- [James] Hello and welcome to Ask GCN-nything.
- James, I'm so excited
'cause it's only four more days to Christmas.
- I know, it's getting exciting, it's getting exciting.
But what have we got coming up?
- Coming up this week:
when is it too old to become a pro-cyclist,
how to recover when taking a high-volume training program,
and what to focus on when you first take up cycling.
- Oh loads of really good questions coming up.
But first, if you wanna get involved in next weeks show,
then use the hashtag #torqueback,
and if you've got any burning training questions,
then use the hashtag #askgcntraining.
And you'll also be able to chance of winning three months
of free subscription from our mates over at Zwift.
- ♪We wish you a merry Christmas♪
Okay, should we get on with the show?
- Yeah, yeah get the hell out this one.
- Yeah, let's do it.
Right, first question coming in from Vincent Andred.
Andrade, sorry.
"Is it too late for my age to get into cycling
and train to be a pro?
I just turned 24 last December."
- Well, you know what Vincent?
It's quite old but it's not unheard of.
- It's not at all.
- Michael Woods, the Canadian cyclist from
Drapac EF Education.
- Fast.
- Yep, this is, I named that one.
He didn't actually turn pro until he was 26.
And what that is incredibly unheard of, in fact,
you know, it does means it's possible.
So if your results are good enough
and you're physically capable and technically good.
- Anything is possible.
- Exactly, yeah.
- But it is, you know off the back of that.
It is easier to go through the normal progression rate,
which is youth, junior, senior as you go.
- I'm not sure you could do anything about that.
- But yeah, but
- Time machine?
- Yeah, we'll leave the time machine.
Going on to the next question,
We've got a question here from Gareth Bertoloni, Bertoloni?
- Yep and he is a new cyclist from just three months,
and he would like to know,
should he focus on getting his FTP higher
or just focus on riding more
and getting more comfortable one the bike?
- Oh, interesting one Gareth.
But I personally would focus on just riding.
Getting out on the bike, enjoying the outdoors,
and getting comfortable with putting on,
putting in longer and longer miles.
I wouldn't really get to, into thicker of the FTP's
and the interval sessions until you're really confident
and, yeah until you're actually training for something.
- Exactly, that's a really good point.
Build up your confidence on the bike.
Get really comfortable at speed,
you know learning the technique and the corners
and the skills with breaking and all of that.
- 'Cause there is so much into, that goes on in cycling,
other than, you know how much power you could put out.
- Yeah, exactly.
You know we're not racing on indoor trainers outside?
- Next question comes in from Ian Evans.
- "Hi guys, love the content.
I've just had my entry to the Fred Winton Challenge
confirmed for next year."
- Oh, nice.
- Yeah, "Well done to Ollie for finishing in less than
six hours last year."
- Well we could do that.
- Yeah, we could do that.
"I have ridden similar distances before,
but with only about half of the climbing.
I have an indoor trainer but no smart trainer.
What would be the best training to do for this challenge?
Thank you, regards Ian Evans, Cumbria."
- Right, interesting question.
The Fred Winton Challenge is 114 miles long,
if you haven't heard of it before.
And it has a whopping 3,900 meters elevation
in that 112 mile distance.
- That's quite a bit there.
- So that's quite a lot of climbing.
So we would say get used to the longer rides.
So maybe the three to four hour rides.
- Yep.
- 17 miles, you don't have to do the full hundred miles,
'cause you can save the extra 30 miles for
the day of the event.
- Yeah, exactly.
As long as you push towards four and half hours, roughly.
- Yeah exactly but on,
you can do some workouts on the trainer will help you.
For example, more torque-style efforts.
So, we're talking 20 minutes or even 15 minutes.
Locate and spurt big gear efforts.
The climbs that you'll be going over on the Fred Winton,
quite steep but they're short.
- Up to 30 percent.
- Up to 30 percent and they're just a grind,
so getting comfortable in the saddle
and really work on those torque-style efforts
will really help you on that.
And yeah, good luck to you,
and make sure you built to beat Ollie's six hour record.
- Yeah.
- I wouldn't say it's a record actually.
- No it's definitely not a record.
- Just six hours, yeah.
(fast roar)
And the winner of this week's Zwift question is.
- Brrr-ruhdapa!
Merry Christmas to you, C.crichton Training diary.
- Yeah, so three months of free subscription
coming right your way, for this question:
"Hi, I'm new to cycling and I've been planning to do the
Ride London 100 miles.
What is the longest train ride I should do
before the big day?"
- Well, that's a brilliant question.
And it's a fantastic target event
for someone that's quite new to cycling.
So, long story short, 80 percent of race distance
is somewhere that you wanna aim for,
so try to cover around 18 miles or around
four and a half to five hours of cycling,
because you don't need to do the full race distance
before the event.
You can save that for the day
and the adrenaline, and the buzz,
and the fun of doing it will get you through.
And you also don't want to rush into
building up to that distance.
You want to do it incrementally,
so if you're good for three hours at the moment,
then you wanna up that to three and a half
or 3:20 and so on, add half an hour each week roughly.
- Yeah, absolutely, but I would also
not do a big train ride too close to the event.
I would save that for maybe 10 days before the event,
so then you're fresh and ready for the event.
- Yep, good luck, enjoy it,
and let us know how you get on.
- Yeah do let us know in the comment section how you get on.
Next up, we have a question from Aaron.
- "Should I be eating or using gels, etc.
whilst doing one and two hour workouts?
Or should I be trying to train my body to push through
without a nutrient boost?
I ask because last week, for the first time,
I hit the wall near the end of the fifth workout
of that week as part of my current Zwift training program.
Maybe I'm just tired."
- Yeah, I mean that's a good question.
But I would personally make sure you're well fueled.
I mean don't dismiss gels and stuff,
even if it's a smaller section or a smaller ride.
I'd make sure you're well fueled before the ride,
and if you need a gel or a bit of an energy boost
in the middle of the session, then take it.
And make sure you use a gel not
and something that's gonna really..
- Something easily absorbed.
- Yeah, easily absorbed basically.
So, then you're really going to feel the effect
in the training session.
- Yeah, and that makes your workouts more quality,
which means you'll get more out of them.
- Yeah 100 percent, so yeah, good luck with that
and let us know how you get on.
- Next up, we have a question from Derek Rush.
"How can a cyclist recover
whilst maintaining a high volume of training?"
- Yeah and it all comes down to really
how much time you have available.
We were lucky enough to be full time pros,
so we had all day to train and then focus on recovery.
A good trick I used to do was
when I had a double session, I used to do two hours
in the morning or thereabouts.
And then I had a nap around lunch time,
and then I got back on the bike after that.
And that made me feel refreshed,
and it gave me the recovery
and also I was able to fit in all those hours
and that high-intensity workout.
- Yeah, it's when you rest that you get stronger.
And if you check out this video,
you'll see from some of the tricks
that the pros use as well.
Hank was famously good for sleeping.
He once got in the car at Bristol,
drove all the way to Scotland,
he was driven there by a team,
and didn't wake up til he crossed a speed bump at his hotel.
Which is a good six hour journey.
- Yeah, true story.
I was a bit of a talent at sleeping.
But also, if you can never run,
if you can walk, never walk if you can stand.
Never stand if you can sit.
Never sit if you can lie down.
- Yeah, cyclists are lazy when they're not on their bikes.
And it's that, that makes them so strong.
- Yeah, recovery is key.
- It depends on the weather, but get warm right away
or get where you need to be, get a drink.
And then get into the recovery process.
And that's about it, it's just go, go, go.
- Next up is the quick fire round.
- Wow, Chris, you're energetic for this one.
So, hopefully, we're gonna do a fast round.
And the first question comes in from Birds On A Stick.
And he says "I'm 42 years old,
my FTP is around 229 watts for his 76 kilo weight.
Is it possible to reach 300 watts
FTP after a few years, maybe?
I started six months ago and I ride 500 plus
kilometers a month."
Is it possible, Chris?
- You know what, Birds On A Stick?
I would say it's definitely possible.
It's not gonna happen overnight,
but with a few good intervals that you use on Zwift,
and that sort of thing, you have to really bump up
your power output and slowly but surely,
over the next couple of years,
you will be able to push towards those 300 watts.
- Yeah, 100 percent.
Make sure you are putting 50 in those intervals
and those high intensity training because
your body loves variety and it loves to be pushed.
And that's actually how you get better.
So chuck in some of those and if you wanted like,
if you wanna see some workouts or some planned workouts,
that actually are designed to help build your FTP,
check out Zwift's workouts
or soft and fast workouts, or the like.
That will give you a good base for how to push
and work on your FTP.
- That was not a quick fire question, was it?
- No, sorry man, I just wanted to make sure
all the information got out there.
- Right, next up, David Stevens.
"When I do a training session on Zwift,
the max efforts always one or two watts below
the required watts.
Nothing I do can get the watts produced
to match the desired watts,
spin faster, spin slower, change gear.
Always one to two watts under.
What can I do?"
- I hear your frustration.
And well, it could be anything.
It could be, you just need to calibrate your turbo.
The connection on your WiFi,
I mean yeah, it could be a plethora of things.
So, I wouldn't really stress over it.
I would make sure you're getting,
you know the important thing is you're getting the
good workout in.
But, yeah, it is frustrating.
- Alright then, next up.
- Sorry man.
- Avery OG, "When should I add intensity
or intervals to my routine?
I'm currently doing base miles to get just the endurance,
and does Zwift have targeted workouts that'll help me
for the next race season?"
- Comment.
- Well I asked the question.
Quick answer, yes, definitely.
You wanna be doing intervals,
because that is also part of your base fitness.
Going to the days where people just go out
and ride their bikes and that was.
So, don't skim on the intensity,
and Zwift definitely has what you need.
So, if you just look through and try to find the specifics
that you're trying to target.
- Yeah, so have a look on the workouts on Zwift,
and it will come up with loads and loads and loads
of different sessions.
So, have a good scroll through.
Eventually find one that really fits
what you wanna get out of it.
- Come on, your go.
- So, this question comes in from Santisuk Prapa-apirat.
Santisuk Prapa-apirat, I think I got it right.
- I have no idea.
- Okay, "Dear GCN,
what is your favorite world in Zwift and why?"
Well I'm gonna go out and say New York.
I've never been there.
My sister lived there and to be honest,
I love New York, I think it's a cool place.
And I'd love to go and the easiest way to get there,
is in the moment through virtual Zwift.
- Well, now that everyone knows your sister lives there,
they'll be over there themselves.
I like the London one because I've raced in it.
So, it's just like I can carry on in my career
in the virtual world.
- Yeah, yeah.
Well, we're all into that virtual world now.
Next question comes in from Zachary Parsons.
"My Christmas present is going to be shoulder surgery."
Ow, that sounds like a really painful Christmas present.
"But I am not going to let it get in the way of training.
My question is will being in erg mode
for a long period of time ruin my training?
It's my right arm, so I won't be able to change gears.
My plan is to constantly vary watts and time ridden."
- Well, ouch!
First off.
- Yeah, that sounds really painful.
- Speedy recovery wished to you, a thorough on as well.
Listen to your doctor's advice
because if they tell you not to ride your bike for eight
weeks then you definitely don't wanna be on you bike
for the first eight weeks.
It's something that can reset you back
if you pull a part of what's being operated on.
- Yeah and it's easy for us athletes to just jump straight
in because we're worried about losing the training.
But trust me, the best thing to do is just relax.
Just do nothing, enjoy Christmas.
And then get back onto training
when you feel you're up to it
and when you're doctor says you can.
- But to answer your question,
then no it's not gonna harm you being in erg mode.
You know, you're still training your muscles,
you're still training your lungs and you will get fitter.
And when you get back on the road, you'll notice it.
You'll pedal just fine.
- Yes and crack on with erg mode I guess.
- Oh, I like the next one.
- Go on.
- Matthew Ho, "How to choose suitable deep section
wheel combinations?"
He's only 50 kilos and he likes to climb.
He uses Zipp as an example,
because it's recognizable numbers
they use for their room depth.
Should he go from 303's, 404's, or a combination?
- Interesting question.
I personally, would go for 303's.
I like the depth, I weigh around 66 maybe a bit more now.
And yeah I just like the feel of them.
But have him play around,
I wouldn't say there's a room depth
that you shouldn't go with because you're a light rider,
because some light riders actually enjoy using deep wheels.
- Yeah, they do but--
- But you can get thrown around a little bit.
- Yeah, exactly.
You'll have a more enjoyable ride if you go for the 303's
or even consider a 202 at 50 kilos.
- 202's nice to ride actually.
- Yeah.
- Anyway, Gpflashclass comes in with
"Chris looks like he could be John's older brother."
Did you put this question in?
- No I didn't put this question in,
but who's John, which John?
I want to know which John 'cause this is James.
And I don't think you mean him.
John Cannings is older than I am,
and I don't think you mean him either, so I'm confused.
- It's John Travolta isn't it?
(70's music)
- Well, he's me.
(laughs)
- Yeah, that's a bit confusing.
Next question comes in from Woozer.
"To Chris: shave those sideburns, you--"
- I moved houses, recently, Woozer.
And I lost my trimmer.
I'll find it now.
- Oh, so that's your excuse?
That's your excuse.
Well that time was quite good for that fire round.
- I don't, I reckon it's one of our worst.
- Oh, shame.
Anyway, unfortunately, we've come to the end
of this week's Ask GCN-nything.
And if you wanna get involved in next week's show,
then use the hashtag #torqueback.
And if you got any burning desire
to ask some quick training questions,
then use the hashtag #askgcntraining
to be in with a chance of winning three months
of free subscription from our mates over at Zwift.
- Right and before you go,
if you do feel like you need to get the cyclist in your life
a Christmas present, check out our 10 Christmas presents
that we would've liked.
- Yeah, just down here.
Right, I reckon we should go to our Christmas party now.
- Yeah, seventh party this week already.
- Yeah, buddy!
- Let's go.
- Let's do it!
♪Good tidings we bring, for you and your king♪