TheJ Posted February 5, 2018 Share 2h37m on a MTB with slicks many years ago at the defunct Makro Cycle Tour in PE, finishing 13 seconds behind a certain Mr Darryl Impey. 26er back then. Was pretty awesome mixing it up with Malcolm Lange, Nic White etc in the paceline, spinning my absolute a$$ off on 42x11 gearing. Dropped over the big climb of the day, but managed to hook a good wheel on the way down and rejoined. Then dropped off going over the last big climb but still hooked it to the finish with Peter Wheeler (I think). Gotty Hansen was in the first following car, pulled in next to me, "You need a road bike, you'll be good". My 3 hours of fame. What does it take? Can't really say, but I can say what might be a hinderance... Full time jobKidsWifeBeerThat extra 5kg you can't shake Above anything else, what it does take it being able to hook it with the right bunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruity Posted February 5, 2018 Share 2h37m on a MTB with slicks many years ago at the defunct Makro Cycle Tour in PE, finishing 13 seconds behind a certain Mr Darryl Impey. 26er back then. Was pretty awesome mixing it up with Malcolm Lange, Nic White etc in the paceline, spinning my absolute a$$ off on 42x11 gearing. Dropped over the big climb of the day, but managed to hook a good wheel on the way down and rejoined. Then dropped off going over the last big climb but still hooked it to the finish with Peter Wheeler (I think). Gotty Hansen was in the first following car, pulled in next to me, "You need a road bike, you'll be good". My 3 hours of fame. What does it take? Can't really say, but I can say what might be a hinderance... Full time jobKidsWifeBeerThat extra 5kg you can't shake Above anything else, what it does take it being able to hook it with the right bunch.Full time job - checkKid - checkWife - checkBeer - not anymoreThat extra 5kg I can't shake - I've got 12kg still to lose to get back to my original weight, another 5kg to lose if I want to be cheeky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mecheng89 Posted February 5, 2018 Share I'm going to stir the pot a bit. What does it take to get a sub 3 in a 100+ km road event? Does training play a role, or is it being the right weight, or is it learning how to ride behind someones wheel?Where to begin? You have the first thing right - a goal. Without a goal, you're literally going to achieve nothing significant to yourself. Secondly, if your goal is only to do a sub-3 100km+, do flat and fast races like F1, Midvaal 100 and other races mentioned earlier. If you want to do a sub-3 100+km on more demanding events, it's going to take event-specific training. 947 is a good case. You know it's an elevation gain of 1300m, give or take, so you need to focus on your 2-3 min climbing intervals in order to keep with the bunch. So yes, training plays a huge role. Learning to ride in the bunch and not to be nervous, but yet alert, is a key skill. Correct weight - correct power-to-weight. Charts available all over the net! There's always a trade off. Little weight may mean good climbing and then you'll suffer on the descent. Bigger riders excel on the flats and if they maintain the correct cadence they fly down the hills. For amateur riding in this country, from my few years of "racing", if you can climb and stick in the bunch you're going to finish well. Good lunch with the training. Stay motivated, pick a race and train towards it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruity Posted February 5, 2018 Share Where to begin? You have the first thing right - a goal. Without a goal, you're literally going to achieve nothing significant to yourself. Secondly, if your goal is only to do a sub-3 100km+, do flat and fast races like F1, Midvaal 100 and other races mentioned earlier. If you want to do a sub-3 100+km on more demanding events, it's going to take event-specific training. 947 is a good case. You know it's an elevation gain of 1300m, give or take, so you need to focus on your 2-3 min climbing intervals in order to keep with the bunch. So yes, training plays a huge role. Learning to ride in the bunch and not to be nervous, but yet alert, is a key skill. Correct weight - correct power-to-weight. Charts available all over the net! There's always a trade off. Little weight may mean good climbing and then you'll suffer on the descent. Bigger riders excel on the flats and if they maintain the correct cadence they fly down the hills. For amateur riding in this country, from my few years of "racing", if you can climb and stick in the bunch you're going to finish well. Good lunch with the training. Stay motivated, pick a race and train towards it!!Mountain biking was a lot less complicated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch the stalker Posted February 5, 2018 Share Mountain biking was a lot less complicated There's some good video's on Youtube about racing in bunches.Think they were posted on a 947 thread here a while back, but if you can't find them, I do have the links on my home machine so can add them later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mongoose! Posted February 5, 2018 Share Sub3 CTCT aka Argus counts the most points as a "sub 3 time" for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickGM Posted February 5, 2018 Share Disclaimer: I'm not a sport scientist and I'm not a gifted athlete either, I am just sharing what works for me. 1. Pay your dues and get into a good starting group - that makes the biggest difference. I started last year's 99er in group CC (third last group to leave). It was my 1st ever road race so I essentially had no seeding. I suffered like I've never suffered before and rode a solo 3:02. That effort got me a better seeding and a good starting group for my next race, the 2017 stellenbosch cycle tour. I rode it in 2:41 for roughly the same distance as the 99er. That 2:41 in a good starting group was easy compared to the solo 3:02. I even dropped my chain (twice). I'm not saying this to brag, there are loads of people who ride faster than that and loads who ride slower. Just making a point - a sub 3 is much much easier in a fast group. Learn how to ride in a group without using unnecessary energy, ie: draft properly and be easy on the brakes. Don't skip your turn at the front. 2. Training smart is better than training hard. I see people doing 4 x 60km rides per week - but each ride they are just doing the same route, at the same speed and wondering why they don't get better. If you do just 3 rides in a week, do 1 long ride at a medium tempo, 1 short ride with hills and 1 short ride with sprints. Don't do "nothing" rides if you want to get better. Do them if you just love riding though. I lead a busy life so do about 120km a week when training. 80km long ride plus 2 x 20km short intense rides, as described. That has been enough so far. 3. It really helps to be a light weight. I think banting is BS (just my opinion). I'm not aware of any world class endurance athletes that "bant", but there are lots of world class vegan endurance athletes. I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, I only say this to make a point: one extreme seems to be better than the other. I've found it easy to stay lean by eating LOTS of veggies, medium amount of carbs and small amounts of meat. I don't eat much (or any) sugary stuff. I don't do this for cycling reasons but it helps. 4. Get the basics right on your bike. ie: pump your tires up to the right pressure, make sure your gears change smoothly, make sure you body position is good (go for a fitting if needs be). Control the things that you can control. Again, if I have not said it enough - this is just my experience as somebody who recently crossed over from not doing sub-3's to doing sub-3s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy Posted February 5, 2018 Share All of this is sound advice but I found that the ONLY way to get a sub-3 is to finish the race in 2:59:59 or less.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuliBoB Posted February 5, 2018 Share Lekker starting group, fitness, weather (wind in WC races) and lady luck = no punctures especially!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mecheng89 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Lekker starting group, fitness, weather (wind in WC races) and lady luck = no punctures especially!!Amen. Ruins everything once you puncture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabe Posted February 5, 2018 Share Depends on the day. I've done sub 3's at R4S, 94.7, Lost City, Bela Bela Classic, and a few other smaller races, but I've never cracked a sub 3 on the Argus (best of 3:07), the wind always being the deciding factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lechatnoir Posted February 5, 2018 Share I think banting is BS (just my opinion). I'm not aware of any world class endurance athletes that "bant", Yeah... Romain Bardet... Chris Froome... Bevan McKinnon... Need to up their game hey... Depends on the day. I've done sub 3's at R4S, 94.7, Lost City, Bela Bela Classic, and a few other smaller races, but I've never cracked a sub 3 on the Argus (best of 3:07), the wind always being the deciding factor. The wind just moers me flat... My legs see the wind before I do... It's painful here in the Cape, but getting stronger, so less k@k than before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted February 5, 2018 Share easiest way to do a sub3 100km ride. blouberg to langebaan on the R27 in a raging south easter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GiantSpez Posted February 5, 2018 Share Forgot 1 thing , a good seedingas he said, that seeding is important Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamil Posted February 5, 2018 Share Who's the heaviest oke to do a sub 3? I'm just asking because if I weighed 88 my old mum would be worried about me, at 78 I'd be falling over from weakness and at 68 I'd make a skinny corpse. I know my limitations, I will never do a sub 3 - I would be over the moon if I did a 3:30. But how many of us larger types have ever hit this target? Depends on the 100+km route. Some are so flat I aim for sub 2h30. But the main sub 3 races for me would be CTCT, Ride for Sight. Yes you need to be fit.Weather!!!!!!!! Wind!!!!!!A lot of guys can wheel suck their way to a sub 3 no problem but whats the point of that? Rather do a sub 3 and at least do some work, even if it's just a handful of short pulls.I think training and weight work hand in hand. If you training enough that you are able to be seeded well enough to be talking sub 3 then I think you should be fairly trim. I always aim to go into my main race(CTCT) at 65kilos but I can't spend the whole year at that weight. Its a dedicated diet from Jan to March. After that I am sitting at about 68/68 kilos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickGM Posted February 5, 2018 Share Who's the heaviest oke to do a sub 3? I'm just asking because if I weighed 88 my old mum would be worried about me, at 78 I'd be falling over from weakness and at 68 I'd make a skinny corpse. I know my limitations, I will never do a sub 3 - I would be over the moon if I did a 3:30. But how many of us larger types have ever hit this target?That would be an interesting thread actually. Heaviest sub3 CTCT/Argus finisher ever - let's track him (or her?) down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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