Article from "The Week"

It's an excerpt from Coyle's new book (it came out in June).
-Ken

k.papai said:

It's an excerpt from Coyle's new book (it came out in June).
-Ken

I thought it seemed familiar.

It didn't sink in until now, just how much of a premium cyclist place on
being thin and light; some, anyway.

It seems they -know- they're going to be immunologically compromised (not
opening the car windows, hitting elevator buttons with their elbows, etc.).

Also didn't quite understand the supercompensation phenomena where a rider
seems to get stronger (or some do) as an adaptation to the stress. (I think
this is different from the normal 'hypercompensation' that all cyclists get
in training - at least in scale if not different in mechanism). I remember
one of the diaries talking about some riders just seem to get stronger and
these types can be potential GC winners. That also brings into sharper
focus, for me, how a 'rest day' can make a rider feel off, if he indeed
rests. What these guys call rest though is to only ride two or three hours
- but this might be enough in some to kick them out of this
supercompensation phenomena.

I wonder how he gets that LA's lasts 40 days...

This part is pure poetry:

<snip>
Stepping out on the razor is a journey into physiological irony. On the
bike, riders feel invincible; the pedals seem to float. Off it [the bike]
they move slowly, delicately. Body fat plummets to malnutritive levels,
they are hollow cheeked and paper-skinned; they might get out of breath
climbing a short flight of stairs. ... They live on the boundary pathetic
sickness and intoxicating power. They push like Icarus to see how high they
can fly. (*)
<snip>

(*) Lance Armstrong's War, D. Coyle.

Even marathon runners are not tuned this tight that I'm aware.

jj

"Even marathon runners are not tuned this tight that I'm aware. "

Nice little write-up JJ.

The best shape of MY life was when I ran my best marathon.
No beer or bad drinks 6 weeks leading up to the event.

Even when I could almost hang in hilly (bike) road races I was never in
that sort of shape.

Dallas White Rock Marathon, 1991. Cold weather, I thrived.

To survive RBR you also need to be a GC player; you get stronger and
more immune to the newbies, trolls, the always negative people, the far
left-wingers, and the "can put on a kick-ass show French but we sure
pay like [censored] for the Tour".

-Ken

k.papai said:

"Even marathon runners are not tuned this tight that I'm aware. "

Nice little write-up JJ.

The best shape of MY life was when I ran my best marathon.
No beer or bad drinks 6 weeks leading up to the event.

Even when I could almost hang in hilly (bike) road races I was never in
that sort of shape.

Have you ever had a day where 'there is no chain'?

I haven't yet, but I can sense it. Every once in a while I really exceed
myself. I'll just zip up a series of small steeps in the saddle like
they're not even there, pedaling a ridiculous gear.

But it's pretty easy to be strong when you're carrying some weight - I bet
it's really tough when you're cut to the bone like that - even though
you're dragging less weight up the hill. Must be a matter of very carefully
timing your peak. This is what I find so awesome about pro racers - they
seem to be able to make a series of peaks throughout a fairly long season
some of them doing it repeatedly from Spring until October.

jj

Quoted message said:

Dallas White Rock Marathon, 1991. Cold weather, I thrived.

To survive RBR you also need to be a GC player; you get stronger and
more immune to the newbies, trolls, the always negative people, the far
left-wingers, and the "can put on a kick-ass show French but we sure
pay like [censored] for the Tour".

-Ken

Quoted message said:

Have you ever had a day where 'there is no chain'?

Yes! Sort of. I have had "super" days when I can carry a higher HR
and higher power for a long time. Other days I'm dragging. I can't
quite figure it out. On the days I've been "super" I am often tired
from insufficient sleep, hungry from insufficient food, and I often
don't even want to ride. But pretty quickly, I can feel that I'm on a
good day and the power meter confirms. What's up with that? Other
days I'm rested, full fuel tank, and I know I have decent form, but I
have a crappy day and can't generate any power.

I guess if I were a pro, or more dedicated, I'd be on a schedule and be
able to predict and control these mini-peaks. But until my life
rearranges itself to accomodate my riding, these peaks will continue to
seem as random as chaos theory.

-Philo

"I guess if I were a pro, or more dedicated, I'd be on a schedule and
be
able to predict and control these mini-peaks. But until my life
rearranges itself to accomodate my riding, these peaks will continue to
seem as random as chaos theory. "

Qualifier for the intelligent POTM.

"Chaos Theory and Training/Peaking" in the same sentence. Bravo.
NOW it makes sense.

Pure Genus.

-Ken

Jet says...

Quoted message said:

Have you ever had a day where 'there is no chain'?

42k TT, long ago. There was no chain till about 8k to go. Then reality made up
for the fantasy. I still won, but every time I stood up for the next 2 days, I
nearly passed out.

k.papai says...

Quoted message said:

"Chaos Theory and Training/Peaking" in the same sentence. Bravo.
NOW it makes sense.

Quoted message said:

Pure Genus.

Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?

Mad Dog wrote:
:: Jet says...
::
::: Have you ever had a day where 'there is no chain'?
::
:: 42k TT, long ago. There was no chain till about 8k to go. Then
:: reality made up for the fantasy. I still won, but every time I
:: stood up for the next 2 days, I nearly passed out.

Damn...

Quoted message said:

Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?

Vaguely. But I think most people would get the point.

Today - definitely a chain. A rusty, seized chain. But tomorrow, who
knows?

Philo says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?

Quoted message said:

Vaguely. But I think most people would get the point.

Common misconceptions.

"Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?"

I think I understand the basics, so yes.
Why do you think I wouldn't? (Math has always been one of my favorite
subjects)

I even programmed some fractal generating graphic routines in C about
15 years ago.
I doubt you have done similar since no has a clue (or cares?) who you
are going around with an adolescent non de plume label like you do.

-Ken

k.papai said:

"Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?"

I think I understand the basics, so yes.
Why do you think I wouldn't? (Math has always been one of my favorite
subjects)

I even programmed some fractal generating graphic routines in C about
15 years ago.

Did you just copy the code? (I did):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1558510389/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1558510974/

Fractals have real-world apps:

http://www.fractenna.com/faq/faq.html

There used to be some nice graphics there, but I can't find them.

But here...:

http://www-tsc.upc.es/eef/research_lines/antennas/fractals/fractal_antennas.htm

http://classes.yale.edu/fractals/Panorama/ManuFractals/FractalAntennas/FractalAntennas.html

Other [censored]:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020131073853.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040203232954.htm

Now I have to figure out how to incorporate all this into bar room
pick-up lines.

Mad Dog said:

k.papai says...

Quoted message said:

"Chaos Theory and Training/Peaking" in the same sentence. Bravo.
NOW it makes sense.

Quoted message said:

Pure Genus.

Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?

Do you? Let's see twenty-five words or fewer.

Quoted message said:

Do you? Let's see twenty-five words or fewer.

[censored] happens. Same [censored], different scale.

Quoted post said:

Mad Dog said:

k.papai says...

Quoted message said:

"Chaos Theory and Training/Peaking" in the same sentence. Bravo.
NOW it makes sense.

Quoted message said:

Pure Genus.

Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?

Do you? Let's see twenty-five words or fewer.

If I flap my gums in California, it kills a party in Wisconsin.

gwhite said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?

Do you? Let's see twenty-five words or fewer.

Quoted message said:

If I flap my gums in California, it kills a party in Wisconsin.

Hey, that's almost a haiku!

If I flap my gums
about too much boring [censored]
I will not get laid.

Bob Schwartz
[email hidden]

k.papai says...

Quoted message said:

"Do you really understand the fundamentals of Chaos Theory?"

Quoted message said:

I think I understand the basics, so yes.
Why do you think I wouldn't? (Math has always been one of my favorite
subjects)

Because most people think the title is all that's necessary to know. Sorry to
say that it's just not that simple.

Quoted message said:

I even programmed some fractal generating graphic routines in C about
15 years ago.

Wow, am I supposed to be impressed? Sorry, I'm not.

Quoted message said:

I doubt you have done similar since no has a clue (or cares?) who you
are going around with an adolescent non de plume label like you do.

With an incoherent reply like that, it's clear that you are challenged aplenty
just trying to write a simple sentence. So I'll revert to suspecting that the
fundamentals of CT are not resident in your synaptic volume.

gwhite says...

Quoted message said:

Now I have to figure out how to incorporate all this into bar room
pick-up lines.

According to Frank Zappa, that approach is a total waste of time. Listen to
"Find Her Finer" on Zoot Allures. Considering how Frank wasn't the prettiest
boy on the plante yet he managed to score quite a bit, he might have known what
he was talking about:

"Find her finer, sneak up behind her
Act like a dummy till ya finally grind her"