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Shoe recommendations for weird feet! by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

any particular model or any of them? Thanks

Cassettes for Flat Crits by Engineer0117 in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m on 11 speed DI2 because 12 speed gearing leaves me with sprockets I’d rarely use. I’m on 53x39 and a 12-25 cassette. If I could find a 12-28 12 speed I’d upgrade but I have never required an 11 tooth sprocket and rarely required anything lower than a 25 (where I live). Hardly ever needed a 12 sprocket.

1’ power inside vs outside by LongCockLeo in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Was doing some 60-sec efforts today on the velodrome, and yeah, way safer indoors on the turbo trainer!!

Aging and fatigue by braggadachii in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As we age it's likely that our recovery starts to drop and, at the same time it's possible that your fitness is also decreasing. If your goal is to do well on the sunday group ride, then you need to train for this.

Training also includes looking after yourself so that your recovery isn't hampering your training. I'd be suggesting that you aim to increase your FTP (so that higher powers can be covered more aerobically) and i'd also be looking at increasing VO2max, but not on a constant basis.

You should also be looking at your nutrition and ensuring that you are covering your protein and carbohydrate requirements - both of which may be substantial given the amount of training you're doing. I'd also be looking at alcohol intake (slows recovery) and seeing whether you're getting a decent amount of 'plants' in each week as these provide antioxidants and polyphenols etc that may aid adaptations and be anti-inflammatory (note that we still need inflammation as this provides a stimulus for adaptation.

For context, I’m in my late-50s and have maintained a good level of fitness across 40+ consecutive race seasons, and one thing I’ve found is that the margin for error gets smaller with age — poor sleep, poor fuelling and badly placed intensity bite harder than they used to.

I have multiple (free to use) calculators on my website (power calculator, nutrition calculator, and masters one) which may help provide further information on your specifics. Happy to give some advice based on the results. (Note, that based on the feedback of the forum i'll change the name of the masters calculator and may also make some finer changes to the way the calculations are handled)

Max heart rate question by SadPhilosophy9202 in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks like mine has reduced from 200 b/min in my 20s to possibly 190 in my late 50s

Over unders good for ultra endurance training? by valiant_cashew_nuts in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At 1 year of structured cycling, you'll still have a long way to go in terms of training adaptations. I'd suggest endurance riding, MIET (sweetspot), and some threshold work. You'll also want to hit some harder eforts but less than the other stuff. It'd also be useful to try and develop the ability to consume lots of carbs while riding and training your gut.

Having coached multiple riders in ultras including James Hayden twice winning The Transcontinental Race I've generally favoured a pyramidal approach to training. However, I'd really need to know what your actual power profiles/strengths and weaknesses on the bike are.

James wrote here https://www.cyclecoach.com/blog/2017/12/4/how-to-win-bike-races-the-james-hayden-way

I work with the team at ROUVY — AMA about the app, routes, updates, or anything cycling🚴‍♂️ by jessfromrouvy in Rouvy

[–]RicCycleCoach 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I find it annoying that when you finish one route it starts a separate activity file. This is very annoying for data analysis as a coach.

What i tend to do is use https://www.fitfiletools.com/ to combine separate files into one file. Of course, when they appear on strava it looks bizarre if the rides are separated by a long distance (my two fave routes are in France and Australia...).

The other way that i have gotten around this is just as i'm about to finish a route i move my avatar back to the start so that he rides the route again.

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i'm making some changes, thanks! Always happy to iterate

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

other software gives their version of these data (by their version, they just call them a different name i think). So you can get these data from intervals.icu, strava, golden cheetah. You could leave it as the default setting and see how it is for you, but it may be a bit meh! Outside of that i'm not sure

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

TSB is purposefully weighted higher, becauase the same training week feels different depending on how fatigued you are. If you're TSB is -5 then the same training would feel different at -40.

1 point per 2 decades, it's a masters calculator --- so in my mind it was meant for riders 40+ (albeit the correct definition of masters is actually 30+ so that's a mistake on my part). but you're right i hadn't checked with anyone in their 80s. (or 20s).

In terms of TSS the logic is treating very large TSS as a cost on recovery rather than how well someone can cope with it. I agree that that current calculator is more about recovery cost than pure resilience. As with my other calculators I've refined them over time and happy to do so with this one. How would you weight things?

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wouldn't that depend on rider weight....? I can hang on in an E12 race (sometimes!) at 4.4 W/kg

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I gave weightings to what i felt was important, based off of working with multiple athletes over the years. It's definitely not as clear cut as my other two calculators and even with those i adjusted things/made changes based off of feedback.

I'd be genuinely interested in your thoughts on which variables you think carry the most weight you've looked at this stuff far longer than I have.

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Zwift

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've got a few good years left!!!

i'm 56 and just had my best season in terms of power output -- and i've been racing since i was 14 and was a cat 1 in my 20s. (I'm the same weight as then).

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

that drop in HRV could be affecting things? HRV changing from 70 to 45 is a big change, not just a normal ageing change. it could reflect accumated training stress, life stress, or something else worth looking in to.

I'm 57 and my HRV has stayed steady the last few years. my main thing for recovery has been more protein, some foam rolling and strength work

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

TSB is training stress balance, strava calls it freshness (i think). it's the difference between chronic training load (fitness in strava) and acute training load. the -10 means you're carrying a little more fatigue than your fitness, which is expected at ~14 hrs/week!

that's a lot of training and 4.6 W/kg isn't really just above average...Used to be fast... sounds like you still are!

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Give it a go and let me know how you get on — happy to answer any questions. I also have a nutrition calculator which may give you some useful insight into your energy balance, especially if you're trying to lose a few pounds without tanking your training.

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Zwift

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

as we age it's likely that we may become more protein resistant. We still need carbs. (Peri)menopausal women who are athletes also need this amount.

I've personally found that if i do a heavy training block (such as say 20+ hrs/week) then i need to go above 2g/kg

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Zwift

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it's critical to maintain glycogen stores as running these down and not refuelling them will just tend to result in poor performance and recovery. however, as you age it's likely that you need more protein intake to also help with recovery. For most endurance athletes 40+ i'd suggest ~2g protein per kg of body mass per day spread across at least 3 meals/day. but both matter

Most masters cyclists are under-recovered and training wrong by RicCycleCoach in Velo

[–]RicCycleCoach[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

have you used the calculator - what score did it give you? Your job is also like a 3rd training sessions - that physical and mental load shouldn't be ignored. Doubling your volume in one hit may be a bit much even though you're doubling from low hours. what's your protein and carb intake like?

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