Turbo's Tales

[Dave Taylor]

I do run a few times a month in the season and regularly over the winter. I learned that lesson straining my knee ramping up too quickly. My problem is I rarely drink to get drunk but am not very good at regulating frequency. For me drinking makes ne want to eat. When I quit I usually go through a week or so of late night sugar cravings. I suck at simple things sometimes.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Yes simmerdown son

After riding with you yesterday and processing everything you said I have some thoughts, I'm Iggy so I say what I think...so here it goes.
You told me you gained 15 lbs since the beginning of race season, most of it in the last few weeks. Wow, despite all those intense races and rides you gained weight? I'm gonna say your eating habits are impulsive and intense like the way you go about preparing for cycling season. You try to cram everything in like it was your last 6 months to live.

Also I'm gonna say you gained weight in the last few weeks after and intense racing season because you are burnt out and feeling stressed. Work, racing, homelife...trying to balance it all can wear you out. Like most people you find comfort in food and attempt to de-stress by eating. The outcome however is counterproductive to competitive cycling. The solution, don't do too much and cause yourself to stress out, easier said then done...we all want to do it all but with work and family we can't. Finding the balance of not doing too much and being satisfied is a learning curve, you are starting out in competitive cycling and need to find the balance.

Finally I've ridden with you enough times to say that every ride does not have to result in a PR. You look at Strava a lot and compare how your rides match up to previous ones. There is nothing wrong with this however you can burn yourself out trying to PR segments on every ride. When you don't PR a segment you claim that you are feeling off and become discouraged. Stop looking at Strava and just ride your bike, these PR's are fucking with you.

Pretty much nailed it. I do side work for fun and enjoy mowing the lawn believe it or not but seem to blow all that stuff off to bike(ocd?) last year I made 20% extra in cash sidework relative to my normal income. This year I am yet to break 3%. Hmmmmmm

 

[Norm]

How old are you?

If you want to persist at this sport you need to know your limits. Contrary to what other people say, I feel it is a good thing to blow past them and learn from your mistakes. If you don't cross the boundary how do you really know where is it?

Having said that, I'm pretty sure that this Hatfield (you) has crossed the boundary into McCoy territory. Take this experience and apply it to the rest of your cycling career.

 

[Mountain Bike Mike]

I go through this as well... What you described sounded like my CAT3 year of training where I was all over the place and struggling to sort things out with fitness, diet...

I am not the person to ask for advice because I am still going through the learning process. What I can tell you is what I did when I was in a similar situation as you, I followed some life advice a mentor gave me ions ago - "if you can't do it right yourself, pay someone who can". I learned quickly in 2014 that I needed some help.
The only thing I can do is relate with what your going through and tell you what I did in similar situations and what helped or not.

Everyone is different so advice from me isn't valid and may not work for you. There is a ton of general advice on this topic and it may help if you're luck.

My advice to you is talk to someone who specializes in this type of thing.

Shameless plug: @BiknBen

 

[jShort]

It's hard to be fast all the time. In reality, nobody is always at the top of their game.

Fitness goes in peaks and valleys. Go fast, recover, work back to being fast, maybe faster than before, then recover again. Then start all over.

The trick is to be fast on race day (which I'm assuming is what you want). And it's really hard to do this without a coach or lots and lots of trial and error.

This is just what I've observed from my own experiences. The reoccurring theme here is you need to find what works for you.

 

[RobW]

Stop looking at Strava and just ride your bike, these PR's are fucking with you.

A-F*CKING-MEN!!!

some people validate their efforts through strava- this will become an obsession and if you wrap your head around it, it becomes an inefficient way of life and balance. Don't be afraid to take time off the bike, after 1 month off, it only took 2 rides for me to see that I wasn't far off from when I got off the bike(my fitness wasn't there but that's par for the course...-) when you and I first met, you told me that you just love to ride your bike. so take your own advice and JUST RIDE. FWIW, this IS the off season... find a new challenge, build on what you've got and keep the balance.

@pooriggy great advice

 

[w_b]

perhaps set aside some time to drink to get drunk

 

[Pearl]

It's hard to be fast all the time. In reality, nobody is always at the top of their game.

Fitness goes in peaks and valleys. Go fast, recover, work back to being fast, maybe faster than before, then recover again. Then start all over.

The trick is to be fast on race day (which I'm assuming is what you want). And it's really hard to do this without a coach or lots and lots of trial and error.

This is just what I've observed from my own experiences. The reoccurring theme here is you need to find what works for you.

Best post here.

 

[stb222]

It's hard to be fast all the time. In reality, nobody is always at the top of their game.

Fitness goes in peaks and valleys. Go fast, recover, work back to being fast, maybe faster than before, then recover again. Then start all over.

The trick is to be fast on race day (which I'm assuming is what you want). And it's really hard to do this without a coach or lots and lots of trial and error.

This is just what I've observed from my own experiences. The reoccurring theme here is you need to find what works for you.

This makes sense to me. Even with my constant low tempo errrday style, I see the peaks and valleys and some days you just have it and others you just don't.

As much as people want to poop on strava, it probably isn't the issue. Sure, it may bring to light that you arent as fast on a segment on that particular day, but I am not sure how many people get down on themselves when they can't pr. So if you are, then maybe here is a problem .

That being said, sometimes it is irritating when you can't improve on a segment. But that is what categories are for, if you know the people ahead of you on the segment, you can use the following excuses:

That was a wKOM (wind KOM)
That was from a gKOM (group ride KOM)
That is a climbers segment
That is a sprinters segment
That is a hardmans segment
That is a rouleurs segment

In today's specialist world, it is ok to use these excuses.

In all seriousness, screw resting and just go out and ride around. The full moon is tomorrow so take an evening or early morning ride and just enjoy it.

 

[UtahJoe]

Dave, I think you have to learn to be ok with having an off season. Took me some time to figure this out. Now I know...when it gets blazing hot, im done...I call up my friends who I dont get to ride with much when im training...Go ride around, bullshit about nonsense, listen to podcast.

Like @jShort said...I plan my year on being fast when I want to be fast...Rest of the time, im just enjoying myself.

This makes sense to me. Even with my constant low tempo errrday style, I see the peaks and valleys and some days you just have it and others you just don't.

As much as people want to poop on strava, it probably isn't the issue. Sure, it may bring to light that you arent as fast on a segment on that particular day, but I am not sure how many people get down on themselves when they can't pr. So if you are, then maybe here is a problem .

That being said, sometimes it is irritating when you can't improve on a segment. But that is what categories are for, if you know the people ahead of you on the segment, you can use the following excuses:

That was a wKOM (wind KOM)
That was from a gKOM (group ride KOM)
That is a climbers segment
That is a sprinters segment
That is a hardmans segment
That is a rouleurs segment

In today's specialist world, it is ok to use these excuses.

In all seriousness, screw resting and just go out and ride around. The full moon is tomorrow so take an evening or early morning ride and just enjoy it.

While I like strava as a game to entertain myself...I think its fun....I feel like if it was my only outlet for competition, I would probably get annoyed and stop using it. Its just not the same as racing with other humans.

 

[stb222]

While I like strava as a game to entertain myself...I think its fun....I feel like if it was my only outlet for competition, I would probably get annoyed and stop using it. Its just not the same as racing with other humans.

@Mountain Bike Mike and I had a conversation about this the other day as I said he could "cock off" on strava if he needs a competition outlet in the off season and he said something about racing humans in real time too.

I wonder if I went back in time and reprogrammed myself into I doing activities based on the social aspect and if my satuifucation level of said activity would be different.

 

[rick81721]

The problem with running is that you really need to ease into it, or you're going to get hurt and then not be able to ride. It's tough to accept a 20 minute run as a workout when you are used to 3-4 hour bike rides being a workout. I just ran for the first time in about a year last week, and I had trouble walking for four days because my quads and calves were destroyed. I only ran 2.5 miles. I did the same run last night and am sore again, but not as much. If I ramp up the mileage though, I know I'm gonna be injured.

I don't race nor do I ride at high intensity for the most part so I won't even pretend to be able to comment on that. But if you want to include some running - Jim's right - ease in and make it a weekly workout. Even taking a few weeks off it's amazing how quickly your running legs go to hell.

 

[1speed]

I think the main question you might want to ask yourself to decide how you should approach your current issue is "why do I ride?" If you ride primarily to address a need for some competition (be it through racing, stealing KOMs, besting your own PRs, or even just being the biggest hammer on a weekly ride) then you almost definitely need to take time off for all the reasons mentioned already because none of those things are sustainable without rest. (And if you can't trust yourself to do that, then go with MBM's advice and get yourself a coach who will MAKE you do it.) But if your main reason for riding is to just enjoy moving on a bicycle or to escape from the other stressors of life, then you don't really need to stop at all. Just slow down for a while or purposely ride with people who are slower than you are and let them set the pace to make it more social. Hell, you can even still go to a few races - just don't let them be a "priority event". (Personally, the best decision I've made when it comes to racing over the past few years was to be really picky about which races I want to do well in and keep the number to a manageable, low number - like 3 to 5 a year at most. I may do 10 races, but in at least half of them, I'm just there because it keeps me from double-fisting bomber bottles of Belgian Dubbel because I have nothign to train for or because I like the vibe of the event and want to support the folks who put it on.)

And if you're not really sure which way you go, try option 2 and if you find yourself fighting the urge to go harder on a regular ride, then admit to yourself that the reality is that you're in it for the competition. And then adjust accordingly.

 

[Mountain Bike Mike]

Maybe this will help...

Like a two stroke, can't stay in the power band all the time or you'll detonate. The more you do, the more frequent you need to rebuild the top end.

 

[gtluke]

Maybe this will help...

Like a two stroke, can't stay in the power band all the time or you'll detonate. The more you do, the more frequent you need to rebuild the top end.

 

[Dave Taylor]

I'll post more in a bit but what really boggles my mind is how can I become this guy?http://www.redbull.com/us/en/advent...21/iron-cowboy-50-marathons-50-states-50-days

 

[Johnny Utah]

Dave, I got to where you were in May this year after fifteen or so months of straight building. I could not recover and I was becoming obsessed with mileage, Strava and signing up for everything.

My body was fatigued and could not recover....cycling became a job. My food intake was getting crazy.

I took most of June and July off and spent time with non-cycling friends as well as got out on the kayak, did trail work and worked on my Jeep. Oh, and beer.

Strava and this site make it easy to see people constantly moving and hitting goals, but they do not always show the rest periods needed.

You're a strong rider and will figure it out. There is some sort of happy median, but like others have told me, it is very hard to find.

I have a feeling you are wired like me, or at least how I try to be - full bore hammer ride at all times. One of my goals over the next year is to ride my trail bike more, get off the race bike and try to pull off the Strava crown race. Easier said then done. It is very hard to re-adjust to an easy social pace ride.

 

[Dave Taylor]

Ok, it's been a long and lazy week. Worked like 15 hours of OT, sick baby, too much riding last week and the awards dinner last night was such a good time that wifey and I booked a hotel room and got a hair shitfaced. This week I will work on a life plan/training plan. Once again I am not mentally burnt out on riding at all but physically I need some recovery. Despite everyone telling me not to I will ride HTT next Sunday but between last wednesday and then I won't have more than 2 easy rides in to keep the legs working.
Starting this week I am going to catch up on some side work and hopefully reorganize my garage(this happens 2-3 times per year as it's never good enough).Hopefully I can paint the foundation of my house before the leaves from my ginormous oak tree take over the lawn. I am also trying to book a year end vaca. for the wife and I without the kids. I will also attempt to redeem myself from my food and beer binge as it's been a relatively non stressful week(I am drinking tonight to fend off last night's hangover however).
Hopefully in the next week or 3 I can order my new frame whether it be a top fuel or a Yeti ASRC. In the end this will be a sub 22 lb fs. I may consider selling my superbly ss and set the fatty up as my go to ss rig(gears for the winter). Also, as you can tell by my lack of paragraphs and long, endless sentences I have a difficult time accomplishing complex goals. My mind always goes for simple simple simple and it usually works at making money but hinders my ability to accomplish larger goals that I have like starting my own side business and building frames. I pride myself on my day job so much that I am disappointed if I make a mistake yet that kills me when trying to do something new on my own time.
This is the last part for today. I see myself being around the bike seen for the rest of my life. I blew off a yamaha ride day last weekend at englishtown to do a century with @Riggedfmx . It's always been two wheels, now it's two wheels and no motor. Thoughts for the next year or so? Ride my bike. Planned events between now and next year this time so far....Hillier than thou, Jorba Jam, possibly a cross race but not likely, Erie 80(potentially),Woods Hollow MTB race, Cathedral pines SS, NJ fat bike series but contemplating the reality of me doing @jimvreeland 's epic without Wolfhammers($400 is big ching for boots), Long Branch fat bike race, Hell Of Hunterdon, SSP, some random endurance events between mass and h2h series as well as 1 or 2 ss cat one races. Big events are The Longest Day(in a dreamy voice I would like the record one day), W101, Stew45 and potentially Shenandoah or leadville. I know it's a lot and I will thin it out and maybe add some other fun events. Basically these are all potential with the exception of sap, w101,TLD, Stew45 and the fatback series. Whew.....until next time....my fingers just bonked.

 

[Steve Vai]

Defrosters are fine for NJ. Unless we have winter again sometime.

 

[Dave Taylor]

I have

Defrosters are fine for NJ. Unless we have winter again sometime.

the shimanos, consider me in as long as I can keep my feet warm for under $30 on top of my initial shoe investment.