Consistency Equals Success (Page 61)

I tried biking in a lower gear today, and it felt like I got a better workout while staying in the right HR zone (99% compared to 87% last time). Does that make sense, or am I imagining things?
It's great seeing the bikes y'all are looking at! I'll have to be taking notes.

Jackie 15 16:50:47
Joe 17 17:26:00
Mitch 15 12:58:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 12 10:47:10
Ellen 11 05:09:39
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Ellen,

I assume by changing your gearing, your cadence or how fast you spin your pedals changed. Did you end up spinning the pedals faster or slower?

Cadence can be a very personal thing but there is a school of thought that a slightly higher cadence (90 rpm or better) is more efficient. Some of cycling's best had cadences well north of 90rpm.

As a safe bet, you should target a cadence in the 90 rpm range. You can check your cadence if your bike computer doesn't tell you by counting how many times your knee rises in 10 seconds and then multiply by 6. You should target 15 times that your knee rises.

Edited by trisuppo 2014-12-22 7:17 PM

60' on the drainer this morning. Trainerroad Keeler Needle. VO2 and Anaerobic Threshold Power ramps. All good "fun".

Jackie 15 16:50:47
Joe 17 17:26:00
Mitch 16 13:58:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 12 10:47:10
Ellen 11 05:09:39
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00





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Keeler Needle.JPG (108KB - 19 downloads)

60' Mont Albert on the trainer this morning.

Mitch - saw that needle workout - Nice, but I find those ramp ups to be difficult on the trainer as I have to constantly fiddle with gearing. I like to set it and forget it. Keep an eye on your HR - knowing your proximate age, your HR seems a bit high when riding at tempo/endurance pace. Is your HR monitor correct?

Jackie 15 16:50:47
Joe 18 18:26:00
Mitch 16 13:58:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 12 10:47:10
Ellen 11 05:09:39
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Joe,

I get your thoughts on the gearing. On those hard efforts it doesn't bother me too much because I need a change in cadence every now and then. Re: my HR...it's always been high. Obviously tiredness and stress can effect, but if you look at my HMs those have pretty high sustained HRs...low 170's. I don't start breathing hard until about 175 and above. Just how I'm wired. I remeber being in my teens on a trainer with my first bike and cranking HRs out > 200.

30' on the drainer this morning. Trainerroad Taku.

60' Mont Albert on the trainer this morning.

Jackie 15 16:50:47
Joe 18 18:26:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 12 10:47:10
Ellen 11 05:09:39
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00
REPORT SPAMREPLYQUOTE

I ended up spinning faster. Today (with the same gear) I tried measuring my cadence and got around 66 rpm.
So, would it be best to switch to the lowest gear/least resistance, and work on getting a higher cadence, and once that's where it needs be, start working towards higher gears again?

Jackie 15 16:50:47
Joe 18 18:26:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 12 10:47:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Ellen,

You're putting together a good month! You should be really proud of yourself!

If you are spinning at 66 rpm I would definitely recommend moving to an easier gear. I would target 90 rpm and begin working from there.

Thanks Gabe and back at ya! I would take some time off as well if only I didn't give into peer pressure and sign up for a bunch of runs!!

Merry Christmas Team Consistency!

Merry Christmas everyone.
Rough week as the flu tore through me and my family. Yesterday was the first day I felt normal and my first workout back was ugly. 49 minutes on the drainer The Wretched. I'm on trainer road now, but I forgot my ant+ usb at my office, so the first workout doesn't show anything. Probably better, because an unusual amount of suffering going on today.

Dennis- I really like the tri-spokes. I ave no good anecdotes or science, but it lightened things up when there was a cross wind. The disk was tough in any cross wind.


Jackie 15 16:50:47
Joe 18 18:26:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 13 11:36:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Edited by JBacarella 2014-12-25 12:43 PM

For those starting to use Trainerroad, I created a team page for folks in our Mentor group. Click in the link below and I will approve your entry to our team page:

http://www.trainerroad.com/teams/2034-consistency-equals-success

Merry Christmas to all.

Dennis, I'm looking at the QuntanaRoo PR6. Still contemplating. Only considering because of the discount I can get.

Jackie 15 20:38:01
Joe 18 18:26:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 13 11:36:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Merry Christmas to all as well.

Weds swim for 38' and a 2:10:00 spin on the drainer today. Bailed out 30' on the drainer because I just had enough.

Dennis - All I know about the tri spoke is that they are extremely aero, slightly heavier than a regular aero carbon rim and are not inexpensive. I had a cycling friend explain to me that the one down side is that once the rim is no longer true it can't be worked on whereas a regular carbon rim I guess can be worked somehow. Also, if you break or crack a spoke, it's game over - have no idea whether this even happens.

Jackie 15 20:38:01
Joe 20 21:14:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 13 11:36:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Edited by JoePetto 2014-12-25 4:02 PM

Correcting my days. Apparently I forgot to update them ;-)

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 20 21:14:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 13 18:10:00
Jim 13 11:36:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Adding a short run on Tuesday.

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 20 21:14:00
Mitch 17 14:28:14
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 13 11:36:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Joe inspired me to get my Christmas workout in. 60' on the drainer - trainerroad Donner. 3x12' intervals at 95% to 99% of FTP. My thighs thanks you Joe!

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 20 21:14:00
Mitch 18 15:28:14
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 13 11:36:10
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

38:16 on the drainer "Half is Easy"

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 20 21:14:00
Mitch 18 15:28:14
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 14 12:14:26
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

I see you in the trainerroad team page now. Awesome! What trainer are you using? Have you done the FTP test yet?

30' in the pool.

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 20 21:14:00
Mitch 19 15:58:34
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 14 12:14:26
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Easy 10K recovery - except for that last mile I ran all out - mistake. Went hiking with my eldest and the dog afterwards late in the afternoon. Glad I stayed home today rather than working. No more in office work for the remainder of the year. Off to New England for New Years - some skiing and RnR.

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 21 22:06:00
Mitch 19 15:58:34
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 14 12:14:26
Ellen 12 05:46:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!

Today I moved down to a much lower gear on my bike. It took a lot more pedaling but I managed to finish the workout okay.
Also I went to Half-Price Books toddy and got a copy of the Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel. I thought it might be nice to have something in print that I can go to. The first several chapters have seemed really good.

Jackie 17 20:38:01
Joe 21 22:06:00
Mitch 19 15:58:34
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 14 12:14:26
Ellen 13 06:36:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Edited by gekkounonetsu 2014-12-26 11:45 PM

Leaving on a jet plane - brr, I'm cold already!

Joe 21 22:06:00
Mitch 19 15:58:34
Jackie 18 22:10:58
Dennis 14 19:20:00
Jim 14 12:14:26
Ellen 13 06:36:09
Gabe 5 04:56:45
Mark Z 5 3:10:00

Cycleops mag trainer and I have the Wahoo Blue cadence/speed sensor with my iPhone. I am waiting for ANT+ usb plug in then I will do the fit test. I can see that I will get a lot more out of this once I can sync my data with trainer road.

Edited by JBacarella 2014-12-27 10:36 AM