Conference noted::bicycle

< Note 744.0 by TOMCAT::MARINO >
                           -< Training Suggestions  >-

Ed,

   I wouldn't worry too much about 'training' this year...just get out and 
ride and have some fun.  Be conservative, stay away from major hills, don't 
try to do really long rides too soon.  Listen to your body.  Pay attention to 
the generic types of advice you've read here: spin (100 rpm) easy gears, 
things like that.  I wouldn't worry about weight training this summer, unless 
you really feel that lack of upper or lower body strength is a major problem.  
If you set reasonable goals for this season, you shouldn't need the weights.  
Of course, your definition of reasonable goals may vary...

   This winter would be the time to do the weights if you want to.  You've got 
more time and you won't be riding outside anyway.  Since I know you'll be x-c 
skiing, that should help you maintain your cardiovascular fitness, as well as 
build some upper body strength.  I'd recommend doing some upper and lower body 
weights this winter, to keep your muscular development well balanced.  I'd 
also ride some indoors, on either a stationary bike, or better still, a wind 
trainer or rollers for your bike.  Riding your bike instead of a stationary 
bike will keep you from having to relearn your position and re-aquaint your 
rear end with your seat.  But a stationary bike's ok, too.  Just get some 
riding in, and next spring you'll be ready to go, and maybe set some more 
ambitious goals for yourself.

   Again, for this year, just ride and have some fun.

Kevin

    	Scheduling bike riding can be a problem if you hate traffic,
    heat and rain like I do.  I get up at 5:30 every morning and do
    about an hours of riding from before 6:00am to around 7:00.  That
    gives me around 14 - 15 miles a day.  Although I'd love to do more,
    I'm just getting back into riding after about 8 years.  Sometimes
    I do 20miles before work, but I don't want to push it yet. Also
    it takes too long to do much more.  What I'm going for is more distance
    or tougher rides in the same time.  Right now I'm averaging around
    15.5mph - I think it is the hills...
    
    	I try to keep a fast cadence - 90 to 100rpm and low gears. 
    10 years ago I'd never have to shift down where I do now - but I
    figure it will get better with time.  I try to never let my legs
    burn (unless I can beat my average speed on a particular day and
    push it the last 2 or 3 miles).  I find my average speed is faster
    when I don't let my legs burn than when I do.
    
    	I have been practicing, or playing, Tennis each eve for about 
    an hr until last week when I hurt my arm.  I also have been doing 
    some weight training, to get in shape for skiing, in the evening.  
    On days when it is raining, I run 3 or 4 miles rather than ride.
    Yup, I'm tired and go to bed around 9:30 or 10:00.
    
    	As the season moves on, I plan to do more hills out in Harvard
    - Oak Hill road is probably a killer - as part of my loop.  I plan
    to include more hills rather than more distance as I get stronger.
    I still don't dare go down them faster than a little over 30mph
    - I'm impressed you guys are clocking over 50mph!!!
    
    	My biggest problem is numbness in my right hand - I have carpal
    tunnell syndrome and have had surgery on my left hand which corrected
    that.  But *which* 4 - 6 weeks would *you* give up to get it fixed
    in the other hand??   Any suggestions here?  I have Spenco gloves
    which are good.  I put foam on the right grip yesterday which didn't
    help.  ANybody have the same problem?
    \VA
    
    
    

    Which 6 weeks?  I'd give up Nov1 - Dec 15.  Lousy skiing, getting
    too cool and the days too short for riding.
    
    bob
    

    	Yup...around the first of November, in 1986 I came down with
    Pneumonia after riding in the rain so when the calendar turns to
    11 I now put my bike away until its 3 or 4 again.  I have a similar
    problem, in that I need surgery on my knee and, like you, am trying
    to think of the best time to consider being out of action for 6
    to 8 weeks.  Seems like right between biking and skiing season
    is right on, but is that before skiing season or after?
    
    						Jerry

I would strongly suggest after skiing season for the following:

	* Skiing is basically destructive to your knees, joints, back,
	  and whatever else you may fall on. This is for leg surgery,
	  for hand you could do it before.

	* If you have it after then you could fix the damage you did
	  during skiing :-). 

	* Biking has been my sport for building up my knees again.
	  (torn medial colateral ligament and carteledge (sp?) damage)
	  I have to do this so that I can just make it through skiing
	  without having my legs go out from under me. 

Mano_who_may_make_it_down_bear_mountain_without_a_POP

    I agree with Mano.  Many doctors recommend cycling after knee surgery.
    Everyone I know that had arthroscopic (sp?) surgery on their knees
    has been told to start pedaling for therapy.
    
    I'd vote for surgery in mid-march.  Granted you'll miss out on the
    end of season skiing, but you could start pedalling in early May
    which really doesn't put you at a disadvantage.

    	If anyone would care to comment, I'd be interested in your
    	opinions on interval training. Currently I'm using this method
    	of training on a stationary bike. I warmup for about 5 minutes
    	(probably not enough), starting with very little resistance,
    	then I slightly increase the tension every half minute or so
    	until I reach a moderate resistance. Then I increase it to the
    	point where I have to stand up to maintain a brisk cadence. I
    	ride like that (standing up) for 30 seconds, and then reduce
    	the resistance to a minimal level and sit back down and pedal
    	for a minute and a half. I go back and forth like that for an
    	hour, and then warm-down for 5-10 minutes. My heart rate varies
    	a lot, but after the first few "stand-ups", it seems to go from
    	the low end of my target heart rate (just before a "stand-up")
    	to around my maximum heart rate (at the end of a "stand-up",
    	and especially towards the end of the workout). Towards the end
    	of the workout, the 30 second "stand-ups" are relatively diffi-
    	cult, and I'm breathing quite heavily (and sweating like a "pig").
    	I weigh about 132lbs (60kg) and on the two occasions I done a be-
    	fore and after weighing, I've lost around two and a half pounds
    	(1.14kg) per workout (mostly water, I'm sure). As I toughen-up,
    	if I do, I'll increase the resistance and/or interval durations.
    	I do this 5 days a week in the Life Center here at work, and
    	ride my real bike on weekends when possible. Of course, when
    	Winter is over, I'll be saying goodbye to the stationary bike,
    	and hello to my real bike, on a regular basis. Yippie!
    
    	What can a workout of this nature do for my (or *to* my):
    
    	1) "real-life" biking performance?
    
    	(and if you're "into" aerobic stuff)
    
    	2) cardiovascular endurance?
    
    	3) muscular endurance?
    
    	4) VO2 max (aerobic power)?
    
    	5) aerobic and anaerobic metabolism?
    
    	6) anaerobic threshold?
    
    	Thanks in advance for any comments, advice, info, etc.
    
    								   Mike

    re: .7
    
    I started doing intervals last summer.  I don't know much about
    VO2 max., anaerobic threshold, etc.; but I do know that they made
    me faster!  I think that intervals are a sure way to improve your
    speed.
    
    Regarding your "stand up" method to handle the increased resistance,
    I would think that since most of the time cycling is done in the
    saddle, it would make sense to pedal faster and harder in the saddle
    rather than standing up.  Although some standing is desirable in
    your workout.
    
    Lastly, I've found that no matter what you do on the rollers or
    wind trainer, it's not the same as training on the road.
    
    Phil

        
    I don't think it's necessary to stand up all the time.  I did alot
    of that one year, and don't think it's any different than remaining
    seated.  Standing up seems harder becuase you have to work harder
    to support your weight, but you can get the heart going just as
    fast on the seat if you try.  Since you mountain bike alot(?), I can
    understand why you might stress standing a little more.
    
    The keys are to:

    	Monitor your pulse.  Bring your pulse to 85% of your max.
    
    	Hold the interval for a little longer.  Work up to 2 or 3 minutes.
    
    	Rest (spinning) until your pulse drops back down to 65% or so. 
    
    	The go again.
    
    I think I was driven by the "no pain, no gain" theory, which
    does not apply to aerobic/endurance conditioning.  
    
    5 days a week?
    
    Intervals are a good way to increase your VO2 max etc, but you could
    also work on your aerobic base.  On alternate days you might want
    to bring the pulse up to 140 or 150, and hold it there for the entire
    workout period.  If you just train at AT levels and neglect LSD
    training, you might find yourself able to tackle the steep climbs
    with ease, but riding very inefficient at "cruising" speeds.

    You probably don't draw too many stares from the others in the
    Lifecenter huh?      

    My 2 cents...
    
    JD

    

    I feel compelled to reply because I see something in this notes
    file and the cycle_racing one as well.  For all of you out there
    who may not have done so well in English while in high school
    
    A LOT is TWO WORDS!! not one.
    

I agree with JD that you shouldn't be doing intervals 5 days a week.  I would 
think that you'd risk burning out before spring gets here, not to mention 
neglecting your aerobic conditioning.  You might try alternating sitting and 
standing during your interval workouts to work your muscles in different ways.
I mean stand for the first one, sit during the second one, etc.  You could 
also try sitting for the first half of the interval, then shifting up and 
standing for the last half, thus simulating attacking a hill.

Kevin

    > Monitor your pulse.  Bring your pulse to 85% of your max.
    
    If you are 30 years old, assume your max is 190 (220-30).  85% of
    190 is 161.  That doesn't seem like a hard interval.  During an
    interval, I would push up as close to my max as possible.  Between
    85 and 100% is where you anaerobic workout takes place.
    
    steve

    
    re .10
    
    Thanks A LOT.  I got a C in college English.  Do you want to know
    why?  I didn't care much about it.  I still don't.  Well maybe alittle.
    1/2 :^)  
    
    A friendly warning, don't try reading UFP::FLEX.
    
    re .12
    
    160 isn't that hard, but holding it there isn't easy.  From what
    I've read,  race pace is about 80%, TT pace is about 85-7%, and 90%
    is a "area of very short intense work".  
    
    50 minutes a day, 5 days a week on anerobic intervals is not what
    is prescribed by most training programs.  Once a week, perhaps,but
    not every day. (Too many commas in there??)
    My point was just that it's better to sustain a slightly slower
    (aerobic) pace for a longer period of time, than kill yourself for
    a short period of time.  Usually if you go to Max, your rest interval
    is longer.  The idea is that you shorten the rest interval down
    so that someday you can bring it up to 85%, and hold it there.

    Like this.  Each "-" is a minute
    
      85%   -----   -----   -----   -----            
           /     \ /     \ /     \ /     \           
           |     | |     | |     | |     |  o o o  >     
           |     | |     | |     | |     |           
      60%         -       -       -       -         

    
      95%      /\     /\      /\        /\
              /  \   /  \    /  \      /  \
              /  \   /  \    /  \      /  \           
              |  |   |  |    |  |      |  |  o o o >    
              |  |   |  |    |  |      |  |             
      60%         ---    -----   ------    -----     

    
    Comments?
    
    JD

    There is a difference of opinion concerning how to compute 85%.
    
    The simple way is .85*((if male then 220 else 226)-age)

    The more complicated way wants to compute 85% of the way between
    resting and theoretical max which is:
    
    .85*((if male then 220 else 226)-age-(restingpulse)) + restingpulse
    
    which comes out as a higher number if you are alive.
    
    age is chronological not mental

    ed

	re: .7-.14

	Thanks for the replies. I am primarily a "mountain biker",
	so I do stand up a lot while riding. From your replies, I
	gather that I should (for one thing) lower the intensity
	of my standing period (and maybe even remain seated more
	of that time) a little, while increasing the duration of
	it, so as to maintain the 85% of max for hopefully longer
	and longer periods of time. For another, not do intervals
	everyday. I must admit, that if my lower-body Nautilus
	workout fell on a Thursday (and I go to a 45-minute thing
	called Slimnastics (giant rubber-band stretching and other
	muscular endurance stuff) on Tuesdays and Thursdays), I was
	pretty hammered when the Friday interval session rolled
	around. Although the intervals do alleviate the boredom of
	stationary biking somewhat, I will try to do at least one
	LSD-type ride each week, as well as modify my intervals.
	Thanks again for your advice, comments, and opinions. I'm
	looking forward to some fun biking this weekend (and to
	apply all this training to some real riding). If I ever
	get around to it, I'll enter a note about my ice/snow ride
	on the snowmobile trails last weekend. It was great!
	
	P.S. This is what my intervals used to look like :

	Each "-" is 30 seconds. Total "interval" time = 1 hour.

	80-100+% here > _     _     _     _ < standing here
	(at end of     / \   / \   / \   / \  ( 1/4 of total)
	30 seconds)    | |   | |   | |   | |
	               / \___/ \___/ \___/ \< sitting here with
                                              very light resistance
                                              for quicker recovery

						 Mountain Bike Mike