Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBrooks
On reasonably flat ground, losing weight is not going to be a huge factor. It'll help, but not as much as you think. I don't know the landscape of where you were riding but I think of the area as being relatively flat.
For any place with actual hills, it would be considered pretty flat. For this area, it's actually hilly, but all pretty short. Mostly little punchy hills. 1900 feet over 63 miles, according to Garmin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBrooks
Regarding pacing, I learned the hard way that your power curve is what it is, but that there are different ways to achieve a given average power.
For example, I've found that over periods longer than 4 or 5 hours, I can probably only average 150 watts. If I start at 200 this means that I'm going to end up dragging my ass in at like 100 at the end.
Yeah, I was pretty much at threshold for the first 30 miles. I recovered over the next 10, and the last 20 was able to pretty much ride my normal pace. I would have felt a lot better maintaining a more even pace over the whole ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBrooks
In an aspirational period, where you're trying to improve performance, I'd recommend starting a long ride right at the average pace you think you can maintain, keep at it for the first half, and consider increasing it if you're feeling good. Once you more or less know what you can do, the general advice is to start *below* your average and increase in the second half. It can be very hard to do, because when you feel fresh at the start, 150 watts feels slow/easy.
This is something I need to work on. The power meter has been a big help with regard to power output over time. I would like to do a negative split ride someday.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RustyBrooks
How is the training going? Are you still keeping up with the exercises recommended in TCC? (intervals and what not?)
You've hit the nail on the head. I haven't been doing any structured training. My "training" rides have been spin classes where I just go as hard as I can for the hour, or the Saturday bike shop ride and trying to keep up with the fastest group I can. Those haven't led to the gains I was hoping for, I guess. Time to crack Carmichael back open and follow a plan.