45 minute TT
Baby it's cold outside. I think the high today didn't even reach 20°F. Some of the most hardy riders I know canceled ride plans today. I don't blame them. I've ridden in single digit temperatures before. It's really hard to stay warm when it gets that cold out. To be sure there's a certain psychological factor that comes into play. Just being out there braving the insane cold somehow helps keep you warmer.
Until you freeze solid at least.
This was another indoor day for me and I'm proud of it. I don't really have a solid need to ride in the frigid temperatures. My events will be contested during a time when guys will complain about the heat. Explain to me how wind chill factors into that. Yeah, that's what I thought.
I rode the rollers for a little over 45 minutes. Actually just under 50 minutes. I warmed up for about 5 minutes, turned on the fan, and settled into a rhythm that would get me to the other end of a 45 minute TT. Or maybe you'd call it a 45 minute interval.
Whatever you want to call it, you can't call it hard. I made the last couple of minutes hurt a little. But aside from that all I did was crank away in an easy gear, letting my cadence slowly build.
The whole thing, start to finish, averaged out to an intensity I can hold for over 2 hours.
Nice work
Nice rolling man. Ease in and build that intensity slowly.
I can not imagine much benefit to riding in cold like this other than acclimation and bragging rights. Good for you for knowing what is good for you.
Why wouldn't a ride in cold
Why wouldn't a ride in cold like this benefit? Layer up, breath through face protection until you get warmed up and then turn on the afterburners when you realize you'll 'freeze solid' if you don't:) Sure, maybe you aren't going that fast at first, but your winter gear compensates for that by being heavier, and aren't base miles useful this time of year?
When you ride 'on demand' you are not catering to a fixed training program, but to the challenges that come your way, and there may be some training benefit to that as well. Can you really substitute turns, hills, accelerations from riding outside with rollers? Just asking.
Numerous reasons
For me the decision to not ride in the extreme cold is reached based on several factors. Basically, my rule is this: If I can ride with lower legs bare, I will ride outside. (I can ride bare legged comfortably down to about 30 degrees).
Reasons:
1. Cold air stinging my lungs raises my PE too high to get much training benefit. Putting something between my gaping mouth and the incoming air only raises this PE higher...result: power output consistent with endurance work, but ride times significantly lower than what is necessary to build endurance.
2. Training in thick clothing (leg covering) hampers motion and raises PE in a manner not specific to the racing I do. (even the radically overpriced stuff that people say is "thin" causes this effect for me). Put thin tights on me and my PE says "threshold", but my PM says "low tempo".
3. Hammering to stay warm is not training "base". While I am not married to the idea of base training, I do not like to pull LT intervals at this point in the year (which is not even possible due to #1). I can not start hammering right out the door, gotta warm up...which is impossible if I dress for hammering. If I dress so that I can actually warm up, once I start hammering I will begin sweating profusely which is really bad in sub-freezing.
4. Riding at steady state more closely mimics the racing I do (primarily flat-ish ITTs). So rollers/trainer makes a lot of sense from a specificity standpoint.
5. Time is hard to find this time of year for me. I find spending 30 minutes getting dressed, and another 20 to 30 to get undressed represents too much time to expend for the (arguably) marginal benefit I can get from riding outside in sub-freezing conditions.
In review, it looks like equal parts of excuse-making and knowing what works well for me. I used to be the guy out riding when no one else would (Mark can tell you stories of me draggin' him out to ride on solid ice). It was fun at the time, but really served very little training benefit in return (for me at least).
You got it - its about
You got it - its about having sick fun, being in the elements, sticking it to the man(ha, ha) and burning off some extra cookies. All right my brothers whirring away in your basements all over the world, as I trundle through the frozen wastes, I will applaud your dedication and focus.
Thanks bro
Enjoy the ride!