Sometimes you just gotta do it (i.e, I bought a bike!!)

Duffy Pratt wrote:
:: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
:: ...
::: Duffy Pratt wrote:
::::: "Roger Zoul" wrote in message
::::: ...
::
::
::::: Think about a car in the same situation. When you want to pass
::::: another car, you would typically downshift to a lower gear and
::::: kick
::::: up the rpm's.
:::
::: Now here's where I get to show my lack of experience....if I were
::: riding on a flat surface and wanted to speed up, I'd shift to a
::: higher gear and kick down the rpm's.
::
:: To speed up, you want to generate more power. If you stay seated,
:: you can more easily generate power with a lower gear, provided that
:: you can still boost your RPMs.

What if you're already spinning at high RPMs and can't go faster? I find it
easier to shift up and not pedal as fast.

:: The other way to access more power
:: is to go to a higher gear and stand up and stomp on the pedals.

Well, I haven't tried that yet as I'm not comfortable standing and
pedalling. Still to come...maybe this weekend.

:: Both will work, but the second option will tire you out alot faster.
::

Yes, I do believe that, even though, i've found that pedaling harder works
to some extent -- but I guess the main problem becomes your knees. So, do
you ever get in the third gear while NOT going downhill?

::: So, on my upcoming road tour, where my mission will be simply to
::: complete it (even though I know some will be racing), it is best to
::: just ride according to conditioning right -- get the cadence that
::: allows me to get the job done. I hear there are lots of highs along
::: this 28-mile path.
::
:: Yes. You will feel much better about things if you get to the end
:: and think: "That was easy, I could have gone farther... or faster"
::

Right! It is more fun to be able to say "I could have..." that than regret
not finishing

::
::: Ah....time to get my heart rate monitor out for riding...
::
:: I use a Polar HRM with cycling functions, including cadence. So all
:: my info is in one place, and its all downloadable. This is
:: convenient, but not necessary. Training by heart rate is a big
:: plus. It mainly has helped with preventing the impulse to overtrain.
:::

Wow. You've got the good one. I assume you wear a chest strap...I don't
like those...yet to see how it feels while on the bike...does yours include
a wireless means for doing cadence?

I guess since I have a bike computer and a Polar HRM, I won't be upgrading.


:::::
::::: Another workout I do involves pedalling at 70-75 rpm while keeping
::::: heart rate between 161-163. I keep this pace up now for about 50
::::: minutes, after a half hour warm-up. This helps develop anaerobic
::::: threshold and leg strength.
:::
::: Wow...that seems pretty tough. May I ask how old you are? 163 is
::: about my upper range....
::
:: I'm 44. The max I have gotten my heart rate up to is 195. I don't
:: know if that is my max or not. It may be higher, and may be slightly
:: lower. I can still hold a conversation, sort of, with my heart rate
:: over 180. Yesterday, I was following a couple on a tandem, and rode
:: for over a 40 minutes at 175-185, which was a bad idea. Today I
:: need to take it easy.

You're obviously in very good shape. Where can you ride at that pace for 40
minutes?

I found out yesterday that on the same day (Oct 11) as that trek tour I
mentioned yesterday there are a bunch of races being held in downtown
Greenville SC. I noted they have several Cat 5 races, which, from what I'm
told, anyone can participate in. Sounds as if it very easy for me to do
one, but I'm not really interested in racing -- just riding.


::
:: I get my targets from a sub-maximal test. Basically, after a
:: thorough warm-up, I ride as hard as I can for 3 miles and my average
:: heart rate for that stretch becomes my baseline number. Last time I
:: took that test, I averaged 181 beats per minute over the three
:: miles. This puts my recovery ride heart rate at 117-126 (65-70% of
:: submax number), my long endurance rides at 156-158 BPMs max
:: (86-87%), and my AT training in the 163-170 range.
::

Wow. I have new targets to hit. This ought to be fun.

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
Duffy Pratt wrote:

What if you're already spinning at high RPMs and can't go faster? I find
it
easier to shift up and not pedal as fast.

Again its like a car. If you top out on your RPMs, the only way to go
faster is to shift to higher gear. On a bike, you need to judge more on how
you feel. Typically, I can tell what my cadence is without looking at the
monitor. If I'm spinning too fast, I shift to higher gear. If my legs slow
down, the gear goes down to allow a faster spin.

So, do
you ever get in the third gear while NOT going downhill?

I live in Houston -- the closest thing there is to a hill is a highway
overpass.

My bike has 2 front rings. On an ordinary ride, I will shift to the bigger
ring if there is a nice tailwind. Also, if I'm drafting anyone, we will
tend to ride faster. At 90 rpms, the break off point for me between small
and big ring is about 20.5 mph. When I do the low RPM, high heart rate
rides, I am always in the big ring, and very often in my highest or second
highest gear, cruising at 23-24mph.

Wow. You've got the good one. I assume you wear a chest strap...I don't
like those...yet to see how it feels while on the bike...does yours
include
a wireless means for doing cadence?

The HRM was a Christmas present, and it is nice. I use the chest strap and
don't notice it once I'm riding. I've never used it for running or
swimming. It does feel odd when you first put it on.

The cadence sensor is wireless. There is a sensor on the downtube and a
magnet on the pedal itself. The only trouble with the wireless set-ups is
that they can get awfully confused around power lines.

You're obviously in very good shape. Where can you ride at that pace for
40
minutes?

There are some nice farm roads nearby, and some recent developments with not
too many cars. Yesterday, the tandem team took me on a tour of a new
stretch of road that was just completed and not opened to cars yet. Its
going to be a main artery to get to the interstate when it opens up, but now
is about 5 miles of clear road.


I found out yesterday that on the same day (Oct 11) as that trek tour I
mentioned yesterday there are a bunch of races being held in downtown
Greenville SC. I noted they have several Cat 5 races, which, from what
I'm
told, anyone can participate in. Sounds as if it very easy for me to do
one, but I'm not really interested in racing -- just riding.

I've never done that sort of race, but have some interest. If you want to
do it, you need to get a racing certificate, which anyone can have for a
fee. Cat 5 races are the most dangerous. Anyone can ride in them, and so
you get alot of people who don't know what they are doing. Crashes are
fairly common. The advice I've had from people is to get into good enough
shape to win a couple of Cat 5 races, and move to Cat 4 as soon as possible.
It's safer and more fun, and the people in the races aren't necessarily
better, just a bit more experienced. Masters races are also an option, but
the people in them tend to be very experienced, and lots of them are former
Cat 2s and in very good shape.


Duffy