Nikolai Zemlyanoi: from brevets to the podium Tsar Grader

Guest

Useful from the issue

1. The result comes over the years

   The coach immediately told Nikolai that adequate results should be expected in three years. In cyclic sports, it's the time invested in training that matters.

2. Track teaches you to ride in a pack

   The winter track gave Nikolai the skill to sit on the wheel and not be afraid of his neighbors, so in the very first road race he rode confidently in the group.

3. See the route in advance

   Viewing the Tsar Grader showed that you need a road cassette and a short chain with a sedative, and the coach has a crack in the frame. The track is worth watching before any race.

4. Duplicate power

   During the long race, Nikolai was carrying a supply of carbohydrates in case he lost the flask or missed the food point.

5. Do not believe "food without shifts"

   Anyone who says in isolation that they are riding without changes and without a finish can pass on the line. It's better to try to drop them.

6. Take tests

   Iron deficiency inhibits growth. Nikolai could not close it with pills for a long time, helped by a course of iron intravenously under the supervision of a doctor.

7. Count calories, not ban

   Counting with protein of about 2-2.5 g and fat of 1 g per kilogram of weight gave minus 2 kg in three weeks without hunger and drawdowns.

8. Do not abruptly cut off the volume

   A week of 36 hours at the training camp and a sharp transition to rest knocked out the nervous system. It is better to increase and decrease the volume gradually.

9. Grow during rest

   The main recovery is sleep, regime and nutrition. In the season, even a long walk on foot can noticeably knock out the training rhythm.

10. Don't get hung up on hardware

    At the beginning of the journey, the weight of the bike and the choice of tires have almost no effect on the result. This is important only when you are fighting for the podium.

A new dependency instead of the old ones

Around 2020, Nikolai decided to end his idle lifestyle and addictions. A lot of time was freed up: he tried a motorcycle and even played football with a coach for six months, but realized that it was almost impossible to become a football player at the age of 35. Then he remembered how in his youth he rode with a party of custom bicycles, and on the advice of a friend from a bike store, he bought a gravel. At first I dreamed of traveling, bought bike-packing bags and equipment, and then I came across brevettes and Paris—Brest — Paris caught fire.

Even before his first serious ride, he went to a bike fit, and before his first brevet, he took a lab test to understand what the second heart rate zone is. In the first summer, he rode brevets of 200, 300, and 400 km. He himself calls cycling a new addiction, only a positive one: his approach is almost professional, at one time he was worked with by a sports doctor, masseur, and nutritionist.

Track, coach, and the first road season

The turning point was the winter cycling track: on the beam, Nikolai asked a friend what to do in winter, and got into a group where the instructor immediately put him to ride with the athletes. At the same time, he began to study with Alexey Shchebelin, whom he knew from the film about the super—long race - first with one-time trainings, then according to plan. The gym and the OFP were added, and two months later, Nikolai was third in his group at the measurement. The main thing that he learned: in cyclical sports, the time invested in himself decides, and the coach immediately warned that adequate results should be expected in three years.

In the spring he was called to the "Amateur Club", and he spent his first road season there. The track helped a lot: the ability to sit on the wheel and not be afraid of the neighbor's shoulder allowed you to ride confidently in a pack right away. The season turned out to be difficult — it flowed from the track without a pause, and two serious blockages, in one of which the new frame broke, knocked out morally for a long time. The coach advised me to just keep driving, and over time it passed.

Tsar Grader from the inside

Nikolay wasn't planning to ride Tsar Grader and even laughed at the 250 kilometres, but he went to help his coach. He sold his heavy gravel bike with 650b wheels and bought a Canyon Grizl. The decisive factor was the track inspection: it turned out that a large cassette wasn't needed and due to the long chain, it would come off, so he put a road cassette, a short chain and a chain keeper. During the race, the chain fell twice but returned to its place. And the coach found a crack in the frame's steerer tube during the inspection — without checking, the bike could have fallen apart right during the race.

The plan was to drive economically, and 80 km before the finish to go into a breakaway. Everything went differently: Nikolai attacked at the first food point, the coach was transferred to him, and this groundwork allowed him to survive a technically difficult sandy area where he was losing badly. Then the group of leaders walked along the asphalt about 40 km / h with short shifts. Nikolai's meals were duplicated in case of loss of the flask. When the coach went into a victorious counterattack, Nikolai sat on the wheel of the pursuers and did not work, and in the end agreed with one of the rivals to leave the third: he got the second place, Nikolai — the third. At the finish line, he admits, he was shaking and he burst into tears.

Road calendar and races you like

Gravel races with wading and mudding aren't interesting for Nikolay, but he will go to Tsar Grader again. The priority is the road: the Three Mountains stage race and Cycling Race starts, which he values for safe routes and finishes and clustering, although many of their races were cancelled last season. In St. Petersburg, according to him, there are almost no races, so he has to gain experience at Moscow starts, and that's expensive. He liked the 'Ladozhskoe Gold' — the organization level with transfers and hotels and the criterium in the center of Vyborg with cobblestones. Such races on a short closed loop, he believes, are easier to coordinate, and there should be more of them.

Foreign starts don't attract him yet: in Turkey, he's not confident in his descents, and mixed pelotons like those in Dubai, where everyone rides together, seem less safe to him than the Russian cluster system. Of the electronics, he praises Di2 for convenience and less maintenance, but recalls how after a fall, the derailleur got messed up right at the start of the race, and he had to go uphill almost in one gear. Another story of the season — on a training ride on an empty road, a car hit him with a mirror. Nikolay got off with bruises, and the insurance company, which doesn't have an estimate for carbon repair, assessed even scratches as part replacement and paid 400 thousand rubles.

Victories, breaks and lessons of trust

Nikolay calls the victory in the absolute of cluster B on the Garden Ring after the breakaway and the final race of the season, where two comrades drove him in the last kilometers, the most memorable. On "Two Rivers" he won the amateur standings, having left for the right gap: to stay there, he had to drive about 420 watts on shift.

There, an instructive story happened. One of the companions in the breakaway said that his legs were cramping and he was riding without changes and without finishing. Nikolay was riding at the limit, and just before the finish line, his companion stood on the pedals and passed him. Nikolay's conclusion: if someone in the breakaway says they're riding without changes, you can't believe it and it's better to try and drop them.

How does he train

Nikolay tries not to delve into the plan: the coach says, he does. In winter — 14–15 hours per week: two gym sessions, general physical training, three track workouts, and two on the indoor trainer; before a short track workout, he often adds roller riding. In summer, there's more intensity, team training sessions, and races — about 30 starts per season, and he gains form through them. He calculates the annual volume in hours: about 790 hours last year, more than 800 this year, and about 900 he sees as his limit.

At the autumn training camp in Turkey, one week went out for 36 hours, and Nikolai considers this a mistake: after a sharp transition to rest and cold, the nervous system did not return to normal for a long time. His famous segment also happened there — 35 minutes uphill at 408 watts, when he wanted to throw a familiar racer off the wheel. According to him, this is about 5 watts per kilogram, and the goal is 5.5. Recovery for him is sleep, regimen and nutrition, plus massage and swimming pool; in the season he avoids even long walks, because any unusual load knocks out.

Tests, nutrition and history with bolts

When asked about doping, Nikolai answers with a story about working with a sports doctor. First of all, he was found to have a severe iron deficiency: they picked up the forms for six months and took tests every two weeks until they put iron intravenously. He calls the tests markers of how the organs respond to the load: if there is a problem, and you continue to train, there will be no growth. In weight, he has gone from about 82 kg to 76-77 in recent years, and before the "Three Mountains" in three weeks he dropped two more kilograms without hunger, just counting calories: about 2-2.5 g of protein and 1 g of fat per kilogram, the rest is carbohydrates, a small deficit.

The title of the issue is a story from a triathlon, where Nikolai was riding a relay bike stage. The hydrator under jersey, as it turned out in the morning, is prohibited, and he did not take the bolts for the flask holder. A few minutes before the closure of the transit zone, not finding anyone to ask, he unscrewed two bolts from someone else's bike, on which there was no bottle holder. Nikolai is still tormented by his conscience, and he publicly apologizes to the owner.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Acquaintance
2. 01:38How a guest came to cycling
3. 07:17Track and the first coach
4. 11:20The first road season and blockages
5. 15:25Bicycles and Di2 crashes
6. 23:25Preparation for the Tsar Grader
7. 27:25How was the Tsar Grader
8. 40:37Road calendar
9. 45:27Work and cycling
10. 48:42Hit by a car in training
11. 51:10The story of the bolts
12. 56:42Teams and Etalon Team
13. 1:06:31Victories and a lesson on "Two Rivers"
14. 1:13:46Training, volumes, and 408 watts
15. 1:21:52Tests, supplements and nutrition

Mentioned in this episode

Tsar Grader · Etalon Team · Amateur Club · Cycling Race · Three Mountains · Ladoga Gold · Two Rivers · Canyon Grizl · Canyon Aeroad · Shimano Di2 · Continental GP 5000