I rode indoors for 500 days and became an above average cyclist
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2021
- ZwiftPower now ranks me as a Category B rider. This is my 500 day journey from Non Cyclist to B Cat.
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#sufferfest #FTP #marklewis
Might be a while till I make the jump to Cat A.....actually, not even sure I have enough days left to do that 😂
My people will get in touch with your people to book you into our B Zwift racing team😜
Pagol
You on tren or just test?
Yeah Cat A is a huge jump up from mid Cat B. I'm a midfield Cat B guy myself nudging toward 4W/kg FTP, but guys in Cat A are pushing 5W/kg. I think that's the level where you have to really start morphing your body into a pro-looking cyclist with super-light upper body etc. without an ounce of excess weight anywhere that isn't propelling your bike forward! Otherwise you have to be hauling out massive power. At 95 kg, you are going to need a minimum of 400W FTP to compete in Cat A. Less weight would make it a more achievable goal, but at the expense of losing upper body strength.
The fastest b cat riders overlap a cat. Powerful b cat riders can keep in a cat peleton on the flat, no problem
I'm 58 and just started riding 5 months ago. I bought a lower end but decent Cannondale touring bike and a set of rollers to ride when the weather stinks.
I only ride 40 minutes a day...10 miles... and I double that on weekend days.
I started watching my diet too.
I've lost 50 lbs!
I'm just tossing this out there for those who are less serious riders but who just need to know that daily riding is apparently very very good for you!
Best Regards.
Nice work!! How are you finding it?? Was it expensive to start up?
@@loganmanagh2268 the wife actually bought me my first bike... spent about $900. But it's a decent quality bike for an old guy like me, and she knew I'd be riding frequently so she wanted a reliable one.
My rollers were only $200 and seem to be working out well. I just made sure to get metal ones and not plastic.... again, hoping they last!
Finally I also invested $50 in a basic digital speedometer/ odometer so I can make sure I'm not slacking off when I ride the rollers.
So it was not cheap like it would be to buy a Walmart bike, but it is working out great and I'm loving the physical and mental results of over 50 pounds of weight loss. I'm about 15- 20 pounds away from what I weighed 35 years ago!
Good job pal, indoor cycling is a different beast altogether, keep it up 👍
@@brucepal3907 might sound a bit fatherly, especially since I’m way younger than you probably, but I’m proud of you, it’s amazing when you just put yourself to work. Also I agree it’s smart to buy things that last rather than just a Walmart bike. And 900$ bike especially a used one can be an amazing investment and can be a really good 1500$ as new and still be good quality. So good on you for losing so much weight too.
@Lee-One funny to look back at this post... I'm still riding my 10 miles a day, often 20 on Saturdays and Sundays... bought a second bike, and have managed to keep the weight off between the dailyexercise of riding and having totally changed my diet.
My Cannondale has nearly 4000 miles on it now. 😆 I have not had to do a thing to it other than I do keep it clean and everything adjusted properly. My second bike is a Giant, and I did go the extra mile with upgraded pedals, grips, brake pads, a little fancier riding computer, a nicer seat and a few other goodies. So I went from feeling bad about the price on the first bike to TOTALLY agreeing with your opinion that spending the money on quality is well worth it.
Best regards to you!
"you're just no fun at parties, are you?" - love it, I actually spat my tea out. Thanks!!
😂 then my job is done 👍🏼😆
Best comment
@@camallan1 indeed!!
You have accompanied me through my Covid training. Your self-deprecating sense of humor is absolutely fabulous. This retrospective is gold..pure friggin gold. A. Do your kids know you are a celebrity yet? B. Do your neighbors ever call emergency services based on the noise coming out of your garage?
Yes, every evening meal we go around the table and have to describe the most interesting thing that happened that day…… when it gets to me, I just read out my favourite TH-cam comments from the last 24 hours 😂😂😂 The children hate me.
@@MarkLewisfitness Beautiful!!!
No the neighbours just think you are on your deluxe blow up sheep the one with electric moving parts...its such an ugly sight they just leave you alone...I hear you burst your sheep a few times....
The clip of you going forward and back on the bike never gets old 😂
It's stored in my editing software under "clips I can use all day long" 😂
I always enjoy your content. Your advice helped me break the 60 minute barrier going up the Alpe back in March. I've reached 7,200 miles on my bike ytd and finished Race Across America on a team of eight riders in June. I think I'm finally above average at the age of 66. It's a great place to be. Ride On.
Awesome to hear Craig. 👍🏼
Your 5second power is based on muscle force and ATP stores - it has literally nothing to do with cardio/aerobic fitness so you really wouldn’t expect to improve it vis cycling (any improvements in technique aside) - you’d see better increases in that sprint number from leg work in the gym, and putting on more leg muscle mass (but you’ve lost weight) so it’s really to be expected!
Makes sense. 👍 my leg training in the gym has been significantly reduced due to my legs being tired from cycling all the time ….. but that is no bad thing as anymore size on my legs would have a detrimental impact on my long distance running. Already my, for endurance running, large quads bounce around too much as it is! It just causes them to cramp up after a couple of hours
@@MarkLewisfitness you can definately improve that 5s. Engage that core more, lower your hands, pull to counteract pushing. Easily 300w there
use creatin
It's a common thing in pro cycling as well. Athletes who are stepping from track too road cycling encounter the same, f.e. Stefan Bisseger and Michael Mørkøv. If you dont train it specifaclly, you will lose out on that part.
Dang! 44bpm resting HR. Here I am proud of my 54 😆
Riding your bike indoors is safer than outdoors. I performed a Mark Lewis style man vs pavement exercise and now have severe road rash up my leg which is damn sore….but still managed to finish the 115k ride I was doing.
You are a hero and an inspiration! Thank you and please continue being awesome! ⭐️
Mark you’ve got a great style of story telling . I’m working my way through the back catalogue of uploads very motivational and informative.
Thanks Arthur 🙏
Rarely ride now the gym is back open and I wasn’t looking for cycling videos but this is the best TH-cam video I’ve seen today, highly entertaining and informative plus a lot of fun, I laughed a lot! Subscribed and looking forward to more content, ace job.
I love your Chanel mark! You inspire me to a better version of myself! Thanks and keep up the amazing work!!!
Favorite line: “you’re no fun at parties”…..well played and great video
Phenomenal job, Mark - I'd fully agree, even if 99% of your riding is done indoors on one of these static bikes, it will give you a fairly accurate idea of how things will go outdoors - assuming you have no force 9 headwinds or tailwinds to contend with of course! I'd suggest for your next bike-related challenge though, that you get yourself a good MTB & take to the mountainbike parks & trails. Learn to control the bike, how to do track stands, manuals, stoppies etc, and find lines through obstacles. It's highly technical, and a huge amount of fun. It's actually one of those rare things that gets way more fun the better you get at it. If you ever get the opportunity, Whistler in British Columbia has trails for all abilities, and they're some of the safest designed trails going while also having some of the gnarliest jumps and most technical downhill sections in the world. Can you do it, approaching 50? Blooming hope so - I'm 51!
Its funny. I started riding outdoors and i find that much easier compared to riding on a trainer. 200 watts outside feels much easier than inside to me
I love how much info you cram into your videos but love your snarky banter along the way. I look forward to binging through the rest of your vids while we get hammered with a crazy snow storm.
Your humor and the motivation coming with it is absolutely unique 😎😎😎💪💪💪 love it
Honestly glad it's not just me that sounds like a wounded wildebeest after a hard workout on Sufferfest/Zwift
Great content, man. Very inspirational to watch. I think you're just so muscular on your upper body that it affects your power weight ratio. Last year my best 20 minutes FTP was 3w/kg and it wasn't even a test. I was just doing afterwork 300m climb on local plateau. Haven't had an FTP test in 2 years and I'm going to take out my trainer and get back to zwift after watching this video. Cheers
First time I am watching your channel! Loooove the dry humor. Subscribed! Soooo looking forward to watching your playlist 🤣💪
Love this! I'm doing a similar journey. roughly 300 days in. Wow with the B cat!
New to the channel. Big fan already. Devouring the back catalogue now. Keep it up Mark!
Yes, I have gotten stronger just doing Zwift during lockdown too. Started VO2Max cycling around 57 and after a year on Zwift now at 66. It helps in my running too. Most importantly, I think I enjoy the camaraderie amongst riders on Zwift with no physical races for more than 2 years now in my country now. Tq for this video, you are awesome.
Achilles tendon torn 31.12.2021 😞 as I was in loosing weight for 2 months now with the attempt of joining triathlon in 2023… so now throwback but not giving up I’ll be doing at least one in this lifetime 😎💪 thanks for all the awesome motivation
Bloody cracking insight into your training! I completed the 4th test recently and can confirm, it’s grim!
I think part of the difference between now and when you started is that your current efforts are more geared to a "race" mentality in which your efforts are driven subconsciously by race tactics and efforts needed to do well in races. But overall you are definitely stronger! Good content as usual!
Hi Mark , I have been doing triathlon since 2011 and have done a load of iron and half irons and ultras + the like. I thought I knew it all but your channel has really inspired me . I am registered blind and I've been toughing it out by myself but now o realise I can race competitively in the house , perfect for me . Thank you so much , I am re inspired after a long bout of defeated race failure and fear , lots of love xxxxxxxxxx
I’m still Laughing so hard at the sarcasm! LOVE this, Great video! I’ve been cycling for 12 year, and got to be in the best shape of my life in 2017 @FTP 4,5W/kg. Lots of things have happened since then and now I’m trying to get back to where I was or as close as I can and this video has inspired me a way to do so! So thank you! Cheers from Costa Rica!! 🇨🇷
Congrats. Well done. I look forward to seeing you do the test on your tt bike and a kicker. Solid work on your part.
Really enjoying your content and humour. 47yr old bodybuilder (90 kilos 5'9") just started zwifting here. Also not a cycling guy but really enjoying it. 20th ride so far and just got bumped to cat c. I have always done light cardio but this is a whole different ballgame! Keep up the great work and the dry humour!
Thats bloody good progress mark, well done. I got on the bike for the first time in nearly 5 months and did a 30 min trainer road session and it nearly killed me but at least i know how unfit i've become and what i need (sort of) to do to fix that. Love the content btw
Great video - really enjoyed watching this. Recently graduated to Cat B after hitting my 10 year anniversary of becoming an obsessive road cyclist.
To do that in 500 days is not too shabby! 👍
Really enjoyed watching this video ... well produced and planned. Subscribe deserved 👍
Very inspiring Your Focus and simple / logical approach is an eye opener INSPIRATION Thank You !
Glad I found this channel! I learned so much just by watching this video
Great progress for a non-cyclist. a big percentage of these improvements would have been down to you not knowing how to tackle the 4DP in the first place, it is a super hard test and takes several goes at before you can really understand how to tackle it. Nevertheless... improvement is improvement and I'm sure there's plenty more to be had there!! Keep it up.
Hilarious and informative! RIDE ON, Mark!
Thank you to share the information that you got from your life experience, love your humer.
I'm new to this channel Mark. Enjoyed this video. Tongue in cheek as well as knowledge. You've earned a subscriber :)
Excellent work. This and many of your videos have inspired me to do more. I too started cycling in lockdown, mainly on my partners peloton (don't judge me) and more recently some "outside" rides on a real bike. I have seen some huge gains. I haven't done (or have the tools) all the tests you did but the peloton does allow a 20 min ftp which has improved from 163 to 235. With a weight loss of around 5 kg that has shifted my power to weight ratio from 1.9 to 3.01 (and that .01 is very important to me, the magic 3 was a huge goal and what I consider to be the "above average" threshold. I am 6 foot, 78 kg and 47 years old. Also a T1 diabetic!! Never too late to take responsibility for your health. Thanks again and keep up the inspiring content. Next steps for me are taking up running and doing some endurance events on my "outside" bike, and maybe look into a proper Zwift setup... I like the bike that goes up and down
Great job, I have the same when it comes to the straps for my garmin
Well done.your seriously fit..I'm a top end c rider but I don't want to go to B . Just a couple of days ago I've decided to cut out the junk food. You took you weight down and you increased your 5 min and 20 min power. That's makes you a serious zwift racer . Keep up the good work . As for 100k running races that's nuts. Fair play
Think all your videos/vlogs etc are great. Cat B is where Zwift power put me, now I'm going to have a tough time racing. Kind got myself addicted to your videos and the above average mantra!
I ride appx 3-5k outdoor miles a year and consider myself a solid cyclist around the 18-20 mph range. I recently tried one of the C group pace rides based on your videos just to test it out. I will say I worked far harder than I expected to stay in the group even with the 'draft effect'. Think I will toss some C group races into my winter training to see what I learn, who knows maybe next season I can hang with the fast kids. My wife refers to you as 'UK Me' when I am watching your channel (middle aged, 6'5, formally obese, an uncanny knack to empty a refrigerator and sounds like I am in labor when on Zwift). Good stuff.
Good Suffering Mark! Excellent!
Great, great video. Great content, great delivery, great humour, great Garmin straps. Great.
Holy moly!! I’m packing for a Spartan Race as I’m listening to your video!! Big Bear Beast!!
Keep up the phenomenal work my friend!!! 💪💪💪
Nice work. Keep up the videos. Brings a laugh to many as well.
MAx power 5 sec is realy hard to train.. I went from playing volleyball for 15 years pure explosion training first time on a bike (spinn class) I hit 1600watt .. Now 6 years of biking later I can hit 1300Watt Sprint . But just like you all my endurance stuff have gone up Tons .. if you want your 5 sec power up its Squads Food and sprint workouts on the bike =)
I started cycling around the same time as u, I am hooked now
Thanks for sharing your experience here. Very interesting.
Always loving the videos, seen a majority of your impressive cycling progression.
Having cycled outside a ton over the summer with no power meter i have gone backwards in terms of power, so indoor and zwift again to get me back on track. However I had a lot of fun out in the forest so no regrets 😁👍
yeah! that's what you built all that power for anyway!
Good on you mate.. Iam mid 50s and just returned to cycling after 12yrs off the bike. I have ridden 8000km since January (5000 on Zwift due to lockdowns etc). Have done 6 races on Zwift in C grade - results are 1st, 3rd, 2 x 5th, 12th and a 53/140 in a WTRL C3 race. I have now been upgraded to B by Zwift Power. My 20min (from racing) is 3.6w/kg but my 1 and 5min power is still pretty low so moving into B means no podiums for a bit whilst I adapt to the next level of crazy starts in Zwift.
Great Job Marky! Realistic goals indeed :)
I love this channel. So glad I've just come across it.
Fun video. I’ve done some Wahoo Kickr training during winter, but prefer to ride outside. Glad you didn’t risk the health of your entire nation!
It's defo a grate achievement to come so far and get fitter as most (including myself) got less fit over lockdown as Spain had much worse restrictions than UK
I've seen loads of mates come over similar to yourself that weren't that strong and now are super strong after riding alot of indoors.... The problem is as they haven't ridden outdoors, to put it simply they just can't ride 😅🤣 they can put all the power down in straight lines or uphill but can't do anything with bends nor descents, so I'd recommend going outside as much as possible cuz riders with less power and more bike handling skills might just surprise you!
Fantastic video! - just from experience (I've done a lot of crit and can races) have an experiment with your seat height, raise your saddle 5mm or so and see if those seated sprints are any easier, well worth a try - theres nothing better than free watts! - best of luck Rob👍
This is the first video from this fella I've seen, and I like him already.😂😂😂
"...some of the events I do will have photographers there soooo, guns show" 😝
😁💪
Great vid. Good info and good humour
Great attitude, solid information, well crafted and imaginative videos. You are my new favorite channel. My best to Nixon.
Appreciate that 🐶
Again some really great content. Well done
You are no fun at parties, what a quality saying..🤣🤣. My saying is how hard can it be!!
Good luck on the Spartan race.
Just found your channel. Funny and informative! New subscriber 👊
You can definitely transfer this to outdoor cycling - no problem! From another part time athlete now fractionally closer to 50 than 40, you’ve earned yourself another subscriber!
first time coming across your video and found it very entertaining. new sub here !
Wowww, good job done and great results reached.
That was both informative and hilarious, lol! 😂
Thanks I love cycling and enjoy zwift during winter so thanks for the video , must say I never worry about colour coordination when I’m on zwift though 😂
Great video! ALMOST makes me want to try it myself
You earned yourself a new sub mate. You made an FTP video fun!
Content fun to watch deffo 🤙. Super stuff ✅👍
Laughs, great video! Great info!
Entertaining and educational. Thanks
Great numbers/improvements. ✊
2 minutes in, and im lmao. going to cycle while i watch rest of your video! great stuff
Cracking as always Mark. Most anticipated video upload of the channels I follow (mostly cycling related)! Keep up the good work, looking forward to the vid after your outdoor ride where you have to turn….
Turn???? What magic is this? 😂
lol, you are so funny. Thanks for making these videos:)
Great motivational aid. Good job.
That's a massive improvement. Will be interesting to see how the garage fitness translates into your road races/ironman. Hopefully will really help your performance 🙂 Cheers
You, sir, are hilarious; subscribed!
Really insightful cheers dude I’ve recently jumped into cycling ( retired runner , injuries) been cycling since April 2021 I used a smart trainer and Zwift but mostly ride out doors with occasionally on Zwift I wanted to ride the 100 like what marathon is to runners which I did in August 21 as winter comes want to get my ftp to what yours is above 300 currently at 267 but it’s hard again cheers 👍
You are absolutely mental and so much fun to watch!! See you in cat b races soon
Great sense of humour. As the old adage goes practice makes perfect. 😎
Really fun and entertaining to watch ☺️
Thanks for this video gives me hope and a great amount of motivation to get on the trainer more frequently and be more consistent . I try to be fun at parties LOL.
Random recommendation, clicked, 2 min in, subbed - Nice job dude!
You're not above average Mark. You're SAVAGE🙌🤘💪😁 subbed, I love the quality content, and humour.
As someone who basically never uses an indoor trainer and always hits the road cycling, this was super interesting to watch! Awesome to see the dedication to 500 days of effort to see the payoff.
I became a cat B (3,53 w/kg) rider in 3,5 months. Started Zwifting 30.september 2020 with 155W FTP and 82,5kg (1,88 w/kg), week D rider. Middle of January (after finishing every bagde on Zwift, including vEveresting) I took another FTP test 233W and 66 kg (3,53 w/kg). All that in around +/- 100 days.
And finished level 1-50 on Zwift in 8 months and 24 days.
Are these races you were entering? And how often were you riding?
We’ll done on your fitness training success!
Kudos Sir. And bigger/wider shoulders, win, win.
Oh snap! I did my last 4DP right after I ran my first ultramarathon in late 2019. I’ve spent a LOT more time on the bike in the last 22 months. I think it’s time for another go at 4DP. I just have to make sure I have a trash can nearby in case I barf. That 1 minute power test is BRUTALLLLLL!
I don't know how I got to this video, but dude, you are hilarious. Love the content.
"Not fun at parties are you" 😂Brilliant comment 👍 @12:44
it's great to see other old guys loving pain. I'm 52 and not givin up either. keep it up!!
Congratulations!
Great journey. Love it! I watched your initial video when you started on Sufferfest and wondered if you would stick with it or not. So top effort for seeing it through! I've been training in a similar fashion since the end of 2019, although I started off from a reasonable baseline from mountain biking. When I started indoor training I was around 84 kg with an FTP around 250W. Since then I've got down to as low as 75 kg with FTP at 285W. I really want to get to that magic 4W/kg threshold in the next year. Do make sure you get outside on a real bike after all this work. I did quite a few Sportive events this year including the Peak Epic (100 miles with 4000 m climbing) and finished well above average. I'm planning to ride the L'Etape du Tour next summer. Love the Kickr bike by the way. Might have to get one of those instead of sweating all over my road bike!
I am just planning a video that is coming soon…… basically seeing how all that indoor riding impact my ability to try riding outside 😂
the sarcasm is unreal - love it 🤣🤣
Getting to a decent level of fitness 55 is one of the best things I’ve done in my life ,,,excited to c where I can be in my 60s. Preparing to live not die