4.0 by 40

[Crosshair]

Well, with Dirty Reiver done, I need a new goal. This one is a bit more vague but I’d really like to try and get my ftp to 4.0w/kg.

Even when I got to Cat 3, it never went over 3.6ish so it is definitely a challenge.

My birthday is in January so I have plenty of time to get there.

Obviously there’s an infinite amount of combinations to do it but I’m guessing 87.5 kg and 350w ftp will be somewhere handy.

So what does that look like in practice? Actually not tooo bad

The weight loss comes in at .6lb a week and my power is ballpark there already. Although it is pretty much targeting the lowest weight I’ve been in the past 20 years.

It would also be a great start to Dirty Reiver training for next year if I get a place.

I have a few power goals along the way too. One is to hit 300w np for the entire 8am circuit that everyone rides in Newbury. That will mean hills flat out and 270-280 on the flats for around 2h25.
That is quite a stretch- I think I did it at 276np once.

Another is on the 4 theme. 400w for 4 mins up Streatley Hill. Would be ace to beat my old time.

Another is a fasted century. Not sure it really achieves or proves a lot but it would be ace for my confidence knowing I can do 100miles on nothing! I already did 6hrs fasted on the mtb once last year but obviously that was slow.

As for the “test of truth” to decide the result- I’m not going to be fussy. I personally don’t interpret FTP as ‘hour power’ so it certainly won’t need to be a 1hr TT.
I’m probably going to accept anything I’d happily use to set training zones. 2x8 min test, 1x20 min test, the Intervals.icu algorithm or even a zwift race figure.

I’ve already switched the gravel bike over to a road set up with no luggage, 700x32 Conti tyres and new cassette, chain and brake pads.

I’ve also sent the mtb shock off so I can get testing my theory that it will be faster for Dirty Reiver too.

I’m just hoping the social scene picks up. It’s all died a death since 2019 when it was buzzing every Tuesday/Sunday with Chaingang’s and group rides.

[weeksy]

What you describe to me doesn't sound like fun. But that's the great thing about challenges, they're personal.

I think strict diet but stricter than you're think and a weight closer to 80 would make things easier. But only easier in terms of power to weight, not in terms of reaching it of course.

The main thing I struggle to grasp is your ability to go out and pound miles, but without any thought to views, trails, roads, just taking it in. You're a full on dedicated trainer and that honestly baffles me how you manage that. I just don't have it in me.

[Crosshair]

Lol! I’m really not though, that’s the thing. The guys doing it properly are far more dedicated.

Also, riding is training and training is riding. In a practical sense, you can’t separate the two. Training is mainly about how you structure your week, month and year.
The actual rides can take you wherever you want to go. I choose not to stop as I have stuff to get back for but loads of guys fitter than me love a cafe stop.
We also live in a nice area- it’s hard to have a bad ride around here.
I also work outdoors all day in the countryside so I’m not mega worried if I don’t look at the scenery although I always notice the wildlife.

80kg would be ace for Dirty Reiver but completely unsustainable. I’m hoping I can stabilise at 4w/kg at 87.5 and then try and maintain it. If I did then drop a bit more between Jan and Apr ‘23 that would be a bonus but only really for the Reiver.

Heard an interesting story about some 83 year old champion cyclist the other day- he was a fat smoker until he turned 40. But 40+ years of consistency made him better than his peers who had started riding younger.

[Crosshair]

I see this thread inspired @crust to do some data lead training

[weeksy]

I see this thread inspired @crust to do some data lead training

HE seems to quite enjoy a bit of DDiesel riding, it's not uncommon for him.

[Crosshair]

No he did an ftp test too

[weeksy]

No he did an ftp test too

did he hit 3 figures

[Crosshair]

Yes for sure. I’d guess 180

[Crosshair]

Off and running. Did 2h30 fasted this morning. The 700x32’s are so comfy (45psi!). Felt great oddly and each five mile split got more powerful so ended up at 245np and 18.1mph.

Oh and there was scenery too Saw five Kites in a tree and a Buzzard caught a vole right by the side of the road.

Loads of cyclists enjoying the sunshine too

Not sure why but my phones (had one replaced on insurance because of it) have started getting condensation in the camera. I thought it was the Gabba jersey to blame but it did it today with a different one too.

[crust]

Yup 180 something. Though I think I could get a bit more if I tried again. Might try again on a non 500 cal day.

I've been chasing D Diesel as it's a convenient ride, though it's getting easy. He's 1.6w/kg and the next ones 2.5w/kg, I want a 2.0 one to chase for a while. The FTP test was to get a baseline and to adjust my level on workouts.

Got similar goals, get back to a 200+ ftp and get the weight to low 12 st something.

[Crosshair]

Awesome

I was out with Rich today. Was a funny ride where everything felt harder than it was. Then my gear cable snapped and everything was just hard Alternating between 31-11 and 48-11.

Did one climb that we used to do on the Chaingang. Didn’t push all the way but ended up at 337 for 5 mins but av HR was only 165. That bodes well I guess. I’ve nearly done it at 400w (396) in the past but that was at 180bpm. ‘4mins at 400w’ is one of my goals so that’s another good hill to practice on I guess.

We had one little go coming back down the B4000. Was whistling along at 32mph at one stage and that’s definitely in the territory where I miss the aero wheels/bars and narrow tyres. You can definitely sense the differences by the time you reach those speeds.
I tried to drop Rich with a seated stealth 600-700w effort at one point but he said he was getting sucked along and never even noticed So when I pulled off after 5 mins he just dropped me up the next hill instead.

Considering the power we did at times- it was still loads less kcals than yesterday for a similar time.

I still feel a bit fatigued from DR but I’m not really bothered about doing what’s best for fitness at the minute- I just want to be ultra consistent and burn lots of kcals.

When I get busy with work later on and my riding hours drop a bit- that will be a good time to attempt some of the power goals I’ve set myself.

Recovery day tomorrow and then first Chaingang of the year on Tuesday

[Crosshair]

I usually have recovery days off but with Chaingang tomorrow, I wanted to get out today. It’s helpful with the calories too as I burned an extra 685 to add to the tally. I wasn’t looking forward to sticking to the basic target after a couple of days with 1500 and 2000 extra to eat

[Crosshair]

Was nervous today for the Chaingang! Set off early as I seem to take ages to warm up these days and did 16 miles to get there. Five other turned up and it was a nice group! I was the heaviest by 15kg or more so as usual, I had to remind myself that if I could survive the first half, it would get easier once we reached max elevation.
Thankfully I felt great! Even on the gravel bike, I could comfortably keep up. So I concentrated on doing good turns but always leaving enough in reserve to get safely back on! It’s too easy to ‘drop’ yourself.

The fly in the ointment was the A4 ski slope coming back into town. Thankfully, the guy in front pulled right to the base so when everyone launched, I was fresh enough to hold on (563w).

The lighter guys looked disappointed. The traffic got a bit chaotic so I backed off in the last half a mile but I have no doubt I could have contested for the ‘win’ but I also didn’t want to completely bury myself.

Ended up at 24mph for the 23 mile loop
Super pleased with that! This time last year I was cutting off corners from the route to rejoin the group to try and play for a bit.

45 miles and 1800kcals banked but best of all- I feel amazing, not tired

[Crosshair]

Sometimes it’s hard to objectively measure progress but kcals are a good way of quantifying how much work you’ve done (so is Watts of course but there’s so many ways of getting to the same number).

Looking back a year, I cut a massive corner off the route in order to not get dropped up one of the climbs and then hooked back on for the finale.
That took me 90minutes and I burned 1000kcals. Last night, I burned 1000kcals in just 58minutes!!
Maybe a year of consistency is paying off after all.

[Crosshair]

I wanted to ride today but as time went on I realised it wasn’t going to happen. I was out on lamb over-watch last night until midnight so didn’t get great sleep. And out again tonight.
So I made the decision to bail both on todays recovery ride and chasing a calorie deficit.

I’ll probably end up +1000kcals on my target today but hopefully that will mean a better quality session tomorrow rather than being hungry and tired. After all, the goal is to be a faster cyclist- I don’t actually care how fat I am otherwise

I hope to work on one of my goals tomorrow and do some 20min long sweetspot intervals at 270-300w. I got to 90 minutes of 300+ on the plain the other week so if I could do enough intervals to reach 2 hours that would be incredible. Recoveries will be 50% of whatever the work interval is.
The idea with these progressions is to go from say 6x20 to 4x30 to 3x40 and then ultimately 2h solid!!!
Including the downhills, that would then get me to my ‘50 mile loop at 300np’ target.

There is another Chaingang tomorrow (the Newbury Velo one) but it’s too much intensity to do 2 per week I think. I don’t want to get sick and undo all this work either.


I listened to Ian Boswell’s podcast today and whilst it was a bit lacking in geekery, it was interesting how he mirrored what Colin Strickland has also said. For long gravel “races”, he is now training more by average speed. He basically said it’s the best way to wrap up the whole package of power, weight, aero’s, pacing, endurance and efficiency into one number. So when he does a long gravel training ride he just targets 20mph.

It also helps explain my conundrum too. I have ample power for my age group but it’s only when I can shelter for much of the ride (crit, Chaingang or Zwift) that it actually buys me any speed.

Hence the need to work on weight (which will help my Aeros too), efficiency, pacing and fuelling before next years attempt.

It also explains my annoying 14.8mph Salisbury Plain training ride from 2013. Okay I was probably 50w weaker but I was 2 stone lighter with all the benefits that brings.

[weeksy]

You're doing the same event again?

[Crosshair]

Yes for sure. I need to get it right

[weeksy]

Yes for sure. I need to get it right

There may never be a right though? A puncture, a wind, rain, mechanical.

Not thought of something a bit more, well, different. A gravel in Spain? Climb an Alp?

[Crosshair]

No

Literally got zero interest in climbing anything on the road- there’s no skill to it and I’ll never be light enough to do a ‘worthy’ time.

312 is okay but again, too much boring road climbing and way too many people.

DR is such a brutal challenge. It’s got as much climbing as Fred Whitton but off road.

[Crosshair]

Was hoping for 5-6 intervals of around 20mins at sweetspot today. In the end I fitted 5 in before the traffic got busy. Some were 25 mins and some 15 depending on the road layout.

They averaged out at 278w for the 5 so 1h40 of sweetspot.

In practice though, you can’t ride at 278 because of the changes in road surface, gradient and headwind etc so I seemed to have to make the 3 second power say 300 to keep the average in the right ballpark by the time you’ve coasted and changed gear here and there.

It was hot today too!

I averaged 18.5mph but that’s artificially slow because some of my recoveries happened to be on hills

I gambled and ate my entire days calories before I went out (the gamble being you don’t end up getting any work in
Even with a bag of Tangfastics and two bottles of sugar water on the ride, I’m now back where we started with 1800 left for the day