Training with the Pros, it sounds like fun but it can’t be. Pros are genetic freaks; they put more kilometers on their bikes than any of us civilians do on our cars each year, they ride around whole countries at an average speed greater than 40km/hour and they can dish out such Rule V style day-after-day-after-day. We all dream about it but we don’t have it.
In an earlier life I came close to landing my dream job in Monaco with the IAEA. Serious people counseled me not to take the job, they said it was a bad career move. How could I explain to them I didn’t give a shiet if it was a bad career move, the chance to live, and more importantly to be a cyclist near San Remo and La Madone was all I cared about? Yet I knew if I even saw Tom Boonen or one of the many Aussies who call Monaco their home out on a training ride, I would only be seeing their lycra-clad asses disappearing up the road. Could I at least catch up to Stuart O’Grady to chat him up for a minute before my inability to talk and breathe would force me to lie and say I was turning right HERE? Maybe I could drink beers with the Aussies, I could keep that professional pace, actually no, I would get dropped there too.
Oh that job fell through and my dreams of commuting into work on Merlin on the Cote d’Azure disappeared like those watery mirages on a hot highway, but I digress. I have some good and funny direct video evidence why training with the Pros would be a cruel lesson in our mortal failings. One such Pro is Ted King, an American racer living the dream; he is based in Lucca, riding for Liquigas, riding in support of Ivan Basso and Peter Sagan. He is tough, he has finished every Giro d’Italia he has started. He broke his collarbone this summer racing in Philadelphia when his front wheel dropped into an inexcusably lame drain grate (thank you very much, oh third-world infrastructure that defines the USA).
To bring his training back up to speed he did the 200 on 100 with fellow Pro Tim Johnson and amateur racer Ryan Kelly. The 200 on 100 means 200 miles on Route 100, riding North to South from the top to the bottom of the state of Vermont, the Green Mountain State. Unless you are Marcus, 333 km seems like an impossibly long ride to do at once, I would be in broom wagon long before the end of such madness.
And by madness I refer to the 338 km at 34.1 km/hr average speed with 3,197 meters of climbing thrown in for good measure.
Video credit to Chandler Delinks
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@itburns
Nice post. Reminded of an article I was going to write last summer after getting a pro fit. Now I don't have to. What a difference though, eh?
@itburns
Phil Shama? Or Bike Barn Fit Studio? Or somewhere else? Just curious.
@Marko
Google "Tex-Mex migas". Mmmmmmm. Migas.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Went to Tad Hughes Custom Fit Studio. Located in Spring Valley Bicycles around I-10 and Blalock.
@Marko
The difference is way more than I expected and will only become more pronounced over the next couple months while I fully adjust to the new positioning.
@Dr C
Cost - there is the rub. This was $250 US. Not cheap at all. That said, if I would have known the difference it ended up making for me I would have done it sooner.
@All
The fit guy had an interesting take on the trainer or roller question. He finds that rollers help you maintain and improve positioning and stroke and that trainers tend to damage them since your bike is anchored. He said that a current triathlon rage is to do two thirds of your bike training on a trainer instead of out on the road and that this is causing some of his clients to have to come in to temporarily adjust things while they unlearn bad habits.
@itburns
Whoah - but then if you are going to spend all your money on a £2-3K bike then probably makes sense - might look into that
Rollers argument is like using free weights or Swiss ball instead of those feckin machines in the gym - instability is king for overall fitness and core strength - makes muchos sense
Like your jersy by the way - well earned
@Chris
He's still alive!!
Well done chap - do tell all - 7 hours sounds pretty good going given the shitty forecast!
Off to Strava now to admire your efforts.....
Another vote for bike fit, despite the cost. Though I think it can be very dependent on the person running the fit, so I would advise seeking recommendations.
As Itburns says, it is the minute adjustments that you are paying for. In my case a very small change in the angle of the cleat on my right foot (my right leg is shorter than the left by 1.5cm) has made a world of difference to my knee.
Not something I would ever have done or realised by trial and error.
@Itburns Nice piece BTW ... 'sky so blue it will probably be banned'. Strong work.
@Dr C
Until I've gained procurement approval for a Garmin 500, I'm not bothering with Strava. It doesn't do anything meaningful without GPS input. I'll write a bit about the ride and post it up later when the photographers get their act together and get their photos up.
@ChrisO @itburns
I got a bit of Woodpecker Knee yesterday - haven't had it for ages - pretty miserable, but went away for some reason mid ride - does constant fiddling with stuff not achieve the same ends? - I'm forever adjusting my seat, but am pretty settled on current position, height and angle, and tend to slide back and forth on my seat, and adjust the flexion angle of my foot to spread the load on different muscle groups anyway....
but then I'm a shit cyclist, so waddo I know!!
@Chris
I'd maybe look at the 200 which is due out imminently (£125??) - I might stick my 500 on Ebay at a silly pre-Christmas price and get a 200 if they give the same info, as now I pretty much know my HR before I confirm it on the unit (165 kaboom!!!)
@Chris
you don't sound your usual chipper self old bean.....was it not the joyous hell you anticipated on Saturday?