Thursday's good work

Thanks to PhilM, Joe, BruceG, Michael and Guy (and me of course). Thursday's training was the beginning of our new training regime. 38-40-42-44-46kph! How good is that! And the interesting thing is we all handled it quite well. I've been wanting to do this for ages. So we should have been training like this for some time. This truly replicates race conditions. All we have to do is double (or treble) the number of laps and finish with a sprint! How long do you think it will take us to double the number of laps? Perhaps 38-40-42-44-46-44-42-40-38! But I think I am dreaming. Could we manage 38-40-42-44-46-40-38 to start? Great riding anyhow.

Paul.

When you say double the laps, there's no reason why we can't do that now, if you mean 38,38,40,40,42,42,44,44,46,46. OR, you could try the 'pyramid' thing but not come right back to 36 or 38. Say, 36,38,40,42,44,46,40,42,44,40,40, which may give a more varied speed that you're much more likely to get in a race rather than an even rise or fall in pace.
All these numbers!! My head hurts..

I agree Paul it is very satisfying to do higher intensity work, and especially practising the skill of tight pacelining.

For me, to emulate race conditions more, like a breakaway, we'd do 38, 38, 40, 48, 45, 42, 40, 38. That will reflect the big effort at the beginning to break from a pack.

We could practise sacrificing guys to maintain the high speed creating the break. I'm happy to pull a 1/3-1/2 a lap at 48, or try.

Well now, this is interesting. Two replies and two quite different suggestions. Phil's pyramid idea was what I meant when I said I was dreaming. I don't know about you two but the 46kph lap really stretched me. Are we ready to do the laps up to 46 and then reduce to 40 and then build it up to 42,44 again? This is really hard work compared with our usual workouts. I'd like to try it just to see - nothing ventured nothing gained as they say. But to do it we would have to do a rolling paceline on any lap over 42kph. No full laps or part laps but a rolling paceline. I think doing a lap at whatever speed is great for strength and endurance building but by the time I got to 46 just one lap was starting to hurt big time. But I'm sure we will make adjustments after we have a bit of experience.
And Bruce, the breakaway training idea and sacrificing riders would be another string in our bow. I would also be happy to join you in that lead-out/breakaway effort and just see what speed our breakaway group can sustain. But if Phil is to be the sprinter, somebody is going to have to put a halter on him and STOP HIM FROM DOING ANY WORK AT ALL! Not like last night when he just hunches down and powers along forever. Phil, we want you to cruise around with a heart-rate as low as possible so that when the sprint comes you can be let of the leash!
I thought Guy was impressive. It might be an idea to keep an eye on him just to see where he is going to fit in. He told me he is joining HPRW shortly. His problem is he can't come down on Wednesday night. How would Phil, Joe, Michael and Guy be in a breakaway with Bruce and me doing the breaking?
The trouble is we can make all these pie-in-the-sky decisions here on the forum and the moment we get to the track everybody seems to have a different idea the consequence of which is that nothing happens - nothing gets done. We just waffle! I propose that we make it a rule that all weekly training planning should be discussed on the forum. Once a training plan is agreed to on the forum then that is what happens on the track. No more discussion! We could advise everyone by email that their contribution to the training program is encouraged but once a decision is made by the forum, that decision can't be overridden or discussed by riders at the track. At first I thought this sounds like Adolf Hitler speaking but somebody has to make the hard decisions and get this group organised. And what could be more democratic than an open forum? This is what the forum is for and if people won't use it to plan the week ahead then they should forfeit the right to change things on the track! Here endeth the Lesson!

Paul.

Good ideas there Paul.
You are right in that it may take a bit of time to get 'up to speed', so to speak with the 46 laps, but like you say, shorter turns to save everyone for an overall longer effort.
It doesn't really matter what we are doing I think, as long as we're doing something constructive. It will all help in the long run.
As far as putting training/session ideas on the forum, great! You just have to remember, not EVERYONE reads it, so you would have to go through the whole explanation thing again at the track. But I suppose if you only have to brief one or two then thats better than the whole group.

Just some further input, it's probably a good idea to build up to the speeds I mentioned earlier.
It's fine to say do a lap at 48, then the following one at 45, but it is a really big ask.

Maybe we can tone it back a bit and build up to that. Obviously, holding a paceline gets more difficult as riders fatigue, and danger increases exponentially. So instead of trying to put in a 48 next training session, with

38, 38, 40, 48, 45, 42, 40, 38

maybe we should do this.
38, 38, 40, 45/6, 38, 38, 45/6, 38, 38, 45/6, 38, 38.
So breakaway, then recover, then try to build the break, then recover. This is what I'd try and do to create and build a break.

The thing is, different guys are going to fatigue at different times, and try and get off the front, or not take a turn.
Stewie caught me unawares on Tues, when he was drafting Michael, and pulling to the left when Michael did, so he didn't have to do a turn on the front. I don't know if Michael always knew he was doing that, and if Michael had sat up or slowed down more so, then Stewie could have rear ended him. Plus the first time he did it, I was behind him and didn't realize he was going to, so was tight up on him. If I'd been even closer, and to his left, he could have brought us down. So I think we have to clarify how to get out of the loop safely when you feel yourself red-lining, or how to miss a pull. I'd suggest you pull right off after your pull, or get off the back before another rider gets behind you.

Anyway, it's a nice feeling when the paceline is working 'reasonably' like it was last night, and we're sustaining good speed.
It feels like we're actually training.

I agree with you Paul that Phil and Joe have to be held back to do shorter spells on the front. Their energy will be needed further on, and it is better everyone have a regular 10-25 second pull (100-300 metres, 300m being a 1/4 of a lap), to build their fitness, emulate race conditions, and actually discover what sort of speeds we are all capable of sustaining.

Anyway, off to Sunny Coast hinterland tomorrow. Better go get my muesli bars.

Yes Bruce,

I'm with you all the way. It is a big ask to do a lap at 48 (not going to happen in fact). I don't think our fitness is quite there yet. But 45/6 for 300m (1/4 lap turns) should be achievable by our group. I am sure Phil and Joe will expect to be a part of these speed workouts. It is only in the race situation where they will have to hang back and not work.
It must have been unsettling being caught behind Stewie like that but it is something we should all be aware of. It is inevitable that at the higher speeds some riders will not be able to do a turn and pull over as Stewie did. This is legitimate so long as they remember to signal their intention to the following rider. I think we are getting back to the communication problem. To be fair to Stewie he usually does signal (or he does to me because he knows I'm as deaf as a post!). Unfortunately, even if the rider signals his intention it leaves the following riders in a bit of a hole as they have to surge to get back on. However, as riders, we have all had experience of blowing up from time to time and simply not being able to hold on (I'm one of them and I'm probably the worst at giving signals) so it is something every rider needs to be acutely aware of because red-lining happens to all of us. I know how you feel when you said you actually felt you were training. It was great wasn't it? What should our motto be? Ride faster longer? or . . . I know . . .
38, 38, 40, 45/6, 38, 38, 45/6, 38, 38, 45/6, 38, 38!
With the 38 recovery laps we should be able to sustain this for some time. Two or three sets? I think this is important as it is a good gauge of our fitness.

Paul.