I was under the impression that for a Sportive I should be following the “Century” plan. Would I be better going for the “Rolling Road Race”?
Thanks
Ah, good point, forgot about that one! Guess if it’s a century sportive then that’s the best option.
1 Like
So had I. Thanks for these points, guys. This one will do me well further down the road.
Great post.
Well, these are multiple day events. So I put my 1st day as a B event, the second day as a B event, the third day as a B event , the fourth day (the century) as an A event, and the last day as a B event.
There is another multiple day tour starting around August 1st. that I have not entered yet.
The days are quite hilly. Only a few long climbs but always hilly. Hence the rolling race option. The northwestern lower peninsula of Michigan is a great place to ride a bike!
Should I just be putting one day on the plan instead if multiple entries?
(Edit… Just reread the reply and it seems that multiple entries is the way to go)
Sorry for the mini hijack of the thread, maybe I should have started a new one.
I’ve entered the “Iron Porcupine” … is this the area you mean?
While it will vary based on what type of terrain you are going to be riding - I would gently push you towards sustained power build type efforts (climbing road race or century specialty) for the type of riding you’ve described
Rolling road race has intervals towards the punchy side that you likely won’t need in a multiday cycling tour
Trpnhntr: thanks. Is there a description somewhere that describes the different options? I’ll check into it. I have completed the SSB1 and found it doable without much problem, probably due to my miniscule FTP:cry:
Dlridings:
No, you’re ride is in the Western Upper Peninsula. While, fantastic scenery, I find the biking limited by the lack of roads. So you end up sharing the roads with cars and trucks. Curiously, I find the Porkies to be easier riding ; longer, lower grades as my rides have a lot of short steeper climbs.
I have done a lot of backpacking in the Upper Peninsula and the Porcupine Mountains are really nice.
My tour is in the Western Lower Peninsula. Think Traverse City, although the is really a set of loops based on the shores of Lake Michigan.
I need to check up on that ride though, sounds interesting.
1 Like
The training plans all contain some amount of text describing them, here’s the link to the road specialty plans: Log In to TrainerRoad
The relevant text for rolling road race is
The demands of rolling road races are often more wide-ranging than races including long, sustained climbs. Riders face recurrent flurries of attacks & counterattacks in any road race, but when the course undulates with more frequent & shorter climbs, even breakaway riders find themselves exerting widely varied efforts over the course of their races.
So the aim here is to increase Sprint & Anaerobic power in addition to improving power & time at VO2 Max while also maintaining your base, aerobic Endurance fitness.
I’ve bolded the reason I think that specialty might not be best for the rides you’ve described - I don’t think you’ll be doing many sprints or spending a lot of time reacting to attacks anaerobically
Hi, I’m thinking we are confusing two different plans. I was looking at the custom plan builder. No option for Century ride which actually would fit. The “regular” training plans does include that option. The regular plans seem to be all 6-8 weeks. So maybe back to my original plan of SSB2 and then the century. I would prefer one training plan but I’ll take what I can get.
Thanks for the help!
If you choose Gran Fondo as your event type within the Plan Builder, TR uses the speciality plan “century rider”. I’ve no idea why TR give the same thing two different names.
Boy, that clears things up and confuses them at the same time! I should probably spend more time in the trainer and less on the forum.
So far, looks like that might be the best option.
Thanks!
1 Like
Yeah, the Century/Gran Fondo plans are mainly focused on long, steady, sub-threshold efforts. This could be a long TT, someone doing charity century rides, or multi-day tours. So this is probably what you want.
The road race plans (both climbing and rolling) are more focused on races with attacks, surges, and fast sprinty finishes.
So though you might describe your routes as “climby” or “rolling” you will still probably be riding them very steady and even, without many (if any) surges or VO2 efforts.
Actually, there will be short hi level efforts. Anyway, tried the Plan Builder and was a little dissspointing. It scheduled SSB1,SSB2, then Sustained Build and 1 week of Century!
I have just completed SSB1, so right now it is SSB2 followed by Sustained Effort. This leaves me with a couple of weeks before the tour to add some rides. Unless substituting Century for Sustained Build makes sense I think I am set.
Of course I need to get on the trainer tonight!