Your Zone 2 May Vary

It is November. Road racers are supposed to take a several week long "off season" at some point soon after racing season ends. The ABRT Saturday ride traditionally slows down a bit for the winter, and besides, the ride is almost as much a Parvilla Cycles shop ride as it is an ABRT Training Ride, and shop rides are traditionally "no drop".

So the November 28th Saturday ride should have been a bit slower and steadier than, say, a Saturday ride in early March, just before the first races. And to top it off, there were e-mail discussions beforehand about going "steady zone 2".

For the non-racers, racing cyclists serious about their training track their power in watts or heart rate, using power meters or heart rate meters. And they divide levels of effort, delineated in watts or beats per minute, into zones:

Zone 1 is really easy, barely pushing on the cranks, no noticeable effort.

Zone 2 is still easy, a level of effort that one could sustain all day.

Zone 3, also known as tempo, is also sustainable for a long period of time, but one feels the effort more than Zone 2.

Zone 4, known as threshold, is where things get interesting. While the zone has a range (again delineated in watts or bpm), the midpoint should be the highest power the rider can sustain for 60 minutes. Zone 4 efforts are hard enough one cannot carry a conversation, it is an effort to gasp out a single word.

Threshold power/CP60 is basically what determines how successful an endurance athlete one is. More watts results in more speed.

Athletes can sustain higher than threshold power, but for shorter intervals. Zone 5 is called VO2Max, an athlete may be able to sustain that level of power/effort for about ten minutes.

Above that is Zone 6, anaerobic. This is sprinting power, which is much higher power, but sustainable for a much shorter interval, in the order of a few seconds to a minute.

The power or heart beat values that are used for the top of z1 and bottom of z2, top of z2 and bottom of z3, top of z3 and bottom of z4, top of z4 and bottom of z5, etc. are typically calculated as percentages of an athlete’s threshold power/CP60. But threshold power reflects fitness and fitness varies during the year, depending on how much training and racing a cyclist is doing, how much rest they are getting, if they are eating well, if they are not overly stressed, etc. Most cyclists have lower threshold/CP60 values in November than they do in July.

All of this is to point out that a zone 2 level of effort in November should not be hard. BUT, different cyclists have different threshold/CP60 power, so their zone 2 power will vary.

The Wheelsucker is a mediocre cyclist, decent for his age, but nothing special. At his peak, his threshold may reach 280 watts, which he generates with a heart rate of about 158 bpm. Based on this, his zone 2 range goes from 151 – 212 watts, but again this range is lower in the off season. A cyclist with a threshold power of, say, 364 watts would have a zone 2 range of about 196-275 watts.

If the Wheelsucker was doing a z2 ride on his own (and he does from time to time as an assigned workout), he would carefully monitor his effort and check his power meter display, and would try to keep his effort between 151 and 212 watts. He should not go over 212 watts, even for a few seconds. In practice, accelerating from a stop or climbing a short climb, it is hard to NOT spike power, but the Wheelsucker immediately backs off if he sees numbers over 212 watts.

The group rolled out of the Parvilla Cycles parking lot and was soon riding down Muddy Creek Road, which has a full width shoulder in most places (unlike most roads in southern AA County which have no shoulder). Everyone needed to warm up, there were no hard efforts, and the stronger riders were on the front, so weaker riders could sit in the draft. Most riders were within their zone 2 range. Everyone was comfortable. The ride was going as agreed upon.

But the shoulder on Muddy Creek road disappears south of Owensville road/255, so the group rides never continue on Muddy Creek, but turn right onto Owensville road/255. Owensville does not have a shoulder but is rather lower traffic than Muddy Creek. And Owensville climbs all the way from Muddy Creek to Sudley Road. The Wheelsucker had rotated to the front by the time the group made the right turn from Muddy Creek to Owensville. Knowing that the strong riders would not tolerate a slow Wheelsucker z2 pace up the shallow climb, the Wheelsucker went to z3 and some z4, mostly to avoid having riders jump around him and go up the road. The desired pace was something the Wheelsucker could sustain, but fast enough to keep the strong riders from boredom and the temptation to jump passed the Wheelsucker and increase the pace. Though above z2 for the Wheelsucker and a few other riders, this worked for most of the climb, and the group eased up near the top to wait for a couple of stragglers to rejoin. The Wheelsucker averaged 235 watts, not too far above his zone 2 range. So far so good. There were other shorter climbs and the group did split up on a few, but each time the leaders would ease up and let the group reform.

But then a little over an hour into the ride, the group approached the Fairhaven Road climb. While slightly shorter than the Owensville climb, it is a little steeper, and it starts with a short steeper section.

Promises of “steady zone 2” notwithstanding, the Wheelsucker was worried. He was careful to not be on the front for the last few minutes before the climb started, so as to be as rested as possible. But he wondered if the strong riders would really go steady …

The group hit the base of the climb. The Wheelsucker knows that if he makes really hard efforts he will have trouble recovering. So he knew to not go as hard as the strongest riders on the initial short steep section. However, he was doing over 500 watts on that steep section! He went in about third wheel, but was passed on that section and even let a small gap open. Stu was leading, Steve was second wheel, Ace was third. A new ABRT member was fourth wheel. The Wheelsucker’s pacing on the steep section dropped him back a couple of bike lengths, but left him enough in the tank to accelerate to close the gap, and go past the fourth rider, who was able to grab on behind the Wheelsucker, as the Wheelsucker got to Ace’s wheel.

Somehow the Wheelsucker knew this was not going to be a “steady zone 2” climb!

He tried to glue himself to Ace’s wheel and hang on. The pace was hard but steady, and survivable for a while for the Wheelsucker.

This climb takes 4:41 (fastest time on Strava) to 5:30 for a decent rider. The Wheelsucker’s all-time fastest is 5:20, almost certainly set at his peak fitness level, and while following stronger riders all the way up. Eventually Stu pulled off the front to the left, slid back and joined back in behind the Wheelsucker. The new ABRT member had been gapped off earlier. Steve Owens took over at the front. The Wheelsucker’s pain level steadily grew as he hung on to Ace’s wheel. The Wheelsucker was averaging more than 300 watts, with higher surges to stay on.

Cyclists frequently use the word “suffer” to describe the feeling of racing, or cycling hard. The Wheelsucker was suffering, but not yet broken. A little further up the climb, Steve pulled off and slid back and joined in behind Stu. That left Ace on the front. If Ace had ever thought – or cared – about going z2 (or z3) up the climb he had forgotten. The pace lifted. The Wheelsucker’s suffering continued to increase. An occasional glance at the Wheelsucker’s bike computer was showing 300-400+ watts (remember that the Wheelsucker’s z2 tops out at 212 watts).

And then, a short distance from the top, Ace decided to make his move. He accelerated. The Wheelsucker, for all his limitations, is determined. Ace has described him as tenacious. As he watched the gap to Ace’s back wheel start to increase the Wheelsucker pushed the pedals as hard as he could and was rewarded by first stopping the gap increasing, and then even bringing it back to the short distance he wanted. But this required 500 watts! And the suffering level was going through the roof. Neither the Wheelsucker’s legs nor his lungs could take this anymore. A few bike lengths later the Wheelsucker realized he was done, and he gave up. The Wheelsucker was broken. Rather than let the gap open, which would make it harder for the two riders behind him to close the gap, he continued as hard as he could and pulled off to the left, before easing up. Stu easily accelerated to close the gap to Ace’s wheel, with Steve following Stu. The Wheelsucker soft pedaled, gasping for air, as the trio accelerated up the road, opening a gap.

Ace had gone too soon, and was not able to sustain the effort all the way to the top. He eased up and Stu and Steve went by him to contest the sprint for the top. But all three were soon around a bend and temporarily out of the Wheelsucker’s sight.

Fairhaven road ends at Friendship road. The group ride route is a left onto Friendship and then downhill to Rosehaven and then flat and fast from Rosehaven to the rest stop at Sweet Sue’s in North Beach.

The Wheelsucker was not far behind at the left turn, but eased up first for some cars, and then to ensure that the next rider knew to make the left turn. In a few seconds the next rider appeared, and the Wheelsucker made his left turn and set off in pursuit.

The trio could have eased up to let the group back on. Or they could have eased up long enough for the Wheelsucker to catch back on. But they didn’t. The Wheelsucker had them in sight a short distance down Friendship road, but even with the Wheelsucker going as hard as he could sustain, the gap was opening. He couldn’t see anyone behind him. He lost sight of the trio as they rounded Rosehaven harbor, but he continued to chase as hard as he could. It was a tired and gasping Wheelsucker who pedaled into North Beach and stopped at Sweet Sue’s. Ace, Stu and Steve were relaxed and smiling. The rest of the group rolled in behind the Wheelsucker. The Wheelsucker averaged threshold power for the entire Fairhaven road climb, and then again from the turn onto Friendship road, all the way to North Beach, over ten minutes.

Steady zone 2 my ass!