Help me select a new coach.

Norton

 It's not as bad as it sounds, really.

I'm choosing to forego triathlon next year in favor of qualifying for, then participating in Paris-Brest-Paris, a 761 mile brevet held in late August. I rolled the January OS this past winter, successfully completing the Beginner's plan. Although I never rode more that 65 miles all winter I did then complete a full series of brevets: 200k, 300k, 400, 600k, then added a 1000k like a cherry on top! As an aside, I came in 5th in the 300, 2nd in the 400, and 4th in the 600. Not bad for an old, low-powered guy. 

Once I figured out that I wouldn't be racing IM this year I gave up running, a move that paid immediate dividends on the bike. I'd like to continue on training the EN way, albeit with a singular focus on cycling long distance. So I'm looking for a coach; I did post this question over on the macro thread, but it must have stumped the chumps. 

Any ideas? Suggestions? The one guy that keeps popping up in the rando world is John Hughes, an accomplished ultra-cyclist; unfortunately he seems to espouse the classic base/build/race format. 

Maybe just kludge the OS to my needs? I will roll a 200k brevet every month during this upcoming winter; gotta shoot for that R12 award!

J.T. Thompson

Bill,

You may know this, but I'd suggest reaching out to Ed Pavelka of Roadbikerider.com. He has ridden in PBP a number of times and knows a ton of people in cycling. Could probably give you a few good suggestions.

Bill McKinney

Sounds pretty easy to me. Do the regular Tuesday bike and maybe add an extra 30' at 85% instead of the brick run. Then on Wednesday, just do the same bike again minus the extra 30'. Do the Thursday bike per the plan. Add 30' at 85% to the Saturday bike to make up for the lack of brick run, then repeat the Thursday bike on Sunday. Seems like fun except when you find yourself doing 5 days worth of 30/30s per week!

Come on, just try it and let us know how it goes!

Tom Glynn

Bill,

your 2nd, 4th, and 5th place finishes tell me you've got a pretty good coach now

Chris G

 Not sure what advice you need.  You know what it feels like to sit on the bike for days on end.  Raise the right, fill the left, rinse and repeat.  

eliwashere

If you haven't read it yet, get the Time Crunched Cyclist by Chris Charmichael. Although his plans state that you wouldn't be able to do onger rides, they are very much fashioned on the EN style. I think you could just add in longer weekend rides to some of the plans he lists.
After that, I don't have any suggestions.

Norton

Here's the problem with me self-coaching: I tend to drill myself into the ground, over and over. An exterior plan gives me an "out", a way to moderate despite myself.

As far as those high brevet placings go, I made all kinds of mistakes but I slow down less than the rest of the field. Most everyone is strong through 200 miles, then real attrition begins. This is where power-based riding is key; not making stupid pacing f-ups early on. Another place I've excelled is at controls; I'm quick in and out, just like speedy transitions in triathlon, lots of time to be gained. But I digress...

As far as The Time Crunched Cyclist goes: I'm not that time-crunched. Those workouts are like EN on steroids; waaaay over the top for me.

Nemo Brauch

Bill- what do you need to do to qualify for PBP (somehow I thought your 1000K ride did that for ya, but I must have misunderstood). I've got an endurance cycling friend here in OBX, I'll see if he might have any leads for you- although I'm going to guess (based on his riding style) that whoever he recommends is gonna be in the camp of lots of base riding in the winter

Norton

@Nemo: this year's efforts simply pre-qualified me for PBP; I'll still need to ride a full series early next year (before 6/20/11). And you thought the early IM sign-up was a difficulty...



As for your local cycling coach, I'm finding that most of them are in that same camp.

Beth_S

What about OS + serious cycling camp? I chatted with someone a few weeks ago who went to a cycling camp with Hunter Allen for a week and said it was the best thing he did for his cycling. Or, you know, ToC.