Getting older and bigger but not fatter.

One of the wierdest things for me in my 2nd time as an amateur cyclist is the changes in my body.

I have always had a propensity to gain weight. Part is build part is what I assume is genetic predisposition to eat non-stop. All of which is relative to a cyclists body-view because fat to me is 12% body fat which to your avg american is probably rail thin.

Anyway, I stopped racing when my son was born.. really I stopped riding at all. In my pre-break years I had an abundance of muscular endurance and could climb well above average. My race weight was approx 148lbs which was 9% body fat. I had absolutely no sprint to speak of and won only 1 road race in 1km solo attack. I regularly finished on the podium of time trials though.

During The Break I hit 200lbs (which was the catalyst for my return to racing). I've slowly lost weight and now am sitting at 170lbs. My body fat is still too high... 11-12% or so. But the wierd thing is if I got down to 150 my body fat would be 3%. Anyway, the same body fat as when I was younger puts me at over 12lbs heavier.. so I've gained 12lbs.

My strengths have changed too.. I have a much better (although not awesome) sprint. I can win more races, I won 5 last year. 2 in outright sprints. I still don't have the acceleration and need a fast lead in or the early jump but I can generate the power to drag race over 200 meters. I can climb nearly as well or time trial but I can go super hard, recover and go hard again. So I am harder to shake.

It's just something I find odd.. I expected to get more muscular endurance as I got older, not more power. And I certainly didn't expect to get bigger. I am sure a lot of the change is in my upper body. Carrying a kid and mountain bikeing have certainly added mass. And bones get denser. But12 lbs is a lot and that eman in theory I am stronger...

Perhaps I am not slower in the muscular endurance category.. everyone else just got stronger while I improved in the power area?