MTBNJ + Trainerroad Folk

carvegybe

carvegybe

Well-Known Member
I see more and more MTBNJ folk post TR rides on Strava. My personal experience with TR has been very positive and translated to big gains in fitness, power and weight loss. But I am still getting dropped on the trails, which is the skills part that TR can't address. That said, it may be useful to share experiences on how to translate what TR has to offer into on-trail performance. I think this might be a good forum for this topic because it is both MTB oriented and specific to east coat riding conditions. Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

As background, I have gone through low volume sweet spot base and low volume short power build plans last winter with TR before it got too warm to spend too much time indoors. That was my first year of structured training. This time I started the low volume plans earlier and am now in the middle of low volume general build and about to start my first specialty plan in two or three weeks and will probably choose the XCO plan to prepare for they Mayhem race in March.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or insights.
 
I'm on my 3rd year on a mountain bike coming from almost 30 years of relative inactivity. I did sweet spot low volume base 1 and 2 last winter and by spring I was riding much stronger than the previous fall. I know that their program is geared towards racers but I saw serious improvement as a recreational rider. So much so that I started again this year to see how much it will improve my riding. For the record, I also tried zwift and I feel that for me trainer road is much more effective. Less cognitive distraction, all I have to do is keep my numbers close to what's displayed.
 
Awesome! My big lesson learned is that doing Short Power Build is great for MTB but made me overtest the ramp test and I could not hold the FTP indicated by the ramp test on sustained power workouts. I dropped my FTP by 8% and have been notching it up during base and build plans based on what I could hold. So it took me a few months to get a feel for my real FTP.

But after doing Short Power Build I started consistently clearing climbs that I could not do a single time beforehand and have been trying for months...
 
If you’re worried about skills, you can do a few things. One, is see a skills coach. You’ll have go look around but they are out there.
You can also check YouTube for skills videos. You might be surprised how much you can pick up from a few technique tips.

Another option is to ride the trails more. I would do all the trainer road stuff on the trainer, but low volume is only a few days a week right?
That leaves some time to get out work on skills... which at the end of the day is what you really need to do.
 
To improve skills on the trails, ride trails. A lot. You can substitute “rocks” or “gnar” for the two trails, don’t matter.
If you want to get faster, pedal more. Use a higher gear. Use the brakes less.
Overthinking that you are 8% better GTFU based on the ZGBT test was not done after fasting gets you nowhere.

- Capt. Obvious
 
jShort said:
If you’re worried about skills, you can do a few things. One, is see a skills coach. You’ll have go look around but they are out there.
You can also check YouTube for skills videos. You might be surprised how much you can pick up from a few technique tips.

Another option is to ride the trails more. I would do all the trainer road stuff on the trainer, but low volume is only a few days a week right?
That leaves some time to get out work on skills... which at the end of the day is what you really need to do.
Click to expand...

I have tried to look for a coach but didn't succeed. Now I just try to ride with better, faster folk and watch what they do. I watched all the youtube videos but am struggling with practicing basics in the parking lot. If there is a bike under me I have an uncontrolled reaction to apply power to pedals and all the basic training priorities go out the window.

I chose the low volume TR plan precisely because I want to make room for actual riding which is the real objective here.
 
Last edited:
w_b said:
To improve skills on the trails, ride trails. A lot. You can substitute “rocks” or “gnar” for the two trails, don’t matter.
If you want to get faster, pedal more. Use a higher gear. Use the brakes less.
Overthinking that you are 8% better GTFU based on the ZGBT test was not done after fasting gets you nowhere.

- Capt. Obvious
Click to expand...

I hear you and that is exactly what I am doing. Trying to ride less technical terrain but maintaining momentum through turns, breathing better, looking forward, not using brakes, driving the front wheel rather than letting it fall where it wants to..etc. This is my current focus area where I think there is a lot of room for improvement but TR helps to make sure I'm not short of watts.
 
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