Here are some facts about Nate-
- He posted a 50 flat time in Snowbird several years ago at 5'11" 197 lbs with a good portion of body fat...thats right 50 flat, he ave. over 440watts...
- I met him on a climb last year and told him how I knew about his climb times, and how impressed I was that a dude of his size could climb like that.
- He is a very intellingent dude (who analyzes training like Max Testa) and likes to do shorter sessions on the trainer (year round) of really hard intervals Vs time in the saddle...
- He's about as nice of a guy as they come...
- He took me up on a gratis offer to help him lose weight, he got down to 168 last spring and kept the same wattage... imagine what he would have done the SBHC in...anyway between the training, dieting, having a new baby and remodeling a house, it burned him out... he gained a lot of weight back. Then I never heard from him again until today, in response to an e-mail of mine.
- Apparently, he quit riding until May, then started riding around 8 hours a week throughout the summer.
- He didn't feel great during Lotoja and kept it steady... he said he soloed close to a total of 140 miles of the race.... and still posted a 9:16! What if he would have been with the group of 180?!?
This guy is an absolute cycling machine... Nate there is no reason to apologize to me, you didn't let me down... I don't know what to say outside of "amazing bro."
B-Horn
18 comments:
440W at threshold and 170lbs (5.7 W/kg) puts him easily in the domestic pro (or international rookie) category... I'm kinda smart too. ;-)
It’s funny to see all these comments about Nate! I train with Nate year round, I know him better than anyone. I guess all the people that stated that he must have cheated last year got what they deserved. We like to train hard, very hard. Anyone that thinks they could hold his wheel in a contest of attrition, no drafting, I would challenge them to try. For the past three years I have been chasing his wheel, I am getting close, I know how hard he trains, I know how he trains and how hard he rides, because I am with him, half the time when he is doing it. He trains at my house often; I have a power meter I KNOW what his power is. I also know how little he trains for how strong he is. B-Horn, I saw how low his weight was at its lowest if he would have kept it down he just may have been unstoppable. Then what would the naysayers have said? We both like the idea of looking at cycling / racing as a fitness test. Testing one’s ability to suffer beyond what the normal is. We push one another every year to new heights. Keep up the good work B-Horn, you may be one of the few out there that truly believes that he does it fair.
I hope my post didn't come across as skeptical, because I wasn't. They're great numbers for an amateur, but not unbelievable. I just stated a fact.
speaking of Dave sharp,I sure had fun with my group,I thought a couple of them may have been a bit tired at the end so I attacked the crap out of them and the still beat me in the sprint,to bad I leave a slim trail when I sprint.
props to mark and mark old guys rule.
I think there are alot of guys out there who don't race but are strong as hell
MS
P-man, your right he would be international pro in Watts/kg...
Troybuilt, I agree and I think a lot of people have seen him do Snowbird, I know that Norm Bryner knows who he is...we talked about him years ago, so does Mr Hardwood and Luscious Jackson for that matter.
Skarp- Lets see Mark Skarpohl, Shaeffer, Zimbleman, pick a "master" Mark and they're gonna be tough. Hooray for masters and beer bra, great job! And yeah Sharp is a horse let alone McWin, McPorter McFerg, McKidd I heard was pullin like a taffyman let alone the rest of those bad man masters too many to mention...
P-man, let's do a what if with Nate. If he did a 50min SBHC at 197lbs and kept the same wattage but dropped 30lbs to 167.
My calculations would show a drop of almost 3 minutes per 10 lbs so thirty pounds would be 9 minutes and put him at a record pace of 41 minutes. Alpe D'Huez is roughly the same grade and distance and Lance did it in 39+, Ulrich 40+ and the rest of the field between 42 and 45 minutes for the most part... I think Burke holds the record at 43 min's but he is probably a stronger rider now then when he did it... Anyway, is this about the same as your calc?
Levi Leipheimer still holds the record of 43.06 minutes 1997. I/we think it is beatable. Who knows when it will happen. Although I am told that the race was held at a latter date and the winds were more favorable.
OK B-Horn, I took up the challenge, but used analyticcycling.com (I'm smart, remember? Or is that "clever"?)
I figured the average grade for the entire SBHC to be roughly 6.4% (3500' vertical/10-10.5 miles length). At our altitude to clock 50 min a person + bike weighing 214 lbs (97 kg) would have to average 377 W (that includes coasting!). With that average power a person/bike weighing 185 lbs (84 kg) total would clock 44 min 20 sec. I'm sure there are numerous other factors involved, so this is a bit simplistic.
Having said that, I never see my best numbers riding up there. It's probably the altitude.
Troybuilt, yes, the race was in September and I don't remember it being as windy as it has been recently. Also, it started from the entry to the Shopko parking lot. This year I noticed that it took us about 30 seconds to get to that point. So it used to be a bit shorter.
P-man,
Thanks, that seems more realistic but would obviouslystill be a ripping time.
B-Horn
Yeah, he rode me and Chad the Bull Elk off his wheel that year of the 50 flat, i remember thinking, "who the hell is this guy, he has like 60 pounds on me." I also rmember thinking about the ma power he must been putting out, or maybe my brakes were rubbing and my tires were flat and my free wheel was locked up.
Thanks B-horn for the post in my behalf and for nudging and helping me to drop some kilos. You're one awesome and freakishly tough dude!
With all these flattering and complementing responses, maybe I'll have to actually burn off a few kCals this year and ride a bit more consistently.
Even still, I know there are a lot of local riders around that are waaay more disciplined, stronger, and leaner than I'll ever be.
Kudos to all those that seek after sincere suffering. It puts hair on your chest!
Nate :)
I am Nate's brother, and have little experience riding with him (I live in FL and we only ride when I can get back home). But I can add a few things to the conversation.
First, if you want to train like him, be a hiking maniac for a few years, then do speedskating, then start cycling--that's where his quads come from (plus a bit of genetics).
Second, push top exertion every training--maintainence and relaxing rides are useful, but push the top power output more. Nate's philosophy is that it must hurt to be beneficial (kind of like no pain, no gain).
Also, any critics can relax on if he is clean or not. His strength comes from focus and digging deep--not silly antics or drugs.
Tell him to do some other races and maybe people would believe it. Upgrade and race the pro group. Race some other races. Sounds like a fish, smells like a fish.... must be a fish.
I saw this guys results from last years Lotoja and saw him put in another top performance this year. Why the hell is he racing citizens? Nate save yourself some time avoiding all of the recreational riders and go ride with some like minded riders. I would call you a sandbagger but the fact is you probably would have beaten the pro 1/2 group. Cat-up my man.
Alright Nate,
The good news is you are getting respect... with that comes the responsibility to upgrade and test yourself against the best... I know you have a lot of family commitments... pick your races and kick ...
As far as the kilo's...you know I'll be there for you, and we can tweek the amount of hours, let me know if I can help... and good job!
B-Horn
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