As the winter months begin to kick in there is no chance that I’ll be out and about on the local country roads as I did during the summer and autumn months. Call it risk mitigation or just plain body preservation I guess… the thought of trying to stay up on often damp / wet, occasionally frozen debris filled highways does play on the mind a little, I also don’t have the benefit of a non-carbon winter bike with disc brakes that would help mitigate those concerns and even if I did the one fact that sits above all else that would stack the equation to ride or not into a definite ‘no chance’ is the arm. No matter how many layers I could put onto that side of my body the cold just gets through… a distinct lack of circulation and lack of use means ‘ice block’. This situation caused me to give up my youthful passion for football.
So, having created a cast iron reason for not hitting the roads what alternatives do I have to keep, build and prepare the body for the 2020 track goals and road season… Step forward the indoor trainer and the track…! My objectives for the remainder of 2019 & during 2020 is to predominantly ride the Track with an eventual aim of entering the 2km pursuit at National level and see if it goes anywhere from there. Going to be super tough but without goals then the wheels will just be spinning aimlessly. I’ll be 52 in April and in my mind I have a ‘it is a now or never’ approach so the journey ahead will be endless laps and HIIT sessions under the guidance and knowledge of Dave (Legro), we’ll get to a point to decide whether my training and times indicate that I can consider participation or I plainly just don’t have what it will take. So, for now my immediate goal is converting the numerous road miles in my legs into track lap pace.
For anyone who has never ridden the track they would be sceptical about my observations and experiences, track cycling is a totally different world. The correlations with road riding end outside of sitting on a bike and pedalling… fundamentally the demands of the track condense into one word ‘intense’… it absolutely isolates the cardio system, it requires the need of quickly transferable power and the insanely quick powers of recovery. For the pursuit there is a need to get on top of a gearing and hit a consistent, just under threshold, power output that means after completing 8 laps of the 250m London Velodrome you can just about breathe, the legs are awash with lactic acid that you can’t move and the pain running through the cardio system means the mind is in panic mode on how to pacify all the alarms that are going off in the body. To be fair I am just beginning to understand what exactly is needed and whilst I’m learning and working the legs and upper body to get used to the demands the mental aspect is going to be fascinating and will certainly test my resolves along the way. Who is willing to consciously put themselves through those pain levels just to participate… My admiration for those veterans, Dave himself and his team that are currently on the scene at National & World level is inspiring me to start the journey to give it a go.
To supplement the current break in my work contracts I have now I am able to be on the track 4 hours a week whilst supplementing the rest of the time with my TACX Neo turbo trainer. £10 per hour for use of an Olympic facility just does not get any better. It is an amazing place to ride, learn and call my home track… what an opportunity.
The bike… These track bikes are super simple. Simplicity with frame, wheels and your selected gearing. No brakes, no changing gears, no electronic gadgets at all… As with anything bike related, we, as consumers, have a plethora of choices out there. Granted not as much as road or mountain bikes but there are manufactures that are dedicated and remain loyal to the track scene. My bike of choice at this stage is the bike pictured below…
I was an uneducated ‘trackie’ when I first started and when the para-cycling track event options were discussed I went through with Ben Hallam (Primo Cycles) and he solutioned what I have today, a Cannondale CAAD10. A double stem set up as per the road bike, aluminium frame for the time being and with a Dura Ace gearing alongside the dreamy Mavic wheels. Simplicity does not mean cheap I hasten to add… it can hurt financially but there are always deals out there on eBay and such like. This bike is strong, it had to be with my track record and it survived my crash unscathed and is perfect for this phase in my journey as I start. These machines are not the most comfortable items to ride, usually slammed on the handlebars, smaller saddles, narrow bars and your body position is down. This is the absolute world of marginal gains. Frontal exposed areas need to be condensed and streamlined, a strong core and fluid pedal stroke is going to be needed for the pursuit. Hmmm, I’m 90kgs, am 6ft 2” so some adjustments and evolving of Ben’s handlebar solution will be needed going forward. I’ll explain in a future blog some tweaks Colin and I are working on to make life simpler and easier going forward. For the time being whilst I work the body I sit astride my trusted Cannondale.
Clothing, helmet, shoes all add to the marginal gain equation… All figure-hugging race fit, I do need to get the ‘skip’ down just a touch to avoid that little porch hanging out, no loose clothing to flap around in the wind. The theme is the less wind resistance the better, hence why the wheels are carbon and sleek for example. So many factors to be considered all focused on allowing me to participate.
During this period when writing this blog, I’ve been on track for four / 2-hour sessions and just starting to find my track legs. From that I’ve started to hit the pursuit drills to replicate consistent lap times that mean not allowing differences of seconds on laps but down to tenths / hundreds only. My first attempt was as expected… Carnage…! my initial schedule was to hit 20sec / 250m laps for a total of 8 laps. My1st attempt saw me start about 10m’s down on the first lap, I then hit the next 3 laps at the 20sec mark (albeit still 10m behind) then for some reason I hit x2 17secs laps and a 18sec lap that took me past my schedule with about 40m ahead and then when I went to finish the last lap the fluctuations caused a rush of lactic acid and my cardio system went into dribble mode. Looking back at this I should be strong enough to hit the 20sec mark per lap but the dynamics of track position on the black line drifting off the line out through turns 2 and 4 to just under the red line down the straight then back down onto the black line into turns 1 & 3, the ability to be consistent with pedal stroke without the wild power fluctuations, the position on the bike and overall the ability to relax the mind as opposed to panic to see I’m down already and just started. In reality 10m is nothing, if I managed to be consistent through those remaining laps I would have enough in the tank to give full beans on the last lap. Dave warned me it will be the case and true to form I did it royally… for that Fri session I couldn’t get my head around why I pushed harder and I just couldn’t get the benchmark feeling in my head as to what a 20secs lap felt like. The session was just a whirl of everything. In the end it was three sets of torture and pain, the cardio system was in distress with me somehow developing a cough and the legs didn’t feel like they wanted to bend after I got off the bike. The next day the turbo came into its own where I could join a social ride and do 40kms and free the legs up.
Come the following track session a few of Legro’s team were in attendance and these guys have participated at the National’s so plenty of experience to share. Roy Gardiner is in the senior category above my age group but forfeited his training to lead me around and share what Dave had previously shared with him. Taking advantage of when the endurance guys have a break allowing the sprinting guys to do there magic there is a 5-7min window for me to jump on track and have the trainers time me and put all the reactionary thinking over the weekend into practice.
The plan was to go for 1st set 1km (4 laps), 2nd set 1.5km (6 laps) and then 3rd to see if the penny has dropped and hit a 2km / 20sec lap schedule.
Roy leads me out on the two laps prior to the effort. 1st lap super slow, using the all the track and banking and as we come though the start/finish onto the 2nd lap winding it up. Roy will be hitting the 20sec pace by the time he peels off passed the start / finish line onto the banking on turn 1. At that point I duck down onto the black line and focus on holding the speed and output and let it go for the 4 laps. In theory all easy… except I went too quick again and whilst I was consistent this time around, I was on 16.5sec pace and would not last the full 2km at this stage, I’d blow.
2nd set, thinking ok 1km might have been too short and thus quicker let’s put in the extra x2 laps and see how that goes. Roy gets me into the same habit of x2 warm up laps, slowly, slowly and then winding up through the last banking and then this time he goes through turns 1 & 2 and peels off on the back straight to get me onto the 20sec drills. This time Andrew the trainer is showing me on the track where I am going through at the 20sec mark. I felt more consistent this time but haven’t quite got in my head what 20sec laps feel like. I fail the drill again this time hitting the 19 sec laps and having an average 19.4sec for the 1.5km… the legs and lungs are beginning to feel it.
3rd set, Roy leaves me to my own devices and with a clearer picture in my head that I wasn’t a million miles off 20secs and that I now have the full distance to cater for I set off. Determined to be thereabouts I hold back a bit and amazingly I hit Andrew on the watch roughly every time give or take 1m. By the end I’m through the line on schedule… 20sec / 250m lap schedule that was the objective. Don’t get me wrong, the legs are feeling heavy at this point and my ‘pursuit cough’ hanging around in between efforts but the sense of relief… Finally…!
I have to visualise and remember what this feels like and replicate each time I get on track and do my drills… 20sec laps will see me finish last in any race, these have to be 17 / 18 secs with the top guys going quicker in places. For now, the objective is consistency and learn track position, bike position, exertion feeling, cadence and understanding capacity. When I eventually get those aspects then we throw in standing starts, starting gates, bigger gearing and threshold management.
For the time being indebted to Roy for sharing his experiences and passing on Dave’s advice to me…
It won’t be pretty and if the early sessions are anything to go by, I better get used to dribbling and having a cough in between efforts…!
The role of the turbo trainer… whilst I’m fortunate to have the facilities and now the time to get on track the turbo is allowing me to do recovery and tempo rides to act as a supplement to the pursuit efforts. As I said at the beginning there is no chance of me riding on the winter roads and the ability to ride a 40/50/60km recovery ride in my garage is priceless. At the weekends I throw in a long ride with the ironing board set up alongside the bike with nibbles, gels and drinks I can occasionally give a 100km ride ago. Welcome to the wonders of Smart turbo trainers and software such as Zwift / TrainerRoad… Where I can’t make the track, I’ve created customised training programs to replicate the need to pedal fast and hard for 2 & half to 3 mins, so I don’t miss out the work. I’ll write another blog on the wonders of Zwift & TrainerRoad, many love the software, others just don’t get it and the thought of being in a garage looking at a screen doesn’t float everyone’s boat for sure.
For now, it is early doors and so much to learn… focus on the basic’s first but the aim remains, para-racing.
Wayne
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