A Calpe Reality Check for Riders at Every Level
If you want to understand how athletes really train, go to Calpe in November.
The roads are full of every type of cyclist:
- WorldTour pros on prescribed base
- Conti riders trying to “prove” fitness
- U23 kids trying to get noticed
- Ambitious amateurs doing volume
- Masters riders doing camps
- Strava heroes riding themselves into the ground
It’s a living ecosystem of training philosophies — good, bad, and delusional.
And here’s the truth I learned:
Most riders swear they’re riding Z2.
Almost none actually are.
And the ones who are — stand out immediately.
This doesn’t just apply to Masters.
It applies to every rider chasing performance — especially those Conti kids who truly believe they’re doing “base.”
1. Everyone says “Z2,” but the files tell the truth
If you ask a Conti kid here:
“How was the ride?” → “Just Z2.”
Then you look at their Strava:
- 30–40% tempo
- 10% threshold
- 20% recovery
- spikes all over the place
- normalized power that belongs in a race
- multiple minutes above LT2
- chasing segments for fun
This is NOT Z2.
This is NOT base.
This is NOT how pros build capacity.
It’s freewheeling glycolytic overreach masked as discipline.
But they genuinely believe it’s Z2.
Just like ambitious amateurs do.
Just like many Masters do.
Everyone thinks they’re “keeping it aerobic.”
Almost nobody is.
2. The best riders — the true pros — look boring
The WorldTour guys?
Their files are flat.
Monotone.
Controlled.
Almost painfully consistent.
- 80–95% Z2
- low variability
- no chasing hills
- no emotional spikes
- no “just felt good” threshold
- power band within 10–20W
- high-cadence climbing
- lactate-controlled pacing
Their Z2 is Z2.
Full stop.
Quinn Simmons’ 290W endurance day looks like a textbook:
flat, stable, repeatable.
Compare that to a Conti kid’s “endurance ride” at 70–80% FTP with random 400W kicks every hill…
and it’s night and day.
The Conti kid feels fast.
The pro is building the physiology to be fast.
What does it look like?
Here is what most rider’s Z2 rides look like:
Here is what most World Tour Pros Z2 rides look like:
3. Tom Danielson’s rule: “FTP doesn’t drop anyone”
My former coach Tom Danielson said something that stuck with me:
“You’re not dropping anyone at FTP.
Race-winning power is above 120% of threshold.”
This is where the Calpe “Z2-but-not-really” problem gets worse.
These kids are riding:
- too hard for aerobic base
- too easy for race stimulus
They’re developing:
- neither the low-intensity durability required for true endurance
- nor the high-intensity decisiveness required for breakaways or race moves
They are training in the worst middle zone:
- too hot for volume
- too cold for race power
- too inconsistent for physiology
- too inconsistent for durability
- and too emotionally reactive to be purposeful
This applies to every level of rider — from juniors to Masters.
4. Speed today vs speed when it matters
There are two mentalities on these roads:
Fast Today Riders
- ride emotionally
- surge every incline
- ride on ego, adrenaline, and caffeine
- burn glycogen recklessly
- treat every group as a race
- feel fast today
Fast When It Matters Riders
- ride boring Z2 with intention
- respect zones
- build true durability
- apply structured tempo/SS
- add VO2 at the right time
- peak when it counts
- win in-season, not in November
This is true whether you’re:
- a 20-year-old trying to get a contract
- a 35-year-old Cat 1
- a 45-year-old Master
- a pro doing winter miles
It’s the mindset that separates those who talk fitness from those who race fast.
5. Why so many riders plateau (or burn out)
Because they train in Calpe like this:
- too hard on easy days
- too easy on hard days
- too emotional
- too variable
- too undisciplined
- too obsessed with how they feel rather than what they’re building
And because almost every rider believes:
- “My Z2 is different.”
- “My tempo is easy.”
- “I wasn’t pushing.”
- “I just followed the group.”
This is how plateaus happen at every level.
6. What every serious rider should take from my Calpe trip
Not “Greg got passed on the climbs.”
Not “Conti kids are stronger.”
Not “Masters should ride easier.”
The real lesson is this:
The riders who train with intention win races.
The riders who chase speed on base rides feel fast — but stagnate.
And the highest performers — WorldTour level — are the ones whose “boring Z2” looks like a machine doing work, not a caffeinated group ride.
A Conti kid might beat you up the Bernia or Vall d’Ebo in November.
But if he’s riding Z3/Z4/Z5 every “Z2 day,” and you’re building real base with real structure?
You’ll be stronger when it matters.
7. Final takeaway — and the point worth remembering
Calpe made this clear:
Most riders ride harder than they think.
The best riders ride smarter than everyone else.
Ride like a World Tour Pro even if you are a master. Remember ride steady
If you want to be fast in-season — not just on Wednesday in Calpe — ride with purpose, not emotion.
Fast today is easy.
Fast when it matters is discipline.
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