Isn’t it amazing when it’s a nice 75 deg evening out we absolutely find time to ride to the “Tuesday Night” ride, hang in the parking lot and chat, do the ride, and then ride home. But when it’s a trainer session for 1 hr - oh how easy it is to bail due to lack of time 
5 Likes
that’s a lot of hours !
example of 3 core TrainerRoad workouts ? sorry for newbie question
Damn, many of you are training just the bike as much as some competitive triathletes train all 3 sports!
2 Likes
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday scheduled workouts are usually the “main” workouts to complete. But there is nothing wrong riding zone 2 on days you feel fatigued or want to add more volume. Zone 2 is the bread and butter of endurance sports, In my own opinion.
3 Likes
Started road cycling May 2018
Avg 6-7 hours a week (5hours of pure riding)
Started training September 2020 (using spreadsheets) - TR starting oct 2021.
Was around 4wkg in Jan 2021 - am about 4.5 wkg now.
Still doing around 6-7 hours a week but with a lot more consistency and structured work.
Average week is
Mon - off
Tues - Hard (v02max or threshold) 60mins - I make sure to never miss this session
Wend - Free (run/rock climb/endurance)
Thurs - Moderate 60 min (SS or V02max)
Fri - Pub
Sat - Sweet Spot (90min to 2 hours)
Sun - Long Ride (3-4 hour z2 MTB) (Not every week)
At my wkg I’m quite confident to keep up with most group rides along as it isn’t punchy - but perhaps this is because I don’t train much anerobic.
There is a lot you can do with 3 consistent days per week 
Progress is slower now - gaining 5w every month or two, struggling to break the 300 barrier. I feel like I’m pleateaud at my current schedule 
3 Likes
Winning the genetic lottery is a wonderful thing.
2 Likes
Right now, close to zero. When I start back I’ll be in the 6-8 hour range, and when I have the time and desire to train seriously I can get up to as much as 12 with work and family obligations. Anymore, and I start to see a negative impact on my health and other aspects of life. I come off the couch with probably 3.8 w/Kg and can train it up to about 4.2 w/Kg - I had targeted 4.5 but I’m not sure if I’ll ever get there with the amount of time I’m willing to put in.
Only gene lotteries I won were the ones for looking younger and solving math problems in my head Riding 8+ hours per week just makes me pack fodder. Love love love to ride my bike and try hanging with the fast group, at least until the road tilts up. But going downhill on skis or a bike at 90kg and I’m gravity’s angel.
1 Like
I’m not sure I won anything anywhere. More like 2 out of 3 numbers needed to win $100.
1 Like
Usually around 12-15hr/wk depending on the phase I’m in. I’m typically around 4-4.4w/kg (at a whopping ~95kg) depending on time of year. Your training really depends on what your goals are and how much fitness you’re trying to build/maintain along with what you’re able to commit to (obviously).
A typical week for me is something like:
Mon: Off or 1hr easy
Tues: 1.5hr TR intervals AM, occasionally 1-1.5hr at lunch or after work (in summer)
Weds: 0.75-1hr trainer ride AM, 1-1.5hr group ride PM (in summer)
Thurs: 0.75hr activation ride AM, 1.5-2hr TR intervals PM
Fri: 1-1.5hr easy spin either on TR or outside
Sat: 4-5hr either on TR or outside depending on what I’m in the mood for
Sun: 1-1.5hr easy or sweetspot depending on where I am in season.
2 Likes
I’m making lemonade out of lemons 
OP, if I was you, I’d keep the 1 hr per weekday and the 2hr ride on one day of the weekend. Take 1-2 days off or 1 off and 1 easy per week. Do 2 days of intervals. My goal would be to increase your power as a priority over increasing training time / distance. I personally focus on developing high power then add on the z2 stuff in the summer when I have time. Building power is hard, building endurance is easy IMO
1 Like
Works the opposite here, focusing on high power caps me around 250W ftp and focusing on longer and longer zone2 and sweet spot builds an aerobic base that pushes ftp over 270W. Repeatedly seen that over 6+ years.
1 Like
It could be. It depends.
Here’s a story about one of my group ride buddies. His winter training program is 5-6 hours per week and he maintains a 275 watt FTP. He hangs with the group no problem. He’s also 40 something.
He lifts weights once a week for 1 hour, he swims for 1 hour, and rides for 3-4 hours. Usually that is two x 1hr rides during the week with structure. I usually seem him do 20 minutes of total intervals per ride (SS, threshold). Usually a pyramid format. I see him do a 1-2 hour ride on the weekend (endurance with longer tempo or sweet spot intervals).
So that’s it. 3-4 hours per week of riding and two hours per week of other working out. And he’s fast.
2 Likes
I’m kinda sorta not really fast for an enthusiast, at least on flat ground, but more in the road Cat4 sense of kinda fast. And for me that’s 8 hours/week of cycling and 2 hours/week of lifting/mobility work. And I’m about to have my 39th anniversary of turning 21
6 Likes
This is exactly what I do. Build power during the dark cold days (Nov-March) on the trainer, then more long Z2 stuff from April. Within 6 weeks I can have greta endurance.
Do what works, but even TrainerRoad says that endurance is built over long periods of time, and power can be built (and lost) quickly.
2 Likes
FWIW, I’m hitting all time high numbers now doing a Steve Neal inspired tempo/sweet spot base/build. Right now, it works out to about 8-9 hours per week.
That’s 2 to 3 of these workouts per week (about 1.5 to 1.75 hours each). Within that workout has been a 3x20 tempo set which I just increased to 3x25.
The rest is really Z1/Z2 riding outside filler. I do think the 3 hours per week of workouts is what is making me faster right now. I piled on a lot of Z2 Oct to December.
As far as Z1/Z2 outside endurance, I’ve experimented with 5-6 hours per week up to 13 hours per week. I didn’t get amazingly fast when I went up to 13 hours per week. I got a little bit better endurance so that I could more easily do 3-4-5 hour rides without fading but no giant FTP boost.
It works for me 2 ways;
Mainly trainer during the dark winter months
After 30 yrs of endurance sports my base endurance /aerobic power is pretty good, it’s my power I can’t neglect for too long as it’s hard to get back.
I’m sure a coach may have me do other things but as someone once said “the best training plan is one you can stick to”
1 Like