Hello fellow cyclists!
Lately I was telling all of you in my post I didn't have enough time to do all the things on my PC I liked, like making cycling posts, playing Splinterlands and making posts about it and creating video's for my new YouTube cycling channel.
Well... 
Every con has it's pros and one thing I now DO have is time now I've called in sick for work, yesterday I couldn't do much else than watching Netflix all day because my head wasn't cooperating but today, so far it's better so why not make a cycling post! 😊
No riding...
So, what do I talk about in a cycling post when the last cycling trip I made was six days ago already, and it was just a short 'in between' virtual ride!? 👀
Last Thursday and Friday were days off of work because of Ascension Day, and Friday my company was closed and because of the extra long weekend I planned to paint the second floor of the house where my indoor trainer is, to get rid of the blue paint.
On Wednesday my Fitbit watch started to alert me something was up, my resting heart rate was up slightly, I don't like to see this because many times my HRV (Heart Rate Variability) often indicates when I had a hard training, but when my RHR (Resting Heart Rate) is up, it usually means a virus is trying to mess with my plans... 😕
Thursday, the warning was still there so I decided to skip my cycling training and just concentrate on my painting, it wasn't really bad because I could use the extra time and by Saturday morning, I finished most of the paint work and decided not to push things, so I planned to finish the last corner in the next weekend. I could already feel my muscles through my entire body hurting, like doing a good all body work out... I had been standing in odd ways on a ladder for multiple hours so maybe it was because of that?
Wishful thinking of course, by Sunday morning my RHR was up 5 beats and it was clear I couldn't cycle again... OK back to this cycling post before it starts to be like a personal diary 😄
Well, first I want to nag about something in this weeks cycling post 😇
Alright, no jokes. The experts say that: A cyclist who maintains average speeds between 28 and 31 km/h usually has great aerobic capacity, efficient biomechanics, and optimised aerodynamics. This level of performance reflects not only physical fitness, but also careful attention to posture, equipment, and pacing.
I think this is very true for the cyclists in this top 3, because they all do cycle a lot but it is something you have to be careful about, and not make the average speed the most important thing because the opposite is true; Cyclists who always push themselves hard to get to that 30+ average will never get faster, I wish it was like this because it feels so damn good, pushing hard, going fast and when you get off the bike you really have a feeling like 'I'm tired, I did good!'
Easy rides are boring, but really important and the most of your rides should be low intensity ones, I wish I had a little Southern American blood to make me so relaxed, we Western people always want to do things fast... 😅
New video upcoming!
I have been working on my new video as well, and it's scheduled to launch next Saturday. It's my second ride while on holiday in Germany, and I got kinda lost... 😅
Training room, almost finished
Although the paint color is darker than intended (same RAL number than we used before, different brand probably) I'm quite happy with the result, later today the poster for that frame will be delivered together with a better saddle for the Zwift Ride, the stock one gives me numb private parts... 😅
Cycling Chit Chat Topic
It’s time to share your training sessions, your routines, or simply say what physical conditions an athlete needs to be able to sustain speeds of more than 30 km/h — and for how long they can keep it up.
Now I've been training on the Wahoo Kickr and have the luxury of a power meter I have to say, it's a lot of added value, and to answer this weeks topic - I think looking at your average speed to grade your training is all wrong, for cyclists like myself and friendlymoose, cycling in a flat country is easier to get to high average speeds compared to when you live in the middle of a large city, hindered by traffic lights or a lot of elevation around you.
As a mountainbiker, I have never focussed on speed, since 25 - 28 km/h is already pretty fast on a heavy MTB with big tires and a lot of extra air resistance because of our more 'open' bike position, I used heart rate as my primary tool which isn't perfect, I learned that from podcasts but it's better as nothing.
Power is much better, and to answer the question in what physical condition a cyclist has to be to sustain speeds of 30+ (on level terrain), we have to look at FTP, or Functional Threshold Power which is basically the maximum amount of power a cyclist can sustain for an hour, but in reality this will be closer to 45 minutes.
My FTP is 210 watts, and I wonder what numbers our community has if any of you are riding with a power meter, I reckon experienced cyclists that have been cycling for years, that number is a lot higher.
I can only look at my indoor numbers, but can indoor and outdoor be compared one on one?
Average speeds on an indoor trainer are almost never the same as outdoor road cycling. Indoor speeds are arbitrary and tend to be higher due to the absence of real-world wind resistance, traffic lights, and coasting, though the actual physical effort usually feels harder indoors.
So, not really...
This was a ride three weeks ago where my average speed was 32.8km/h @175 watts average, back then I didn't knew my actual FTP but 175 watts is well within zone 3, considered 'junk miles' and trained in the grey area, it's better to either stay in your zone 2 for Aerobic base development, which for me is below 157 watts average, or in zone 4, which starts at 191 watts for a Treshold training, sorry to bore you.. I like this nerdy numbers stuff 🤣
'I don't like to not know something' 😄
1186 words, so even without cycling, I can talk about cycling pretty long 😇
Time to wrap this up and make myself a lunch!