Just in my first month of trainer road and first 6 months or so of riding. On a couple recent endurance rides in my polarized plan I went longer from 90 minutes to 2 hours and switched to a stretch workout that had me at a higher percentage of ftp for most of the ride than the original scheduled workout. After doing the harder and longer endurance rides I was given a yellow day including on one day that I had a stretch vo2 workout planned. I was definitely still a bit fatigued but figured I had one day off and one easy ride coming up so I could push through. I was expecting at least another ye ..read more

I’ve only skimmed this study but can certainly relate to time seemingly slowing down during hard intervals. The perception of time is slowed in response to exercise, an effect not further compounded by competitors: behavioral implications for exercise and health Andrew Mark Edwards, Stein Gerrit Paul Menting, Marije Titia Elferink-Gemser, Florentina Johanna Hettinga https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.3471 The main finding from this study was that time distortion occurs during uncapped self-paced exercise, compared to resting state, resulting in the perception of time apparently slowing down, that i ..read more

Xpedo is the latest brand getting into the power meter pedal game with the new Omni. These were designed with a modular approach that can be added to most of Xpedo’s existing pedal bodies with only minimal changes to either q-factor (just 2 mm per side in most cases) or weight, adding just 50 g per pair. These won’t released until around July, but target retail price will be around US$750-900 per pair. Escape Collective – 24 Apr 24 Tech gallery: 2024 Sea Otter Classic, part four - Escape Collective New power meter pedals, tools and accessories, car racks, denim onesies, and more. Est. re ..read more

I’m trying to advise my friend on getting a bike. He has never done any cycling before and I am looking at lower end gravel bikes. It looks like most of the bikes in this range, <$1k, are offering tiagra or a non-sram/shimano groupset. I don’t have any experience with these and am wondering if there is a big enough difference that we should look at 105. Especially how would new Tiagra compare to 105 that may be 5-7 years old? Thanks 6 posts - 5 participants Read full topic ..read more

Hey all, The question: What is the ratio of time spent training VO2max to time spent doing long slow rides? Is 1 hour of VO2max training equal to 2hrs (more? less!?) long slow? Answers based on feeling and anecdote are welcome. Reasoning: In the workout description of many VO2 max workouts is… “Short duration, high-intensity repeats can be highly productive for all types of riders but are especially important for riders working on limited training time. In far less time than that required by long, slow, distance, riders can develop similar aerobic capabilities - little time, high stress, compa ..read more

Howdy! I’m currently training for the 2024 OTGG and getting ready to enter the Master’s Specialty Phase…has anyone done OTGG in past years? If so, did you use the Climbing Road Race or Gran Fondo option? TIA! Glenn 1 post - 1 participant Read full topic ..read more

Good morning, I’ve had my eye on the Epic Evo line for a while now. I’ve been racing gravel for 2 - 2.5 years now and I’m looking to dip my toe into the XC world. Seems like gravel and XC have a lot of similarities with the key difference being the technical ability you need for XC (I know some gravel races are really techy now too, but generally speaking). I’ve got a GX derailleur and crank from a prior trail build sitting in the garage I can throw on it right away. I’ve located the 2023 at the discounted $2400 sale price in my size, it’s about an hour to go get it but for the price I’m not s ..read more

Hey everyone, I recently swapped my main road bike, which has a power meter, for another road bike without a power meter on my Elite Suito smart trainer. During a workout today (Makika, threshold 5x5’ with 5’ recovery), I struggled to hit my power target of 310 W in ERG mode. I ended up having to reduce the intensity by 10% just to complete the session, which seemed odd as I didn’t feel fatigued before starting. From my understanding, the resistance level on the smart trainer should always be the same regardless of the bike being used, since it’s set by ERG mode. However, the power reading in ..read more

This is nothing new but rather a reminder to myself, and plenty of others. Not sure why I’m even writing this but it’s just been on my mind since Saturday. I was in a large organized ride this past weekend and ended up in a fairly fast group of about 10 guys. Not sure about others, but I always have a “I’m not sure I belong with these fast guys” mentality when I am riding. Didn’t take long for that to kick in as one of the guys went to the front and took a long hard pull that made me think “geez, if this keeps up, I’ll be dropped in short notice”. But, after he pulled off, we kept rotating and ..read more

I’ve been off the bike for a few years time and started training ~2 months ago. My initial FTP was 123 and then had an 11.4% increase (137). All my workouts were doable at 137 and today, it went up to 150. I’m not on a plan, and typically stick to 45min-1hr Endurance, Sweet Spot, and Threshold workouts. Am I setting up myself for trouble once I start a formal plan? 5 posts - 4 participants Read full topic ..read more