Lighten the Load

If you ask or say this phrase in context of cycling, many cyclist seem to first focus their thoughts on the bike and I have to admit that I went through that phase myself down to having titanium bolts and carbon bottle cages. My current primary bike is a LOOK 585 and with everything including the heavier Power Tap hub (except full bottles) the bike weighs less than 16 pounds. However, I have this bike for other reasons and not just based on what it weights. What is the difference between having a 30 gram carbon bottle cage and a 40 gram plastic cage? Put one in the right hand and one in the left hand and see if you can tell the difference of 5 grams. But if you can stand to lose 5, 10 or more pounds now we are talking about a real loss in weight. Put ten pounds of rock in a pack and carry it around and you instantly realize the difference. Now imagine if you have that on a hundred mile bike ride with consecutive hour long climbs and think how much better it would be to lighten the load.

One my first focus for starting this season is to lean up a bit. Watts per kilogram (W/kg) may be one of the best indicators of cycling performance. In my simplistic view and since I come from a long background in the world of strength and lifting, we often would refer to the strongest lifter as "pound for pound" the strongest. People often get caught up watching the super heavyweights lift the heaviest weight during competition, but the lifting purist knows the truth that the strongest lifter of the meet might well be in one of the lighter weight divisions based on the amount of weight in comparison the person's body weight.

In the world of cycling the same can be true to some as they look at sprinting power output. You look at the maximum wattage of a world class sprinter or someone's power output compared to a field of cyclist during a stage race, but cycling purist that understand will look at power output compared to body weight. It is true that even this, both in lifting and cycling, does not entirely paint the best picture of all athletes in competition, but it does give good insight of the individual's performance ability. There are other factors involved and not just W/kg.

This may also help a person refine training and efficiency. Looking at W/kg in terms of cycling one can try to refine body composition by trying to reduce unnecessary weight and improve performance by improving threshold and in my case my functional threshold to be specific. So the focus is two fold by decreasing body weight and increasing power output.

Seems like a worthy goal right as I look toward my first goal on May 1st at 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge where being lighter (leaner) I will hope to carry less weight up those climbs and with working on my functional threshold I hope to sustain a higher power output on those climbs. I can improve these two items over the next 9 weeks I will hopefully finish the challenge with a faster speed. Sure it is a recreational level event, but the challenge is a personal challenge and I am not content to just finish the ride for that I do not need a lot of training just to finish a century at a relaxed pace. My hope is to finish a little faster each year.

So I start fairly heavy for my size at 5'6" and 170 pounds on a light skeletal frame (small joints). Because I am a former competitive bodybuilder I am carrying a heavy load and much of it is lean mass. Since I am not a cycling competitor I do not intend to get into a catabolic mode of eating into lean muscle, but I do have an opportunity to lean up a bit. This post is written mainly out of accountability. By posting it public I want to meet this goal.