Review of The Time Crunched Cyclist

I am not much of a writer but I just wanted to jot down a few random thoughts on Chris Carmichael and Jim Rutburgs' new book.

Overall it was a good read with quite a lot of good stuff. Some that I already new (or suspected) but lots of which I did not.

I was using this approach for 5 weeks leading up to the Waikato Bay of Plenty Road Champs.

• I agreed with approach it made sense no quick fix or easy way but just plain hard work. The good news is that because it is short in duration even though the efforts are often very hard you can recover quickly and then get on with your day with the family and do housework etc and not have to end up on the sofa...

• The CTS Field test was very hard to get right. I have only tried it once so far but I am not really looking forward to the next one. You have to be fresh and in the right frame of mind and understand exactly what is required and be prepared to hurt yourself !!! The explanations for completing the test were good but I still got it wrong first time. (See earlier post for results).
  

• The chapter on nutrition was good and I really good some good stuff out of it. Especially the part about eating and drinking sooner in a race. I have been guilty of waiting until an hour into a race before starting and that is just too late! I also tend to not eat or drink much during training but for this programme that will set you up for failure. You need to eat well beforehand to be able to do the session at the required intensity and duration.

• I found it difficult to agree with all the advice in the making to most of your training chapter. Taking shorter turns in the Sunday bunch just does not wash with me... I liked the part about using a bigger gear and pedaling softer is a bit risky though, if the hammer goes down and you are in the wrong gear it could be costly.
  

• The different types of workouts are well described including cadence, power and heart rate and how to do the set. On the subject of cadence, there are some high cadence sets, but not as high as I thought they might be.

• There are 4 programmes, 2 for shorter races divided into New and experienced, and two for longer races up to 100 miles, e.g. like Taupo cycling challenge. This was divided into new and experienced as well. Each week normally consists of 4 rides varying from 1 hour up to 2.5 hours depending on day and week you are up to. The programmes are only 11 weeks long and once completed it is best to take a rest. Its' simple really, because of the high intensity used in the sessions, it does make it difficult to continue for a long period of time.
  

• A chapter on Endurance blocks was welcome. E.g. you get a holiday of some time off that you can devote to riding... then this is the chapter that shows how to make the most of it... great stuff!

Did it work for me? Well in short yes, but my fitness was pretty good to start with and I do have a pretty good base over the last few years... :) With baby Sam around it does mean that the number of hours to dedicate to training has halved. I have gone from averaging 12 hours a week (swimming, cycling and Running) to just 5-6 hours per week. So I think the change it training focus has worked.

The Road Champs were last week and although I was 2nd for the 4th year in a row. I did feel like I was the strongest rider there and a tactical error on my part was the main reason for the 2nd place. I attacked the bunch on the third lap (of 4) on a solid 1km plus climb and got away but not decisively and should have sat up. Instead, I persisted and wasted energy trying to stay away. I attacked again at the same place on the last lap but not quite as hard and one rider was able to claw his way back to me on the downhills and flatter parts. There were no more opportunities to break away and his sprint was too good.... Still I felt I race well and made some of the moves so a good result.

I also have to congratulate Dave Mann on winning the elite race. As a masters 3 rider that is not bad going. He had to out sprint Karl Moore and also in the race was Mark Langlands (just back from Europe) and Pet Latham (2008 Taupo Cycling Classic champ). Amazing result.

Finally, I am not sure if I will follow this programme again but I will most certainly be adopting some of the ideas here and try to fit them into my training in the future.