I am a middle-aged guy flailing to make a comeback after several years away.
While I was off the bike it was not only fitness that disappeared; my patience seems to have worn away too, because raising the training intensity is really hard.
I ride every other day for about 100 to 120 minutes at a heart rate in the mid-130s,
and when I keep the power the same but set the indoor temperature to around 31~32 degrees,
my heart rate shoots up into the high 140s.
Since the power is the same anyway, my legs do not feel any harder
The heat is hard too, but it feels far more bearable than the burning pain in the legs??
With the same power there is obviously no gain in muscular strength,
but since the heart rate is higher it feels like circulatory capacity such as the heart and blood vessels might improve a bit more. Is that just wishful thinking?
Or is there actually an effect??
