Getting slower

[loudtiger]

Turning to y'all for some help with my riding partner. This past year we've been doing our normal training in central texas which consists of mostly sitting on the indoor trainer and longer rides (~3 hrs) on the weekends. I have no expectations that at our given training load we will be getting much faster, but at least we should be maintaining our fitness. Between the two of us we usually do the same training programs on the trainer (scaled to FTP) and ride road together when outside.

However, we picked up MTBing last year as well and have been adding MTB rides at our local trails after work when the weather permits. It's usually near 100 degrees when we go and I realize different people handle the heat differently. My partner is steadily getting slower and weaker on the MTB over the last few months and we're trying to understand why. This is most noticeable up a few of the hills on the trail where they are unable to climb up even in the 51t tooth cog. I'm not a coach and don't know what is holding them back. No equipment changes or fit changes, but since this is isolated to MTB i wonder if there is something not carrying over from indoor training and road riding which is both on the road bike. Again, suspect the heat could be a factor but also expect to acclimatize over the last few months.

I realize I haven't provided much detail but this is all I have to work with atm. Anyone have any thoughts? Another thought I had was maybe the MTB fit is different and thus the MTB needs to go on the trainer so we can work on specific drills with that bike.

[ms6073]

Again, suspect the heat could be a factor but also expect to acclimatize over the last few months.

Do you have cooling fans in front of the bikes when riding on the trainers?
My guess is that the humidity we have been suffering here in Texas over the past few months has often times been extremely brutal resulting in triple digit feels-like temperatures. I suspect if you are riding off-road in the woods, then there probably is not that much in terms of a breeze, which can make it even more difficult.

[loudtiger]

Do you have cooling fans in front of the bikes when riding on the trainers?
My guess is that the humidity we have been suffering here in Texas over the past few months has often times been extremely brutal resulting in triple digit feels-like temperatures. I suspect if you are riding off-road in the woods, then there probably is not that much in terms of a breeze, which can make it even more difficult.

We do have fans. 3, actually It's the only way to combat overheating and have a useful trainer session. One of the reasons we actually started riding off-road was for the shade from the sun, which, as I see you're from Houston, you should be painfully aware of. It's not quite as humid here but this summer it's been close.

One thing I noticed is that my partner's road bike fit and MTB fit seem to be wildly different. Newer style MTBs have very steep seat tubes, and most droppers are not set-back (or if they are, it's a small amount of setback). I wonder if this could be a difference - my own saddle -> bb center (is there a term for this?) is also quite different between my MTB and road setups, but my fit seems to translate pretty well between the two disciplines. I think there are a few things I need to investigate - maybe a new bike fit is in order, or getting the MTB on the trainer to train slightly different muscle groups can help.

[spokenwords]

Im in Austin and can say that this was, for some reason, the worst season ive had on a bike. I am usually good with the heat but this summer was just different. I do all my rides in the afternoons so I that doesnt help.
As for the difference in positions between the two bikes, that will be most significant on the climbs, so I think you may on to something there.