Is The Amateur Rider Spending Too Much Time In The Saddle?

[azikara]

azikara,

thanx much for that fantastically detailed post, man!

 

You're more than welcome. Just trying to share what I've learned. Feel free to call bull**** on me!

 

Good luck this weekend if you are racing.

 

Tristan

[azikara]

Even if you are doing an all cardio based workout? Like you say there is stop start within that hour of riding on the road, if i know, that for an hr at the gym I can go balls to the wall. Gym for me is to also have fitness for bodyboarding & other activities.

 

Good point. I should have qualified this: My comment only applies if you want to be the best cyclist you can be on minimal hours. If you want to do other things that you need other fitness for then your cyclign will take a hit unless you up the hours. It's a trade-off. If you're lifing weights (squats, hip extensions etc) to get stronger legs than I think you can get better fitness doing hill repeats in a BIG gear. But if you want big quads then continue to go to the gym. They won't help your cycling much.

[azikara]

Good point. I should have qualified this: My comment only applies if you want to be the best cyclist you can be on minimal hours. If you want to do other things that you need other fitness for then your cyclign will take a hit unless you up the hours. It's a trade-off. If you're lifing weights (squats, hip extensions etc) to get stronger legs than I think you can get better fitness doing hill repeats in a BIG gear. But if you want big quads then continue to go to the gym. They won't help your cycling much.

 

But that's the whole reason I like the indoor trainer: I can get a quality 60-90 min session in and it's the same as putting 90-180 mins on the road.

[PeterM]

Azikara - wow that was usefull info, and firsthand insight too. When did you start racing? In which group will you start your Argus, and - if it's okay to ask - what is your surname?

 

PS: my youngest brother in law also just moved to Chicago, bought a house and got married (Chip/Chris & Sam)

[Tuxstir]

so what you sayig in short is... my commuting to work.. ( 15k's one way, track stand at every red robot... followed by quick sprint to get into traffic speed (or out of harms way) )

is doing ore good than say a 40-60 k ride during the week, but i still need to do a longer ride on the weekend to improve my base training even further..

 

makes sense if you think abou it... on long ride for base a week. followed by intense training.. building muscle power ...

mmmmm

[leeu52]

TITS, it's always all about TITS.

 

Time In The Saddle

[Christie]

How much time on the bike is too much?

 

To answer this, you have to know your objectives. Is it winning races? Finishing top 10? Sticking in the main bunch till the end? Doing a sub 3 Argus?

 

Secondly, know that time on the bike will cost you in other areas of your life. In broad categories, other areas except for sport would be family, career, personal development (studies, reading interesting things, learning a new language etc), religon.

 

Firstly, let me say that I was an amateur racer, and never race as a pro or wanted to be a pro. I don't want to be a pro - training and racing all day every day won't work for me.

 

But, I spent about 5 years progressively training more an more. In 2009 my cycling efforts reached a peak - I spent 4 hrs on the bike some weekdays and still worked at least 8hrs, plus 4-6 hrs on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. I raced all over the country - Giro, Panorama tour in White River, SA champs in Oudshoorn, Kremetart, Jock, Midlands tour in KZN, Gaskop tour in Mpumalanga. The only way I could fit this in was getting up to train at 3h45 in the morning. I was not prepared to let my career slide, so some days I left the office at 24h00, and was on the bike again before sunrise. This cost me in other areas in terms of quality of family life (all my leave was spent on racing), as well as personal development. I had a lot of artistic hobbies like painting etc, and all of them came to a dead stop.

 

In 2010 I called it quits. I've had some great times with the team I was with, made good friends, won a couple of things here and there and spent lots of money on equipment (bit of a waste if I think about it now). But I needed to move on - I still ride, but there are other challenges and great things to discouver. I've regained some creativeness, spend some time in working in Germany, visited France and Holland, and spent lots of very rewarding time with my wife and son. Backing off was is working out well so far! On the down side, I've gained 4kgs, have started to ride again, to prevent having to replace all my clothes!

[Caerus]

This is what I'm talking about, for example doing a 45min spin class followed by a half hr run or the same on the cross trainer. I totally get the part about base miles and time in the saddle being a major factor in your training.

[azikara]

Azikara - wow that was usefull info, and firsthand insight too. When did you start racing? In which group will you start your Argus, and - if it's okay to ask - what is your surname?

 

PS: my youngest brother in law also just moved to Chicago, bought a house and got married (Chip/Chris & Sam)

 

Hi Peter - thanks for the kind words. It actually took some time to write so I am happy someone got something out of it. I started racing last year. Actually the Argus was my first race. I did the Chris Carmichael Time Crunched Cyclist for 11 weeks before the Argus. I did it pretty religiously. I started in T and came third. I got a 3:40. It was basically a TT because there was no one but my two other T guys (who beat me) to ride with and we kept losing each other. In retrospect we should have stayed together.

 

I then returned to Chicago, did two criteriums and a road race and then several more criteriums. I learned a LOT! IF you want to know about criteriums then look at one of my other posts about training. I put some tips in there that I learned the hard way!

 

I am now in E for this Sunday. I can't wait. I'm feeling pretty good and I am stronger than last year. The only thing that concerns me is the duration. I haven't done more than two 3 hour rides this year. Today I did a 2:45 and was quite sore...but something wasn't right. Perhaps the damp weather. Who knows. I still hit some personal bests and was above target on some of my splits. We shall see. The proof is in the race pudding!!

 

I will PM you my surname.

 

Take care and good luck wherever you are riding!

 

T

Edited March 8, 2011 by azikara

['Dale]

How much time on the bike is too much?

 

To answer this, you have to know your objectives. Is it winning races? Finishing top 10? Sticking in the main bunch till the end? Doing a sub 3 Argus?

 

Secondly, know that time on the bike will cost you in other areas of your life. In broad categories, other areas except for sport would be family, career, personal development (studies, reading interesting things, learning a new language etc), religon.

 

Firstly, let me say that I was an amateur racer, and never race as a pro or wanted to be a pro. I don't want to be a pro - training and racing all day every day won't work for me.

 

But, I spent about 5 years progressively training more an more. In 2009 my cycling efforts reached a peak - I spent 4 hrs on the bike some weekdays and still worked at least 8hrs, plus 4-6 hrs on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. I raced all over the country - Giro, Panorama tour in White River, SA champs in Oudshoorn, Kremetart, Jock, Midlands tour in KZN, Gaskop tour in Mpumalanga. The only way I could fit this in was getting up to train at 3h45 in the morning. I was not prepared to let my career slide, so some days I left the office at 24h00, and was on the bike again before sunrise. This cost me in other areas in terms of quality of family life (all my leave was spent on racing), as well as personal development. I had a lot of artistic hobbies like painting etc, and all of them came to a dead stop.

 

In 2010 I called it quits. I've had some great times with the team I was with, made good friends, won a couple of things here and there and spent lots of money on equipment (bit of a waste if I think about it now). But I needed to move on - I still ride, but there are other challenges and great things to discouver. I've regained some creativeness, spend some time in working in Germany, visited France and Holland, and spent lots of very rewarding time with my wife and son. Backing off was is working out well so far! On the down side, I've gained 4kgs, have started to ride again, to prevent having to replace all my clothes!

My Post Of The Day...

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4IqAMwAGn1w/SmiDhdHVceI/AAAAAAAARrQ/NkL9EczMUNY/s400/spirituality_web.jpg.jpeg

[PeterM]

I am now in E for this Sunday. I can't wait. I'm feeling pretty good and I am stronger than last year. The only thing that concerns me is the duration. I haven't done more than two 3 hour rides this year. Today I did a 2:45 and was quite sore...but something wasn't right. Perhaps the damp weather. Who knows. I still hit some personal bests and was above target on some of my splits. We shall see. The proof is in the race pudding!!

 

Take care and good luck wherever you are riding!

 

T

Hi T

 

Thanks again for all the info. I am also fairly new to cycling and the Argus. I started cycling fairly late in my life (am 47 now) but I have the strong urge for competitive cycling; but progress is only step by step. There is so much to learn about cycling, reaching a higher level of fitness, etc, etc. I am lucky to ride in a club that has quite a few league riders/teams and one learns a lot from them. Especially when they put the hammer down ;-)

 

Regarding your Argus – with the limited knowledge that I have - it seems that the trick for a fast Argus is to pace oneself until one is past/over (!) Smithwinkkel. One should not push oneself too hard (+-80%), then one should feed well, and the real race only starts at the two hills (Chappies, Suikerb). It seems that one really needs to safe all your energy and legs for those two climbs to do a good time/race.

 

A few of my mates will ride in E as well. I will be further back.

 

Good luck and may speed be with you.

Edited March 9, 2011 by PeterM

[azikara]

Happy to report: 2:57.

 

Great conditions. Great group. I'm sure there were plenty of fast times.