Len and Lance on the Podium
Our boy Len Zanni from Big Agnes/Honey Stinger had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race with Lance Armstrong this summer at the 12 Hours of Snowmass race. Len is a typical Roaring Fork Valley sandbagger, so you’d never know it from talking to him that he’s one of the best cyclists in the Valley, if not the state. At the Snowmass race, Len held his own, riding laps just a couple minutes slower than Lance and helping their three-man team to victory.
As winter sets in here and the snow starts to fly, Len and I have been trying to squeeze in as much riding as we can, unlike the rest of the Backbone crew, which is solely focused on skiing now. (click photo on right to see our friend B-town ripping some early-season powder grass during a mission in nearby Marble with JLD last weekend).
Len and I were plotting our winter training yesterday, talking about getting in one road ride per week, with lots of gym time and skate skiing to maintain fitness. Then I stumbled across Lance’s winter training plan as explained by Chris Carmichael on Bicycling.com.
Lance’s Training Outline
2 x per week 5-5.5 hrs endurance pace
2 x per week 3-4 hrs endurance pace with 2 x 20minutes at just below LT pace (380-400watts)
1 x per week Tuesday-night ride
1 x per week 3-4 hrs with 2 sets of 4 x 20seconds max effort x 40 seconds recovery
1 x per week–day of for travel, rest.
Uhh yeah, Len, you’re going to have a tough time keeping up with Lance next year.
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I can actually see the rest of his year’s training plan leading up to a certain Grand Tour (which I cannot disclose). January’s going to brutal… (crap, I can’t disclose that either). Suffice it to say, he doesn’t do anything special, he just does 300% more of it than you or I could ever pull off. And if he’s ripping off 20 minute pieces at 400 watts now, imagine what he’s going to have to push 2-3 months from now, wattage-wise. Sheesh.