shawndoggy Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Howdy. Not really sure if this is on or off topic, but here goes.... My love is playing on the snow, and if I could I'd be on the mountain every day in the winter. Unfortunately my life doesn't permit that kind of freedom, so my focus in the past five years has turned toward racing bicycles (road, M35+/Cat 3). Because I can train 90 minutes or so a day on weekdays and a few hours a day on the weekends, it has worked well without wrecking my family life. This year, though, I've signed my kids (age 8 and 11) up for the local ski team, which runs every saturday through ski season. So now I find myself in the position of having a free pass to ski/snowboard every saturday (woo hoo! yeah yeah, it ain't midweek). But for the past three or four winters, Saturday had been my "long ride" day. So now I'm wondering how putting a (relatively, for me) large number of days on the snow is going to adversely impact my cycling fitness. Any carving bike racers out there with some experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waypastfast Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 Funny, i starting cycling back in the day as cross training for snowboarding. Then i really got into cycling and started racing (cat 2) and found that i didn't snowboard much anymore because cycling took over my life! I would train even during the winter either indoors on the trainer or on my cyclocross bike outside. Now i am getting the bug to get back on the snow and realize that only started cycling because of my love for the snow. I also know of lots of althletes who use cycling as cross training for there winter sports such as hockey player and speed skaters. Plus cross country skiiers as well. So this year i have made the snow my number one goal! SO if you have the chance to hit the slopes, do it because you can ride your bike anytime of the year (well not here in calgary) but you can only snowboard for less than half of the year.....just my 2 cents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted November 3, 2007 Report Share Posted November 3, 2007 I have taken the entire winter off from cycling most winters.Not just one or two months,but four or five and managed to hold my own as a Colorado cat 2 roadie and cat 1 trackie.Since moving to North Idaho,the last few winters, however I have operated a spinning studio,putting on up to five classes a week.That has been my only cycling each of the last three winters and has set me up to be reasonably competitive starting in April when I finally ride outdoors after the snowboard instruction season winds down.That said,I catch up to the competition pretty quickly by towing my two boys in the burley with my fixed gear on the bike path.Also during the winter I hike the pipe ,ride alot of bumps and snowshoe a bit with other members of team I ride for.As long as you do cross training during which you are using similar muscle groups and at least for some of it,breathing hard(snowshoeing,hiking the pipe,back country hiking etc) you will not lose much and may even find you have gotten faster and more powerful.My coaching style tends to reflect the fact that most adults don't have the time to do all the miles conventional wisdom suggests.I'm 42 and have posted progressively faster road tt times on the courses up here with far fewer miles than many competitors ten or twenty years younger.Effective cross training takes many forms and can be creatively adapted to almost any busy life,so enjoy the snow while it's here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastskiguy Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Heh, this is funny. I took up alpine carving just last season, then managed to finish this event http://www.transiowa.blogspot.com/ N=1 but it won't make you slower...might even make you faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. T Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Go for a short but intense bike, run or nordic ski early in the morning prior to your carving session, use the carve as a cool down. Fastskiguy, congrats on the transiowa, that looks brutalis maximus monotinus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Go for a short but intense bike, run or nordic ski early in the morning prior to your carving session, use the carve as a cool down. Fastskiguy, congrats on the transiowa, that looks brutalis maximus monotinus. plus one on both counts! Twice a week the spinning classes I instruct are at 6:30 am and set me up for the snowboard day nicely,warming up and lossening my joints and muscles:also twice a week I put on two classes at 6:00 pm and those are of similar benefit but also help serve to stimulate repair of the damage done by snowboarding on those days. That race sounds like the kind of insanity that separates us roadies from the psycological norm.Congrats on your perseverance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Go for a short but intense bike, run or nordic ski early in the morning prior to your carving session, use the carve as a cool down. I know some people who will go x-c skiing after a day of downhill skiing to get more of a workout in. I say, if you are able to do anything other than sack out on the couch after a day of skiing/riding... you weren't charging hard enough!! :D :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 I know some people who will go x-c skiing after a day of downhill skiing to get more of a workout in. I say, if you are able to do anything other than sack out on the couch after a day of skiing/riding... you weren't charging hard enough!! :D :p Or the lifts were running to slow ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted November 5, 2007 Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Mike and Jack;don't you both have kids? Guess the wives must do all the apre board child rearing.:)I will admit to being less motivated to do a spin class after a great day on the hill ,but I never regret having done the class once it's over.Now weight lifting, which I used to do after boarding;that's just plain crazy;though not much harder than wrestling with two and four year olds who do not understand or care how I have exerted myself all day:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawndoggy Posted November 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2007 Thanks for the replies everybody. WPF, believe me, it has actually crossed my mind to bring my trainer or rollers with me and to ride 'em in the parking lot while the kids ski. Sad, sad, but I know what you mean about cycling starting to consume your life. It starts slow ("just another hour a day..."), but it does get to a point where the pendulum needs to start shifting back. Thanks everybody for the encouragement. Success stories are inspiring. I'll letcha all know how it goes come racing season in April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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