One of my riding buddies hit the wall a couple of weeks ago. His story is worth sharing because, as a randonneur, he is among the most dedicated and accomplished long distance cyclists in the country (although he may not see himself that way, nor would he admit to it, even if he did).
Here is what happened: about 50km into a 400km brevet, he developed stomach cramps and nausea. Though he stopped and rested twice hoping it would subside, the flu-like symptoms worsened. After battling for a few hours, he wisely opted to pull-out.
The situation surprised me and other riders that know him. Going into the event, he’d already logged more than 2,400 miles for the year. That is more road time than most cyclists will log by December 31. Just two weeks earlier, he completed the R12 – a designation awarded to cyclists who complete a minimum of one 200 km event each month for 12 consecutive months. The weekend prior, he had ridden in a similar 400 km brevet in Washington.
When I spoke to him a few days after the Washington brevet, he admitted that he just never found his groove. Though he finished ahead of the median, he was physically uncomfortable and mentally fatigued from the start. I didn’tgive his report too much thought again until the following weekend, when I learned that he did not finish (DNF) the Oregon 400 km brevet.
A DNF is so uncharacteristic of this rider’s approach to life, that I reached out to him immediately to find out what had happened. We traded emails and I discovered that his training regimen consisted mostly of weekend riding; he is a successful executive with one of the leading management consulting firms in America; the demands of his job make mid-week training difficult. Further, his commitment to completing two brevet series in parallel, resulted in his riding so many miles each weekend, that he felt he needed to rest and recuperate during the week.
I asked him to send me his training log. I graphed his rides and it was clear to me that while he had logged mega-miles and accomplished really big goals on the bike, his approach to training was stressing his physical and neurological systems.
I saw two elements of this rider’s training regimen that could be responsible for the only DNF of his cycling career. First, by not laying down any miles during the week, and then cranking out hundreds of miles every Saturday, he was constantly see-sawing his system between periods of deep rest and extreme physical demand. Second, his ramp up to the longest rides – 300 km and 400 km – wasn’t a ramp-up at all; it was a hockey stick. He went from 13 weeks of riding fewer than 100 miles each weekend, to riding 200 miles and more in one day. He didn’t have the base miles in to prepare him for such intense cycling.
I guess you could call it the shock and awe approach to road riding. Producing powerful flu-like symptoms that would take him out of the brevet was the only way his weary body would get any rest; clearly, his mind wasn’t going to allow it.
We discussed this at length, and my friend decided to make a couple of changes. First, he added mid-week training that includes spinning, swimming, and cycling, with the goal of balancing his total mid-week mileage with his weekend event riding. Second, he decided to bag the back-to-back ultra marathon rides, and focus on one major event each month.
Last weekend, he and I joined some fellow club riders on a 100 km “Ridge Runner” through the foothills that surround wine country at the north end of the Willamette Valley. The difference in his riding was dramatic. He was constantly coming off the back and hammering to the front to lead our pace-line. Where just four weeks ago, he’d struggled to sustain 18 mph, now, he was leading us through the vineyards at speeds of 20 to 22.
This weekend, he will ride a very challenging, 600 km brevet that will take him high into the Cascades, back down and across the Willamette Valley, over the Coast Range to the shore and back again. If the Ridge Runner was an indicator, I expect he will turn in a rock-solid performance. Of course, a lot can happen when one is on a bike continuously for 370 miles. So we will have to wait a few days to see how he does.
I have invited him to share his results with us early next week. Check back on Monday or Tuesday to for his ride report.
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One Response to
“Tales of a weekend warrior”
Just an Average Rider
June 16th, 2006 at 9:07 amAs I mentioned to David in a separate email and he stated in his post, I really see myself as an average rider. Sure, I get a little crazy with distance from time to time but most of the people that I ride with do too. And I have about the average amount of time to devote to training. We all struggle with carving out time to train.
What was different for me this year, was the possibility that I could ride as many as 4 separate brevet series (each series consists of a 200, 300, 400 and and 600 K ride). I had never tired to do that before. And I set a goal of riding the Cascade 1200.
Riding 2 series in parallel in the spring and another 2 in summer, meant having distance events almost every weekend. You can see the spikes in the mileage on the chart that David included in his post. What I found was that no particular ride was particularly difficult but cumulatively, the rides were taking their toll. In retrospect, it may have been too ambitious for this point in my riding career. With only 3 years of riding under my belt, I may not have been ready for this level of effort.
The other thing that I wrestled with was what to do between long rides. More than several times, I did very little in the 5-6 days between rides. David was rightfully concerned, hence the title, “Weekend Warrior.” But the fact is, I got tired and I didn’t think that riding more during the week was going to do anything except make me even more tired. What I decided to do was do some cross training during the week. Spinning classes for short duration intensity and lap swimming for some endurance and a break for my legs.
Did the change work? Well, yes it did. It was fun to do some different things. I even rode a non-brevet metric century. And it gave me a rest without loosing a lot of fitness.
I rode the 600K and felt strong for most of the ride. But I didn’t hammer and took a generous 33% of the total time to complete off the bike. And I enjoyed the ride.
What has all this taught me? Listen to my body. It will get my attention one way or another. And moderation. Enthusiasm is not all you need to achieve a goal. It takes careful planning and a realistic assessment of what is possible and what is really happening. And sometimes it’s useful to have a friend who reminds you that you are not always right
Next up is the Cascade 1200. Wonder how all this work will feed into that ride?