Not So Fast with Brian Hester

Not So Fast

MTB Race News took self-described regular guy, Brian Hester, and dropped him into a serious training program with 19 Sports in Park City, Utah, to see if they could take him from zero to hero. Join us and watch Brian's progress throughout the season.

Brian putting it together on the St. George rock

Brian:
Last weekend was not only the season opener for the Utah XC season in St. George - it was also my first XC race in four years. I had a full 6 weeks of training with 19 Sports under my belt and high hopes for a solid race. Despite my long hiatus, I felt great. The weather was perfect and the fields were large. I couldn’t wait to get started.

My trainer laid out a warm up regimen for the race that consisted of 20 minutes easy, 5 x 1 minute on 1 minute off intervals at a hard pace, then 10 minutes at a moderate pace. It seemed a little too hard for a warm up but I’m trying to follow the plan as closely as possible. Feeling completely warmed up and ready to race, I got on line for the start.

The regular guy gets ready for the race

First the Pros took off at what looked to be a blistering pace. I was briefly happy to not be in that group. Next up were 20 to 29 experts and one minute later my group (30 to 39 experts) started the 1/4- mile sprint to the singletrack. My warm up really paid off here as I easily sat in 5th as we hit the trail.

It was not until the first climb that I realized that my fitness was good… but not as good as everyone else’s. Riders were easily overtaking me going up and I would get a few back on the downhills and tricky fast flats. It was the same for all three laps. My goal was to finish in 1:40:00 and I ended up at 1:34:25. Not bad, I thought, until I saw the results. My time was good for 26th place out of 36 riders in my class. Suck!!!

On Monday, I resumed my training schedule. Time and effort on the bike will be increasing over the next month so hopefully I can improve my speed and endurance before the next race. Stay tuned!

Not So Fast with Brian Hester

After 6 Weeks My First Race Is Here

19 Sports located at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah

For the past 6 weeks I have been training with the folks at 19 Sports in an attempt to turn my whoa into go. For those who didn’t read the first installment of this series, 19 Sports www.nineteensports.com offers 8-week classes on a Computrainer with the goal of increasing power and overall fitness. In addition to the classes, the 19 Sports team set me up with a training schedule that details each day’s efforts on and off the bike.

The month of February was scheduled to get me ready for the Intermountain Cup season opener this weekend in St George, Utah. On average, I spent around 12.5 hours a week riding, hiking, running, playing racquetball, weight lifting, and even some yoga. My training plan had me doing easy days, moderate days with a few hard efforts, and impossibly hard days.

There is no coasting on the Computrainer

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I attended 70-minute Computrainer classes at 19 Sports. Each class focuses on a different type of riding. My favorite (said with heavy sarcasm) is the slow cadence riding in a huge gear with increasing tension from the Computrainer. It’s designed to build muscle and power in my legs. After an hour and three hard intervals my legs felt like bricks. All of the classes were hard. 19 Sports claims a 70-minute class is like riding outside for 2.5 hours. No doubt it’s hard, but I don’t think it’s quite that difficult. I usually rode outside for an hour or two after the class.

Is all this work paying off? I retook the 40-minute initial test and my watts have improved from an average of 189 to 223 or about 15% better. I must be doing something right but I won’t know for sure until race day. Check back to see if I can keep up with the 30-39 experts on Saturday.

Not So Fast with Brian Hester

There are people in the world of cycling who were born to race. They are the ones off the front looking like they’re out for a Sunday ride with your local biking club. They can put down chain breaking power with seemingly little effort and process oxygen faster than a top fuel racecar. I am not one of those people.

My first test on the Computrainer

MTB Race News thought it would be interesting to use me as a guinea pig in their experiment. It goes like this: I get on a serious training plan and throughout the year I will be thrown into mountain bike races to see if I float. The ultimate question is: Can a serious training regimen make anyone fast, even someone as pathetic as me. In the name of science, I agreed.

Doing the hard part of this little experiment will be Rodney Riley of 19 Sports. 19 Sports, located at the fabulous Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, is part bike shop and part Computrainer classroom. Rodney will assess my needs and abilities with specific goals in mind and tailor a training program to help me reach those goals.

19 Sports will be helping me along the way

Class began with a 40-minute time trial on the Computrainer to determine a baseline. Because the Computrainer allows you to replicate the exact conditions on any given day, it’s an excellent way to measure your improvement (or lack of improvement) over an 8-week course. The course programmed for me was the Coors Classic Morgal-Bismark time trial.

The hilly Morgal-Bismark started out with a lung-busting climb that instantly maxed out my heart rate. I dropped a few gears to let my HR fall back down to 190 and settled in to a hard but relatively comfortable pace. The flat screen monitor showed my progress, heart rate, watts, speed, distance, and unfortunately a clock counting the seconds. I spent the last ten minutes staring at that damn clock making the time drip by as if in slow motion. I tried to get out of the saddle and really hammer the last two minutes but instantly blew my heart rate again. Eventually, I crossed the virtual finish line satisfied that I had gone as hard as possible.

And the results are…. not great. Of all the people 19 Sports has tested I was somewhere in the 25th to 30th percentile. In other words, 70 to 75 percent of people tested were better than me. My average heart rate for the test was 189. Lactate threshold power (LTP) was a pathetic 181 watts and LPT/weight equaled 2.7. No wonder I was never any good at road bike racing. I have the power of a Toyota Camry in neutral with the gas pedal stuck halfway down.

Check back to see if I can improve my numbers and finally get in racing shape. My first race of 2010 will be the Intermountain Cup’s (www.intermountaincup.com) season opener in St George, Utah on March, 6th.