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

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Hey you remember!! Im honored. Yes my back got well and I have to actively manage it now. Core workouts have become a staple in my workout regimen. I haven't had the opportunity to ride that much the entire time :o and I can produce several "excuses" why not :D

However, I miss cycling and I feel confident enough to get back on my bike and am dying to do so. I will probably start this weekend given the hectic schedule I am in right now.Hey, detraining is great! Watching FTP climb quickly after resuming training from a detrained state is so cool.:cool:

Hey, detraining is great! Watching FTP climb quickly after resuming training from a detrained state is so cool.:cool:Yes especially the huge slope from 100wts FTP to 150wts FTP :o in a period of 1 month :o

Alright its done. I bought a used road bike for 1000 dollars. I'm really pretty psyched about it. It has a Cannondale Caad8 frame, and the groupset is all campy record except for the brakes (veloce) and front/rear derailleurs (chorus). Just in time too because my other bike is falling apart, and I think only about half of the chain ring/cog combinations are still useable (too many small crashes trying to learn how to use clipless pedals). Now if I can somehow get a powertap then I can be set for years to come.

OK you win let me know when you get your new road bike though so I can be the cheapest guy in the cycling training sub forum again.:)

Thanks I plan on putting a trainer/club ride custom cassete on my bike soon but it should still be the cheapest bike after the upgrade. I am using a 52/21 combo right now and if I improve enough the next higher range cog is 18 I would rather have a 19 to go to.... I figured out how my sprint improved I was sprinting the last 150 yards to work every day and forgot about it I am now on the power profile chart in the untrained category for 5 second power I wonder what I was before I was on the chart.:eek:

Alright its done. I bought a used road bike for 1000 dollars. I'm really pretty psyched about it. It has a Cannondale Caad8 frame, and the groupset is all campy record except for the brakes (veloce) and front/rear derailleurs (chorus). Just in time too because my other bike is falling apart, and I think only about half of the chain ring/cog combinations are still useable (too many small crashes trying to learn how to use clipless pedals). Now if I can somehow get a powertap then I can be set for years to come.

I am now on the power profile chart in the untrained category for 5 second power I wonder what I was before I was on the chart.:eek:Untrained AND uninformed.;)

Alright its done. I bought a used road bike for 1000 dollars. I'm really pretty psyched about it. It has a Cannondale Caad8 frame, and the groupset is all campy record except for the brakes (veloce) and front/rear derailleurs (chorus). Just in time too because my other bike is falling apart, and I think only about half of the chain ring/cog combinations are still useable (too many small crashes trying to learn how to use clipless pedals). Now if I can somehow get a powertap then I can be set for years to come.Now you're talking! Invest in the engine first, the bike second.

How did you measure your 5 second power? I really want to measure mine, but I wasn't sure if the KK was good for measuring sprint power due to tire slippage. At some point I tried to attach the magnet to the flywheel, but it came flying off since it wasn't powerful enough. I guess the rotating drum is 16.95 cm in circumference (KK reports as 2 1/8 inches, but I measured myself as well). I have a small hope that I'll be a better sprinter on the bicycle than I was as a runner, (I was always a horrible sprinter even though I seriously played a fast twitch sport and ran sprints for training, I think it had to do with my running technique which has nothing to do with cycling, I did run the 800 respectably well for someone who never trained for it, but I was mindbogglingly slow in things like the 100 and especially the 40 m).

Thanks I plan on putting a trainer/club ride custom cassete on my bike soon but it should still be the cheapest bike after the upgrade. I am using a 52/21 combo right now and if I improve enough the next higher range cog is 18 I would rather have a 19 to go to.... I figured out how my sprint improved I was sprinting the last 150 yards to work every day and forgot about it I am now on the power profile chart in the untrained category for 5 second power I wonder what I was before I was on the chart.:eek:

The magnet is made to mount on a spoke the sensor mounts on the seat stay. To prevent slippage I start with 115 psi tighten the knob and then pump it up to 130 psi (not sure if thats OK with the KK people but I would think their wattage numbers were done without slippage). I just did another out of the saddle sprint at 35.6mph 1074 watts on the 52/11 combo at about 93rpm.:cool:

How did you measure your 5 second power? I really want to measure mine, but I wasn't sure if the KK was good for measuring sprint power due to tire slippage. At some point I tried to attach the magnet to the flywheel, but it came flying off since it wasn't powerful enough. I guess the rotating drum is 16.95 cm in circumference (KK reports as 2 1/8 inches, but I measured myself as well). I have a small hope that I'll be a better sprinter on the bicycle than I was as a runner, (I was always a horrible sprinter even though I seriously played a fast twitch sport and ran sprints for training, I think it had to do with my running technique which has nothing to do with cycling, I did run the 800 respectably well for someone who never trained for it, but I was mindbogglingly slow in things like the 100 and especially the 40 m).

Yeah I think someone on these boards suggested using the flywheel if you wanted to make sure you had everything set up correctly because it factors out tire slippage. I actually had a really strong magnet that I thought I could use to do it, but I lost it somewhere. You are right, the KK people had to put a ton of power through their machine constantly, although they may have done it by slowly ramping up the power, rather than accelerating.

I'm very busy at the mo, but have to relate what happened this morning.

However, first I'll make a possible excuse for what occurred.

Yesterday hammered it all the way to the bridge at the bottom of my first real climb ( see photos earlier). I wasn't far short of my best time ever at 48 minutes which I did last summer. What made this a remarkable ride was the fact that I was dressed for winter with 5 layers of clothing, 2 pairs of gloves and rode a lot of the way into a very strong headwind. From my breathing. I guess that it was upper L4 all the way with some L6 on the short climbs. And it was difficult to take a drink.

So what happened today? I was in town on my shopping bike, and I don't hang around on it. Suddenly I was aware of someone tailing me, so without looking around I started to dig in - still he was there. So I dug a little deeper, but he was right on my tail, so I really piled on the power - the bugger was still there. Fifty metres from where I turn off he passed me. I wasn't having that and made a final sprint for the turning, passing him and turning into the department store carpark with relief, because I can tell you, I was just about passing out.
He calmly sailed on at the same speed. So what's unusual about being passed by someone younger than yourself, I hear you say?
Well this guy was a big fat bag of lard, (a smaller version of a sumo wrestler) http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/sumo1.gifand although it wasn't raining he was wearing a long raincoat that was flapping in the wind like a sail on a cross-Atlantic yacht.
I had to go and sit down and have a cup of coffee to recuperate from the exertion.http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/3101.gif

Besides residual fatigue from yesterday, the only other excuse I can think of is this. These shopping bikes don't normally have any gears and the gearing varies from bike to bike. When I finally overtook him my cadence was somewhere around 1,400 rpm. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/icon_rolleyes1.gif Maybe he had higher gearing.http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/0171.gif

Also stay tuned for another weird cycling related Tyson dream to come when I have time. Who remembers the last one (last year) - that was really weird.:)

Also stay tuned for another weird cycling related Tyson dream to come when I have time. Who remembers the last one (last year) - that was really weird.:)Maybe there's a link between dreaming and high cadence work.:p What were you doing last time?

I have vague memories of a dressing shed and tool box.....

Maybe there's a link between dreaming and high cadence work.:p What were you doing last time?

I have vague memories of a dressing shed and tool box.....
Here you go Alex.

Am I worried about this race? I'll leave you to judge after describing my dream last night about the race.

The race was held starting in a girl's middle school. I parked the car in the playing fields and headed for the changing room. The room was in a complete mess with gear everywhere. No cycling gear mind you.

For some reason I just couldn't get changed as I was more worried about my valuables. Eventually I headed off for the start with 3 layers of clothing on plus a winter coat. Not a single bike in sight! I was now carrying my valuables in a giant heavy metal toolbox. I said to the starter "this race is starting a bit late isn't it?" (it was 2pm and we had 137km to race) I said the race will finish in the dark, and he just grunted something meaning yes.

Still not a single bike in sight!

I asked him where I could leave my valuables (giant toolbox) and he replied that the changing room was the safest place. So I headed off back across the field to the changing room. Suddenly someone shouted "everyone to the start" at which point I panicked and ran across the field screaming at the top of my voice "just a minute, just a minute".

When I got back to the start they'd all gone and I realized this wasn't a bike race, it was a running race. Anyway, I set off along this dirt track and could see a bunch of girls running up ahead. I thought, I'll soon burn them up with my power.;) I actually passed them doing about 1 mph faster!:(

I then came out onto a road and was immediately confronted with this enormous hill. It was wide enough for 8 cars abreast.
Suddenly I saw my first bike, but he was coming down the hill. The hill was so steep he was hard on the brakes, so hard in fact that his back wheel had come round and he was coming down like a crab with flames and smoke pouring from his rear tyre.

At the top of this hill, as predicted the course became complicated, in fact it went into this house which must have had about 4 or 5 floors. The house was an absolute maze of narrow uncarpeted staircases. I was belting up these staircases shouting "which way, which way?"

Suddenly, there was a room with no walls, which I can only describe as heaven. There was beautiful maiden sitting there covered in rose petals with just, what looked like a Greek toga covering the naughty bits. Upon seeing me she stood up naked and strolled over to me. :eek: I thought to hell with the race, I've got better things to do. :rolleyes: She sidled up to me, flung her arms about me and moved up close. At this point the race was the last thing on my mind.:D

Then she turned round and went back to her "room". (Sorry guys to disappoint you)

OK, on with the race - more stairs to climb and more shouting for directions.

Finally I came out into the road again, and I said to these 2 guys standing there "which way did they go?" To which they replied "who are they?"

The bike race, the bike race guys, I shouted impatiently.

They said "do you mean a bunch of guys waving their hands in the air and shouting, yeh heh, wa hoo etc. I said, probably, and they pointed me in the right direction.

After a very short time I came to a fork in the road. There was no one there to ask the way, it was also starting to get dark and I'd covered all of 3 km.
I opted to take the road on the right, but after 100 metres it was now dark and I decided to turn back. As I approached the fork, I unexpectedly found myself wading through grass 8 feet tall, which wasn't there 2 minutes ago.

Finally when I came out onto the original road, I thought that is definitely it, I give up. This was followed by a feeling of remorse, and I thought "what am I going to tell the guys in the forum?"

Then I woke up. Phew!! :D TYSON

Can't believe I forgot the naked woman bit !!!!:eek: :D

Last night's dream is pretty boring compared with the above and involves Nomad as the star and RD as a bit player. Coming soon complete with doggy poo.http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/hello1.gif

Back to work. http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/0241.gif

At least its been warm weather for us Tyson. God, it was a beautiful day today down here. 9 hours of riding between yesterday and today!

Unfortunately, my ride today got kinda stymied. One of the new local cyclists (not new cyclist, but new to the area) wanted to go out with me on my 5 hr Lvl 1 ride today. I told him no problem, I don't care if you just hang out in the back the whole ride.

By the time we were 3 hours into the ride, it was starting to go down hill (or up hill, which made it worse for him). I certainly had an exceptionally low level 1 ride today, but the weather was beautiful for it.

Poor guy is a triathlete by trade, and is from someplace flat - so Japan is killing him. I think if he coulda swapped his shiny new 12x27 for a 12x29+, he woulda. We did some pretty monster climbs today for a flatlander.

By the time we were coming back into town, I was dropping him at 190-200 watts and starting to feel pretty bad, so we just kinda cruised in cool down style for the last 15 minutes.

Great guy, and only second time riding with him. But, another reminder of how hard it is to do a ride for "training" with someone else in tow.

and involves Nomad as the star and RD as a bit player.
I'm one of the newest actors, and I'm already the star?! Wooohoo!

Oh ... wait... I just read the other post. If I'm naked in a girls' school hallway, I've already done that. No need for repeats!

At least its been warm weather for us Tyson. God, it was a beautiful day today down here. 9 hours of riding between yesterday and today!

Unfortunately, my ride today got kinda stymied. One of the new local cyclists (not new cyclist, but new to the area) wanted to go out with me on my 5 hr Lvl 1 ride today. I told him no problem, I don't care if you just hang out in the back the whole ride.

By the time we were 3 hours into the ride, it was starting to go down hill (or up hill, which made it worse for him). I certainly had an exceptionally low level 1 ride today, but the weather was beautiful for it.

Poor guy is a triathlete by trade, and is from someplace flat - so Japan is killing him. I think if he coulda swapped his shiny new 12x27 for a 12x29+, he woulda. We did some pretty monster climbs today for a flatlander.

By the time we were coming back into town, I was dropping him at 190-200 watts and starting to feel pretty bad, so we just kinda cruised in cool down style for the last 15 minutes.

Great guy, and only second time riding with him. But, another reminder of how hard it is to do a ride for "training" with someone else in tow.
Yeah, unusually mild winter, after the Sun comes up that is. It is still damn cold early morning with temperatures hovering close to zero. On Sunday morning on my way back down from the mountains the temperature thingy at the bottom of the 15% climb said 6C and the Sun was already up.

Can't believe I forgot the naked woman bit !!!!:eek: :D
Yes, many people were imagining the naked woman, but all RD wanted to know about was the metal tool box for some reason.:D

Darn it! I didn't intend to start page 100 -- I felt that honor should go to Tyson.

Well, now that I'm finally part of the 'century club', I thought I deserved at least a quick post to introduce myself to all those who have participated in this thread whom I now feel I know so well. No skimming, I started on Page 1 and didn't do any peeking (much) until I'm now on Page 100. :) My name is Jeff, and...

My introduction to the Power Forum began back on 12/10/06 when I started my CycleOps Pro 300PT/Mt. Diablo thread (http://cyclingforums.com/t376540.html). I can firmly blame Dave for dragging me into this, as in my thread he wrote:

Read Hunter and Coggan's book and read the threads here including the "It's Killing me but..." saga.

It's taken what seem like forever to get to 12/01/06 'here' on Page 100, but what an amazing ride. It really has played out like a reality/internet soap opera, with all the heroes and bad guys and everything else in between. I think I speak for everyone when I congratulate SillyOldTwit on his phenomenal progress and intestinal fortitude throughout. RapDaddyO's insights have bordered on prophetic at times, and experiencing his detailed understanding of the physiology of power as applied to cycling has both hastened and smoothed my transition to this next 'plane' of training. Many others also gave critical input, often in the form of excellent questions; I can't thank you all enough!

After having cycled on and off for the last 20 years using an HRM, I've made more gains to my cycling fitness since 12/26/06 than I've ever made in an entire summer of riding (more on that below). After having bought the 300PT for my wife and I for XMas, I can unequivocally state that it is the ultimate training tool. My first 20-minute power test on 12/26/06 yielded 221 watts (at 81.2 Kg). My last 20-minute test on 1/21/07 yielded 269 watts at 79.5 Kg, a mere 22% gain in less than a month. I finally bit the bullet and did a 1x60 a few days ago and got 240 watts, though had much to spare in the form of ramping it way up in the last 10 minutes in which I averaged 270 watts (I wanted to make sure I at least got a piece of data from the ordeal, so started too slow).

Since we've had a winter storm every weekend here in Colorado since December 21, it's been virtually impossible to actually get on the bike for my local time trial 'fitness indicator', Lookout Mountain here in Golden. It's about 1250' of climbing in 4.5 miles 'pillar to post', i.e. just under 6%.

Well, since starting a program of training with power only 6 weeks ago, three days ago I shattered my previous personal best (from Aug '06) up that climb by more than 2 minutes (27:44, great for me)! :eek: Prior to using power data and all the knowledge gained both from 'The Book' and what I shall now deem 'The Thread', I would be lucky to get a personal best by perhaps 30 seconds from year to year, and that after a pretty significant (for me) season of riding hills.

Anyway, I can't tell you all how thrilled I am with my progress in this short time, nor can I stand the anticipation of continuing to train toward my goal of clearing an hour up Mt. Diablo in October. I'll now check out until I've finished reading 'The Thread'. Only 20+ to go... :D

Thanks again to all!

-J\V

PS: Lucy maybe I'll see you on Mt. Evans in July, I want to break 3:00 this year...

Well, now that I'm finally part of the 'century club', I thought I deserved at least a quick post to introduce myself to all those who have participated in this thread whom I now feel I know so well. No skimming, I started on Page 1 and didn't do any peeking (much) until I'm now on Page 100. :) My name is Jeff, and...What a cool post.:cool: Congrats on your progress to date. I think you're going to shatter lots of PBs this year. Great choice of a training setup, btw.:D