good, ride one more than the other and the likelihood is your power will be better in this modality.

That is more likely a factor of simply spending more time in the right zones to increase threshold power.

That is much more likely to be the explanation (it is for me anyway)

I would suggest that you test on both and quantify the difference - for me there is not much between the two and so I use a climb for conveniences sake. If your position is not compromised by a TT bike then you may well find the difference is pretty small.

I rode a fair bit from Knysna, so pretty close. You could head out and do quite a lot of the Knysna race route - along the N2 and then left up the climb before turing back. You could also head out and do the older Knysna route. There are a few good climbs in Knysna around Pezula for some L4 stuff.

Maybe you could explain to me why guttering is less effective simply because there is a physical gutter as opposed to a "white line" gutter ? You can create a gutter just as effectively using the white line - provided nobody crosses it. This has nothing to do with the inability of local pro's to compete overseas IMO - a red herring.

www.slowtwitch.com

I have posted some power stats from Sundays Die Burger on my blog - anybody who wasn't sure how different riding in a three man break for 70kms vs sitting in the bunch should have a look.. http://www.bikemaxpower.com/components/blog/show_blog/8/id?blog=302

I would suggest that after a short break that you focus on building fitness between now and a say first week jan. Bear in mind that you will gradually lose fitness over the course of a race season and so you need as much fitness as possible going into the race season. So - lots of tempo rides (moderate to hard) and plenty of volume (but not LSD - make sure the rides count) The more fitness you carry into the season then the more you can trade fitness for freshness as the races approach.

Agree 100% - Ksyriums are all marketing hype, you can do much better for far less cash.

Nellie - just saw this ! I am quite a chatty person I thought - was I boring ? What are you you saying here

I have a couple of questions' date=' specifically for Peter, but I suppose anyone could give some input. 1.) Is a sub-3hr Argus a reasonable goal for me? I believe it should be possible, but as R800 is a fair amount of money, I would like to get some additional opinions: I did the 94.7 in 3:21 and I believe I could have knocked another 5-10min from that if I'd paced myself properly at the start (I was also still able to walk the next day ). I rode around 540km in the 8 weeks leading up to the race (including 76km for Race for Victory and 103km for Telkom Satellite). Poor planning meant that this was a pretty fragmented mix of road, IDT and MTB. Prior to that, I was already reasonably fit and strong from rowing. I think a picture says it best: 2.) Work constraints mean that I will probably only have about 1 - 1.5hrs per day (maybe stretching to 2 occasionally) to train during the week. This time would most likely be spent on the IDT. I have few such restrictions on my weekend time, though. Would this provide enough training time? How are the weekly sessions arranged - would I be able to adapt the program to accommodate this? 3.) You are competing against a free product: Cyclelab Argus Program How does your program compare to this one? What additional benefits/features do you offer to make up the value of your program? Thanks for your time and I look forward to your answers. Edward [/quote'] Hi Edward Thanks for the post - I will try to answer your questions. 1. Is a sub 3 reasonable for you - this is the hardest question and I would really need more detail in terms of your recent results and equally importantly your seeded start group, before giving you any more reassurance. What I will say is that training 8 hours per week with focus is certainly a reasonable amount and doing it on an IDT is fine. I am happy to try to firm up on this opinion of you would like to mail me off list with more details. 2. The sessions are arranged in the optimum way but can be changed to suit each riders needs (within reason) and this can be discussed in the initial consultation that comes with the programme (Mail or phone/meet) 3. In terms of the Cyclelab programme, I am going to be careful here as we work pretty closely with them. The Cyclelab programme looks good, but I would say that ours is a llittle more specific and perhaps incorporates some more focus on increasing threshold power. We also incorporate an initial consultation with a coach to ensure the athlete gets the most out of the porgramme. In terms of value I believe we offer a lot of the fee, and you can be sure that the programme is carefully put together using the latest and most recent training information and all of our experience. Please feel free to mail me or call for more info. Peter peterbikemaxpower.com BikeMax2008-03-13 05:05:11

DC is a big load - more so because most guys do not get near this distance except for this race. An easy week is a must after this. My guess is that as long as you "open" the legs (sorry to sound course) a day before the race with some short but fairly hard jumps and surges, that you will race well and benefit from the "dose" that DC has given you. Good luck all.

I would stick to 60-90 mins and keep intensity low with a few jumps and surges to "open" the legs.

Thanks Ronelle - please tell Naas he is a very funny chap and I cannot wait to start working with him (He might need to start saving)

What a great article - just gets right to the "core" of it

Bikemax - translated this is: but don't do (all of) the hill @ 90 - 95% - you just mess up (a bit stronger choice of words here' date=' implying 'waste your reserves') -- what for? Thought you might want to comment on that statement?[/quote'] Sure - I would ask why riding at a pace a rider can sustain for the duration of the climb and is targeting the correct energy system would be a "waste" of reserves ? Training is all about using your available time and energy to achieve the best returns in fitness terms, and a longer sustained effort (that is 15 mins+) is a great way to improve threshold power and in turn your climbing ability. The only reason you might want to break up a climb into smaller (presumably harder) sections is to target other energy systems - which are not really the focus for Pops and his Epic training