Awesome article, i was wondering as it has been a few months whether you have done your field test yet and if so what the results are.

@Frank

The team mechanics, soigneurs, physios; these are the people who devote their life to the sport and work tirelessly and without headlines that their pedaling counterparts receive.

I couldn’t agree more either with this, and usually they are so willing to give of their time and knowledge when asked. I remember very clearly when I was younger and at some regional race my dad had taken me to he was sat down on a little chair next to the mechanic who he asked nicely if he could watch him strip down the bike and rebuild it. Dad took notes and the mechanic was extremely happy to oblidge and even gave him his contact details incase he wanted to call and ask.

Nice.

Well then I guess I was almost suffering on the trainer last night because I couldn’t see very good.

1. Your arms also get numb and start to burn like your legs;
2. You don’t hear anything but your pounding heart (which you are aren’t really hearing but feeling all over your body including your head and ears);
3. You get a form of tunnel vision in that you don’t really perceive anything you are seeing (your eyes “see” things but your mind does not register them because it is directed inward);
4. Your sense of time is altered in that 1 minute feels like 10, or maybe even more; and
5. You lose the sense of how fast or slow you are then going, or how much or little power you are putting out, because your body is now only telling you “hurt, hurt, hurt” all over and you’ve lost the ability to judge performance (this is when a speedometer and/or power meter can help you figure out just how strong or pathetic actual performance has become at that point in the effort).

There are other examples of indicators. These are just a few.

When you really know how to suffer, your actual performance doesn’t matter. You can really suck from a comparative perspective, but if you truly suffer you are a badass and a hardman. It is kind of like Rule #9 from my perspective, if you know how to suffer you are a badass–period. The difference is, unlike being out riding in bad weather, only YOU know if you are truly suffering.

That is my take on suffering.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Max says the your indoor results are usually 5-8bpm lower than an on the road test.

@xyxax

The way the test went was to start at 100w and increase 25w every three minutes with a blood sample at the end of each three minute segment. I was surprised that the test ended because my RPE didn’t seem very high. I’m hoping this was an indication that I know how to suffer because I definitely have a LOT higher RPE when TTing and hill climbing. Which brings up a point that others have commented on here and which a Cat 1 that was at the testing was discussing with me – “This is a number to base training off of but it doesn’t tell us what your ability to suffer is.”

So this brings up something that I’ve always wondered about. What is “suffering”? Can somebody give a objective definition? Am I really suffering or is there this whole nuther level that I’m not privy to?

@Marko

Nobody said anything about my kit. I was bummed.

i wanna race this season, and i feel i could use something like this, but as i don’t anybody got tips for training?

As Frank mentioned, I think these numbers are something I don’t want to know, like my bank account, which has been taking a beating lately.

Keep on hammering away at the local hammer – hope you get him a few more times this year.

Oh, and nice kit in the photo!

mcsqueak :
Question: If you get a Lactate Threshold test after 50, do they throw in for free all those other tests your supposed to have at that age? I mean, if you’re already there…

Hey, there’s a business venture idea for aging sportspeople….would have to think about sequence of tests being performed though. I don’t think the DRE prostate test and then the lactate threshold would be a wise follow on…..

Ha, he is!

The key message to me was the same as yours – train more at lower intensities. I still haven’t quite got the hang of that. Particularly as I’ve given up riding with an HRM.

Thats so true; someone else commented that they recently saw Uncle Phil out riding, and noted how slowly he was going. I am to understand that most pros do their distance riding at 30km/h or so. Doesn’t surprise me one bit. But when they light it up, they bury themselves.

There’s a piece in Cyclesport on the Leopard training camp in Whereverthefuck and they were doing tests up some hill. Faboo was laying on the ground in the photo of him at the finish. That’s training hard.

Rule of thumb is that most amateurs don’t go easy enough when they go easy and don’t go hard enough when they go hard. Worst of both worlds.

You should also generally train alone because group rides generally become mini races, which keeps you from going easy enough.

@Jeff in PetroMetro
“You possess The V in spades. This can overcome the numbers when you are on the rivet.”
mate, you should be a writer

And no max wattage/threshold number ever won a bike race – half the time the guys that win Masters races (yes, you are one) are far less “fitter/stronger” than other competitors but a little bit smarter (received a pointed reminder of this last night in fact). And that is what makes bike racing so fucking fantastic.

Get to a San Antonio bike shop, ask about local racing, and get involved!

I’m sure we all wonder what kind of (relative) power we pedal out. Now you know he truth and it ain’t bad. Compared to the average 50 year old, you’re Superman dude. And that counts as real world goodness, not how that compares against pro level racers.

I’m also headed towards 50, just a few months away. Keep on riding….

Nice article Cyclops. I’m satisfied in knowing you pipped the local hammer. But more to the point, did Testa ask where you got your awesome kit and t-shirt?

“This can overcome the numbers when you are on the rivet.” Great point Jeff!

Makes me think of Reinhold Messner, the Merckx of high altitude climbing (made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and was the first climber to ascend all fourteen “eight-thousanders” (peaks over 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) above sea level). They tested him inside and out in the labs trying to figure out what made him so special and able to do these amazing things and it turned out that he did not have any special physiological attributes– just a Herculean ability to lay down The V when he wanted something. He would NOT quit, no matter the pain.

KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!