the kilo?

davenelson

I have a strong interest in the 1 kilometre time trial and have made the decision to give it a crack during the coming track season. So anyone been successful in this event? If you have im keen for your advise. I want to look at the specifics of this event and apply the necessary training methods to smoke my competitors (yeah i wish). So if your a kilo freak or you can offer me some useful tips or info on this issue then please reply.

Cheers

Dave.

2LAP

The Kilo is the longest sprint event and as such there is very little information out there!!! Its best to turn to some of the athletics texts and look at info for events lasting less than 1 minute.

Keep away from articles that improve endurance as any advice will no doubt slow your 1km TT. Most of the training will be gym based and short (under distance) explosive efforts.

You are trying to maximise your peak power output from the blocks and maintain a high average power output for the rest of the race. This will be done through maximising your ananerobic energy systems.

Lasalles

I thought u were doing "The Big Mans" training???? One thing with the kilo,lots of road Kms...If you look at blokes like Jeff Hopkins,Mark Renshaw,Ben Kersten etc they could all ride the longer track events aswell... PS i was at the same club as you,,,

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2LAP

This isn't typical of GB riders. Jamie Staff, Quealy, Hoy and McClean are all pure sprinters. I'm sure that if you ask them to ride a pursuit I am sure they will tell you where to go

Jamie staff is a former world BMX champ (most BMX races are <1 minute in duration). I would guess that their average weekly milage is less than 40 to 50 miles a week.

Lasalles

On the other hand Shane Kelly im assuming would have a fairly large road training program.

Jonny

To train for the kilo you still need to do road kms as this aids in energy delivery system to your legs. Even pure track sprinters eg Mark French do 300km a week. If your cardio system is better it will be more efficient at clearing the lactic acid out of your legs during the kilo. At the same time you don't want to be doing soo much endurance work that your muscles turn into slow twitch.

I read somewhere that Shane Kelly would do hours on the velodrome every morning if the weather was bad.


Jonny

Aztec

I think it depends on who/how you are. If you are truly and totally gifted, then maybe you don't need as much road/endurance work. But I recall that top rides such as Rory O'Reilly did plenty of road work.

I love the kilo. It's not nicknamed the Killermeter for nothing. Very, very hard. That third lap is brutal. I had thought (and still do) about training for that for next year. Figured my age division would be easy and filled with geesers (age 37). Ha! The fastest kilo ridden in '02 in my district was in MY age bracket. Doh!

Buy 'No Brakes' on Amazon. It has a decent section on the kilo.

2LAP

Yes there does seem to be some variety in how people tackle the kilo.

The GB squad that are doing well at the moment are sprinters, so put out a high power output at the start which rapidly decreases.

Shane Kelly, starts a lot slower yet is able to maintain the effort for longer. i.e. endurance plays a greater role.

Both sets of riders seem to come up with similar average power outputs and times. You need to find the technique that suits you.

One thing is for sure, its the high intesity stuff that makes you quick (i.e. increases anaerobic capacity and maximises motor unit recruitment). Recovery of the lactic and alactic energy systems uses energy from the aerobic energy system, so even efforts of less than 10 seconds may provide some aerobic training effect.

J-MAT

davenelson:

I don't ride the track, but I sometimes do "kilo" type efforts as the first part of 5 minute TT intervals.

Currently, I'll wind up a 53x12 and hold 34+ mph for around a minute or so. Initially, I will accelerate as rapidly as possible seated using maximum pedal force, then settle into a cadence of at least 95-100 rpm.

I focus only on maintaining cadence. The whole effort including acceleration lasts about a minute, and I will sometimes hit maximum heart rate in 45-55 seconds. The suffering factor is very high. Once my speed fades, I settle into whatever I can manage for the additional 4 minutes, but since you are focused on the kilo, you can shut down after 60 seconds/1km.

Find a quiet, flat section of road 60 seconds/1 km in length and practice some kilo efforts on your road bike.

Stay in the drops and always use high cadence, at least 95-100, but you can go a lot higher. It's hard to think clearly after a kilo effort, so make sure traffic/obstacles are light, and that you can turn around safely while in a lactate riddled haze.

Start with 1-3 efforts, and have long recoveries in between, like 5-10 minutes. If you live close to a velodrome you should probably just start right there. If not, your road bike can get you close.

Good luck!!!

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ric_stern/RST

J-Mat,

It's not possible to do kilo efforts and then continue for 5-min TT intervals, unless you ride the last 4-mins or so at about 10 miles per hour! I've worked with World Class kilo riders and after a 1km effort they're not doing much else!!

You'd need far longer than 5 to 10 minutes between kilo efforts, if you're doing proper all-out work.

One of the sessions i have kilo riders do is 3 x 500-m, with around 20 to 30 minutes easy riding between efforts, often longer. These are 500-m efforts that are unpaced, i.e., all-out.

Approximately, ~ 40% of the energy of a kilo is derived aerobically. Recovery between intervals is entirely dependent upon aerobic metabolism.

Some kilo riders do quite large volumes (not relative to e.g., a Euro pro), whilst some do much less. If you're fairly new to cycling you probably need to do a fair amount of volume, compared with someone who is an established track sprint rider.

You'll also need to lots of strength training in a gym for hypertrophy if you're intending to do well at the kilo.

Well worth seeking out a coach for such a specialist event,

Ric

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maarten

Seriously you can't go on after a proper ridden kilo. I once made it into second at our nationals and the last 200m I suffered from blurred and tunnel vision because of exhaustion. You are supposed to really blow up close to the line. Tournant when setteling the world record was but on oxygen to wake up again. Its common to see riders drop of their bikes or collapse once they get off their bike its flat out and over.

I once looked into it because I wanted to attack our national vets record but because they cancelled the nationals I didn't go on with it, I might give it a try in the RSA now but its hard(if not impossible) to combine with the 500k a week I train for one day and stage races now, not enough recovery time for decent speed work and to much hills.

Note our vets record is at a low level, at a serious level kilo training isn't compatible with lots of endurance work(Else Cipo and Co would be considerably faster)

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davenelson

i aknowledge this event is nothing short of gruelling and i have simply no doubt the requirements of this event exceed my capabilites at this time. Coming from a weight lifting background the strength issue i guess isnt as much of an issue for me as applying this strength training to the pedals. I have combined weight training with my cycling previously, thought i was the man squatting 200kg, here this, i got dropped from every bunch ride i attended. My legs were like dead weights. Subsequently i dropped the gym. Transferring this strength is a problem for me.
Bearing this in mind it is toughness of this event that encourages me to have a go.

Cheers for all your input.

Aztec

You were indeed The Man if you were squatting 200kg/440lbs... assuming you were going arse to calves (or near), not leaning way forward, and did it for reps. A better measure would be your 20-rep weight done w/ tight form. If it's above 300lbs, then you are damn strong! Strength won't be your limiting factor!

J-MAT

Ric, Maarten:

Like I said, I'm not a kilo rider, and I don't ride on the track. I said these were kilo-type efforts.

I've said before they are very demanding, by far the hardest intervals you can do. I said to do 5-10 minutes of recovery to start, not that it was the proper recovery for an established kilo rider. It takes time to get your gears dialed in, meaning the first efforts won't as taxing as they will be once you know what you are doing, making shorter recoveries acceptable.

When I first started doing them, I had to quit after 50-60 seconds, it was impossible to continue. I've come close to collapsing on the bike, suffered from brief disorientation, and felt like puking several times. That's why I said to find a quiet section of road, away from traffic. If you collapse on your bike, you won't get run over.

Kilo riders shut down (as well they should) after 1 km since they are only concerned with the kilo itself. Why would they even try to keep going???

On the other hand, I'm a road rider. My intensity is often high enough in the first 45-55 seconds to hit max heart rate, I'm not sure how I could push harder. In time, you will be able to hold a higher pace after the first 60 seconds. The worst I fade to now after 60 seconds is 22-23 mph, far above 10 mph, and I can recover enough in the next few minutes to start going 25-26+ mph in the fifth minute.

These intervals come from the coach of a female world TT champ and the current American hour record holder. They are very effective if you can do them.

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