Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi,

Is anyone seen this book in the flesh or used it? The marketing blurb suggests it is aimed at me in many ways, but if anyone has read it or made use of it I would love to hear their opinions.

Looking at returning to racing this year - my first since about 1995. Have to deal with the wily old sods in vets now

Cheers
Jean

Yes, there are three of us in Vets with it that I know of. But only two following the plans at the moment.

Good book, but I'm not doing any of the plans as I'm in the middle of competition at the moment and can't squeeze any more into my schedule without overdoing it.

Can be done with just a HR monitor, but really benefits people with a power meter. Or a calibrated trainer.

Thanks. I suppose the book is geared mostly for roadies and I'm actually planning to give XC a go this winter, but the principles are no doubt similar. Looking to do road crits next summer though. Have to dust off my HRM, but I think I'll stay away from power meters for now.

Cheers

Hmmm.... I wouldn't say geared to roadies at all. There's no 'skill' exercises, it's all about intervals at fairly high intensity.

Jean wrote:Thanks. I suppose the book is geared mostly for roadies and I'm actually planning to give XC a go this winter, but the principles are no doubt similar. Looking to do road crits next summer though. Have to dust off my HRM, but I think I'll stay away from power meters for now.

Cheers

Most serious mtb racers do the bulk of their training on road, with 1 to 2 off-road rides per week to keep the skills in tune. So I think there is a heap of crossover between roadie fitness training and XC. While peleton tactics probably only apply in limited situations, such as when route has a lot of fire road, the abiity to put others in the hurt box for sustained periods is very useful.

trailgumby wrote:

Jean wrote:Thanks. I suppose the book is geared mostly for roadies and I'm actually planning to give XC a go this winter, but the principles are no doubt similar. Looking to do road crits next summer though. Have to dust off my HRM, but I think I'll stay away from power meters for now.

Cheers

Most serious mtb racers do the bulk of their training on road, with 1 to 2 off-road rides per week to keep the skills in tune. So I think there is a heap of crossover between roadie fitness training and XC. While peleton tactics probably only apply in limited situations, such as when route has a lot of fire road, the abiity to put others in the hurt box for sustained periods is very useful.

Yeah that was what I was beginning to gather from my investigations. I'm a total newb at MTB, but I'm enjoying it and the local MTB vets/masters races seem to average a distance/time which probably better suits my available training time better than most road races would (crits excepted). No doubt I'll get my head handed to me on a platter by a bunch of old hands, but I want to enjoy my racing as much as I can.

Would you like to borrow my copy for a week?