Patangata Tavern Ride.

Yesterdays ride really left me bushed. The climb up from the Patangata Tavern on the way to Elsthorpe averaged ten percent so in parts it was even steeper.You can see the road winding up on the left of the bottom two photos. I hadn't really planned to ride but trying to fit rides in with the weather is difficult as rain was forecast for Friday so I decided to make hay on Thursday.After Wednesdays session I was still a little tired I suppose. I only felt it later in the evening because during the ride I felt fine.On a previous ride up the hill two years ago I had to stop for a breather halfway up.I took these photos a while back.From the pub I crossed over the very long single lane bridge over the Tukituki River and then right up the hill.It was a two and a half hour ride with plenty of hills. Next ride will have to be easy.

Don't try this if you can't get insurance.

Training August 2010

This is the beginning of a new month.Four months to go to the Challenge but the first week is to be easy. Last week I never did my full quota but it was never the less a hard one. I'm concentrating on cadence all the time. The reason that my average cadence seems low is that there are times when I am pedaling quite slowly,especially when I am warming up and my legs are a bit stiff. Also when negotiating obstacles like railway lines or crossing roads and going around corners, the cadence is very low. However on the flats my cadence is often around 100 so the average shouldn't be taken too seriously but rather used to compare one ride with another.

2.........20 kms. Otane. Nice ride keeping cadence up. Ave 84. Nice warmish sunny day with wind against me coming back. Does that mean spring is here? Still four months to go.Everyone has been talking about what a lovely day it was.We need more of them.
3.........20 mins on trainer
6.........28 ks. Tod Road-Otane. Nice sunny but cold to begin with day and no wind.
Started cadence meter after I had got out of town and warmed up. It made a bit of difference thoughI did work at my cadence. Av. 90.The strange thing though,my HR was much higher though I never seemed to be out of breath with the higher cadence.Av. HR 122. My time was good.
8........ 28 ks. Tod Road-Otane Av Cadence 84 Av. HR 118 light wind against me coming home. Sunny and cool.Next week back to the hard work.
9.........Miserably cold day. Spent more time on this blog which should have been spent training or doing something more productive.5^oC outside.
10.......16 ks. Six short hill repeats. Times better than July 28.Only just made it to the top with last repeat by changing to lower gear.I will have to do the first repeats a bit slower. Av. cadence 79. Average HR 119 Max. 158. Good workout.Very cold 6^oC but sunny. I feel my training is going well.
12........19 ks 4 med hill repeats. The weather was too cold to go out for a long ride as I had planned.Found all sorts or reasons why I shouldn't do more repeats. Anyway my times were the best on this 1 km. hill so far.HR 114 max 154.Av. cadence 77. Maybe it was to soon after the Tuesdays hill workout.Elaine has a cold so I hope I don't catch it.
14.........1hr. on trainer and watched cricket.Raining.Kept cadence above 90 most of the time.
17.........50 kms. at last a sunny warmish day but its never perfect. I had what seemed like a gale blowing against me going but at least it was with me coming home.I always prefer to have the wind with me going out so that if it changes I just might have it both ways.Murphy's law doesn't allow it though.Murphy's law says if you have it against you going it will change and be against coming home.
19......... I have had an attack of gout. The first for about seven months.After some hesitation I took a Synflex tablet (Naproxen) which I am not supposed to take but it works quicker than anything else that I have used.My right foot was really swollen and too sore to put any pressure on. Otherwise it was not painful.It was also very cold today and rained in the afternoon.
20........18kms. Seven short hill intervals in almost exactly the same time for each. I did them at a cadence of 80,but with each one my HR increased slightly, though I could have done more repeats.My foot wasn't sore at all but it is still a bit swollen. Nice sunny day.Glad to have been able to do this session as I am now behind this week. Again!
21.........20 mins on trainer.Rained all day so went to town,but nothing exciting.Hope tomorrow is better.Son Bruce is also complaining. He can't train properly and is going to Edinburgh for World Duathlon Championships.
22.........17ks. Six short hill intervals in higher gear. When pressure increases cadence increases linearly. I found that out for myself today, and was able to measure it,so my times were all faster.Where my cadence was 80 on the 20th, in the higher gear it was around 83, but I found I was unable to keep it steady on 83. The last interval was fastest but I faded at the top. Good workout though.Could have done more.
24..........42 mins on trainer. Rain.
25..........20ks . I set out to do a long ride but only got a few hundred metres and turned back.The weather was just too disagreeable,so I decided to do hill intervals close to home. Did nine intervals which was an increase of one.
26..........45 kms. I managed to do today what I wanted to do yesterday. It was a very difficult ride with several hills. The hardest a 10% 1.2 km climb.The weather dictateds my training. Cadence 77
28.........27 kms. Easy ride to Otane via Tod Road.Kept HR down to under 75% Max. Sunny and cool withwind agains going.
31.........25 mins on trainer.

Argyll East Te Onepu and Return.

At last a sunny warmish day but its never perfect. I had what seemed like a gale blowing against me going but at least it was with me coming home.I always prefer to have the wind with me going out so that if it changes I just might have it both ways.Murphy's law doesn't allow it though.Murphy's law says if you have it against you going it will change and be against coming home.

I decided that I would have to do a decent long ride and remembered what a nice ride up the hills to Te Onepu was.On the way I passed through a little hamlet Argyll East which a has a school,a hall and seven houses. Its a ten K undulating climb up from the school. On google earth it is only about a hundred metre climb but on the way there are many little drops so that I probably climberd two hundred metres in all. I took the pictures two years ago. The middle one was a pic of a man being lowered into the tops of gum trees to poison the nests of rooks which are a pest. The last was at Te Onepu where I turned. My whole ride was 50ks. I don't have to wait for Sundays to do long rides,lucky me.

Training thoughts.

I think I 'm going to stick to my guns and concentrate on hill intervals basing it on Short blasts of exercise as good as hours of training and try to build up the number that I do while at the same time gradually building up the distance of my long rides, so that I cover all may bases. My mistake last time around was that all I did was flog myself doing just long rides at too high a tempo leaving myself tired without getting fitter. I should have thought it out more but all I was intent on doing was getting miles into my legs. I have now three hills that I can do these intervals on. One behind the house of two hundred and twenty metres at about 7-10% and one of one kilometer at an average of about 4% also nearby,and another of three kms at an average of 3%. Now according to the Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge Newsletter the total climb is 1390 metres. That's 1.390 kilometres. The long rides will be done at 60-70% Max HR.

Cadence

I started the cadencemeter after I had got out of town and warmed up because my cadenc is slow when I start off. It made a bit of difference, though I did work at my cadence and the Av. was 90.The highest so far. The strange thing was that my HR was much higher though I never seemed to be that much out of breath with the higher cadence.My Av. HR 122 was 78% of max. I will try to observe what happens next ride and take careful note.

Back to the internet.

One of the primary results of this study demonstrated that gross efficiency (a basic measure of the total energy required) at 275 W was similar across the three cadences. In other words, it took the same amount of energy to pedal at 275 W at 80, 100, or 120 rpm. Heart rate was higher with increasing cadence though.
On the other hand, what did become impaired at 120 rpm compared with 80 and 100 rpm were the peak wattage at the point of exhaustion, the wattage at ventilatory threshold (where your breathing becomes laboured and inefficient), and a trend towards a lower wattage at lactate threshold.

So while cadence didn’t seem to impair performance at a high but submaximal wattage, it did seem to cause earlier “fatigue” when at maximal sustained effort. The authors hypothesized that this may be due to: 1) fatigue and greater energy required simply to move the legs at the higher speed (remember, while you may be pushing against less resistance with each pedal stroke, it costs more energy to move 120 times compared to 100 times even against no resistance), and 2) the higher speed of movement caused greater recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibres, which are less efficient aerobically and produce more lactic acid.

However, lowest oxygen cost at around 60rpm, for both experienced and inexperienced cyclists, supports the idea that ‘grinding’ reduces oxygen cost [6]. It may be that 200Watts was too little to stress the experienced riders and more competitive effort (300-350Watts) may have increased preferred cadence. It seems that we all make a complicated assessment of the sensory data coming back from our legs, lungs and head. Grinding lower cadences may be a lower oxygen cost, but the neural system gets tired sooner.
Higher cadence equals better blood flow

The legs act as a more effective blood pumping system when the cadence is higher – if you hit a faster cadence the heart output increases [7]. For the same power output (200Watts as used by Gotshal, 1996) higher cadences make for better muscle blood flow, and in-line with reduced muscle strain data, it makes for better endurance. At 200 Watts (around 20mph) if you spin 100rpm your strain works out at just two Watts per rev, whereas at 60rpm your strain is over three Watts per rev.

Any rider who has ever ridden with power and cadence data to view, using SRM, Polar, PowerTap, Ergomo, Tacx or Cateye, can feel the difference that changes in cadence produce in leg tension, if Wattage stays constant. And here’s the crux: If you use this variety of gearing, power and perceived effort, you can vary training to develop your ability – in other words: Get fitter, faster and better. Now who doesn’t want that!

Well I think there's part of the answer.My heart was working harder but my legs took much less strain. I must therefore find a balance between the two extremes.

The lowest amount of oxygen was used when pedalling at 60-70rpm, significantly less than 80-100rpm. So, muscles have better neural efficiency when spinning, but this increases oxygen cost. To what extent these can be further trained is not clear, but the fact that professionals can ride at high cadences for hours and that club-level riders tend to ride in ever lower cadences as they tire, suggests cadence is a vital parameter for training. , the lowest amount of oxygen was used when pedalling at 60-70rpm, significantly less than 80-100rpm [3]. So, muscles have better neural efficiency when spinning, but this increases oxygen cost. To what extent these can be further trained is not clear, but the fact that professionals can ride at high cadences for hours and that club-level riders tend to ride in ever lower cadences as they tire, suggests cadence is a vital parameter for training.

The most efficient cadence for a cyclist is the one that requires the least amount of energy.

Well in a way its a bit confusing.

Tod Road -Otane Circuit 23kms.

These are pics of the Tod Road Circuit which is a favourite of mine.Its only busy at certain times for the first part. Busy means one car every five minutes.The last three ks. are busy as it is on the main road but there is a very wide shoulder.Well its not all together safe as a car overtook me on my left with its wheels in the gutter. The shoulder is about 3m. wide. The last pic is the Memorial clock tower in Waipawa.

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