I am looking for advice on how to best train and prepare for the upcoming outdoor season with the local cycling club. We ride 3 times a week and I want to be stronger.
Two of the days we ride 60 km, and then one day approximately 90-120 km. Here it is almost completely flat and often very windy. I don’t have a special event or race, so it’s just a matter of getting stronger in general.
What would you recommend I do? I have 3 days to train weekly, a total of 5 hours.
The forum might find it difficult to answer such a broad question. Can you elaborate what exactly it is you are struggling with? Do you struggle keeping up? Do you run out of energy? Is it a smash-fest and you can’t handle accelerations and attacks on climbs?
The general answer to a general question is: Ride more. Mostly endurance and a bit of intensity. Also, train your riding skills and positioning. Being able to ride inside the group, staying close to the wheel in front and positoning your bike well in head- and crosswinds goes a long way.
Pick a plan (any plan probably you like the look of, maybe the Gran Fondo one) and create an imaginary ‘A’ event for it to build around. Ive no specific event in mind this year either but I may do summer TT’s so my current plan is a ‘40kmTT’ one with a target ‘A’ event towards the end of the year called “Theory End”.
A Low Volume (LV) plan is 3 days a week and you can customise your hours now. Im on a LV Masters Plan and 3 x 45min workouts as that suits my schedule.
Once you are on a plan and sticking to it is
But the structured programme can help you do it though.
Run out of energy…
I’m quite heavy so I struggle on the hills, but am quite strong on the flats. As we get closer to the end, I’m dropped as the pace picks up.
How well are you fueling your rides? In addition to training, good fueling is a must. Between bottles, solids/gels, are you getting at least 90 grams of carbs per hour, starting from the beginning of the ride?