The 175lb Cyclist

Back in 2005 when I got into road cycling, I was not the svelte athlete that I am today.

Just kidding, I wouldn't consider myself svelte even today, just in way better shape...

My first ride on my brand spankin' new Trek 5200 was only like 4 or 5 miles max such was my physical state that I didn't know how I'd do.  I felt good after that ride and was amazed to look down at my cycling computer and see how fast I was going down some small hills.  I wasn't fast, but that was okay, I was having fun.

Here's a stock photo of a Trek 5000 minus pedals, this is the bike I had back in 2005-2006

I began to devour anything I could get my hands on that pertained to the history of cycling and on improving my performance.  Pretty soon everything I was reading was using the 175 lb athlete as the benchmark.  There was nothing for folks in my weight range (at the time 200+).  I was researching different parts that I could swap out to make my bike lighter thinking that was what would make the most difference.  The spring of 2006 saw me upgrade the bars, stem, seat post & pedals along with my cycling shoes and a better helmet.

I was becoming a weight weenie, which is a cyclist so obsessive over the weight of their bike that they will spend hundreds on a carbon fiber component that weighs 100 grams less than the top end aluminium component.  I thought that by getting the bike as light as I could that it would make all the difference with my performance.

Another aspect to improving my performance at the time and through subsequent years up until 2012 was that I had to carb load, i.e. eat a bunch of pasta and such because I didn't want to bonk.  All the aforementioned books that referenced the 175 lb cyclist talked about eating bars & gels at the rate of 250 grams of carbs per hour because that is what the body can process.  The pros eat spaghetti pre-ride so that's what I did.

For real, I would make a small bowl of pasta top it off with Parmesan cheese and an egg all because the pros did it.  However as I have learned in subsequent years is that what the pros do isn't necessarily the latest & greatest nor is what they say they do, actually what they do.  For an example along those lines is how whatever bike is sponsoring their team that year is the best bike they have ever ridden.  The proof in the pudding is to see what bike they get when they retire, when it is their choice.

Plus, what I ride in a year, they cover just doing the Tour de France and several week long stage races.  They are riding their bikes way more than I do.

Because of his association with Lance Armstrong, I followed a lot of what Chris Carmichael was offering in the form of books & articles online.  What we didn't know at the time was that Carmichael was essentially a beard for Michele Ferrari.  And no matter what I did, my weight didn't budge past a certain point.  I could ride for hours & days on end and fuel the way I should be based on what I was told by the mainstream and my weight would not budge or it would go up.

I basically resigned myself to being a 200 lb cyclist...

...Then I discovered ancestral health, dropped sugar & grains (except when I was on the bike) and eventually dropped to 185 lbs, which was a weight I'd not seen since 1992 or Junior year of high school pre-drivers license.  And as I became fat adapted, I found that I could make my bike jump and go fast all because I lost weight, not my bike.  I could do a century (100 miles) and feel as fresh at the end as I did at the beginning and wake up the following day ready to go again.  Yes it helped that the bike I was on a great bike, a Cervelo S5 with deep section aero wheels, but in order to make that bike do what it is designed to, I had to be fit or rather fitter than I was previously.

Kicking grains & sugars got me there.

...Then stress kicked in and I ended up chasing that dragon for the last 5 years.

Now I know what's up.  I know all those books about carb loading and eating x # of grams per hour are a joke.  I was always upset that those books with the 175 lb cyclist focused only on those folks because I felt that there were more of me than them.

One of the last "fitness" books I bought pre 2012 paradigm shift was called Race Weight (I think).  In it I followed the carb loading post workout with a massive bowl of macaroni that was recommended.  Guess what happened?  Not only did my weight balloon up, but I also had bad blood values all because I was doing what I was told would work to get me to being a 175 lb cyclist.

So now, my target weight is 175-170 lbs.  Again, I've never been lower as an adult than 185.  Hitting 180 and lower will be an interesting no man's land.  I'll have no idea how I'll perform on the bike other than that my climbing should improve a lot.

I never thought I could be that 175 lb cyclist, but now because of a couple of guys named Loren Cordain, Ph.D. & Vinnie Tortorich I am within sight of that target.  Dr. Cordain got me started back in 2012 and Vinnie has reinvigorated me with his podcast & his attitude towards food, nutrition & cycling and life.