Cold Season

The return of the Club’s Cranberry Route. It can be warm here in contrast to the cold wind emanating from the northeast. Those winds blow strongly across Sandy Beach…until next year Forest St! We will start on Nov 9 at 8:30AM.

Register for the first ride at https://www.strava.com/clubs/186760/group_events/1816033

We will be riding for fitness and to keep the legs moving. We are not going to turn the pedals heavy. We could break into 2 or 3 groups depending on turn-out.

This ride is suitable for A/B/C riders. We will roll at 16-18 mph. The start time will be 8:30 AM. Ride is show’n’go, if there are no persons signed up. Heavy rain cancels. We will split into 2 groups depending on the demand and the abilities of the riders.

ROUTE: Cranberry route features scenic areas of Middleboro and Halifax. Avoids some high traffic areas of the old route. Several sections were repaved since we ran this as a Wednesday night route.

PARKING: Park in the back of the lot. Park on the west side of the Cumberland Farms. There are active business in the area. Do not disrupt them.

PACELINE: Rotating single file; do not coast; short pulls; no tucking; no swerving. Expect to average from 18-20 mph. If we have a second section, then it would probably average 16-18.

Skills trainings

  • Drills on the road
  • Cadence drills on the trainer

Often, we get into a rut during the winter training cycle. How many of you stay on the same cadence throughout the winter? When you go to the training center, then they set the power via ERG mode. You leave your bicycle in the same gear during the entire workout. The power varies when the ERG mode changes its set level.

You do need other things to be a well rounded cyclist.

Working on cadence drills is just one form of neuro-muscular drill. On the road, you can work on following the white line. This helps to improve your eye coordination and its synchronization with your cycling muscles. It also helps to improve your balance.

Weekly rides 2020

The weekly rides will return in 2020. At the membership meeting on 1/4/2020, we planned the following rides. The start date for the Marshfield ride has not been set, yet.

  • Blue Hills weekly on Wednesdays
  • Hanover rides weekly on Saturdays
  • Halifax rides every other Sunday
  • Alternative starts every other Sunday
  • Thursday Time Trial will be every other Thursday starting 5-14-2020

The Blue Hills ride will be focused more on hill workouts. The first ride will be on 4-15-2020. The meeting spot will be the free public parking lot at Houghton’s Pond on Hillside street in Milton. Workouts will include the option of the classic loop, repeats on the access road, and repeats on Chickatabot road in Quincy.

The Hanover ride will start from Route 53 by the BikeWay. The first rides will be on 4-18-2020. The first group will leave at 7AM. The Women’s group and the moderate pace group will roll at 8 AM. The front group will use the 50 mile route starting on 6-2-2020. The standard 37 mile route will on 4-18-2020.

The Halifax ride will start from Route 58 and Route 106 in Halifax. Park at the Cumberland Farms. The first ride will be on 4-19-2020. We will run this ride every other Sunday. The standard route to Marion will be used.

The Thursday Time Trials will start on 5-14-20 from Halifax. A route map is being made by Mr. Chris Corbin. Mr. Corbin will be the time trial manager.

Suggestions for alternative ride starts should be sent to Mrs. Liz Malone-O’Hara or Mrs. Wendy Torkelson. The alternative rides will allow members to showcase different routes or for the club to participate in rides with other clubs.

How to set FTP

First, we need to know what FTP is. FTP stands for Functional Threshold Power. This is something that an academic researcher developed in Texas. This was not developed by a pro team’s coach. FTP is the power that you can produce for one hour within an aerobic capacity. You don’t necessarily have the ability to sustain this power for 2 hours. You can produce this power for 1 hour without any interruption.

How do we typically set FTP? We listen to folks with training programs. They have us take a test for 20 minutes and multiple the power by 95%. This does not work. Zwift does the same thing.

Were you riding through a big climb in Zwift and it lasted for 20 minutes? You set a new power record. Your heart rate was 180bpm. Perhaps you only spun the cranks at 55rpm. Was this not anaerobic? Zwift applied the 95 percentage against your new power record and displayed a window. Within the window it stated that your FTP increased. Can we rely upon this display?

Well not quite. Your heart rate was 180. Was this aerobic? No.

The best way to determine your FTP and your actual zones is to complete the 1 hour test. You might want to rest for two days to ensure full recovery prior to completing the FTP test.

warm-up for 20 minutes; ride for 1 hour.

While you are pedaling for the 1 hour, try to reach a heart rate in the 150 to 165 range. Hold your efforts while you maintain this heart beat. Pick flat terrain for this effort. Try to avoid stop lights and other traffic control devices. Pick a route with long sections that do not require stopping.

It takes practice to maintain that smooth pace and produce the power for an hour. If you don’t feel that you succeeded on the first try, then repeat the process on another day.

When you finished pedaling the second section, use the average power of the second section as your FTP.

The tradition continues

2017 snow pictureWe took our annual snow photograph, today.  Every year we take a picture to show the snow!  The snow was really high this year.  The roads were clear.  We had a temperature of approximately 35F.  So, sadly, the snow is melting.  Make sure you join our Strava group!  The link to the club page is off to the right.

Most did the 25 mile route from Hanson, today.  At Hanson we have a relatively flat route.  It takes approximately 1:30 to finish the route.  We went for coffee after the ride at the Dunkin’ Donuts.

We will ride next week on January 22.  We roll at 9AM, sharp.  We meet at the Shaw’s Supermarket plaza in Hanson (470 Liberty Street Hanson).

Bill