A Masters Cyclist Testimonial to Power Based Training

 

A Masters Cyclist Testimonial to Power Based Training

by Timothy P. Kall

It was a chilly January day early 2022, and I was a bit hobbled by a lifelong hip injury from a broken pelvis and another leg injury that prevented me from walking 50 yards without help.  I had become resigned to the easy chair, chips, and football games and had lost my cycling ambition.  That was until my Air Force Friend with relations in Iowa convinced me to join him on the RAGBRAI event in July.  Being a former Navy guy, there was no way I could let the Air Force get all the glory, so I agreed to the 470-mile 7-day ride across the state – along with 20,000 other riders from all walks of life from places from as far away as Norway.  AND most concernedly ALL experience levels. 

 Now I am no novice to long distance riding, I knew the daily demands of this ride on all parts of the body and knew that only through proper training would I be able to endure, to persevere.  I have ridden the state of North Carolina 4 times, Idaho, Texas, and many other places, but look at me now a sagging “used to be”, whining about his injuries.  So, I hired Peaks Coaching group through Hunter Allen and was assigned Coach Nathan Ayers who was very experienced in the kind of power-based training I needed to increase my stamina, to provide structure, and most importantly provide a mentor who would insist upon my accountability.

Coach Nate provided the structure, and I provided the equipment in my Pinarello Paris carbon endurance bicycle with power meter, Wahoo meter, Training Peaks account and of course my dedication.  And I needed all that, joined a gym that had power meter indoor bikes for rainy days.  I trained in the heat and the gym for 4 months and improved my Functional Threshold Power, maintained my aerobic heart rate averages, and became whole again.  I mean I am no podium cyclist but like to say I have always had endurance.  Coach Nate and I talked nutrition, core training exercises, cycling intensity intervals and proper rest intervals.

Came the week in July and this ride I learned was going to be NOTHING like I expected as there were so many people most decent cyclist, but some who struggled heavily on the hills, and this is where I would as cycling coach Joe Friel puts it “Trust your training”.  Cyclists tend to bunch up on hills and my ability to draw on my power interval training allowed me to sprint when needed to get out of trouble.  Plenty of opportunities to get into crashes in that environment so the ability to “call on the stallions” so to speak was imperative.  I saved all my data on my Wahoo and Strava and found that I was consistent for 7 days in both average power and heart rate staying aerobic for the entire ride which was good enough for me.  What complicated things towards the end was I contracted COVID on the finish day and had to depend upon the reserves I still had and my ability to maintain as fatigue was setting in heavily. 

As I rolled to the finish very tired but proud and grateful for the guidance, I received from Coach Nate.  Could I have trained harder?  You betcha, my core exercise routines, basic weight training were not maintained as well and I suffered back and other issues, but nothing too severe.  I mean I had to lug my two 40 lb. luggage bags and set up my tent every day and be very particular about hydration and nutrition.  Many things go into it all, but I can honestly say the structured and accountable nature of the Peaks Coaching Group's training - as opposed to the general distance guidelines and training published for the ride by various “experts” - made me a safer and enduring rider for RAGBRAI. 

Rider off.