First race coming up

email hidden said:

Hi All,

My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
from a previous race on the same course:

http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb5005...

View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.

There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
the hurt on the rest of us.

This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
strength.

In other words, no excuses.

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

Joseph

Sounds like you've done the hard work (a la Rinaldo Nocentini). So
rest is key this week. I recommend fully embracing LIVEDRUNK tenets
from now until 24 hours before the race -- that way you'll have
newfound lightness in the hills.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi All,

My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
from a previous race on the same course:

Good luck Joe, finish in the front end of the pack.

Quoted message said:

Hi All,

My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
from a previous race on the same course:

http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb50059e2d

View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.

There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
the hurt on the rest of us.

This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
strength.

In other words, no excuses.

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

Joseph

Tell us again why you live in the frozen north?

Colin Campbell said:

Quoted message said:

Hi All,

Quoted message said:

My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
from a previous race on the same course:

Quoted message said:

http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb5005...

Quoted message said:

View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.

Quoted message said:

There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
the hurt on the rest of us.

Quoted message said:

This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
strength.

Quoted message said:

In other words, no excuses.

Quoted message said:

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

Quoted message said:

Joseph

Tell us again why you live in the frozen north?

http://arbitrary.org/snow.jpg

Joseph

Quoted message said:

Colin Campbell said:

Quoted message said:

Hi All,
My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
from a previous race on the same course:
http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb5005...
View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.
There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
the hurt on the rest of us.
This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
strength.
In other words, no excuses.
But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?
Joseph

Tell us again why you live in the frozen north?

http://arbitrary.org/snow.jpg

Joseph

I love to look at the pictures, but when I go outside, I don't want to
freeze my various body parts off!! It's California for me....

email hidden said:

This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
strength.

In other words, no excuses.

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

Get plenty of sleep. Don't do any silly things like ride in
super cold rain or wake up at 5 am to train. Don't take the
week off, but don't feel the urge to lay down a whole lot
of intervals either. (OTOH, it's the first race of a season,
so you probably don't want to do any fancy tapering stuff
either. But that was always over my head.) A week isn't
enough time to really increase fitness over the base you
already laid down, so maintaining it and staying healthy
and rested is best; you can't even do a good crash doping
program in a week.

Ben

Colin Campbell said:

Quoted message said:

Colin Campbell said:

[email hidden] wrote:
> Hi All,
> My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
> from a previous race on the same course:
>http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb5005....
> View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
> was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
> last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
> for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
> Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.
> There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
> So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
> the hurt on the rest of us.
> This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
> been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
> handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
> in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
> strength.
> In other words, no excuses.
> But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
> next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?
> Joseph
Tell us again why you live in the frozen north?

Quoted message said:

http://arbitrary.org/snow.jpg

Quoted message said:

Joseph

I love to look at the pictures, but when I go outside, I don't want to
freeze my various body parts off!!  It's California for me....

Umm... That's what clothes are for.

A couple guys I know here who are from California wear shorts almost
all the time. It's pretty funny. I along with the other Americans can
always tell when a new guy is from Cali.

Joseph

email hidden said:

Hi All,

My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
from a previous race on the same course:

http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb5005...

View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.

There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
the hurt on the rest of us.

This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
strength.

In other words, no excuses.

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

If your fitness is decent ("up"😉, then there isn't really anything you
can do in week. If it is not up, then it does not matter -- just do
your normal training.

If you do have good fitness, and you actually care about a good
finish, don't ride super hard this week, especially down to 5 days
prior. There is a reason starting pro baseball pitchers have 5-day
rotations -- they won't have the 7 innings of sharp snap they'll need
if they receive less days of "rest." Of course, this assumes your
hard days are sufficiently hard.

It wouldn't "destroy" you if you did some hard days closer to race
day, but you'll burn one or two of those special reserve matches, best
reserved for race day. Don't be a meathead. If you aren't the most
talented, like most of us, you should be picking which races are most
important to you, and those should be suited to the talents you do
have. So depending on the importance of this race and your long term
goals, you will choose how your training goes this week.

If it is not super important to your result goals for the season, then
(again) you could think about simply doing a normal training week, and
just let the weekend's results fall where they may, although the race
is an opportunity of improved form in and of itself. Push hard in the
race, but do so by choosing the right moments and right fashion to
expend effort. Always hang on.

Quoted message said:

Colin Campbell said:

Quoted message said:

On Mar 31, 2:25 am, Colin Campbell <[email hidden]> wrote:
> [email hidden] wrote:
>> Hi All,
>> My first race of the season is coming up next weekend. Here is info
>> from a previous race on the same course:
>> http://gpsactivitymanager.com/events/708f7c00-91fc-485f-a9a2-f0cb5005...
>> View the report "elevation chart" for the interesting part. That race
>> was 4 laps 60km, this one will be 5 and 75km. It snowed quite a bit
>> last weeks, and has been wet and windy not many people have been out
>> for many long rides, and I'm not sure about the size of the feild.
>> Probably about 30, with a concentration of the more serious racers.
>> There are no categories here in Norway, so all riders race together.
>> So some of these guys who do 10km ITTs in 12 minutes will be putting
>> the hurt on the rest of us.
>> This year I'm ready. I've been working on mental aspects which have
>> been holding me back previously. I'm psyched. I feel I have a good
>> handle on training, I have lots of miles for this early (around here)
>> in the season, a good understanding of my fueling needs, and good
>> strength.
>> In other words, no excuses.
>> But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
>> next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?
>> Joseph
> Tell us again why you live in the frozen north?
http://arbitrary.org/snow.jpg
Joseph

I love to look at the pictures, but when I go outside, I don't want to
freeze my various body parts off!! It's California for me....

Umm... That's what clothes are for.

A couple guys I know here who are from California wear shorts almost
all the time. It's pretty funny. I along with the other Americans can
always tell when a new guy is from Cali.

Joseph

One of my riding buddies nearly always wears shorts off the bike, but
dresses fairly warmly when riding. I wear shorts when I go to the gym,
or when it's hot in the summer and fall.

I was the butt of a couple of jokers today, because I wore a jacket and
full fingered gloves on my morning ride. It was all the way down to 47F
(about 8C). Brr!

By the way, I enjoyed seeing your race picture a few days back. If I
weren't so lazy, I'd set up a place to post some of my own....

email hidden said:

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this
next week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

Dat de wesp in de binnenband steekt.

Quoted message said:

But I wonder if anyone can offer some advice on how best to use this next
week to prepare. What can be best accomplished in a week?

Have you considered flaxseed oil ?

SLAVE of THE STATE said:

reserved for race day.  Don't be a meathead.  If you aren't the most
talented, like most of us, you should be picking which races are most
important to you, and those should be suited to the talents you do
have.  So depending on the importance of this race and your long term
goals, you will choose how your training goes this week.

There are only a handful of races to choose from, and none of them
suit my talents. But this particular course may be my best bet. The
hills are short and steep. They are not long enough for the climber
types to set a pace others cannot hold, and they are short enough that
the powerful riders can stomp them fast enough to put the hurt on
everyone. I consider myself one of the latter types, but I won't be
trying to ride away from anyone (which would be a death sentence) on
these hills, I'll just react.

Quoted message said:

If it is not super important to your result goals for the season, then
(again) you could think about simply doing a normal training week, and
just let the weekend's results fall where they may, although the race
is an opportunity of improved form in and of itself.  Push hard in the
race, but do so by choosing the right moments and right fashion to
expend effort. Always hang on.

This race is very important to my goals. I have been dropped like a
stone at every one of my previous races (not counting races years ago
as a junior), and a decent result at this first race can help set the
tone for my whole season. I am a little concerened about the length of
the race. 75km is no problem, but it is 5 laps which means 10 hills
each one presenting an oppurtunity for something to go wrong. I have
to make sure I concentrate on good positiong in the pack, pay
attention to the wind so I'm not suddenly hung out to dry after going
around a corner, etc. Key to this is being on top of my game and not
panicking, nor thinking defeatist thoughts. An important thing I need
to remember is that when I am hurting, so is everyone else to some
degree. A pace that is not sustainable for me is sooner or later not
sustainable for them too. So when I'm in a bad way, it's just a matter
of time before they have to cool too.

Joseph

email hidden said:

This race is very important to my goals. I have been dropped like a
stone at every one of my previous races (not counting races years ago
as a junior), and a decent result at this first race can help set the
tone for my whole season.

'Scuse me while I state the obvious, play newsgroup coach, etc. etc.:

OK, 75k is no problem. You got dropped pretty handily last year. For
racing purposes (not enjoyment of riding a bicycle), you need less
distance and more speed work. Continuing to state the obvious, you're
not going to "fix" that in three or four days, but IME, motorpacing
which includes short, hard sprinting efforts with recovery between
efforts behind the motor at race pace is one approach for improvement.

On to the problem at hand:
A small number of killers, probably young, single, and unemployed <g>,
will conspire to make sure there are no big sprinters or TT'ers (or
Santaniellos) around at the end. Maybe from the gun, or the first
hill, or every hill, or whatever. If they're any good, of course.

If they can ruin your whole season with one race at the beginning of
the year, that will only save effort further down the line. IOW, make
no mistake about the mindset you're up against. "You have to be
smarter than that", all the way around.

Bring your best game, get a smart warmup, maybe on a trainer like the
big boys do before a TT, for this fairly short race. Hang on like
death (why you need the good warmup), but don't dig a hole for
yourself with useless and exhausting chasing if they saw you off. It's
not a training day, it's a race day. 75k is plenty long enough to do
some deep damage to body/mind, so put in your best possible effort,
and then warm down and quit (sometimes, that's even harder than
hanging on <g>😉.

IOW, leave as much money in the bank as possible, you'll need it later
on in the season.

Whatever happens, go on to the next race and remember: 1) this is
supposed to be fun; and 2) the racetotraintoracetotrain (RTT2)
continuum. Good luck to you, always gotta have a little lucky, too. --
D-y