Ok guys, a quick summary, did TR for 9 months maybe back in 2012 or so, loved it. But living in San Diego it’s hard to stay indoors. But for 2021 I’m planning one outside ride a month and everything else on my new Saris H3 and on TR.
I hope to ride 4-6 times a week and not over 2 hours. I don’t race so there is no build up for anything, just love to ride and stay in shape. I’m 57 and 6’1” weigh 185 and average about 6-7k miles outside per year.
So I’m guessing I’m looking for a slow build towards 2022 when I’m guessing I’ll ride outside more often and use TR 2-3 times a week. So once the ramp test is complete give me some thoughts on where to start, plans to use and any advice for going totally indoors. I’ve got a good setup in my space between the garage and back patio so all good there. Biggest question is what plan to use as a non racer and not really building to anything other then keep current fitness and of course raise that bar as well. Thanks and looking forward to a great 2021.
What are the roads/trails like near you? There are plenty of TR workouts that can be done well outside…
I believe the favored answer will be, go to Plan Builder and it will guide you. I would think low volume would be the place to start and if you are going to ride 4-6 times per week, you can add in some additional Z2 endurance rides to fill in the extra days.
True - but the ‘problem’ with Plan Builder for this case is deciding what you want your goal event(s) to be. Unless the OP has a specific ride to target.
You don’t have to program specific events into the builder
OP, I’m in the same camp as you as a non racer who just wants to get fit for outdoor enjoyment. My first year to TR was Sweet Spot Base 1 and 2 followed by general build. I saw tremendous gains my first year, not just in FTP but ability to sustain longer efforts and feel fresh. Before the plan I could hammer for 50-60 miles and then start tapering off. After the plan I could hammer for 100 and then go out again the next day and still hang with the A group.
Is there a reason you are planning on limiting your outdoor riding to 1/month for 2021 and then increasing that in 2022? As someone else said, you could do a LV TR plan (3 days per week for 1-1.5 hours each) and supplement with 1-2 outdoor Z2 rides.
If you are just doing it for fitness and enjoyment then that plan might give you a bit more balance and let you enjoy the beautiful SoCal weather while still getting faster.
Plan builder & outside workouts.
Riding inside with no goals just to stay fit sounds terrible. Especially when you live in a place where it’s 70 degrees and sunny like 300+ days a year.
Outside workouts are so easy to do, it’d be a shame to not take advantage if you have the weather and the time to do them. Well…they’re not easy, but they’re easy to schedule and have them show up on your device.
In terms of plan builder, you don’t have to set it to any specific race. Make up a race in the style of riding you like to do (century, gran fondo, stage) and put it for some date that you want to be most fit…and let the plan builder do the rest.
Plenty of open roads, but family time comes first and long rides are out for a year while I get my youngest one into college.
No particular ride, just going to substitute longer outdoor rides for shorter possibly more intense indoors.
This is pretty much myself also, good info and thanks.
Well family commitments as I get my youngest ready for college. So instead of those 3-4 hour rides in sunny SD, I’ll just work harder at home for 45-90 minutes instead. In hopes of by the end of 2021 she should be good and then maybe back outside.
Yeah I’ve been riding here in SD for 30 plus years so I won’t miss one year pounding away indoors and getting stronger. The time it takes to get ready and get the bike ready then get out and do my outdoor rides I would rather stay indoors and hammer away. I guess I would like to peak around Christmas of 2021 so I can join the A group in 2022. One ride a month outdoors hitting a few local segments will be a good judge on how my fitness is progressing.
There are almost too many options. I am similar this year - aiming for first whole year of structured training on TR having ridden for 9 years unstructured. I also aim for 4-6 rides a week so have opted for a mixture of MV and HV throughout a 32 week plan builder.
When on HV I swap out a weekend ride for outdoors and when on MV I will add an outdoor ride. In both situations I will thus have 6 rides a week, 5 indoors and 1 outdoors. Time will tell if it works.
Similar age and other metrics. Up here in NorCal I tried going all-in on TR (indoor training only) a few years ago. Have been working from home since 1998 and training exclusively inside sucked all the joy out of cycling. More power to you if you pull it off. However I really think you are leaving performance gains on the table by focusing 99% on indoors, unless you are (mentally) undisciplined outside.
Yeah unfortunately I’m terribly undisciplined outside. Zero structure or goals outside other then maybe hammering a few segments during the ride and trying to get my 125 miles in per week. I really enjoyed TR 8-9 years ago whenever it was I did it. It was very basic back then and guessing I’ll enjoy it even more this time around with more gadgets to play with. The biggest reason again will be better quality time with family since I’m eliminating the longer 3-5 hour rides on the weekend and focusing on disciplined shorter efforts. Hope it works out for me, time will tell.
Well the good news is you can do TR workouts outside, if you do get the itch for some fresh air and vitamin D.
I do TR during the week and weekends are mostly unstructured. I have rides penciled in as endurance rides, but end up doing a combination of solo z2 (well, not just z2, its okay to smash some hills), pre/post-covid some group rides, zwift races / fondos / centuries. It gives me a balance of structured training and fun. My #1 recommendation is to do something you love about cycling every week to keep it enjoyable.