Get Stoked in Revelstoke MTB Race

[Matt]

We had a great BPR crew out for the race in Revelstoke on Sunday.  Jonas was there, along with Jen, Stephen, and Ian.  Jonas brought a friend, Rob, who road really strong as well. 

I had an interesting race; I left my heart rate monitor at home (by accident!) and I also was experimenting with sodium intake as well. 

The race was two 17km laps.  Without the HRM, my plan was to try and use my respiration as a guide for how hard to go.  I lined up at the front of the group with the rest of the BPR team, and when we left I hammered as hard as I could to stay with a small group going up the road (which included Jonas, and Stephen).  It soon became apparent that I was not going to be able to keep that pace up as my respiration was completely out of control.  I settled into a pace I thought would be sustainable.  It took me a long time to recover from my efforts, and the technical single track made it even harder to recover.  As I started the second lap, I felt like I was riding a good pace, but I heard Ian come around me at a quick pace, and he encouraged me to hang onto his wheel (he also encouraged me to take some sodium tablets – which I declined to do – bad idea!).  I found with Ian pacing me, I was riding harder that I thought would be sustainable, however when we reached the steepest part of the climb, I was able to accelerate further, gaping Ian by a bit.  We also caught the Quail on the climb – he was experiencing some serious technical difficulties with his front shock!  I was able to ride a higher resp rate for the rest of the race…until 2kms to go.  Ian steadily closed the gap, and passed me around the 2km mark.

In regards to sodium/electrolytes, I have been taking less currently than a couple months ago, as I have found the higher tension work I have been doing has helped reduce cramping significantly.  Recently I have had good results with this at the crits and at the Cow Trail Classic.  For the race I added two extra servings of hammer electrolytes to my bottles.  I guessed that with two large bottles of Perpetuem (with the extra electrolytes), and an extra litre of water in a camelback, I would be fine for 2.5 hours.  It turns out that I was not fine, and did cramp about 2 kms from the end of the race.  I walked a couple of the short punchy hills and was able to continue riding, although at a much slower pace that I would have liked.

I learned two valuable things this weekend: 
I have a very hard time monitoring my effort without a HRM at a MTB race. Respiration rate wasn’t easy to use effectively.  With the constantly changing terrain, from punchy little hills, rollers, long climbs and technical flat sections, it was too hard to monitor.  I road too hard at the start, and too slow in the middle.  Ian helped me a lot by pacing me on the second lap.
I also learned that while the higher tension work has helped my cramping, sodium and plain water is also very important for me as well. 

I look forward to reading everyone else’s posts.  Jonas was 3rd overall and road super strong. Jen had a good recovery race – if a recovery race is possible?!?!  Ian had a great ride, and the Quail had and interesting race!

[StephenU]

Exactly Matt! Strong rides by everyone!

I hammered up the first climb like a rocket with the small lead group.  I basically kept hammering at my limit until I exploded and cracked. (dropping everyone except the few who were ahead of me)  MAJOR tactical error as the the course has no real recovery areas.  ( ver demanding all the way around it)  I totally misread how to ride this race.  I rode it like I raced last week in Mission, BC. where I hammered the fire road climb and recovered a bit on the down hill sections.  Jonas actually gave me advise on how to approach the course as he raced it last year, but I did not listen..  (Dumb quail)
Then the real fun began for me in my cracked, cooked condition!  Near the end of the first lap my Fork malfunctioned and became fully rigid.  My Hard Tail 29er was now a Fully rigid bike on a bumpy, rocky course!!!  So I just kept riding, but obviously much slower than normal because I was being bounced and battered all over!  Whoa!!!  Tough going let me tell you...
SHortly after the fork blew, my seat tilted back so far I could not sit down and pedal.  So I ended up having to stand climb, coast, descend on a rigid bike for almost a 14 km's of single track..  I definately wanted to to give up as I was taking a serious beating.

We laughed afterwards as I said I took some positives from the experience..
a) All races are different and require thought and tactics when approaching how you race them.  (I blew it by going way over my limit and then not being able to recover because of the unrelenting course)
b) I really got to work on my bike handing skills riding a fully rigid bike over all the rocks and roots
c) I received a heavy duty functional strength workout on my legs and arms by being forced to stand for so long on rigid bike. 

I may have finished a little better if my bike did not blow up, but it all fell apart AFTER I exploded!!

As a footnote, I laughed when I heard Matt crying like a Quail when he an Ian spotted me walking my bike up a super steep section!!!! They caught me on the second lap in my super cooked condition.  Well done Boys!!!!

NEXT!!!

 

[PeterW]

Way to go guys!
Wish I could have made it out!
Quail, way to work out the kinks before nationals next week! what category are you racing in?

Who else will be coming out?

[Andrew]

A group of BPR hotshots heading to MTB Nationals? Now that will be an event worth watching!!!

Anyone who goes should be certain to keep an eye open for Manuel, who will be racing there with the elite group. And keep a close eye on Geoff Kabush, who was trained by my mentor Juerg Feldmann as a youth. My bet, is he will be the one to beat next week-end.

[PeterW]

I am uber stoked to watch Kabush race on saturday.
I am kicking myself for being so close to having enough upgrade points to be racing in the pro/elite category on saturday. All I need is one more top 2 placing in a BC cup... and I'd be in the big league! I'm pretty much one race short!! 

I know Quail and Jen are in... Who else?

[IanC]

I had a great preride the day before, feeling good and riding clean.  On the morning of the race, I was feeling a bit sluggish for some reason.  As a result, I think I started out a little slower than I could have.  I wasn't riding as cleanly as the day before either.  It took me about an hour before my legs started feeling fairly normal again. 

As I started feeling warmed up, I started catching up to people.  On the road climb at the start of the second lap, I caught up to Matt and he jumped onto my wheel until he recovered enough to put in a charge and left me in the dust!  We also caught up to Steve who had gone out hard and was having bike issues.  I ended up catching Matt again a couple kms before the start.

My max and average HR's this year are exactly the same as last year at this race: 179 and 162.  That either means I am in the same form as last year, or, I haven't improved since last year!   My time was a couple minutes quicker on a slightly different course at 2hrs 27 minutes and change which was good enough for 8th overall.

Even though it took a while to warm up, I had a good race and felt like I rode well.  By starting out a little slower, I was able to keep a pretty steady pace and my second lap was only a little slower than the first.

The course was super fun, with lots of sweet single track that is technical enough to be interesting, but not super slippery west coast style.  Great trails in Revelstoke.


 

[Jonas]

Well this is my first posting on the forum...  2nd year for the Stoked to get spanked event and much fun was had!  Yes Quail shot out of the starting blocks like a dart!  He almost had me convinced we were only doing one lap but I remembered clearly from the year before that indeed there were 2!  Had an awesome weekend with the BPR crew who showed a lot of grit on the trails... Matt crossed the line with a nasty gouge down his chest (didn't even feel it)...I thought he had wrestled a cougar but I gather he was just giving it hard trying to find that aggressive line , Quail finished the race on a circus bike (locked front fork and saddle tilted to the sky)- I'm amazed how he could ride that steed- nice work. The trails were challenging and definitely demanded your full focus.  The 6 min arctic cool down in the nearby river sure felt good on the legs afterwards- Take note: a great recovery secret!
Looking forward to the next outing
PS Thanks Emma for being the pit stop crew!! 
   

[GinnySellars]

Jonas!!!! Great to see you on the site!!

The only problem, is that you haven't figured out posting etiquette....your post leaves out all the details of your race, and there is a complete absence of bragging. Frankly, you are too modest. That just won't suffice....I HEARD THAT YOU CRUSHED!!!

[kiwichris]

Welcome to the forum Jonas - sounds like you are having another stellar year with results!!

What do you attribute your success to? Is it bike handling/co-ordination prowess? Strong respiratory system? etc etc... Would be great to hear some insight into Jonas the athlete!

Chris

[Jonas]

Hmmmm.  some rules I try to live by (only because you asked)


Every body works a bit differently and it seems to me what is really important is learning what works for you and what doesn't.  Listening to what you learn about yourself makes the difference between a decent race and a bomb.  After years of trying to stick with the front pack or chase down random attacks it seems to me the key is never losing focus of your own race plan and your strengths and weaknesses. 

Putting too much lactate in your legs early on will always come back to bite you later in a long race.

Breathing- I try to ventilate at low rates- I believe you get more effective gas exchange and respiration as a result.  I listen as much to breathing as i do to heart rate. Though the two typically go hand in hand- if you can master your breathing you can keep your heart rate lower.

Finding your strength- I love to climb, especially long drawn out the more the better.  Figure out what suits your physiology, equally important work on your "weaknesses". 

Don't call your weaknesses, "weaknesses" because you will short change yourself. Call them opportunities- the mental difference is critical.  If you keep saying you suck on hills, guess what- you will suck on hills! 

TAKE MORE FEEDS- guaranteed number one way to seize your engine= run with the wrong fuel or let the water tank go dry and you cannot perform.  Jen recently shared some magic mix secrets before a long road race and it reinforced this principle nicely!!  Including some protein and fats with your carbs and electolytes can help you preserve some punch at the end of a long race (more than a couple of hours).   

Cheers!

Jonas

[Andrew]

Jonas,

We will forgive you the small error you made in reporting the trouble with lactate, as we know now that lactate is a potent fuel that can be used in the mitochondria for energy production. But we do take the point, that poor pacing early in any race can lead to devastating results, even if we can not blame it on lactate any more.

It is great to hear the race reports from different perspectives, and your analysis certainly shows the mental aspect of the race.

Now, the next challenge...did you find a "weakness" during the event that you can work on in preparation for future events? Is it a structural problem that will take time to overcome, or a functional issue that can be addressed fairly quickly?

[Jonas]

Thx for the correction Andrew...  I rescind my lactate remark-  the innocent bystander (the fall guy) and a valuable tasty fuel for the mitochondria.  The problem lies with the parallel pathways (ATP hydrolysis) resulting in H+ production?  What is the current dogma on the mechanisms causing muscular fatigue when a person goes out too hard...  Appreciate your insights

would like to work on the finishing sprint Andrew, as well as recovery from high intensity bursts that occur during road races - getting out and racing helps but would like to structure more workouts to address this.




   

[Andrew]

GREAT Questions...unfortunately perhaps not great answers.

The current debate at the scholarly level remains looking at two main causes of muscular fatigue. Neither has been able to prove conclusively, and the debate continues.

1) Neuromuscular fatigue - this theory states the nerves, or the signals they are transporting form the brain actually start dropping off after high intensity efforts. I like this theory, as it would support the notion that poor sleep would negatively affect performance. Whether the fatigue happens centrally (in the brain) or peripherally is another debate in itself. I believe both can contribute. So, the brain can get tired of sending the millions of signals required for coordinated muscular patterns required for HIGH intensity bursts, but could sustain the much less demanding requirements at lower intensities. OR, the peripheral system gets tired of transporting those messages.

2) Biochemical fatigue - this theory would support the acidity or enzymatic shutdown after high intensity sessions. Whether this is a result of calcium flux at the muscular level, or due to the increase in acidity from glycolysis has not been determined. The lactate acts as a potent buffer against the acid, which is why we see such a rise with these maximal efforts.

I think both arguments are not only valid, but likely play equal roles, depending on the athlete involved. We have all experienced neurologic fatigue, when trying to do new movement patterns...like learning to swim. The fatigue is not necessarily biochemical, but simply a result of poorly trained neuro system that can not sustain good technique. Likewise, most of us have also felt a biochemical fatigue that can give us the feeling of dry-heaving during an intense effort like MTB racing or Crit riding.

So, the answer to your second question of how to improve the final sprint or the recovery from repeated intervals lies in addressing BOTH of the causes of fatigue.

1) Neural patterning...this will take time to develop the structures to allow for high intensity coordinated movements at the end of a long session. I believe you can train this at LOW intensity, by developing perfect coordination. Here are two simple tools to work on, which may not help until 2011...Power Cranks (independent leg motions) and sustained High Cadence Work. It is very easy to measure the improvements in performance through testing with Chris once these ideas have been added to the training program, as we have done successfully with some of our young riders over the past year. Of course, early season racing will also help with the functional improvement, and which is why I encourage participating at the Crits for those in Kelowna/Vernon. As Peter O recognized this week, he will NEVER work as hard in training as he will do in a race, which then becomes the PERFECT functional training session. But even better, if the Crit is approached with the goal of working on one aspect of the cadence challenge. Either by riding the entire Crit in an easier gear, forcing to pedal at a higher cadence. Or being involved in multiple attempts to break away to challenge the system even further.

2)Biochemical training - a little more thought is needed, and has to be based on the specific testing that we do. That is, identify which part of the pathway is the weak link, and develop a training idea to address it. For example, if a high lactate can be achieved, we know the process of glycolysis, and the transport enzyme to move the lactate out of the cells is intact. However, it may signal a weakness in the enzymatic process of moving the lactate back into the slow-twitch fibres, or an absence of mitochondria themselves. SO, depending on the suspected problem, the training could consist of much more lower intensity miles, to develop the mitochondria, OR a focus on interval sessions that challenge the MCT1 enzyme process, by first creating a high lactate concentration, followed by a sustained effort at an intensity that promotes using lactate as a fuel, over the body's preference to use glycogen (LBP-2 to LBP-30 for example).

And hence we now have an explanation why interval sessions may help one person, while not benefiting their partner. If the stimulus helps overcome the weakness, it will lead to improved performance. If it does NOT address the weakness, we should expect stable performance.

So...many of you will see why Chris, Ginny and I are interested in retesting you this summer, to see how the racing season has been affecting your performance, and where we might be able to adjust your training to get some more great results before the summer wraps up. Give us a shout to set up your next test session. Chris and Ginny will make time for you all, but you need to make the contact.

[Jonas]

Andrew- your response motivated me to focus on cadence for todays road ride.  I have been guilty of mashing bigger gears and not spinning as I know I should- especially when climbing.  I suspect based on your comments that this is an area where some fine tuning might help when responding to attacks?  The workout felt fine on the flats but spinning on the climbs definitely felt like a lot more effort.

I'm thinking I had better schedule some testing as well.  Thx for the great feedback...

[Andrew]

There are two fundamental changes that we hope to achieve with training when discussing any skill; functional and structural. Structural training is aimed at producing long-term changes to the structures, in this case the neurons, and the neural pathways themselves. These are the hard-wired changes that allow those who learned to swim as young children, be successful at an older age, and why you never forget how to learn to ride a bike. The functional changes are those that take the current structures, and make the best use possible of them. The functional changes occur much more quickly, and can lead to short term improvements in performance, whereas the structural changes may take months to years to develop, and have much more profound implications to future performance.

Our philosophy at BPR is to focus on structural changes, and use functional training suggestions in preparation for major events, or to challenge any given system, when we feel the desired structures have been attained.

So, the main question worth asking when looking at changing your training to introduce high cadence training is:
1) What type of training do we want to incporporate? Structural or functional?


1) Structural - will take a commitment to longer term development, and MAY in the short term lead to a drop in performance, if during training, your neuro system becomes overloaded, OR you lose some of the slow cadence recruitment patterns you developed with the "mashing" training. This is OK if the BIG RACE is not until next summer, but you may decide to hold off until the end of this season before addressing neuro structural training.

2) Functional - At this point in the season, this may be a smarter approach. By introducing occasional high cadence work at specific intensities, you may in fact benefit from some short term functional improvements that could lead to better race results in just a few short weeks. These sessions can be done as part of your "training", or as part of events like the weekly Crit series in Winfield, or a local weekly MTB event, where instead of racing to win, you race with the specific goal of challenging your neuro system at high intensity. This way, each event can have a specific training focus. Then, at the next race that matters, you may be able to use some of the functional changes to help propel you to the next level.

Jonas, it is great to have you involved on the forum, and to see your open mind to a different way of thinking about your training. Let us know how it goes. I am sure Chris will have some time he can set aside for testing the next time you are in Kelowna, or you can contact Anton Kew in Grand Forks who also does FaCT lactate testing.