Ask A Pro with Phil Gaimon

Dear Phil,
I am a beginner cyclist, and I am having trouble with descending. I can climb with little difficulty, but when it comes to going back down I freeze in the curves. I weigh about 235-245 and am 6'2". The straight-a-way at 40+ mph is not an issue (I am ok with the speed). Can you please give me tips on how to take curves with more confidence?
-John

Dear John,
As a climber who started riding in Florida, I feel your pain. It's good to be cautious, though. If you're not comfortable with a descent, and you don't know what's coming up, slowing down is the right call.
Solutions: know the descents. If you know before you get a turn that there's no reason to slow down, you can be a little more brave going into it. Watch your speed and go through it a little faster each time, always taking the sharpest line you're comfortable with. If you come out of the turn and haven't used the whole road, you know you can go faster next time.

Ride with someone you trust, and follow their wheel. If they can make it through at a certain speed, so can you.

No heroes on a wet descent (unless you ride Kenda tires): conditions change how you can take a corner. If it's raining or slick, there's gravel in the road, etc., you should take it a little easier. In the long wrong, it might make sense to be a slightly uncomfortable descender with no broken bones.
-Phil

Phil, I've got an old Bottecchia with a classic Team ADR paint scheme. (It's a real one from '92 or '93 - not a Bottecchia USA). I commute on a Specialized Tri Cross. I want to have a second bike in the garage for rides that I don't need the racks/lights etc. I raced the Bottecchia in college (94-95). Do you think its worth trying to update it to make it a nice back-up bike (and for just fun training rides) or am I better off just selling it and getting something more modern. I seems like upgrades could be difficult because of the older campy stuff its equipped with but I've got a sentimental attachment to this heavy cro-mo bike from college.

Any thoughts?

Regards,

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,
You're in a tough spot with that old bike, especially with the sentimental side of it. Updating that bike would be costly, just finding all the compatible parts, and I'd bet even if you could find the parts you need, their age would mean they wouldn't last too long. In that light, I'd say sell it, except that I don't think you'd get much for it. You'd hate to be parted from a cool bike for yard sale rates, but it doesn't really qualify as an antique or something you could really sell at a premium. I have a closet full of old wheels, frames,etc., which are worth more to me as backups than they would fetch me on ebay.
So, my answer: use the Bottecchia, for commuting. It's a cool, old bike, and you don't need a high-performing, smooth-shifting, fancy bike to get around town. Sell the Tri-Cross, and get a new road bike to train on. If that doesn't sound right, my next advice would be to keep them all. I don't see how anyone can get by with less than 7 bikes
Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs from high school Psych class? Me neither, but it went something like: food, shelter, love, a commuter bike, a track bike, cross bike, mountain bike, race bike, time trial bike, and backup race bike. You're not even halfway there yet. Who are you to argue with the founders of modern psychology?
-Phil

It's hard to say what the most important metrics are. Different metrics are important for different types of riders, or depending on what a rider is trying to train. A track sprinter will say his most important effort is his max 1 second power, whereas a worker rider at the Tour de France will say his tempo pace, which he's doing all day riding the front for his team, is the most important. A sprinter like Mark Cavendish, whose sprint is good enough, will probably care about his max 1-20 seconds, but I'll bet he trains his threshold more, in the hopes of getting over the climbs to make the front group at the finish.

The standard numbers that most riders will know for themselves are max 1-second, which basically says what you'll do in a sprint, max 5 minute (a VO2 effort), max 20 minute, and LT.

The metric I probably follow closest is my 5-min power. That's an effort that's easy to improve, since you can train it often without killing yourself, and a length of time that can get you to the top of most climbs, establish or bridge to a breakaway, etc. Doing those efforts once a week the day before I race, it's a good way to map out my form over the year.

Dear Phil,

They say that heat can take between 10-20% off from your peak performance.
As you may have heard, this summer has been a brutal scorcher here in N. Central Florida, and I've noticed that my peak power output in longer efforts has dramatically suffered as a result. As a masters racer, I've noticed that this summer I have had a harder time adapting than in years past.

So I have a few questions for you...

First, do you have any suggestions for HTFU'ing up and dealing with the heat and humidity? Or would you recommend performing interval sessions early in the morning to avoid the heat (although the humidity is worse before the sun comes up)?

Second, since you have to actually race in all sorts of conditions, what do YOU do to prepare for an 80+ mile road race with a heat index of greater than 105F (similar to the conditions I raced in Ocala last month)?

Thanks in advance for your answers, and keep the rubber side down!

Ken

Hi Ken,
Heat can definitely slow you down. Part of it is just being out there, as the more you train in it, the better your body will get at saving water.
That said, it's my guess is that you'd experience improved power training early in the morning, or in the evening, so you don't get fried in direct sunlight. If you want a longer day, splitting the ride might be answer.
Tips for dealing with heat:
-(obviously) Drink drink drink, and don't feel guilty stopping for refills. I had two store stops in a 4-hour ride a few weeks ago.
-Pre and post hydrate. If you don't have to pee a lot, you're not drinking enough.
-Freeze your bottles before the ride. A third one in the pocket doesn't hurt, either, just to keep the cold on your back.
-Ice socks or ice stockings. I love racing with these. You can fill a sock with ice, tie a knot in the top, and put on your back. The jersey will hold it in place. Stockings work better if you have them, but they're not as reusable.
-Good clothing: real coolmax fabric like we use at SharetheDamnRoad.com will make a big difference over thicker, cheap stuff.
Say hi to everyone on the Hipp ride for me.
-Phil

Dear Phil,

Right now, I'm training solely based on "feel." I do intervals, but to the extent that I "go hard" till I'm tired, then I rinse and repeat till my workout is over. I have no means to quantify my training as my cyclocomputer simply tells me my speed and shows me the time. I realize that neither the power meter nor a heart rate monitor are absolute musts. Cyclists have been training for ages without using either, and have done just fine. However, I am always left wondering if I "went hard" enough at the end of my workouts.

So, do you recommend that I pick up a heart rate monitor (and a power meter when I have the means)?

Thank you.
Brian

Brian,
You're on the right track looking to improve training tools rather than equipment. As a coach, I'm always frustrated when I see a rider splurge on a fancy set of wheels or some other expensive part, rather than investing in their fitness with a few months of coaching or a power meter, which will make them stronger, rather than shaving a few grams off the bike.

To answer your question, I do think I can help. Rather than just "going hard", pick a length of time and a course for your intervals, and try to improve on it each time. For instance, if there's a long climb or straight, flat road in your area, starting from the same point, see how far you can get in 1, 5, 10, and 15 minutes from that point, and try to improve week to week, timing your effort with your computer. That's how they did it old school.

If you had a powermeter, you don't have to do your intervals in the same place, and would get more information from the efforts. For example, you could compare pacing from one effort to another. If your terrain is steady, your average power for the whole effort should be about the same for the first half as it is the second half. Also, you can track your improvement better, so if you average 300 watts one day, try to average 310 the next, and pace accordingly.

Heart rate monitors can help this training as well, but they're a little less consistent, because higher heart rate doesn't necessarily mean you're going faster (it could mean you had a cup of coffee before the ride, or you're stressed at work, or you just saw an attractive woman). Heart rate is more valuable for longer efforts, like if you're training your endurance and want to ride a steady, moderate pace all day, it will remind you not to go too hard or too easy. Heart rate won't help much in intervals of under 5 minutes, because it takes your heart awhile to catch up to the effort you're putting it through. In fact, if you try to pace a shorter interval by heart rate, you'll undoubtedly start to hard, trying to your heart into the right zone.

That said, you can get a simple watch HR monitor for $35, and a good powermeter like a Quarq, Powertap, or SRM will run you $1000 or more. Your choice, but either way, if you do some reading or have a coach to guide you through it, you made the right call, and you'll see improvement if you use it right.
-Phil