I like to ride midday but there seems to be no U.S. sunscreen that can possibly survive UV 9. At the same time, it seems utterly impossible to find UPF style clothing that isn’t an absolute nightmare to ride with when the temp is over 90 degrees. More seriously, I can’t find any reasonable way to protect my face from tanning/sunburn
has anyone been able to solve this with any kind of clothing builds?
Anyone who decided to build up the Strael 4.0 frameset I'm interested in what you chose for the stem and seatpost and why. I wouldn't mind hearing about the rest of the build options as well if you don't mind. thanks
So, that strength training is important for cyclists especially after 40 looks like a given nowadays.
The main challenge is that almost all the “literature” comes from the BB and powerlifting worlds, so I struggle to understand what to aim for.
TrainerRoad has this calculator https://www.trainerroad.com/strength-training-calculator which gives an idea about what your 5 reps should look like.
Do you think it’s reasonable?
Say 'bike' again. Say 'bike' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say bike one more Goddamn time!
But in all seriousness I hope the questions makes sense.
I’ve been strictly training on a TT bike for a November full Ironman at which point my plan is to transition back to road cycling like a normal human being. November will be close to a year of riding TT.
My bike of choice before starting this midlife crisis adventure was a Canyon Endurace but now I’m thinking that an Aero bike will be much more comfortable switching back from TT.
Has anyone tried this switcharoo?
Is there a way to stop Strava reducing the average speed of a ride? It always reduces what's shown on Garmin which is really annoying...
Hello!
So I need to find 45 seconds on a local 40min climb 🙂. I am wondering how should I fuel this to keep weight at the minimum and energy at the maximum.
I am thinking of eating carbs only a day prior to clean my gut but not do a carbload. Also breakfast. Would it be a good idea to just skip it, eat fast carbs in the morning and go straight for the climb?
I have no experience how one should fuel for such climbs to maximise weight and energy.
EDIT: Got it today! 39:11 The things that helped the most:
-Caffeine. Kudos for suggesting this. Drank 160mg caffeine energy drink before. It helps a lot. 10 more watts today. Although my head hurts now as I never drink coffee or energy drinks otherwise.
-No carbloading and minimal breakfast. Only 2 bananas and honey and than straight to warming up. Was 1,5kg lighter than before.
-Very early hour. Skipping breakfast alowed me to be out very early. Meaning cooler temperatures and less traffic so more apex to apex riding.
So ~10watts more and ~2kg less gave me 1 minute. Did 5w/kg for 40min. Very happy about that.
I recently got my club/team jersey, very carefully checked the size chart and was around the lower end of size S so I ordered that one, since it was marketed as "race fit". Now having done a few rides with it, it's definitely not race fit at all. The fabric bunches up everywhere and flaps around in the wind, especially the chest and shoulder area, and only feels race-tight when standing up. It's only marginally tighter fitting than my other regular non-race fit jerseys. Is this normal for these kind of jerseys, or could it even be a size too large for me?
Hi!
I've been cycling for 3 years now, this year was so far the greatest in terms of power/mileage/how I feel on bike etc. I've done 3 months of base (low cadence/tempo and time accumulation with 13-16h weeks, SST), 2 months of build (vo2/over unders), and just finished my post-build FTP test with new PB's!
What should I do next this year? All I do is ride for fun and race MyWhoosh sometimes, honestly I just like structured training and getting shit done.
Should I go Joe Friel and transition, another base, another build, or maybe I could somehow maintain this fitness and have fun for the rest of the year (tbh I would like that after 3 years of poor wattage and structure everywhere, but I love to progress as well as everyone)? How do I maintain it?
I train 10-12h/w with 2 days of intense work. I thought of maybe doing 1x vo2 and 1x treshold workout with like 70% of my TTE (and just lower TiZ for vo2 than in a build phase) with recovery every 4th week till winter comes. Idk if that's the way or not.
Thanks for your input
Hey guys, I am a runner so I like to do some threshold or Vo2 Intervals etc...
And I like to just follow the plan so if I do a 10x 30"/30" I like to really just listen to my watch. My problem is here : I live in a hilly area near Paris so I usually just go to a cycling ring which is completely flat or I go on the home trainer but as soon as I go outside I struggle to do intervals because of all the descents and sometimes red lights etc...
So how do you manage to follow your intervals outside??
Crashed on a super steep descent on a big busy road in the Dolomites, slid a few metres, got lucky but ended up with road rash.
Hospital cleaned it and dressed it with hyaluronic cream, non-stick mesh, sterile pads and wrap. They said keep it on 3 days, but after 1 day it already felt dry/stuck, so I softened it with saline and removed it slowly. Some parts had stuck and left a mesh pattern on the skin.
I switched to Tegaderm, as per your advice, and it already feels much better🥲 Less friction and bulk as well. I’m concerned about maceration though, especially overnight, since a few areas are still oozing.
For those who’ve used it, do you put it directly over everything, or use silicone foam / an absorbent layer under it for the weepier parts? How often did you change it early on? What does normal moisture look like versus actual maceration?
Do you use any gels/creams before applying Tegaderm? I’ve been pouring saline on it to disinfect it. Perhaps i need something else
Some pics of the trip and of the three peaks at the end! Maybe it was worth it..
I’m trying to set a realistic goal for 2026. I just had my first child, so my available training time is limited, but I can fit in more riding in the mornings.
I commute to work by bike five days a week (2 × 20 minutes / 2 × 10 km per day). I track most of these commutes to keep an eye on my annual mileage. Outside of commuting, I currently do one dedicated ride per week, usually 1–2 hours, and it’s typically a hard session, on gravel, XC or zwift.
My plan is to roughly double my effective training time—from 1–2 hours of structured training per week to around 4 hours. I’ll do this by adding two 60-minute focused training sessions during the week, while keeping my longer ride at a lower intensity.
I’m 30 years old. Given this amount of training, what would be a realistic goal for the year? Would aiming for a 5% increase in FTP be reasonable? Also, which metrics should I track, and how would you structure my weekly training?
Like many, I've been a grand prix 4000, then 5000, then 5000str guy for a long time because they've been the benchmark for as long as I can remember. Like many, I'm also getting tired (get it??) of the subpar durability, creeping prices, and I also think their equally subpar wet grip might be partly to blame for my latest set of broken bones.
I've switched to tufo thundero 48s on my gravel bike last year and have been blown away compared to pirelli cinturato gravels that I already liked. A+ on all fronts, but until recently tufo didn't seem too competitive on the road front, and didn't have a 32mm option (all I'm willing to run atp) until this year.
They've been BRR tested to be 2w slower than the STR, slightly better wet grip, significantly better puncture protection and crazy low weight.
I don't race or ride too aggressively anymore and BRR data isn't all so I was wondering if there was real world feedback on this tire. It's not cheap either, but given my excellent gravel experience I'd be curious to try their road tire
I am 46 years old.
73kg with an ftp of 290w
I train 9-10 hours per week on my bike
2 x interval sessions per week usually threshold,sweet spot and vo2 max ,2 endurance rides and rest z2 or recovery.
I also do basic strength exercises 2/3 times per week. Glute bridges,squats,lunges etc.
.
I’ve been following the general rule of
Monday- Recovery ride
Tuesday- Threshold/sweet spot intervals
Wednesday- OFF or Recovery
Thursday-VO2 max
Friday- Off
Saturday- Club ride (4 hours) or Longer endurance ride solo
Sunday- 3 hours fast ride with friends (sometimes social pace)
I’m progressing my intervals 3 x 8 10 12 15 and increasing power as each block builds.
I have made improvements since I started it being structured but recently feel like I’ve plateaued a wee bit and not improved.
I don’t think I’m over training too much.
Every 4 the week I am having a de load week to properly absorb the work.
I feel I have plateaued recently with my numbers
Any advice?
Earlier this year, here in Melbourne, Australia we put together a series of 7 Crits in 7 Days.
We are so fortunate here in our city to our cycling clubs hosting a critierium EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
I documented this series, and have put together a series of videos of how it takes place.
The first race took place in 30c/86f degrees of heat, proper miserable stuff.
This race was grueling, it has an extremely strong field, with even a World Tour rider in attendance.
Watch how the race took place!
What would you have done differently in this race?
I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask this type of question.
I’ve been riding my drop bar gravel bike for a couple weeks now, and compared to other bikes I own, namely a vintage road bike and a hybrid bike, it feels like when I am sprinting on this gravel bike, sitting down, the bike really jumps out in front of me with every downward stroke.
When my leg is at the low point in the crank’s rotation, the bike has moved father forward than my body, so It sort of feels like I am not able to push into it as hard as I want to because the bike is moving away from me.
My seat and handlebar setup feel very natural and dialed in, so I’m not sure if this is related to fit, inherent to certain bike geometry or something else.
Has anyone else experienced something similar? I’m really not sure how to describe what’s happening, but I really want to be able to dig in and feel like I’m really putting all of my energy into the pedals.
Anyone moto pace as part of their training? What if any gains have you made? I can do it once a week if I want. I seem to get more out of V02 max intervals though...I guess it all depends on what you are trying to accomplish, speed etc...
EDIT: Thanks for that load of feedback! Appreciate that. I will add a threshold intervall session on tuesday. On saturday I will do some vo2max and look what happens. Of course with progression in time or inceasing power.
35 years old, 63kg, FTP 270w. Racing mtb and gravel races around 1,5h - 2h.
I reached a plateau and want to break through. In winter (dez - feb) I did seilers 4x8min once a week. In march i was sick an in april i switched to some 4x4min hard start intervalls (1min@125%+3min@110%). In may my race season started, so I did the race and no other intervals in the same week.
Usualy my training week looks like this:
Monday - restday
Tuesday - 2,5h - 3h
Wednesday - 1,5h - 2h
Thursday - 2h
Friday - restday
Saturday - 1,5h Intervalls
Sunday - 2h
So I end up around 9 - 10h a week in total. In a race week around 7h to 8h. 3 Weeks on followed by a rest week with 5h total an no intervalls. You see, i only do one intervall session per week. I have not the best/fastest recovery thats why.
What would you do to improve my training and raise my FTP more?
Hi all, I'm helping to organise two e-bike Demo Days in Bath and London on 14th June and 5th July respectively, and to celebrate National Cycling Week, we are giving out free tickets to Reddit users to try and encourage more people to get into cycling.
We'll have about 15 bike brands attending with over 100 bikes at both events, with a range of cargo, hybrid, folding, trikes and more, it's super family friendly and a great place to start if you're interested in trying out loads of e-bikes back to back or even bringing your kids along to try out a cargo bike. Here is the event page, if you enter the code NATIONALCYCLING at checkout it will show a free ticket.
Bath, 14th June, Odd Down Cycle Track: www.eventbrite.com/e/1769637075129/?discount=NATIONALCYCLING
London, 5th July, Herne Hill Velodrome: www.eventbrite.com/e/1965426296962/?discount=NATIONALCYCLING
Feasible with a 48t chainring, living in flanders so only punchy climbs and rolling hillls/flats
Already own enve 4.5 as a road wheelset
Currently averaging 8-10hrs/wk. Looking to aim for 10-12hrs in the weeks leading up to TT. Includes 2 intensity sessions, 1 tempo, with the rest being Z2. No other races/events in the weeks pre/proceeding the TT.
How much of a taper is needed (or if at all)?