It's killing me but..........

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Pity is entirely too generous a word and it was much more than a rolling of my pair of greens!
Ah.... that's better. Now the world is right. :)

I've been dying to know what your new avatar is. It just now struck me as an image of a woman wearing headphones and looking out.... a bus window? Is there a story there that you wouldn't mind sharing?

LOL:D What a great story. You should submit that story to a cycling magazine.:cool:
You should see the images still imprinted on my brain. Especially of the guy coming down that hill on his bike. I mean, there were bright yellow and red flames and smoke everywhere! That was some hill. :D

Ah.... that's better. Now the world is right. :) Somehow, I suspect you derive a certain macrabe enjoyment from my reactions to certain threads and comments!

I've been dying to know what your new avatar is. It just now struck me as an image of a woman wearing headphones and looking out.... a bus window? Is there a story there that you wouldn't mind sharing?Muy bien ;)

It is a train window actually, but close enough....

Yes, there is always a story, in fact, one that pertains to me in this case.

Somehow, I suspect you derive a certain macrabe enjoyment from my reactions to certain threads and comments!


Did a search for this Scottish guy called macrabe. No joy though on "macrabe enjoyment", he is obviously not that famous. :D

Did a search for this Scottish guy called macrabe. No joy though on "macrabe enjoyment", he is obviously not that famous. :DYou are asking for it -- picking on a rare typo like that -- from her. :D You'd better hope the inspection tags on that fire-suit are current.

What's the club racing like in Japan? And what brings you to Japan? And what kind of bike do you have? And why am I asking all these questions? :confused:

You are asking for it -- picking on a rare typo like that -- from her. :D You'd better hope the inspection tags on that fire-suit are current.I'm not sure a fire-suit is going to be sufficient.:D

What's the club racing like in Japan? And what brings you to Japan? And what kind of bike do you have? And why am I asking all these questions? :confused:More importantly, which PM is he going to buy when he gets his pension? That decision is only a few months away IIRC.;)

You are asking for it -- picking on a rare typo like that -- from her. :D You'd better hope the inspection tags on that fire-suit are current.

What's the club racing like in Japan? And what brings you to Japan? And what kind of bike do you have? And why am I asking all these questions? :confused:It looks like a typo, but is it really? Or just a tug of the readily pulled strings? Hmmm... :cool:

You are asking for it -- picking on a rare typo like that -- from her. :D You'd better hope the inspection tags on that fire-suit are current.

What's the club racing like in Japan? And what brings you to Japan? And what kind of bike do you have? And why am I asking all these questions? :confused:LOL Yeah, thought I might be treading on dangerous ground there, but I hoped Lucy would see the funny side of her "rare typo".

Two of your questions have been answered in this thread, and you only have 82 pages to read through to find them.:D

In fact thinking about it, they've all been answered, so you'd better getting reading. But then as you say, why are you asking all these questions, implying you don't really want to know.

However, just in case you do want to know and you're too busy working out and contributing to these forums to read through this lot (and who would blame you), in short the answers are:-

1) Where I live, not much going on at all club-wise.

2) I'm married to a Japanese woman, and have an eight year old daughter attending Elementary school.

3) A Cannondale R700.

4) I give up. Why are you asking all these questions? ;) TYSON

Posts are crossing each other too quickly for me. Remember I'm almost ready to buy a power meter and you know how old that makes me.

If I ever do get one, the first thing I'm going to do is measure my 10 sec power.

I'm sure I can do over 1000Watts, but 1400Watts I doubt. Unless I buy a wonky meter of course. Ducks and runs for cover! :D

Two of your questions have been answered in this thread, and you only have 82 pages to read through to find them.:D
You know, this time of year I always think I'm going to get caught up on my reading during my hours of trainer time, but for some reason I just can read while riding.

4) I give up. Why are you asking all these questions? ;) TYSON
Have you seen a couple of those power threads today. Uggh, my brain hurts. I guess I'm just curious about stuff other than training right now.

I'm sure I can do over 1000Watts, but 1400Watts I doubt. Unless I buy a wonky meter of course. Ducks and runs for cover! :D
Tell them you want the ladies version, and I'm sure you'll be up there. :D

Tell them you want the ladies version, and I'm sure you'll be up there. :D
Frenchy, do you want to borrow my Teflon suit, me thinks you'll need it after that comment? You obviously have a death wish.

I'm out of here before things start flying. I'm too young too die - well almost. :D

Progress Breeds Motivation Breeds More Progress

Even if I am not at the level of you guys.:)

My stepped up efforts as a newbie (sort of) on the spin bike have sure been paying off and I am getting real excited to see what my performance level will be like next spring. Of course it will be hard to tell since I am not using a PM at the moment. I am considering a KK trainer with the KK comp. at some point, but I suppose at the moment I am very happy to perceive change.

One goal for next spring was to be able to hang with the fast group and yet last week I rode with the fast group until about 5 miles from the finish and then I had nothing left to even draft on the back. Yet I was happy anyway.

I have dropped a couple more pounds and my skin has leaned out a bit more. More muscle definition and vascularity appears each week.

Since I started cycling I imagine I had a greater battle ahead of me since I have 24 years of heavy lifting with low reps and my body is conditioned for short explosive lifts. My LT seemed to be very poor for endurance type of activities. Back in the day when I was squatting the most my legs would go to failure around 10 reps regardless of whether it was 135 lbs or 405 lbs. I could never lift weights with high reps. So when I started cycling it was like buying a Porshe with a rev limiter that would not allow the car to go over 45 mph. Now the rev limiter seems (LT) seems to be moving a little - finally!! :)

To you guys this is just the daily norm, but I am getting more excited each day as I see things change. I would be nice if I had PM data to track, but for now I must go by perception.

I'm sure I can do over 1000Watts, but 1400Watts I doubt. Unless I buy a wonky meter of course. Ducks and runs for cover! :D
Pens a solid red line over that token 'nice bloke' comment from a few pages ago....


Tell them you want the ladies version, and I'm sure you'll be up there. :DNot quite boorish, but definitely dodgy!

One goal for next spring was to be able to hang with the fast group and yet last week I rode with the fast group until about 5 miles from the finish and then I had nothing left to even draft on the back. Yet I was happy anyway.Cool.:cool:

Pens a solid red line over that token 'nice bloke' comment from a few pages ago....

Not quite boorish, but definitely dodgy!Oh Lucy, I was praising you and saying the only way I could achieve 1400Watts is with a dodgy PM.

Ah, the ambiguities of the English language.:(

I ducked because I knew you would take it the wrong way and start throwing things at me.;)

Oh Lucy, I was praising you and saying the only way I could achieve 1400Watts is with a dodgy PM.

Ah, the ambiguities of the English language.:(

I ducked because I knew you would take it the wrong way and start throwing things at me.;)I never throw things, not even intangible ones like fits.

A foreign language (for me) and text-based communication will do their part in making things less than lucid.

Felt_Rider wrote:

One goal for next spring was to be able to hang with the fast group and yet last week I rode with the fast group until about 5 miles from the finish........
I think a lot of us following this thread are much like you Felt_Rider. We ride hoping we can improve so we too can hang with that "fast group." This IS an exciting time of year. We are seeing how the guidance we've received from this thread coupled with the miles we rode over the summer have PAID OFF in amazing, heartening ways like you are describing. You are hanging with that fast group not next spring but you are almost there NOW!

I keep wondering, thanks to Tyson's thread, we know SO MUCH MORE in October 2006 than we did in October 2005. We know so much more about how to structure our training so that REAL IMPROVEMENT results. We notice this improvement and our riding buddies notice it. It's so cool isn't it? If we made this much progress during the 2006 season, knowing all that we know now and having ALL WINTER to apply it, what are we going to be capable of during the 2007 season!!

..........I am getting real excited to see what my performance level will be like next spring..........I am considering a KK trainer with the KK comp. at some point, but I suppose at the moment I am very happy to perceive change.
When I step away from this past season and look at the major trends in the improvement of my power numbers and think about what caused those improvements, it was the advice from Tyson's thread and other Cycling Forums threads coupled with the purchase of the Kurt Kinetic trainer and associated computer that made the most difference.

At the end of the 05 season NOBODY asked me how I was going to train over the winter. I get asked that a lot now. So, I'd urge you to get that KK trainer ASAP. For my buddies in that "fast group" that I'm trying to catch, when they ask me how I am going to train this winter I'm telling them:

I am mentally worn down from the long season and I need to take a couple of months off to get excited about biking again. (LOL)

And I'm hoping they don't get their hands on RD's "Document.!!":eek:

So, I'd urge you to get that KK trainer ASAP.Interesting that you put emphasis on use of a good trainer, curlew. I have been playing around with my new toy (ride file parsing application) and have studied my ride time and progress over two very different 60-day periods. In most of July and August, I was using my trainer almost daily for 2-3 20min L4 efforts, plus my road rides. In September and October, it was almost entirely road riding and I used my trainer only once or twice a week if at all. I now realize that my trainer sessions provided important physiological and psychological advantages that I don't get on the road even if I put in lots of miles. One advantage is that none of my road rides approaches the efficiency of my trainer rides. I compute my time by level for each ride and then I compute a summary statistic that represents the high-intensity time divided by total time. I call this an efficiency index. It basically represents the quality of the ride from the perspective of making use of the total time on the bike. On the road, it's a real struggle to attain a ride efficiency index of 50%. On the trainer, I regularly attain ride efficiency indexes of ~75-80%. Over time, this is huge. The other thing I have noticed is that nothing prepares me better mentally for sustained constant power efforts like my trainer rides. This was huge for the Mt. Charleston hill climb because it was more than 1.75 hours of continuous climbing. One just has to settle into a high-power rhythm and slug it out for what seems forever. My trainer rides really prepared me well for this mindset. I used to view trainer rides as something to do in the winter to avoid detraining too much. I am now completely revising my thinking to incorporate trainer rides year-round as an integral part of my training plan for both physiological and psychological adaptations. And, when I get my Velodyne later this year (XMAS present to myself), I anticipate increasing the priority and benefits of my trainer rides. As I look back at the personal (cycling) discoveries I have made over the years, I rate this about 9 on a scale of 10.:D

Felt_Rider wrote:


I think a lot of us following this thread are much like you Felt_Rider. We ride hoping we can improve so we too can hang with that "fast group." This IS an exciting time of year. We are seeing how the guidance we've received from this thread coupled with the miles we rode over the summer have PAID OFF in amazing, heartening ways like you are describing. You are hanging with that fast group not next spring but you are almost there NOW!

At the end of the 05 season NOBODY asked me how I was going to train over the winter. I get asked that a lot now. So, I'd urge you to get that KK trainer ASAP. For my buddies in that "fast group" that I'm trying to catch, when they ask me how I am going to train this winter I'm telling them:

I am mentally worn down from the long season and I need to take a couple of months off to get excited about biking again. (LOL)

And I'm hoping they don't get their hands on RD's "Document.!!":eek:Your writing is more motivation for me.
I get inspired by reading other's efforts to improve.
Thanks:)

I am also interested in seeing how well that PM with the shoe insole works. Then I can take it with me to the gym and use it on the spin bike, but if not I have no problem going with the KK trainer if the wifey will get me one as a gift in December.

I am hoping the same that next spring my group will be wondering what I have been doing.:)

Interesting that you put emphasis on use of a good trainer, curlew.
I haven't started seeing my royalty checks from KK yet, have you Rap? ;)

And, when I get my Velodyne later this year (XMAS present to myself), I anticipate increasing the priority and benefits of my trainer rides.
(Note to self: buy stock in Velodyne for '07.... :cool: )