Pro Cyclist FTPs, How to Raise Your Threshold Faster, and More - Ask a Cycling Coach 410

In regards to high level racing in the US, particularly criteriums, there is rampant and deliberate "aggression" and shoving, barging, pushing riders around. Just last week a video from one of Legion's riders had a highlight of one of the Miami Blazer's riders literally shoulder barging another racer out of the way in a non-critical, non-race significant straight away, simply because he wanted that position, and it was defended and even "celebrated" as "just part of the sport" at that level. Some of this made its way to the public eye last year when two of the best crit racers in the nation came to blows after a race in full public view. To my knowledge, the in-race aggression is not policed at all by USAC and it has become a widely accepted norm when the "pro" crit teams show up to race. While the argument can be made that pro riders have the "skill" to handle that level of contact while doing 35mph 5 wide in a corner, the reality is that this accepted norm is making its way down the categories as aspiring racers see this behavior and accept it as not only the norm, but as a required skill to crit race in America. The unintended consequences is watching almost every men's race and even many of the women's elite fields at most national level events like Tulsa Tough, Gateway Cup, and others having multiple race neutralizations from mass casualty crashes that were almost all attributable to unnecessarily aggressive and unsafe riding. Anecdotally, I know personally about 20 riders who raced Tulsa Tough last year at Cat 1, 2, or 3. Of the 20 or so that I know, I know of only 1 person who did not get crashed out, and that was my son in the Cat 3 field who actually rode over a crashed riders bike but managed to stay up. Everyone else went down. To a man, none of them are going back to Tulsa Tough this year because the risk is too high. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpoUFO5g5hT/

I love any technical discussion about racing, whether or not I participate in that particular endurance sport. Good luck Jonathan!

Good luck Jonathan!! I love the tri talk. Excited for you!

When I was living in Miami I would do the Biscayne group rides 3 times a week. I never touched zone 2 in any of these group rides and my FTP absolutely went through the roof because it was a race simulation every time.

Great discussion! Glad I stumbled across your channel.

I agree with Chad you are going to rock this Jon! The nerves will turn into adrenaline into excitement into plaid speed. There is always that moment in a race where you experience Nirvana and nothing else matters, just race tactics, endorphins and a finish line of success. I live in oceanside and work on the coast: Water is mellow right now.

So interesting to remember and think about this topic. Thank you!

For the road aggression part, it would be great if you could help familiarize folks with filing SafeSport complaints for repeated harassment and bulling.

Super entertaining podcast! I hope you kill it Jonathan! Thanks!

Great podcast thanks for keeping it real. Listened while riding Sleeping Beauty +1. where the intervals are about 5 seconds longer than you want. 😅

That vision sounds awesome Nate, would be amazing!

15:46 The fiber weave affects torsional properties and directional compliance. The weave usually comes in 0, 90, +/- 45 degree patterns. Properly orienting specific weave types and designing the ideal tube shape both allow you to manipulate a frame's qualities.

I remember Bob Roll saying he ran the 880 yard run in 1:50 in high school. Example of transfer between sports.

It’s difficult to compare Wout and MvdP to 95% of the pro peloton, much less mere mortals

Thank you! This is really helpful. Small note: Puerto Rico is a colony of the US, so it's not ~exactly~ international travel. But also not quite domestic. It's complicated and generally very crappy for the families who've been there for generations. I am planning to bring a bike though, so maybe I can take "live high train low" to an absurd extreme. But it seems like the best move is to mostly not stress about it.

I always thought banging helmets together was just part of the fun. I feel like vo2 and anaerobic work "makes space" so that threshold can increase quicker.

Thanks for the podcast.

Awesome, Good luck riding this year 2023 Im stepping back into fourm slowly. Bare with me. 😊

You can't even legally have an E Bike in the UK over 250w lol. FTP of 400w plus is so amazing to me, it feels like a max leg press effort around there for me not something I could keep doing for an hour! (I have around 200w FTP)

Love the podcast. Love the app. Love the AI components of AT and TN. Can I suggest/please request that torque Nm (instant/3s option) be displayed in the app UI during workouts? (Maybe as a toggle on/off feature like HR)