Update: Friday, November 10, 2023, 11:40:27AM EST
I’m back to setting this as a goal for 2024. In fact, I paid the 300 dollars for registration and another 300 for a 2-night hotel stay. It does make me a little sick to think I could buy a fixie for that, but Doris actually talked me into it. She seems how much I want to do it. This isn’t the sort of thing that I do a lot so splurging on the expense is worth it to me. Having a personal performance goal has always helped me even if it isn’t always so expensive. The return on investment to my health has already easily paid for the cost in saved medical bills later in life. I’m well on my way to shaving 30 kilos by end of 2023 and I’m totally okay (now) with using my heavy steal dad bike to do the Assault. Hell, it even has a granny gear to make it super easy (relatively). I’m starting to do Sunday century rides to go with my 50k daily rides. As long as I just to essentially the same thing on the Assault I should be fine—especially since I can spin at all the same power levels and will have an entire pack to draft off of for most of the Assault. Honestly, at my current level the Assault should actually be relatively easy so long as I just want to finish in under nine hours. I do plan on doing it with my signature black t-shirt and plaid Club Ride shorts. If it were not for the Spring temperatures I’d even do it in my sandals.
Update: I’ve decided against this. Just participating would cost me over 1000 dollars per year in lost wages, entry fees, travel and hotels, and expenses. That’s 1000 dollars per year that I could apply to a Wahoo KICKR Bike that would enable regular challenges including virtual racing instead of suffering on one day a year with a bunch of other amateurs who might even crash in front of me. I still plan on finishing the equivalent of the Assault in under six hours, which is trivial to simulate in Zwift (with everything but headwind and traffic).
I will complete The Assault on Mt. Mitchel in under six hours before I turn 60 (even through plenty have after 60). Based on previous results that would put me in the top three for my age group (55-60). I’m planning my first attempt in 2024 and will likely use Keshy, my 27 lbs beast. (For 2025 I’ll shoot to buy a climbing bike, Specialized Aethos Comp, if, and only if, I hit all my other weight and fitness goals first.)
I’m not really interested in any other events at my age. I have Zwift for (safe) race competition if I want it. I just want one well-managed Gran Fondo per year to keep me motivated.
Being a full-time employed 55-year-old, my schedule has a lot more recovery and fun than would a pro but I still enjoy the feel of pro training and fitness. It’s been fun being recently reminded what pro-level fitness feels like. I’m getting hints of it already. It’s absolute bliss and very addicting.
By end of May 2023:
I have a lot less demands on my time as I age. My kids are grown, my wife is doing her own thing, and my job is solid and remote (no commute time).
To maintain that pro feel I have to do more than the minimum to stay in shape. The average sedentary person probably only needs 30 minutes a day to maintain good fitness (once they have reduced their weight and adapted). I want more than that (after I’ve reduced my own weight and adapted).
I figure I’m going to need 1-2 hours a day on weekdays and Saturday and 4-6 hours on Sunday to achieve these goals. That’s about 20 hours a week. I would train 25-30 a week back in the triathlon days (but I have zero interest in triathlon at this point, just looks silly to me now).
I sleep more than most people, but for a specific reason.
Pro cyclists sleep a minimum of nine hours a day, which means they are either cycling, eating, or sleeping for most of their existence, and they are in their 20s.
The single biggest limiter for an older person is dramatic drop in ability to recover from training. So if a pro needs nine hours of sleep, a 55-year-old is going to need 12-15 hours for the same load. Reducing the load by 1/3 and you land at around 10 hours a day of sleep to maintain a semi-pro, masters 55+ age-group status.
I’ve found that I require 1-2 hours of sleep within an hour of any daily workout if I want to recover at all. That’s what being 55 means. Therefore, to be an older weekend-warrior I must sacrifice time doing other things in order to sleep enough (see Don’ts).
Sleep is my new hobby. Sleep after training is glorious! I almost look forward to it as much as the training. I have such vivid dreams, and just the feel of a cushy, cozy bed after a good recovery meal, nice warm shower, and that wonderful post-training pain and feeling of accomplishment is better and more addicting than anything I can do in front of a computer—especially getting drunk.
There are 160 hours in a week.
Obviously, if I had a two hour car commute (like some have) I couldn’t do this.
I’ve noticed that my recovery cycles don’t always match up with a given week. Joel Friel calls this out as well in his latest Triathlon Training Bible. The solution seems to be not focusing on the specific day, but the rotation of types of training no matter what day they may occur and even if the cycle is ten days instead of seven. When it works out to be a week rotation here’s what it looks like.
I’ve been doing a 20mWFW every single day as well but not sure that counts as training. Usually, I do pullups, pushups, and ab-bikes to failure plus a short Zwift ride with rest of time.
Sometimes I have to throw in a recovery day after power workouts, or after the first base. Depending on how long or hard I pushed on the fondo day I might have to take two recovery days instead of one.
After a lot of research about what the pros eat and watching I’ve arrived at a pretty good diet for myself. Plus my body has adapted to a better diet and certain foods don’t even appeal to me anymore.
The single worst thing anyone can do trying to lose weight is stop eating while training. It stops the ability to produce more intense training that burns more calories than just not eating.
The single best thing anyone can do to lose weight is not overeat on the recovery and off days. Make sure protein is covered, then veggies, then the carbs and fats minimally.
I absolutely hate alcoholic drinks now, which is so strange since I once loved them. I had some red wine the other day and the inflammation and lack of recovery it caused the next day made me physically loathe the idea of drinking more, same with beer.
If I am at a party, however (and they are not frequent), I will imbibe.
I have absolutely no judgment for people who love to drink, seriously. I get it. I just choose not to drink any longer.
I add a bit of cheese for flavor and do eat yogurt with stuff in it, but that’s it. If I ever do indulge in pizza I’ll only take a single slice and really eat it slowly.
After the Eating Ourselves to Extinction documentary I have no desire to eat meat. I’ve been having two eggs and some toast for breakfast and it has been wonderful. (Yes, I know eggs are meat, but they are the most sustainable.)
Frying food destroys it.
Corn chips have been a big part of my diet over the years, but the salt and fiber causes water retention which is bad for performance since you get heavier but cannot access the water locked up in the fiber. Plus the salt quickly dehydrates.
Getting dehydrated (which I chronically was before) is the single worst thing that can happen to nutrition since all those nutrients you consume have no way of getting to the cells where they are needed. Without water your entire digestive system grinds to a halt causing all kinds of problems.
Simple white rice is a cheap replacement for all those bars and gels and stuff. You can put anything into it and turn rice cakes into whatever you need in terms of carb balancing.
Burrito bowls are my favorite. I make my own for one dollar at home instead of paying 10 dollars at a restaurant.
Bananas are the magical cyclist food. Let them ripen and you get more simple sugar, less ripe and you get simple, but slightly complex carbs as starches. You can dial in the type of (ultimately) glucose that you need simply by letting them ripen.
When you combine everything yourself you can decide the carb balances. Then I either heat it up for breakfast, combine it with yogurt for a snack, or put it in some almond milk in the fridge to heat up.
I do purchase an electrolyte and protein recovery drink. I also have zero-sugar electrolytes that I drink during sessions.
I’ve had enough time now to realize many of the extremely bad habits I had locked into my life before. I really don’t want to fall into them again.
I’m sure this list will grow as I remember things.
Anything that produces stress produces bad-fat-making cortisol destroys fitness gains and doubles the time to recover from fitness. It’s no surprise the stuff I’m cutting all produces stress.