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ToC Training

Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
in Tour of California 2010

I've backed out of NOLA70.3, just haven't been able to train at all with everything in my life recently.

SO...that leaves me with just about 1.5 months to ride my bike as much as possible before ToC.

My plan is:

  • Mon: off or swim (at lunch or after work)
  • Tue: 35 miler ("Popsicle" ride) with local roadie group
  • Wed: 30 miler with a different local roadie group
  • Thu: 35 miler (same "popsicle" ride)
  • Fri: off or swim (at lunch or after work)
  • Sat: Long ride or rally, at least 100km
  • Sun: 50 miler 'recovery' ride with local roadie group (RBM)

I plan on running whenever I can, mostly in the morning before work (9 miles at the most, around local lake) or on the treadmill at lunch (60mins at most). Nothing to jeopardize any bike fitness I might gain though.

After ToC, I'll have to see how much fatigue I have before I decide on what's next on the calendar.

What do y'all think?!?

Comments

  • Tom GlynnTom Glynn
    Do you have a specific plan for raising FTP? Are you going to throw in a bunch of 2x20's, hills, 30/30's etc?
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    Almost everything I do is z3+. Those roadie rides are VERY high wattage and speed.

    I might dump one of the roadie rides and go do some hills with some pure FTP work once per week.

    Other than that, nothing specific.
  • Trent ProughTrent Prough

    If I were you I'd do as many LSD rides of 6 to 7 hours each.  Ha Ha!!

    Seriously I'd throw in some FTP stuff if no hills.  We have to give the ultra fit Coach Rich a little something one of the days.

  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    I would probably do some short hard FTP Stuff on that Sunday....otherwise looks great!!!
  • KitbooKitboo
    Scott, Thank you for posting this. I'm going to hack it into my ToC plan of willing myself into some kind of bike fitness by then.
    Might toss in practice scouting for Antler Doode as there's a bet I'd like to win. image
  • dhalligandhalligan

    I think the week of ToC is a recovery week in my IMLP training plan so I'll just be doing lots of recovery riding. 

    Dave

  • Tom GlynnTom Glynn

    Dave,

    recovery rides averaging 350 watts! Long as your coasting downhill you should be OK

  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    Halligan rest periods = my FTP threshold work.
    I'm SCREWED! EEK!

    I rode with the Sunday roadie group today and they beat the crap outta me. Guess that's what I get for not being on my bike in a week and also only riding 5 times in the last month. Had a 1.02 IF and my legs FEEL IT! Time for a nap.

    Chipotle - my usual post-hard ride meal - was closed for Easter. DOH!
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    All,

    • Much FTP work is the quickest way to build your fitness.
    • I'm experimenting with with super high intensity stuff, about 10-15 x 1' @ 150% across my entire cycling week, to see what happens.
    • Probably one of the most valuable things you can do right now is to become very, very, very comfortable with working with other people. We, and you, will have a much more enjoyable tour if you can learn and be comfortable with riding 8 inches off a wheel vs 3-4ft. 8" = a 30% wattage savings. 3-4ft = maybe 10%. We have enough people, and enough strong riders/leaders, that we can create small groups working together to share the work across a loonnngggg week. Very frustrating to have 4 people working together to share the load, and one person 3-4 bike lengths back, going the same speed, because they arent comfortable on a wheel.
    • There's not much you can do to prepare yourself for the saddle time. Great if you can put together 2-3 long rides in a row but none of us can really duplicate 5-6 x 3-6hr rides in a row. I expect we'll get 30+hrs of cycling in across the week . Being patient, pacing yourself smartly, and working with others at EVERY opportunity will do a LOT to help you enjoy the week vs suffer through the week.
  • Dan SocieDan Socie
    I put in @ 18 hours in the saddle last week. Saddle fatigue is a definitely a limiter at this point.
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    @Rich, I can definitely hang with the pace group activities. Ride that way ALL the time, road bike or tri bike, whenever I can. Makes it more social too.
    I'll def add some FTP and FTP+ efforts into my prep though, probably on local hilly loops to build the hill-fu.
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander

    Okay, MS150 (benefitting Multiple Sclerosis Society) is this weekend here in North TX. It's actually 164 miles over two days. I know this would probably be ideal back-to-back long days for ToC training, but it's a little pricey for two bike rides.

    -$75 registration, $30 transport back to the start line at the end, and $300 fundraising minimum; $405 minimum.



    I did this out of pocket two years ago in my IMCDA prep (just paid the $300 fundraising). Don't get me wrong, it was fun, great hilly route and for a worthy cause.



    Thoughts?

  • dhalligandhalligan

    Scott,

    Honestly, I think you might be over thinking the training for ToC.  It's a fun event we do over the span of several days.  Last year we all showed up with very, very little cycling mileage under our belts.  The only person that's really training hard for this is Rich.   

    Most of the riding we do is in a mellow paceline setting, then things get frisky on the KOM's, but all you have to do this week is eat, sleep, and ride.  That's it, no work, household chores, nothing but riding and having fun with a bunch of EN'ers of like mind.

    I'd save your money and just do some riding locally.  My 2 cents.

    Dave

  • Dan SocieDan Socie
    I'd agree, as much as I'd like to train like Rich I can only put in in 2 hours a day on the bike now. While it doesn't sound like much at the end of the week it is. I'd save the money and ride locally as well.
  • Larry GilbertLarry Gilbert
    x3

    I've riden 4-5 days a week the last few weeks as the weather warmed up. 3x weekday rides of 1.5 hours tops....2x weekend rides of 3-4 hours each.

    Just do your local rides and have fun!
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    I have a tendency to always overthink things - especially something as epic (for me) as this.

    I didn't get to do a lot of the OS because of 'life getting in the way', so I just want to make sure to be able to do the whole tour, with minimal physical and mental damage - and ENJOY it (which means to me minimal physical and mental damage).

    I've decided to NOT do the MS150. I'll roll with some of my normal tri peeps for a 75 miler on Saturday, and my normal 50 miles on Sunday with the roadies.

    Thanks all!
  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch
    Posted By Dan Socie on 05 Apr 2010 12:28 PM

    Saddle fatigue is a definitely a limiter at this point.



    No doubt!  Hardest part about the century I did last weekend was neck, back, butt fatigue.  Oh, and at the finish of the ride I realized the little wearing on my saddle was now full blown tears- down to the foam underneath.  So I had to quickly order a new saddle ASAP to get it here before I have to pack the bike for FedEx!  So I'll be riding a new saddle- ugh.  As much as I've been wanting to find a different model, I opted to just keep the same brand/model for this order.  I didn't want to risk my a@@ on a totally new seat for all of TOC!

     

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