BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Training regime = ride lots.

What's the cycling distance?

I'd say keep training on the fixed gear 'til you get a road bike. Find something used--you'll likely get better component bang for yer buck.

a sprint triathlon is typically 750 m (0.47mi) swim, 20 km(12.4 mi) bike, 5 km(3.1? mi) run

im going to throw the fixed wheel on my spring that had POS components... and retore the raleigh with it's original components, they're nothing great, but work perfectly.

as new bike is in the works if i can pull off 2 months of training on the current bike(s). i don't see the point rewarding myself with a nicer bike if it doesn't get used more than these two currently do.

i'll echo what brian said, first. i'll add that long distance biking for speed is pretty much the same short distance biking for speed, except that you have to keep it up longer. ride a bunch is the most important thing. 12 miles is pretty much nothing on a bike. i actually find it difficult to go for a leisure ride that's under 12 miles.

there are a number of nice ways to train hard, especially around here. you can just ride as often as you can and as hard as you can downtown and back along the jail trail, if you find that's what most suits you. or you can take advantage of the terrain and do hill intervals. i find riding up greenfield from bottom to top as hard as you can is a pretty good exercise. but there are tons of nasty steep hills or long and solid hills that all beg to be climbed, and they all provide good interval training.

but yeah, rule number one: ride lots.

it's a sprint triathlon, DO NOT ride lots.

a lot has to deal with when the event is.

you only have to ride 12 miles fast, which is short, under 30 minutes short.

so rides of 20-30 miles will work, anything more probably not so much. Add some structured workouts that deal with tempo, strength on the bike, speed, etc.

the number one rule should be to practice transitions. Run then bike. Like run 3 miles, take a hard spin class where you leave everything at the class, then run 3 miles home. That second 3 miles will be like the hardest three miles ever.

And run to the pool, swim for a while, then run home, again, hard.

if you're already a runner, and ride a bit, the swim is what's going to suck the most.

Yeah, I guess what I meant was closer to Aaron's advice than "go ride 200 miles at a time."

Hey Dutch, Did you ever do this tri or are you still training for it? Let me know if you need/want any more advice, I am a certified tri coach. I actually found your post while doing research for good websites containing tri info (so I can make a better site, lol). anyway, I can send you some free stuff.

-SuzanneA

i haven't done a tri yet, still training, it actually got bumped up to an olympic (nations tri in september) so more training is neeeded. i'm doing fine on the bike and run legs,its the swimming where i need more practice.

Run off the bike -- it's called a brick. Trust me, you need to throw in some brick workouts to get your legs used to it.

The swim to bike transition is not that big of a deal. However, you need to swim in open water BEFORE race day. I've been trying to get someone to jump in the Allegheny with me. So far it's been a tough sell. Interested?

yup i have quite a few bricks under my belt so far, and i have been throwing in a few open water trainings in the delaware- i can't take you up on the allegheny though, since i've moved to the other side of the state.

You could also consider doing the time trials and fixed-gear races at the oval on Friday nights. The first one is tonight (10 mile TT). The time trials vary in distance. Every other week is fixed gear track-style races. Read all about it at:

http://polish.slavic.pitt.edu/pmvc/

Also, even at 12 miles, I recommend picking up a set of clip on aero bars for your bike. They don't have to be fancy. It makes a HUGE difference.

no need to pick up clip ons, i guess you missed my post about my new cervelo p2-sl.

and id like to participate, but again, ive moved to NJ