Your Weakness

[HLaB]

Tbh I think I'm answering mine as I type,

My weakness is when the pace of the peleton changes. I think that I turn too high a gear and whilst it seems like I can go on for quite a distance at a good speed, I'm not always upping to that higher speed and I think I need to work on that, upping cadence and better hydration/ nutrition is my current thinking.

Does anybody know of good references as to improving this ?

Back to my original thought whats your weakness ?

 

[Rob3rt]

I suck at cornering and particularly descending. I lose quite a bit of time in the turn on out and back time trial courses unless the turn is a giant RAB and often find myself tentatively going round tight bends and then having to expend more energy than I would like to get back up to speed. I also have a low peak power and my short duration power is pretty poor in general, however this does not really matter since time trialling doesn't call for sudden changes of pace.

On the flip side, I have a decent long duration power, thus I am fairly fast on the flat, in a straight line and reasonably good at going uphill.

 

[VamP]

I have a lot of weaknesses, but key are technical ability, sub 1 minute power and threshold power. Good 3 - 5 minute power though.

@HLaB - with regards to your issue, one of the best bits of advice I ever had for road racing was to use my rear derailleur like there was no tomorrow. Just keep that high cadence going to absorb the accelerations. And learn to anticipate the surges, that helps a lot too.

 

[HLaB]

Sounds familiar Rob, I think I've overcome that in part but that's because its that flat down here, still not good on down hill right hand bends. I think I have decent long duration power too and will eventually outpace all but the better riders in the club but only if I remain consistent. I think that relates back to my OP.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Climbing. Not physically designed for it

 

[Rob3rt]

Sounds familiar Rob, I think I've overcome that in part but that's because its that flat down here, still not good on down hill right hand bends. I think I have decent long duration power too and will eventually outpace all but the better riders in the club but only if I remain consistent. I think that relates back to my OP.

I haven't had much opportunity to work on my handling skills this year, I train indoors on the turbo due to time limitations, only really going outside to race. Will do some handling practice on my TT bike once the season is over and I have more time.

 

[Noodley]

Completely fecked immune and digestion systems

 

[laurence]

rubbish lungs. for the last 10 years or so i've also had problems with eating and recovering. it followed an intestinal virus and never really got better... i just 'bonk' really quickly, even if i eat powerbars, etc. seems like my body can't recover quickly enough. no more long rides for me then.

oh... my left knee may be knackered too. ho hum

 

[Scoosh]

Completely fecked immune and digestion systems

Errr ... Noodles .... - this is about Racing/club outings ... ...

 

[jarlrmai]

knees

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Wallet.
Probably my heart rate if we are serious, it is always high respective to workload.

 

[cyberknight]

lack of long rides this year so my power is good for short stuff but on a club run i die after 50 miles or so atm.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Nervousness and climbing when it comes to racing. I did my first race last year aged 39 and this year have had 8 starts - 6 of them on the circuit.

Although I know my nerves will get better - it's not so much a worry about falling off, just me placing too much importance on it - I'm not sure my climbing will ever lift me out of Cat 3/4 ! Yes I can climb, but I could never race properly over any of the mountains I have ridden. I do prefer the circuit racing and feel much more comfortable already, although... I don't like being sandwiched too close round a chicane, which is slightly unavoidable and will again feel better over time.

Next season I hope to be able to sustain energy levels for long enough to contest the sprint finishes - I know I have acceleration on the flat which is definitely good enough at Cat3/4. What isn't is my current fitness levels after 30+ miles - I just don't have enough left at the end to be in the leading group; that and a lack of positioning myself properly before the penultimate laps which in part is also lack of tactical nous.

I love descending but sadly I don't think I'll get to prove this strength in any race because I'll already be too far behind the bunch after/during the climb for it to make any difference.

 

[lukesdad]

My nerves never got better over the years, came to every start line like a cat on a hot tin roof, or was that adrenalin hard to tell sometimes.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

My nerves never got better over the years, came to every start line like a cat on a hot tin roof, or was that adrenalin hard to tell sometimes.

You may well turn out to be correct in regards to myself too, Lukesdad. Perhaps nerves are a good thing but I know in some of the first races they seriously felt like they were inhibiting my effort, not helping it, as you'd expect with adrenaline.