Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

lgbran wrote:tried some swimming yesterday(learning to swim) and cycling specific stretches

.. did 51.38 ks at a average speed of 29.2. geez was huffing and puffing a bit.. felt good to do something, short and sharp. It's the quickest I've gone at that distance. Will watch calorie intake. The local group does rides from 60-90 ks ataverge 30KPH. I assume it's easier riding with a bunch at maintaining that speed

yeah riding in groups is WAY easier then riding solo

if you can average 29kph solo you will have no problem hanging with a group that does 30kph

sogood wrote:if the scale says your weight isn't coming down, then you are either not burning enough or eating too much.

Agree. But to work out whether you are eating too much or need to burn more, counting calories of food intake is what you need to do.

FWIW, I've used both Garmin and Polar HRM's with calorie counts, and about all it proves is that time on the bike is a very good equivalent measure. So just use one of the online calculators (or the one built into SportsTrack) that take your distance and time, plus weight, and give you a calorie reading.

On the "eating too much" side, you can measure that you're eating less by scrupulously measuring inputs with kitchen scales (1 g resolution digital are best), but you can lose weight by making healthier choices based on calorie and GI information without necessarily reducing overall weight of food intake. If that sounds too complicated, just reduce portion sizes (gradually) until you get the desired goal weight.

USM TOM wrote: yeah riding in groups is WAY easier than riding solo

A figure of about 20% easier gets bandied around - you save a lot of the energy otherwise spent on overcoming wind-resistance which dominates the power you need when riding over 20 to 25 kph. But paceline is a skill, that needs to be learned and involves risks that if the rider in front of you comes down, you're likely in for a high-speed crash with those around you. You need to find a group that has the patience to teach you - local cycling club would be a good starting point.

wombatK wrote:But paceline is a skill, that needs to be learned and involves risks that if the rider in front of you comes down, you're likely in for a high-speed crash with those around you. You need to find a group that has the patience to teach you - local cycling club would be a good starting point.

ROLFMAO. Sorry - in general, the guys I race with in Vets are clueless about how to do a paceline. I'd be searching around for a club that runs bunch rides, or a local bunch ride that tolerates beginners. There's a bunch that occasionally starts less than a km from my house, but I have no idea who they are and I always seem to come across them when I'm on my hybrid instead of my road bike. Why isn't there a 'bunch ride locator' web site for Australia?

Edit : Just found 'BunchRideFinder', but according to that there are none in the A.C.T.

Working at getting quicker. Managed to average 30ks a hour today over 61 ks before the last big hill did me 1.5 ks from home. What do people class as a long ride. Do people do 200 + k.s in one hot to see how far they can go as in endurance. I'm training for a 140 ks event however it would be great to see how far one could cover in a day without going flat stick. BTW folks thanks for all the hints. I'm going way faster then I usd to when a good 15 kilos lighter. Over time once i peel off the weight ( another 12 will get me down to 80kg's) should make a big diff on the bike

wombatK wrote:Agree. But to work out whether you are eating too much or need to burn more, counting calories of food intake is what you need to do.

Given that most people in western societies over eat and are used to a full stomach. A simple solution is just to reduce one's normal daily food portion. A very slight sensation of hunger (to what one is used to) at the end of a meal and resist the snack urge in between will more likely than not to position one in the zone for effective weight reduction, and avoid all that fiddly calorie counting stuff. Don't forget, the body has evolved the best calorie gauge over millions of years, and it's not that hard to make good use of it.

Look at LA, he lost weight in a massive way during his cancer treatment, and on the come back, he only built up what's ideally needed for his line of sport. In other words, don't worry about this and that and compromise your weight loss plan. Just lose it all first and then optimise later.

I'd also like to add - When you are starting to build up regular k's in training, as long as you are sensible with what you eat (i.e eat healthy) then it will be difficult to eat more than you are expending.

Argon18 wrote:What product you guys using to track how many calories you have lost? Garmin? Polar?

I use Garmin, pretty handy to compare how different rides result in different amounts taking into account hills etc.

If you want to burn some calories, ride fast, or ride up hills, or both

As mentioned, it depends on what you are training for really. If you are training for crits etc, well your best on doing alot of intensity work etc. If you are training for bigger longer events like Grafton to Inverell and multi day events, you need to have some long rides and have a solid base. I am starting to ramp my kms up to about 4 -550 a week in training for tour of bright etc and once i have a break in december, i will return to solid kms for a base. But mind you, i dont just focus on kms, i work on intensity, leg speed, track riding , hill climbing etc. Most good riders i know (the state A/B graders) knock out pretty decent kms a week (around 500 - 700k a week), but there are always exceptions to this rule.

snedden9485 wrote: Most good riders i know (the state A/B graders) knock out pretty decent kms a week (around 500 - 700k a week), but there are always exceptions to this rule.

thats some real dedication knocking out that many kays

the max i will probably ever do is 300-350km per week as i know im never going to be a pro cyclist and its hard enough to get motivated in summer after working 8 hours in the sun then going out and riding for 2.5 hours

Ride and enjoy it. If your not tired ride some more! If you have some spare time... RIDE!

Have fun and SMASH IT

lgbran wrote:Working at getting quicker. Managed to average 30ks a hour today over 61 ks before the last big hill did me 1.5 ks from home. What do people class as a long ride. Do people do 200 + k.s in one hot to see how far they can go as in endurance. I'm training for a 140 ks event however it would be great to see how far one could cover in a day without going flat stick. BTW folks thanks for all the hints. I'm going way faster then I usd to when a good 15 kilos lighter. Over time once i peel off the weight ( another 12 will get me down to 80kg's) should make a big diff on the bike

I have ridden 200km twice and 300km once in a day. 200 takes me about 12 hours and 300 took about 18 I think. I found 200 to be a good distance but 300 was too far for me.

With regards to the advice above, I was riding long slow rides without any problems. I ran into trouble over training once I started hill riding (upping the intensity). I did a 160km all hills ride on 22/08, followed by a 150km ride with some hills the week later and a 150km ride with some hills a week after that. The ride on the 22/08 was my first real hill ride and I didn't allow enough recovery time between that ride and my next one. For my level of fitness, long hilly rides three weeks in a row was too much and I ended up with tibial stress syndrome in my right shin (an over training injury). I had a bit of a break and my right shin is fine now. FWIW my first 200 had a average speed of 23km/h and my first 300 was 24km/h. I just looked up my first hilly ride 164.27km with a 17.71km/h average speed . It really was hilly

Where I ran in to trouble with the hills was that I found hill climbing really addictive

+1 interval training

I average 150km a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. Feels a little pathetic compared to some riders here. Well done to those guys!

I'll crack 35kmh avg for 40kmh race, no drafting.

Interval training on the mag trainer, can't beat it.

whitestivo

How much you ride depends on how much you want to ride. I do at least 70 km a day just for commuting 5 days a week. Satruday ride can be up to 140km.

I usually take a longer 60 to 70 km route in the morning. so that brings the daily distance to about 100km a day. The only interval training I do is up each hill.

I agree that interval training on the trainer has helped me heaps. I have also used it for some strength building excercises. One of the programs I did enjoy was increasing the gear after a fixed time interval starting at 10 mins, 9 mins, 8 mins....... 3 mins. 2 mins, 1 min and than decreasing the gear 1 min, 2 min........ 8 min, 9 min and 10min. by 1 min, I am usually at 53-12 grinding very slowly.

J

16km round trip commute for me.

i run interval training like this

53 teeth, 4th cog, run each a few minutes (good warm up first), then 5th, 6th, 7th, then hold 7th for a minute, and sprint, regular cadence 85, sprint above 100. then rest good start all over again. rest is imperative, most important is the sprint at the end.

Not saying for everyone, but good start if you already can ride, otherwise you'd probably do some damage.

whitestivo