Stepping It Up A Notch
Early Feb 2010 - Bike Tart progresses from 4th Cat racer to 3rd Cat
Early March 2010 - Bike Tart tries to mix it with the big boys in a 2/3 Surrey League race
The following day Bike Tart is a broken man…
Well actually, not all that broken physically - it’s more my pride than anything. But seeing the pack disappear in front of me whilst I blew myself to pieces trying to chase back on and find a wheel was quite ruinous it has to be said. If anything, it has made me want to focus harder on my training plan… or more to the point, just actually stick to the plan that’s presented to me.
I need more resilience.
The lap at yesterday’s race was like a mini-bombsite. Potholes were strewn across the road in various places and riding in the bunch often pushed us quite dangerously onto the wrong side of the road. We had a neutral race for pretty much the whole of the first lap to give us a chance to assess the parcour and get a feel for where the worst of the holes were. Even this neutralised zone was taken at quite a pace - this race was already an eye-opener.
Unleashing into full race mode saw me slip towards the back of the group, although I still felt comfortable and knew I could move up if I wanted to. On a really nice and flowing downhill others were taking things a little too steady and I easily worked my way up the field. What I actually should have done though is gone straight to the front as shortly after, and barely halfway around what was still only the second lap the road kicked up for a short sharp climb - I could claim I got my gears wrong or that I suddenly didn’t feel good or had some other kind of failure, but the cold hard truth is that I was too slow up the climb, too slow to get up to pace at the top, too slow to latch on to a wheel and too slow to realise I was about to be blown out the back of the pack. My race was run. The only failure was me. Well, that and my sense of humour.
I chased like a rabid dog to get back on to the group, but being out in the wind on my own at an average of around 38kph versus being rested in the pack and flowing along at a steady 40kph average meant I stood no chance. I got a second wind when I told myself to treat it as an individual time trial and I dug in once more, but when a long section of open road made it clear that the pack was long gone I called time on proceedings.
Game over. Do not pass go, do not collect £200. Ouch.
So what did I learn? Well, firstly that I need to train more. Secondly that without the 2nd Cat racers there I might have held my own. Thirdly, that racing is addictive. Fourth, that I need to train more. I’m concerned because this was a fairly flat course and I still got spat out. Chuck a couple of proper hills in and I probably wouldn’t have made it through the neautralised first lap. Would I have hung on around a hillier course with only other 3rd Cats? I’m not sure. Possibly not. This means I either need to choose my races to suit my strengths or that I need to get better at hills. That said, there’s a race this coming Sunday which is basically flat - annoyingly the 3rd Cat only race is already full, but I’m tempted to have another crack at the 2/3 race. If nothing else, it’ll be good training trying to hang on!
The only saving grace? The other two I travelled with both had mechanicals - the three of us were changed, numbers returned, car packed up and back on the road home barely ninety minutes after the race had started.
Oh, and only half the field finished so it would I was not alone in getting spat out. Scant reward.
Early March 2010 - Bike Tart tries to mix it with the big boys in a 2/3 Surrey League race
The following day Bike Tart is a broken man…
Well actually, not all that broken physically - it’s more my pride than anything. But seeing the pack disappear in front of me whilst I blew myself to pieces trying to chase back on and find a wheel was quite ruinous it has to be said. If anything, it has made me want to focus harder on my training plan… or more to the point, just actually stick to the plan that’s presented to me.
I need more resilience.
The lap at yesterday’s race was like a mini-bombsite. Potholes were strewn across the road in various places and riding in the bunch often pushed us quite dangerously onto the wrong side of the road. We had a neutral race for pretty much the whole of the first lap to give us a chance to assess the parcour and get a feel for where the worst of the holes were. Even this neutralised zone was taken at quite a pace - this race was already an eye-opener.
Unleashing into full race mode saw me slip towards the back of the group, although I still felt comfortable and knew I could move up if I wanted to. On a really nice and flowing downhill others were taking things a little too steady and I easily worked my way up the field. What I actually should have done though is gone straight to the front as shortly after, and barely halfway around what was still only the second lap the road kicked up for a short sharp climb - I could claim I got my gears wrong or that I suddenly didn’t feel good or had some other kind of failure, but the cold hard truth is that I was too slow up the climb, too slow to get up to pace at the top, too slow to latch on to a wheel and too slow to realise I was about to be blown out the back of the pack. My race was run. The only failure was me. Well, that and my sense of humour.
I chased like a rabid dog to get back on to the group, but being out in the wind on my own at an average of around 38kph versus being rested in the pack and flowing along at a steady 40kph average meant I stood no chance. I got a second wind when I told myself to treat it as an individual time trial and I dug in once more, but when a long section of open road made it clear that the pack was long gone I called time on proceedings.
Game over. Do not pass go, do not collect £200. Ouch.
So what did I learn? Well, firstly that I need to train more. Secondly that without the 2nd Cat racers there I might have held my own. Thirdly, that racing is addictive. Fourth, that I need to train more. I’m concerned because this was a fairly flat course and I still got spat out. Chuck a couple of proper hills in and I probably wouldn’t have made it through the neautralised first lap. Would I have hung on around a hillier course with only other 3rd Cats? I’m not sure. Possibly not. This means I either need to choose my races to suit my strengths or that I need to get better at hills. That said, there’s a race this coming Sunday which is basically flat - annoyingly the 3rd Cat only race is already full, but I’m tempted to have another crack at the 2/3 race. If nothing else, it’ll be good training trying to hang on!
The only saving grace? The other two I travelled with both had mechanicals - the three of us were changed, numbers returned, car packed up and back on the road home barely ninety minutes after the race had started.
Oh, and only half the field finished so it would I was not alone in getting spat out. Scant reward.
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Bike Tart Gets Assessed
Earlier this week Bike Tart took himself off to Roehampton University’s Sport Performance Lab (known as SPARC) for a performance assessment - intrigued about what these tests consist of? Read on…
When I arrived I was greeted by a very chipper and friendly Bridgitte who is the Manager at the lab and her colleague Tom. After a bit of banter about my shiny new fixie we headed into the lab where I was shown around and the detail of the afternoon’s testing was explained - and in full and absolute detail to ensure I was fully aware of everything that would be happening.
During my pre-assessment rest Bridgette spent a bit of time going through a few measurements - height, weight, pinch tests to give an indication of fat percentage, blood pressure and Tom took a pin-prick blood sample to assess my resting lactate levels. This pin-prick sample would be repeated numerous times during the actual assessment to test the change in these levels during exertion.
Once the pedals on the stationary ‘bike’ contraption (which cost the lab an inordinate sum of money!) I was to be using had been switched to my favoured Looks we were ready to go. I was given a chance to familiarise myself with the setup, get comfortable on the bike and then they fitted the mask. All the while they were giving me explanations of what was happening, what the different readouts around me were for and why they were tracking what they were - very reassuring.
Tom talking me through some of the readouts
Once the mask was on and comfortable and the bike felt right the turbine which measures your breathing rate gets attached to the mask and you start the 5 minute warm-up at 75 watts. After that the test starts at 100 watts for 4 minutes before increasing by 50 watts for the next 4 minutes. This 50 watt increase after 4 minutes continues until your legs blow, your lungs blow, or you blow chunks. Any combination of the three would be most spectacular I’m sure, if a little unpleasant… I digress.
So, comfortable on the bike and steadily winding up to my natural level, I settled in at around 80rpm (often where I'm happiest). 5 minute warm-up done and the machine edges up to 100 watts - a noticeable change but a very smooth one, and heart rate (HR) and Rate of Perceived Effort (RPE) were both unaffected. Steadily through the 100, 150, 200 and 250 watt zones there then came a definite step change heading into 300 watts. My breathing rate increased and it was definitely now much more of a struggle. Nudging up to 350 watts and HR nudges the early 170bpm mark with the RPE right up towards 17. It’s really starting to hurt.
At the moment (and until the report arrives) I forget whether it was 350, 400 or 450 watts which was my undoing, but I definitely reached a point where turning the pedals was nigh on impossible, and when I jumped out of the saddle to try and keep things moving Bridgette signalled that I was done and the test was stopped. I was on the verge of passing out so as much as I'd loved to have dazzled with amazing figures that clearly wasn't going to happen so I’m actually quite grateful!
Yup, it hurt.
After the test and my warm-down we talked through a lot of the things that Bridgitte had seen and she gave me loads of feedback on how she felt I'd done, key points she'd spotted during the test, what she'd noticed and how the results could be used in future. One thing that really impressed me was her willingness to talk through the results with my coach if he feels he needs to when the report comes out - at my level this might not be entirely necessary, but if I were a high performing cyclist with specific training needs and really targeted requirements this would be invaluable. I just need to lose weight and get faster, the test was purely out of curiosity!
I'm not a 'numbers person', but I went along to this test when the opportunity arose purely because there's a lot of numbers banded about in cycling and I wanted to understand where I fit in amongst all of these - part of me hopes there's something in the report which will enable me (or rather, my coach) to identify opportunities to improve, and there's admittedly quite a big part of me that wants to see something that looks good! Bridgette did comment on how my numbers were 'textbook' which I guess is a good indicator of no major issues or concerns and an overall indication that I'm in good condition. All great. Importantly though, regardless of the numbers, results and content of the report I learnt a lot, enjoyed understanding what was going on and was made to feel entirely welcome and comfortable.
My thanks go out to Geoff from NAMUH for making the arrangements and taking the photos - worth noting here that should you be interested in carrying out a similar assessment NAMUH work with Bridgitte at SPARC and can not only help arrange the test for you but can also help with coaching off of the back of it.
I'd also like to thank Bridgette and Tom for carrying out the test, as well as for their hospitality before, during and after. If you're considering having any such testing done you can contact Bridgitte Swales, Sport Performance Manager on 0208 392 3564 or by email, or of course contact NAMUH and arrange it through them as mentioned above.
One more thing - make sure you rehydrate properly afterwards eh?!
When I arrived I was greeted by a very chipper and friendly Bridgitte who is the Manager at the lab and her colleague Tom. After a bit of banter about my shiny new fixie we headed into the lab where I was shown around and the detail of the afternoon’s testing was explained - and in full and absolute detail to ensure I was fully aware of everything that would be happening.
During my pre-assessment rest Bridgette spent a bit of time going through a few measurements - height, weight, pinch tests to give an indication of fat percentage, blood pressure and Tom took a pin-prick blood sample to assess my resting lactate levels. This pin-prick sample would be repeated numerous times during the actual assessment to test the change in these levels during exertion.
Once the pedals on the stationary ‘bike’ contraption (which cost the lab an inordinate sum of money!) I was to be using had been switched to my favoured Looks we were ready to go. I was given a chance to familiarise myself with the setup, get comfortable on the bike and then they fitted the mask. All the while they were giving me explanations of what was happening, what the different readouts around me were for and why they were tracking what they were - very reassuring.
Tom talking me through some of the readouts
Once the mask was on and comfortable and the bike felt right the turbine which measures your breathing rate gets attached to the mask and you start the 5 minute warm-up at 75 watts. After that the test starts at 100 watts for 4 minutes before increasing by 50 watts for the next 4 minutes. This 50 watt increase after 4 minutes continues until your legs blow, your lungs blow, or you blow chunks. Any combination of the three would be most spectacular I’m sure, if a little unpleasant… I digress.
So, comfortable on the bike and steadily winding up to my natural level, I settled in at around 80rpm (often where I'm happiest). 5 minute warm-up done and the machine edges up to 100 watts - a noticeable change but a very smooth one, and heart rate (HR) and Rate of Perceived Effort (RPE) were both unaffected. Steadily through the 100, 150, 200 and 250 watt zones there then came a definite step change heading into 300 watts. My breathing rate increased and it was definitely now much more of a struggle. Nudging up to 350 watts and HR nudges the early 170bpm mark with the RPE right up towards 17. It’s really starting to hurt.
At the moment (and until the report arrives) I forget whether it was 350, 400 or 450 watts which was my undoing, but I definitely reached a point where turning the pedals was nigh on impossible, and when I jumped out of the saddle to try and keep things moving Bridgette signalled that I was done and the test was stopped. I was on the verge of passing out so as much as I'd loved to have dazzled with amazing figures that clearly wasn't going to happen so I’m actually quite grateful!
Yup, it hurt.
After the test and my warm-down we talked through a lot of the things that Bridgitte had seen and she gave me loads of feedback on how she felt I'd done, key points she'd spotted during the test, what she'd noticed and how the results could be used in future. One thing that really impressed me was her willingness to talk through the results with my coach if he feels he needs to when the report comes out - at my level this might not be entirely necessary, but if I were a high performing cyclist with specific training needs and really targeted requirements this would be invaluable. I just need to lose weight and get faster, the test was purely out of curiosity!
I'm not a 'numbers person', but I went along to this test when the opportunity arose purely because there's a lot of numbers banded about in cycling and I wanted to understand where I fit in amongst all of these - part of me hopes there's something in the report which will enable me (or rather, my coach) to identify opportunities to improve, and there's admittedly quite a big part of me that wants to see something that looks good! Bridgette did comment on how my numbers were 'textbook' which I guess is a good indicator of no major issues or concerns and an overall indication that I'm in good condition. All great. Importantly though, regardless of the numbers, results and content of the report I learnt a lot, enjoyed understanding what was going on and was made to feel entirely welcome and comfortable.
My thanks go out to Geoff from NAMUH for making the arrangements and taking the photos - worth noting here that should you be interested in carrying out a similar assessment NAMUH work with Bridgitte at SPARC and can not only help arrange the test for you but can also help with coaching off of the back of it.
I'd also like to thank Bridgette and Tom for carrying out the test, as well as for their hospitality before, during and after. If you're considering having any such testing done you can contact Bridgitte Swales, Sport Performance Manager on 0208 392 3564 or by email, or of course contact NAMUH and arrange it through them as mentioned above.
One more thing - make sure you rehydrate properly afterwards eh?!