The "Argus" factor ?

[Skubarra]

there is only one secret to a sub 3. get around Smitswinkel climb with the front of the bunch (A-G), if you miss the attack on Smits but still catch up before Ocean View you'll still crack on Chappies or Suikerbossie and be a few minutes down on the front of your bunch.

best is don't stress about the time, just enjoy the ride and suck wheel.

 

You just summarised my 2013 Argus, exactly what happened to me

[DJR]

@DJR: I have been reading/ wondering about tapering a lot lately. What is your take? High intensity for 50% of your usual time , taper time and intensity? Other options?

 

I think that is such an individual thing, what works for one, may not work for the other. I'm talking of a major event that I have been building up towards, of which I'll only do 1 or 2 a year. Oh, and we're talking "older" guys here.

 

My buildup used to be the usual base, strength and speed phases divided into 3 hard weeks and 1 easy week. Last year for Sani I used a 2 hard weeks and 1 easy week buildup and it worked well, I think because it gave me more recovery time. I'm not sure of it yet, but I felt it worked just as well or better than the 3/1 ratio that I used for theDC. It left me fresher to do the high intensity interval stuff really well.

 

As far as tapering go, what I do is to have my last hard and long ride 2 weeks before race day, this would be race distance and speed. Then the 2nd week before the race, I reduce my total time with about 25%. I still do high intensity, but only about 50 % of what I would normally do. The last week my total time is reduced to about 50% and high intensity intervals to about 25% of normal. The last week I also add an additional rest day, sometimes 2. The day before the race I do a little leg loosener of only about an hour at a very easy pace but with 1 or 2 short sharp sprints. Enough sleep and hydration, little alcohol, a bit more carbs and protein in the diet, no late nights, no hikes up Table Mountain, all helps during that last week.

 

I used to ride the MTB Argus long route one weekend and the road Argus the next weekend, but I found I was still tired after only 1 week of easy riding. It took me a good 45 minutes to get the legs going properly on Argus day, and that is a sign that you are not completely rested. That's why I started doing a longer taper, and it works for me. Having said all that, my best Argus I did after a very late night birthday party but I was much younger and dumber then, I don't do those any more, my head hurts too much and my guardian angel has been over-worked over the years and cannot be relied on as much anymore.

 

(Great discussion btw)

[walkerr]

This will be my 6th consecutive Argus and I'm trying to break four hours.

 

Good luck - my 6th was last year, and I finally broke the magic 4. Now just hope I'm fit enough to hold onto that this year, my training has been focused elsewhere so it's not a given!

[walkerr]

Yes this makes a difference, but for me I normally do worse speeds at Argus than other races. In Most races I sit in & work in the bunches, but seems like smitswinkel normally sheds me and then we are to far ahead and I do not really get picked up by other bunches. In other races normally stick with the bunch so my avg speed higher.

 

I find opposite - Smits is my favourite hill. There's often that nasty plug of riders to get through after Simon's Town. Once the proper ramp starts it thins out, and you can make nice quick progress down the right. And it's not such a bad climb, and you have those lovely fast stretches over the top to look forward too. My problem is always keeping enough in the tank for a proper go at Chappies and Suikerbossie - usually over done it by one of them and am battling cramps.

 

FWIW - my best avg speed usually comes on Die Burger. Xmas breaks up that and I struggle to get back to anything close afterwards.

Edited February 28, 2014 by walkerr

[3wings]

 

 

 

 

As far as tapering go, what I do is to have my last hard and long ride 2 weeks before race day, this would be race distance and speed. Then the 2nd week before the race, I reduce my total time with about 25%. I still do high intensity, but only about 50 % of what I would normally do. The last week my total time is reduced to about 50% and high intensity intervals to about 25% of normal. The last week I also add an additional rest day, sometimes 2. The day before the race I do a little leg loosener of only about an hour at a very easy pace but with 1 or 2 short sharp sprints. Enough sleep and hydration, little alcohol, a bit more carbs and protein in the diet, no late nights, no hikes up Table Mountain, all helps during that last week.

 

 

 

(Great discussion btw)

 

 

Interesting the way this discussion is moving – mirroring as it does the actual build-up to the race.

 

We’ve talked about the route, working the bunches, managing the weather, getting to know the climbs and now, with under nine days to go and all that hard training in the bag, how to correctly taper so that we are at our best, or peak performance, on the day itself.

 

Heady stuff…

 

 

My biokenticist mate, and unofficial trainer, recommends that I continue my ‘meet the enemy’ preparation over this coming weekend, pushing hard on Chappies for a couple of climbs and the same with Suikerbosse.

 

 

He wasn’t the bit surprised that I went up Smitswinkel in the fastest time yesterday morning on the third consecutive attempt, because, as he said, “it doesn’t scare you any more”.

 

 

And he’s right of course – knowing your enemy is half the battle, once you know where his weakness lays you can then use that knowledge to your best advantage.

 

 

By Monday afternoon I should have familiarised myself with the route and on Tuesday do my final hard session on the Wattbike. Wednesday some interval work, Thursday the Cycle Expo in the morning and a round of golf in the afternoon. Friday nothing, Saturday some brief leg-warming and an early night.

 

 

As for nutrition, carbs become the dominant factor on my plate (taking over from protein) starting Monday. Not sugar-packed cereals but basic low GI carbs with the emphasis on honey-sweetened oats in the morning right down to humble baby boiled potatoes in my back pocket on race-day.

 

 

One thing’s for sure – I’m looking forward to competing in this year’s Argus more so than I have ever done in the past – I am going to ride hard, and I am going to have fun !!

[walkerr]

One thing’s for sure – I’m looking forward to competing in this year’s Argus more so than I have ever done in the past – I am going to ride hard, and I am going to have fun !!

 

Truly the best spirit and mindset to go into the ride. Hope you have a great one!

[Wannabe]

3wings, do not overdo it in this last week. Rather go into the race undertrained and over rested, than the other way round. It is a lot worse to rock up on the day and find you do not have the legs to stay with the bunches because you haven't fully recovered from your efforts during the week.

 

The last week I normaly only do 3 rides (after my customery long ride of the previous Saturday, rest the Sunday)

I do a 30km ride on the Tuesday and Thursday, flat route where you can really control your efforts. High cadence, low intensity with 5 x 30sec intervals in the middle of the ride.

Saturday before the race I do another 30km ride (from Greenpoint to foot of Suikerbossie and back), again high cadence with low intensity. A few 15-20 sec sprints just to wake the legs up on the flat sections.

Rest of the time, of the legs. I.O.W. Don't stand when you can sit. Don't sit when you can lay down.

Proper pre hydration is also very important.

[Prince]

You guys train in the last week

[3wings]

3wings, do not overdo it in this last week. Rather go into the race undertrained and over rested, than the other way round. It is a lot worse to rock up on the day and find you do not have the legs to stay with the bunches because you haven't fully recovered from your efforts during the week.

 

Proper pre hydration is also very important.

 

No worries, the 'meet the enemy' climbs tomorrow or Sunday will be the last heavy work I do before race-day and I will be sure to hydrate properly as you said.

 

BTW:

 

I'm now officially and most decidedly off the booze after slightly overdoing it last night at the Santana gig

[TALUS]

For a few years now I have done the W2W adventure, the 94.7 MTB the next week and the 94.7 road the week after. All at full tilt. Have been recording decent enough times BUT I did nothing/ nada in between. As DJR says: base must be long done. I may get my bike too late on Sat to actually go ride Waterfront to Houtbay and back - ideally I would have liked to. This week I am going to tone down the power/ climbing stuff and do some high cadence stuff. Mainly I will watch movies on the IDT - about 70% of max heartrate (just about falling asleep).

In my running days I had my worst Oceans when I did nothing in the week leading up to the event. I have also given up on the massive binging of "carbo-loading". Remember the days of 3 days of carbo depletion? That was horrible!

I do think that "match sharpness" comes from racing - I did 4 races over the last 4 weeks.

Please guys chip in - let us hear from the weekend warriors rather than what the books say.

Edited February 28, 2014 by TALUS

[Luvuyom]

3 Wings... on Smits/ Cape Point.. I always leave something in the tank for the last slog to the cape point gate.. As soon as i see the "sharp turn to the right sign". I set a target to catch, then I let the "Chris Froome " in me come out with an understanding that I have roughly 3 km to catch my breath down on the other side:-)

 

All the best for the Argus

[3wings]

There's a great deal of information whirling around in my head at the moment and so I'm going to spend the next few hours trying to sort the good, from the bad and the ugly.

 

Only one way to do that - gonna meet the enemy.....

 

I'm convinced of one thing - THERE IS AN ARGUS FACTOR !

 

But the funny thing is, I don't think that is as simple as a 'magic' bost from the crowds on the day.

 

When I get back from Chappies, I hope to have distilled my thoughts sufficiently in order to pen a coherent post.

 

Till later guys - and be careful out there.

[BLACKvoodoo]

There's a great deal of information whirling around in my head at the moment and so I'm going to spend the next few hours trying to sort the good, from the bad and the ugly.

 

Only one way to do that - gonna meet the enemy.....

 

I'm convinced of one thing - THERE IS AN ARGUS FACTOR !

 

But the funny thing is, I don't think that is as simple as a 'magic' bost from the crowds on the day.

 

When I get back from Chappies, I hope to have distilled my thoughts sufficiently in order to pen a coherent post.

 

Till later guys - and be careful out there.

 

This is three wings reporting live from Helderberg, Western Cape, South Africa, African continent, Southern hemisphere, the earth,

Over and out.

[3wings]

So, with any luck by this time next week, we shall all be safely back at Green Point Stadium enjoying a cold one. Some will be pleased, others disappointed with their performance.

We’ll listen to the tales of conquered hill-climbs, pile-ups averted, soul-destroying punctures and spine-chilling cramps. And although such stories follow a similar pattern year after year, what we don’t know yet is just how they will be embroidered with dramatic accounts of both wind and shine.

What we do know however is that by this time next week it will all be over, our hard work, preparation and training will have been put to the test and whatever our personal achievements may have been, it will be too late to do anything about it whatsoever.

But today is March 2^nd and fortunately we still have 6 more days to fine-tune our game-plan, iron out the wrinkles and look for ways in which, for those of us who consider these things important, to shave off a few vital minutes in order to achieve that PB that will keep us smiling for many weeks to come.

 

Yesterday I met with the enemy, attacked and beat the bugger – don’t ask me how – it just happened.

 

My split-time chart shows that I have about 55 minutes to get from the SunValley/Nordhoek turn to the top of Suikerbosse – and yes – that involves climbing Chappies in between.

I did it with over 5 minutes to spare even after negotiating the Saturday morning shoppers who insist on ignoring cyclists, double parking and generally making life difficult in the centre of Hout Bay.

So elated was I that I flew up Chappies on the way back – (the gradient MUST be more gentle heading toward Cape Point ?) stopping at the peak to enjoy the fabulous view and catch my breath.

 

So, what have I learned ?

 

That there is an "Argus Factor" after all, its not all-together positive and I think it affects us older riders more than the guys half our age and younger.

I think perhaps that the older we get the more prone we may become toward talking ourselves into a bad game; be that cricket, rugby, golf, cycling – whatever.

Take golf. We practice for hours on the driving range, hitting shot after perfect shot.

And yet come match day, we look at the ball, we look at the bunker up ahead, we know how to select the right club that will leave us well safe of the hazard and yet what do we do ?

Land it right in the sand !

 

Why ? Because the bunker intimidates us so much psychologically that we lose all mental control of our stroke. Youngsters know no such fear – the thought of messing-up doesn’t occur to them – (at least not to the degree that it does us) and so they stay much more in command of their game.

 

What they can do and we can’t is to mentally project, to visualize that perfect ball flying high through the air and landing pin-high on the green.

That’s not to say that older players haven’t learned that trick as well, because of course many, many of them have...

 

It’s just that I only learned this about cycling during the passed few days – and now that I know where the 'bunkers' lie on Smitswinkel, Chappies and Suikerbosse – as well as several others in between – the course doesn’t intimidate me anymore.

And because I’m no longer scared of messing up – I can now dare to put my foot down and that means saving valuable minutes at several key points throughout the race.

 

So is The Argus the most intimidating event out there ?

For me it certainly was – no question.

And you know what?

I honestly believe that for 90+% of the crowd that will be cheering us on next week – they believe it’s pretty intimidating as well.

That’s why they are there – to take away our fear – to say: ‘don’t give up’ – you’re almost at the top’, ‘well done’, ‘go, go, go’….

 

"The Argus Factor" is in our head – and that can be a very intimidating place for it to hide.

 

So, even if you don’t have time, make time – go out and meet the enemy – laugh in his face - and on race day let the crowd lift you toward achieving that ‘impossible dream” – and achieving a new personal best !

 

The Argus Factor can either work for you or against you – the good news is that there’s still enough time left to turn it to your advantage – go for it and good luck !

[mikkelz]

It looks like the wind will be the biggest factor: http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=128493&sty=m_spot

[3wings]

It looks like the wind will be the biggest factor......

 

Michael.

 

The wind will do what the wind will do - and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it other than be prepared; ride smart and/or battle when its in our face, be cautious when it comes from the side - and rejoice when its on our back.

 

The wind factor is, I guess, very much a part of 'The Argus Factor' - so we mustn't let the fear of it get us down.

 

If we'd ridden the race today, in the howling wind and the rain - I guarantee that more people would have chosen to take part and endure the weather - than pack up and go home without even starting.

 

That's the spirit of this extraordinary event and although we all dream of perfect conditions come race day, those dreams seldom come true.

 

I'm not even going to look at the weather forecast between now and next Sunday - because I know from experience just how easy it is to talk myself into defeat BEFORE I've even crossed the starting line.

 

I shall rock up, as prepared as I can possibly be, and give it my best knowing, as always, that every other competitor will be in the same boat as me !