New to cycling

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

I don't understand. Isn't regular exercise meant to make one fitter? Which means for any give activity a person's body works less to produce the same output as their efficiency increases.

So why after today's ride did the stats say I worked harder then previous ride of the identical circuit but my time was slower? An the ride prior today's showed the identical trend - my body is working harder!

Course identical. Time almost identical. Breathing and cadence almost identical. But my average heart rate and peak heart rate are higher! I am getting less fitter according to the numbers.

Im no expert.

But i think it also depends on the workload for the time leading up to the recorded exercise. I have that also, im not super fit but some rides the exertion level is higher than other rides.
I think it comes down to consistency also which i dont have. I wouldnt read too much into it.

[Top_Ghia]

Fatigue can have quite an effect on heart rate. As can temperature.
Heart rate isn’t a great indicator of fitness. Output is a much better measure.
Certainly heart rate may come down with consistent training over time. But fluctuation is normal.
If I have a week or two off, my heart rate will be much higher than if I have had a solid block of training for 3 or 4 weeks.

Also how you warm up can have an effect.
Illness can also effect HR.

[blueoval]

Sleep or lack there of will affect the outcome of the HR the next day. I noticed during my peak fitness on the bike. If I had a rubbish night of sleep before a ride the next morning. My HR monitor will show it early on moderate effort. It also meant I would max out my limit of endurance earlier too. The Heart can only work with what the body gives it. Having sufficient rest the night/day before a long ride makes a big difference.

[prydey]

Cracking start to the tour this year.

Firstly good to see vingegaards fitness is looking to be ok so he can give the pog a good run again.

Great to see Romain Bardet hold off the fast finishing peloton and get a well deserved stage win in the twilight of his career.

Watching the pog break away from the peloton and then put close to 40sec in to his rivals was epic. No holding back playing it safe on the downhill.

And then Cav notching up win #35!! Seeing these guys rub shoulders and jostle around at over 70kmh is crazy stuff. Not for the feint hearted that's for sure.

[Syndrome]

Bring back Gabriel Gate

[blueoval]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Bring back Gabriel Gate

I dont mind Guillame Brahimi. His segments are fairly enjoyable but he is not the same as Gabriel Gate.

[DJM83]

Enough road bike chat

New bikes sorted now i think, Öhlins from what ive read can be very hard to setup, but once set up very rewarding. I think mines setup where i want. Done about 270km on it thus far, this bike is probably the most descent oriented bike ive owned (long/slack HT/170mm front travel) if im willing to hang on its very rewarding. But it also climbs very well which surprised me, and is handy given the local trails.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Enough road bike chat
[

Never

[DJM83]

Sessioned a few trails today with a few mates, took some short vids also.
This bike is a menace, i love it. It encourages me to step out of my comfort zone. My old bike did also but this bike im feeling is more rewarding. Its not even that bad to climb on, that said my fitness has come a long way to where it was (which wouldnt take much!) I know im kinda repeating myself in some aspects, but as a whole its just gotten better the more accustomed ive gotten to it.

[Syndrome]

A beautiful Sunday afternoon for a ride. In the winter months I try to complete one ride every weekend. To make it more interesting I have several different circuits; some flat others hilly. The saying is "it does not get any easier. You just get faster". Well after 867 kilometers this year, it is not getting any easier. But I am not getting any faster.

[prydey]

I find it to be a bit of a 'cycle' (haha) to get noticeably quicker. As your fitness and strength improves it then requires more 'output' to continue to improve, otherwise you're basically just maintaining a set level.

In other words if you only ride the same as always your progress will eventually plateau.

[Syndrome]

Maybe my stamina/endurance has improved?

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Maybe my stamina/endurance has improved?

Looking back on my journey in to cycling 12 years ago, it was easy to measure progress at first because I was starting from 0. I got to around 102kg and nudging over 100kg was the wake up call I needed. I'm quite tall and always been quite active for work so although I wasn't what you would typically call fat, I knew I needed to turn out around before it got too hard.

Initially I didn't have a garmin or anything so wasn't tracking performance on sites like strava. The main metrics were weight and physical size. These were easy to keep me motivated because I saw progress however as time passed it became much harder. As mentioned, as fitness improved the body required more effort to continue to progress (lose weight and size) and after a couple of years I found that my performance had reached a kind of glass ceiling. I guess this is where the calories burned and the calories consume had eventually evened out. My riding habits were essentially 2 mid week rides and a longer weekend ride.

I got demoralised a bit and kind of stayed at that level for a couple more years with my riding becoming less regular.

Around 2018 after another spike in mental strength I decided to start riding to work. Social riding was becoming non existant due to work and other commitments so I figured if I ride to work I'd kill 2 birds. I get back riding without impacting my day too much and I'd improve fitness again. It was a tough slog to start with and often I couldn't manage 5 days straight (20km each way) but gradually I would find the mental strength and do it.

Side note here, a large percentage of the effort in the early days was mental strength. I had to literally force myself to ride some days.

Now commuting was never about segment times because my job is physical so I needed to be able to work and ride home again. Eventually though I would find that the overall travel times would start to drop. Sometimes I'd drop under the hour for the journey home. After a while I'd notice it would happen more often. Eventually nearly every ride would be under the hour. Sometimes progress happens so slowly that you don't notice until it's been happening for a while. The amount of riding I was doing was more than I'd ever done. I peaked at just over 11000km/yr in 2019 or 2020 before just backing it off slightly. Riding 5 days a week was tough on the body.

I didn't feel any fitter over that time but I knew from my times that I was.

Around a similar time I started riding with a different group of guys on weekends. These guys were quick and I would struggle to hang on the back. There's another saying... If you want to get quicker, ride with people faster than you. That is absolutely true. 2019 - 2022 I really enjoyed riding. I was relatively fast and fit which meant I could ride anywhere and everywhere and knew I could handle whatever terrain I came across. Good times.

Alas my back gave in (not from cycling, just accumulated over time) at the start of 2022 and the rest is history.

Sorry for the long winded story.

If you want to improve its about never giving up. Mental hurdles are the toughest to clear I found. Tracking progress on a site like strava can be helpful.

If you just ride for mental health and enjoyment often it's best to just turn the garmin off or ignore it and just ride the bike.