EtRawlie

I purchased two books by Dr Phil Maffetone on his training methods and must admit they are quite unique. I come from a background of interval training and periodization, so to read about training at the aerobic threshold of 180 minus age (plus/minus a few for certain variables) does sound crazy. Every article on his method only really talks about the heart rate formula, and this is a pity, because the heart rate formula is only one component behind his multi-faceted philosophy. His approach to endurance sport (big emphasis on endurance here too) is very holistic, looking at how you manage stress (work, family, and training stress), your diet (cutting out all carbs and eating only free range meat and organic vegetables, basically to teach your body to use fat for fuel instead of carbs) as well as tracking your progress only once a month (known as MAF Tests - i.e. running 3 km at aerobic output and measuring your time per km, then comparing these over a few months - as opposed to measuring your heart rate every morning and other compulsive habits) and then limiting your "anaerobic" efforts, so what would be considered "interval training" to only two sessions a week of no longer than 45 minutes for total workout duration, and never closer than 48 hours to each other. When you place all the factors he talks about together, the theory (and it has worked for Mike Allen - 6 time Hawaii Iron Man Champ - amongst others) is that your body increases aerobic output at that heart rate threshold to the point where you can go faster for longer without tapping into your blood sugar reserves. He does also make exceptions for hill climbs and efforts required to stay with the group, and how to manage this, as your heart rate goes anaerobic (above the 180-age threshold), but ideally you want to limit your time spent on long rides "in the red". The biggest problem with his methodology is that us mere mortals lack the discipline to instil it properly - i.e. train on this method for 5 months until it "clicks" - but I am trying and will be interested to see how my Berg River Canoe Marathon next week and the Swazi Frontier goes in October.

The Hard vs Soft debate seems to have three salient features - performance / comfort / control. If the debate is about performance, then train more hours. If you run out of hours, start training smarter. There is always a way and sport science is making big headway in this regard. Educate yourself. This leads on to the comfort debate. The more hours you do the less your arse will hurt - which is normal conditioning of your gooch. The DS vs. HT debate is mostly about comfort, and no one has talked about conditioning the body correctly. You also have two massive shock absorbers - in your legs - learn to use them. If you are not cleated into your pedals you wont have any control, so learn to ride with cleats at all times. The "control on a descent" and the "breaking my rear wheel" debate also hardy mentions the added control of being cleated into your equipment - more important to have cleats than a rear shock. Once again, sticking to the basics. You also mention that this isn't a 26" vs 29" debate - but riding a 29" will smooth the ride out considerably. It is basic physics and geometry. Maybe even witch craft - who knows. For me the ultimate goal is to get more hassle free hours out of my equipment - therefor I buy stuff that doesn't break or need ongoing maintenance. This means a good hard tail allu frame, proper front shock, and mid range (i.e. XT Deore) components - they aren't as fickle and work just as well as top end components in that they do actually change the gears (surprise!) - and tubeless rims and tyres. Your rims will never be the same once they have been converted from tubes - buy the right wheels made for tubeless and punctures/air leaks are a thing of the past too. (Yes, I root for allu. Very few of us have a body fat percentage in single digits where going carbon would make any difference in saving weight and thus improved results. Rather, buy allu and eat less pies.) This, along with proper eating and hydration, adequate sleep and a bit of a dog f*ck mentality when the going gets tough, will make you a good cyclist. Not the money you spend, the bike you don't ride, the races you enter, or the rear shock you don't have. Only once you have a bike where you have hacked away all the unessentials will your riding truly come alive.