*Disclaimer: If, and only if those races include 10-20min long climbs. A good, solid 1min effort, on the other hand, will blow me out the back faster than Robbie McEwen on the Hautacam.
I've been doing lots of threshold work of late. To call it "block training" would be an understatement. I don't even mean to do it, to be honest.
The truth is that I get bored with going along at 200w for two hours on a "recovery" ride on my rollers. I do drills, particularly one legged pedalling, to smooth out the stroke and correct any imbalances I might have. I watch movies, and try to zone out. This generally fails.
Most of the time I start going harder, or begin an interval, because I fear that I'll be out of shape and utterly useless for the first two months of the season...like last year. Fear and anger being the two most powerful motivators I've seen among the bike racer dude crowd, I think this is acceptable. I dislike letting myself and others down. That part usually suffices to get me into good enough shape to say "Yeah, dude, I finished in the main group. Hard race, fo sho."
The anger part, however, is not properly cultivated whilst riding in one's garage. Anger is generally only found when another human being, usually in an automobile or on a bicycle, does something that makes you question your values, particularly those about the value of a person's life. I'm semi-serious about this, but even if it's only for a split second, I think most people, in the deep, dark recesses of their minds, push aside the morality that has been developed in the last, oh, couple of millenia. You're thrown back, just for that instant, to a time when your primeval murderous rage meant the difference between eating and being eaten.
Now that you're all creeped out thoroughly enough, I'll explain how this relates to bike racing. In four of my best five races of the 2007 campaign, I had moments where I was temporarily incessed to the point that had I been in possession of a frame pump, I would have not only seperated the offending rider from his bike using it, but hopped off my own and beat him into a coma, at the very least. Shortly thereafter, I unleashed an effort that would normally only be capable in the early stages of an outdoor training ride. A 1250+ jump up a hill (Brewers's Hill), a minute at 550+ on the last lap (crappy little Barrington race) or a seeminly suicidal 4.0w/kg for 2.5hr break (AV RR).
In short, anger and fear are good. One to get you in decent shape, the other to push your upper limits and test the waters of Race Results Lake. I've had the latter; just need some of the former.
Until next time,
Andy
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2 comments:
Skeety, glad to hear that you've been putting the hours in. I too am ready to race, and by that I've hardly ridden my bike in the past 6 months. It worked out pretty well last year, but I hope to get on a regular schedule soon, moving and work have been a bit unsettling.
That said, the Hopkins team is going to NC to race this weekend, and I'm super tempted to go down there with them and get my ass whooped. 72 mile RR is one way to get fit.
I hope that you sign up for Hillsboro, as that will be a super good time.
Hey man, so when is your first race? We're going to miss you at OSU this weekend!
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