What level of competition is still realistic?

[Gildurain]

Hello evrybody!

im in midlife crisis and become intersted in riding bike again . goal is complete some montanous marathon event like Marmotte/Otztaler in 2023.
In my youth i was doing many sports, but never focused on a particular one to train. My climbing record was a VAM of 1300m/h on a 10,5km@8,6% mountain. Used a 10kg bike and was like 68kg myself. Can we deduct from this data my old VO2max?
Now years later, some smoking and stressful family life, what can i still achieve? Do i need a medical exam first? My feelings from just riding a bike are real good. I just wanna make sure my engine is stille fine and dont overdo things.

kind regards

 

[JayKosta]

well ... what's your age and weight now? Do you do any regular exercise? Do you have the time to do 4x/week 2hour exercise sessions - 1 hour of hard endurance exercise, and the other hour for 'get ready' and 'clean-up after'?

 

[Gildurain]

Hi Jay,im mid40ies my weight now is 76kg. I put on some musclemass from rockclimbing (shoulders and back mostly)and a small belly. i am ready to loose this for better cycling output. Right now i do weekend rides between 3 and 5h but no intervals or intensive stuff.
yes i can afford this training times. Come winter XC-Skiing is a joy for me.

 

[Nick2413]

Really back of the envelope but seeing as elite cyclists have around 1800 VAM on similar climbs, I’d estimate your VO2 would be (1300/1800)= 72% of the elites. 72% of 85-90 is around 62.

I would say definitely get back on the bike and try out some climbs and see how you progress over a few months. Don’t need to be overly competitive to have fun and push yourself, but maybe you’ll still be competitive anyway.

 

[JayKosta]

From your description it seems that you certainly could get much stronger and be 'fit for competition' .
But it will take commitment ... mainly because the additional training that's needed goes well beyond recreational riding. You'll need to get used to being 'really tired' from a training session, and need time to recuperate. Probably won't to able to go for a hard training ride in the morning, and then mow the lawn in the afternoon!

 

[Gildurain]

From your description it seems that you certainly could get much stronger and be 'fit for competition' .
But it will take commitment ... mainly because the additional training that's needed goes well beyond recreational riding. You'll need to get used to being 'really tired' from a training session, and need time to recuperate. Probably won't to able to go for a hard training ride in the morning, and then mow the lawn in the afternoon!

yes man i hope so. going all out i was only used from soccer play. my legs have not typical lean look like u have from doing 10k km/year in bike.
in the 90ies it was said u need to do 6h+ low heartbeat races to burn fat. is this out of date wisdom?

 

[JayKosta]

My view about 'burning fat' is that it is more important to be careful about 'what' and 'how much' you eat.
Don't eat for 'fun', and don't use food or drink to combat boredom, or for stress-relief.
See article - https://athletime.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/fat-metabolism-during-exercise/