I would have to start training to even do a recovery ride. And I would have to own a cyclometer, HRM, and the unavoidable watt meter. And all that would tell me what I already don’t want to know. Ignorance is bliss until some teenager on a mountain bike gets by you and at that point you better not have a watt meter on your bike. Still, we have to train and we should do it scientifically, like @Teocalli here.
Yours in Cycling, Gianni
I have a problem with Recovery Rides. I understand them but I still have a problem with them. Let me try to explain.
First (and to all experts here – forgive me for a simplistic view of this) let me level the ground by clarifying the concept by using the 5 Training Zones model. In this model the Maximum Heart Rate Reserve (MHRR) is based on the value derived from the difference between your Maximum Heart Rate and your relaxed Resting Heart Rate. So for a subject of say 50 (not me) we have:
Age = 50
Resting HR = 48
Max HR = 174 (note there may be different opinions on this depending on where you look it up and whether you have actually had it measured scientifically)
Which gives:
The 5 Zone model then becomes defined by:
A buddy once equated these to the following for those who do not use a Heart Rate Monitor.
The basic concept behind a Recovery Ride being that when training or post a significant event (cycling-wise that is) you should plan in complete rides in Zone 2 within your training diary.
Simple enough? So what’s my problem? Well, if you ask anyone who knows me well whether or not I am a competitive soul they would probably fall over laughing. If I go out on a solo ride and see another rider up ahead I have to try to catch them. If I get caught then, after giving the rider due kudos, I have to try to hold position on them. Not wheelsucking but give them a respectful space and try to hold their pace. If I’m out on my vintage steed it’s a target to pass riders on modern rigs – almost like adding a badge on the top tube for each carbon rig notched off.
As I think someone else noted elsewhere, if I simply get blown away I just assume they have not gone, or are not going, as far as I am. Somehow it never seems to cross my mind that they may be 30-40 years (or more) younger than me and darned well should be going faster.
So you may now be getting the drift of why I have a problem with Recovery Rides. How can one simply cruise along and let people breeze past without feeling that they have notched you up as a slower rider – particularly if I am out on my carbon fantastic? However hard I try it simply does not seem to happen. I set out with the intention of a nice quiet ride and somehow still end up trying to attain warp speed and/or hammer up the steepest climbs on the route at max bore. A Recovery Ride just does not seem to fit in my psyche.
However, finally I think I may have come up with a solution. I’m going to have a jersey made with the following on the back:
| RECOVERY RIDE PLEASE PASS |
Then again my condition may be so bad that my psyche may latch onto this in the wrong way. What would be the effect of someone breezing past you with the above on their back? Hmmm…
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@ChrisO Wow, a complete training bible! Thanks mate. I've just got back from a weekend away so haven't had a chance to digest it fully yet - I think I'll have to set it on a spreadsheet to get a better feel for the full programme. My only real concern is that I have got a massive amount of miles in my legs so might have to get some longer rides in.
The race is open to Cat 2 - 4 in teams of 4. It kicks off with a 5km prologue followed by a 80km road stage and a 100km road stage on day 2.
The fine print on using these HR zones is that you need an established aerobic base before the HR zones are useful for training. Without an aerobic base, your HR sits in a high zone even on slowish rides, leaving you wondering what it all means.
I am two years into a comeback to racing after 20 years. I spent my first year training "as hard as a could" My HR was going straight into a high zone 4+ on all the rides, all the time. Even on slower rides I had a HR around average 180 beats per minute. Forget interval training when that is happening - you are already doing an interval when going down the street to buy the paper.
Through the internet, I learnt about the concept of base training and I did some further reading. I then spent about 20 weeks training mainly in the low HR zones, below 140 BPM. At first I had creep along to do this and avoid all hills. The base rides were embarrassingly slow (20-22kph), and my friends were all laughing as they left me behind. Nothing seemed to be happening for about 6 weeks and then I noticed that my average speeds were getting faster at the same low HR. After about 10 weeks, I bettered my fastest average speed on a 50km solo ride (30kph), with my HR 40 beats lower than before. Amazing how easy it felt.
Now that I have done a round of base training, the HR zones in the article are useful for interval training. The Tempo zone now feels tempo, before it was slower than a normal training ride and didn't make sense at all.
Has any one else got a similar story from their first round of base training? I'd love to hear that I'm not alone.....
I made this up last year for my riding buddy and mate after I introduced him to the concept of a recovery ride. He tried it once and complained about the embarrisment.
@scaler911
Well, I see what you're doing there but personally I still take the Garmin. First, since I use a power meter it ensures I keep things within the purpose of the ride (but yes I could do it without - see #2), and two, since I use a power meter, I log it (privately, not on Strava) for future reference. Handy to know what I have done and when.
@Roy Mate, nothing as scientific as that, but I found when I did a couple of fun weekend rides with slower people (4hrs plus each, MTB at 9kph avg and road 23kph avg) I felt much stronger on the fast group rides the following week. Anecdotal as no HR or power to go from, but if you have seen improvement like that, it can't be a bad thing...
@Roy
Yes for sure, same experience and I have fielded questions from others along the same lines eg "What's wrong, the HR Zones have me riding at 20km.hr?" so it is common.
@prestachuck
this I know. Have the same problem, being 49++ my body doesn't respond as it used to. Seems my guns needs much more rest between hammer rides now.
@Roy
Maybe I should look into this. Just recently bought my first HR monitor. never had one before. It's scary. I'm always in 140 - 150, in the mountains, sometimes up to 170. When I get home after a few hours ride, the damned thing tells me I was In Zone 11 minutes with an average of 144...
Not sure if it's fixable, maybe it's just age. I'm in quite decent shape, although not as fast as I was 15 years ago. I invented a new race class level. I call it OTS. Old, Tired & Slow
@WindDrifter It's worth downloading the Sufferfest RubberGlove workout, with that you can easily establish your zones, I did it Oct last year then spent the winter pootling around in zone 1 and
2 for hours on end, and with Ventoux and The Alps coming up in 5 weeks "the numbers are looking better than last year" ©C FROOME
Merckx have mercy, especially on V V day, but I'm a DNS today. I just had a jour sans yesterday and blew big time.
I was fine for the first couple of laps - there were two climbs on each lap, one short power climb and one longer climb, about 4m45s. I had no trouble and thought I could do well. Then on lap 3 I started to struggle and had to chase on, and by lap 4 my matches were burned through. Nothing left.
There's nothing in cycling more depressing than seeing the peloton edge away and disappear.
I'm a bit down about it. I know from previous stage races that I usually have a bad day but I was hoping this time would be different. I've trained better and harder, I'm stronger and I tried really hard to get my nutrition and eating right. Maybe it's just an age thing. I wasn't the first or only one dropped, to be fair, but still...
I could finish for the sake of crossing the line, and would normally do that, but it's a holiday here in the UK and as I don't get that much time with the family I'm going to spend the day with them rather than grind it out. Lord knows my wife is highly indulgent of my cycling but there's no point spending credits for little return.