Couch to Cat C, Week 4: Cadence and Cara

Our goal: to transform a 265-pound rookie rider with a tested 1.92w/kg FTP into a cat C Zwift racer (2.5w/kg+) in 6 weeks.

The first week was mostly about orientation and baseline testing, the second week about building endurance and improving form on the bike. In the third week we started pushing the endurance Boone was building, working to keep the watts higher over the duration of the ride. This fourth week was similar to week three, with some cadence work mixed in.

The Plan

As a reminder, here’s the basic plan we’ve settled on for the 6 weeks. (Many thanks to Alan Dempsey of HPP Coaching for giving us solid advice that sets Boone up for success).

• Week 1: Benchmark testing + Endurance
  FTP test, attempt first Zwift race, and get some time on the bike
• Weeks 2-4: Endurance + Cadence Work
  Lots of work from low zone 2 to mid zone 3, with some high-cadence drills to train the legs for efficient pedaling
• Weeks 5-6: Endurance + Intensity, Finishing with Benchmark Testing
  Start with similar rides as weeks 2-4, with some VO2 and threshold efforts included in short durations. Toward the end of week 6 we’ll do another FTP test and Zwift race, so we can compare progress from week 1.

Ride #13: More Power PRs with Cara

Our goal today was to ride with Cara as long as possible, then spin the legs out for a bit to cool down. Boone hung with Cara for 30 minutes, beating his old record by 5 minutes.

He told me, “My legs felt great at 27 minutes. And dead at 29.” He spun for another 15 minutes on Fuego Flats, but felt pretty dead – possibly because he’d been working outside all day, hiking up and down the side of a hill, stoking a burn pile with timber and breathing in smoke. He had also raced in Crit City the day before, so was probably feeling that effort.

Despite blowing up in spectacular fashion, he set some new bests between 25-30 minutes on his critical power curve with this ride.

See this ride on Strava >

Ride #14: Spinups with Dan

Today we decided to go for a more mellow effort with Dan Diesel – to purposely ride with Dan in order to keep the effort lower, while working on cadence with some high-RPM spinups.

Cadence work can be a real help for beginning cyclists like Boone, because it teaches your muscles and brain to fire efficiently. Think about it: cyclists are asking a diverse bunch of muscles to lengthen and shorten 90 times per minute in a precise pattern – that’s no small ask!

I told Boone not to shift to a harder gear, but just increase his cadence and try to hold it for 30 seconds or more without bouncing in the seat. On his first set he was able to barely touch 110RPM, but on subsequent sets he was closer to 120 as his brain and body got in sync with each other.

He did several of these spinups – this I think was his second attempt:

See this ride on Strava >

Ride #15: Chasing Cara, Earning Drops

Today we wanted to try another “How Long Can You Hang” outing with Cara, but after a short warmup. We wanted to see if a better warmup would let Boone hang longer with Cara, so he spun with Dan Diesel for the first 15 minutes, doing some cadence spinups but keeping the overall wattage pretty low. Then we exited the game so we could join Cara’s group.

Boone managed to hang with Cara for over 30 minutes this time, but that wasn’t a huge improvement from his previous Cara outing. What was impressive was how he was able to keep his power up after falling off the Cara group’s pace. A product of the warmup? Perhaps

He was hammering toward the end of the ride, and I couldn’t figure out what he was working toward until he told me, “I’ve got to get to 200,000 Drops!” And so he did. His first 25-mile ride, and his longest in terms of time as well, around 70 minutes.

This ride also set new power PRs throughout the 24-54 minute range, which is a big range for a new PR!

See this ride on Strava >

Ride #16: DNS

Boone had consistently kept our M-W-F-Sunday schedule since we began this challenge, but today was the first ride he skipped. He wanted a change of pace, and asked what I thought of him using the treadmill instead. Would a jog help boost his cycling fitness?

I shared my experience with him. “At your fitness level, doing more cardio/endurance work will help everywhere. When you get MORE fit, running won’t really help your riding much.”

So he did an hour on the treadmill – 5 minute warmup followed by 50 minutes of steady jogging and a cooldown. 4.3 miles total.

Week #4 Takeaways

Boone really felt like the cadence work helped him pedal more fluidly, so he was pleased with those results. And it was nice to have the power curve data Zwift supplies, so we could see how he’s been able to increase his wattage this week, even though he felt like he was “failing” near the end of some of his rides.

When it comes to building fitness, many people (myself included) find it motivational to track progress with specific data. Today’s tools make this easy for cyclists! Even if you don’t feel or look stronger from week to week, you can dig into the data and see your progress. There’s a lot of value in that.

One thing Boone has mentioned more than once is that it would be nice if Zwift had a Pace Partner in between Dan and Cara’s paces. At Boone’s current level, Dan is simply too slow if Boone wants to push himself – and Cara is so fast that Boone can only hang for half his ride.

I think more Pace Partners will arrive eventually, but this was a good reminder that Zwift needs a more diverse range of paces in order to meet everyone’s needs.

Support Boone

Thanks to everyone who followed Boone on Zwift and Strava and gave him lots of Ride Ons and Kudos. He’s loving it! If you haven’t done so yet, follow him on Zwift (name “Boone Bridges”) and Strava.

Your Thoughts

Got any tips for Boone? Comments on this week’s efforts? Share below!