Discussing with a friend about how is it that the average speed of the amateur cyclist that I see riding around has move from 30 km/h to around 38 km/h. 35 became the old 28 km/h cruising speed. And I say this taking away the big groups that were always faster but small groups of 2 or 3 guys or single riders. I ride 99% of my time alone. And I see this in the flats roads of central Netherlands, when the weight of the bike isn't a big factor.
We came up with 3 reasons (apart from structural training that deserves a complete post on itself and I won't cover here).
We talk about bikes and advances. The new bikes are faster. I see people that are putting less effort going slightly faster than me. I would be pushing close to my threshold and I can see and feel my muscle working and I see less of that in them. New bikes are more aerodynamic (frames, wheels, handlebars, etc), better rolling bearings (bottom bracket, derailleur, chain) and better tires (broader, rolling resistance, compounds, etc). That will give riders a good advantage on the flat as they will be gliding thru the wind and rolling easier. Even if I go out with my Cervelo RS that is 14 years old vs. my Gian TCR that is 6 years old I can already see the difference let alone riding against Canyon Aeroroad, Giant Propel, Cervelo S5 or Merica Reactos of the last 2 to 3 years.
We also talk about clothing. Apart from the hideous color schemes that the new generation riders like with their fucking annoying pastel colors. The material of the cycling clothing has changed. Much more stretchy and clingy to the body, nothing is flapping and everything is aerodynamic, including the socks and gloves (but nobody is riding with gloves anymore anyway - which I don't agree). Helmets are also a complete new game and the new aero helmets do make a difference. I'm still to buy a new aero jersey (I tried them and they are not flattering for a 50+ guy, even if he is skinny like I'm now. But I also don't like the touch of the new material in my skin). But I did buy a helmet and the socks (very small investment) just to see and I think there some gains there. Even if we are talking about 3 to 5 watts.
And the last thing is nutrition. Everybody is saying the pros are going much faster because of how they eat before and during the race. I won't get my cynical side to take over and talk about doping, but there is something to be said about the people that I see around me eating new energy bars and gels. They seem to be at the same speed at the end of a long day as well as in the beginning. From my side, I've been riding on very cheap and low carb count products and not enough quantity. Especially in rides longer than 2 and half hours. I feel I'm always fading at the end of my rides and just surviving the last 15 kms. I can push to keep up with the fast guys for a while at the beginning of the day but not at the end. Also in the mountains in France, I literally felt like "running out of gas" after a push to catch up with some guys and my speed was drastically getting lower and lower towards the end of the climb.
So, I decided to try a different approach. Also because this is the easier and cheapest way to try something different compared to the cost of a new bike or new cycling kit. This weekend I tried to up my game. I bought a couple of chew gels that has at least 30% more the amount of carbs as the ones I was eating before and I got a gel. I was not eating any gels other than on rides longer than 5 hours, which are quite rare this days. I kept my energy drink the same as it is easy on my stomach. I tried other energy drinks and some of them cause me stomach cramps.
In total, I've added 74 grams of carbs and almost 300 kcal to my intake on a 3 hours ride, which is the standard duration of my Saturday morning rides. Almost like having another breakfast. This is an increase of 25g of carbs and 99 kcal per hour.
I felt good and I pushed to my good cruising speed the whole time. Something between 30 to 33 km/h. I felt that I was putting an effort 100% of the time and not just "rolling". But also not going beyond the limits. I was keeping my heart rate at limit of zone 2 to zone 3, with some pushes to top of zone 3, just below anaerobic threshold. The idea was to see the effect of better nutrition on aerobic effort and not blow up the tank on anaerobic pushes that would muddle the results. Maybe I can try that later.
Too early to tell if nutrition was the main factor but having the added calories and carbs might have made a difference how I felt. I'm in good shape (for my standard) right now and I think even better than when I was in France. And this can be also interfering with the results. So, I will need to keep doing it to validate "false positives". I will keep doing it and also try to increase the intake to at least 65 carbs per hour, which means doubling the previous value and keeping recording the results in numbers and how I felt. More to come before I commit to a buying a new aero bike!
https://connect.garmin.com/app/activity/24588263428
| Before | After | Difference | |
| Carbs | 3 x Fruit Jellies = 63 g 500 ml Isostar = 35 g Total Carbs = 98 g Carbs/hour = 32 g | 3 x Mantel Chew Bar = 97 g 1 Amacx Gel = 40 g 500 ml Isostar = 35 g Total Carbs = 172 Carbs/hour = 57 | Total Carbs = + 74 Carbs/hour = + 25 |
| Kcal | 33 x Fruit Jellies = 252 kcal 500 ml Isostar = 149 g Total kcal = 401 kcal kCal/hour = 134 kcal | 3 x Mantel Chew Bar = 390 kcal 1 Amacx Gel = 160 kcal 500 ml Isostar = 149 kcal Total kCal = 699 kcal kCal/hour = 233 kcal | Total Kcal = + 298 kCal/hour = + 99 |
cc
No comments:
Post a Comment