I've never taken a true off-season, what type of plan should I pick?

Training
1

I’m racing Big Sugar on October 19th, then I plan to shut it down for at least a full week, maybe 2, then transition to a winter training phase. I’ve never taken a true off-season and just focused on winter training. I live in Texas where we can race almost year round, so for the last 2 years I’ve used trainer road there’s always been a race on the calendar that my plan is building towards.

This winter I will still compete in a couple races, but just for fun and to stay sharp, I don’t want to be in the garage doing Threshold or VO2 every other day.

With that said, what type of plan should I look at to keep the legs moving towards Spring races? My first A race next year will probably be Gravel Locos towards the end of May, so I would like to do something starting in November through the holidays into early Spring of next year.

Thanks all.

3

Hey! Great question.

A week or two off the bike sounds like a great idea. I suggest you let your motivation levels be your guide back to training. After that time off the bike, check in with how you’re feeling. If you need another week or two to noodle around on the bike, give yourself that time :person_in_lotus_position:.

When you’re ready, I suggest letting Plan Builder Version 2 build you a Training Plan! Your Training Plan will be customized to you based on TrainerRoad’s analysis of your training history and preferred Training Approach. This update to Plan Builder was just released yesterday so this is perfect timing! You can see the announcement here.

You can choose between a conservative, moderate, balanced, demanding and aggressive approach. This will influence the intensity and workload of your plan. Enter your A events and add in those winter races as B or C events.

Soon, we’ll be adding a monthly check in that will give you updated recommendations. If at those check- ins, we think you should increase your volume, you will get those reccomendations!

The early stages of that Training Plan is the time to be flexible with your training and make the most of Adaptive Training. If you decide to go on a hike instead, we’ll consider the training stress of your hike and adapt your cycling training in response (if you add the hike to your Calendar). Check out this article for more information on how this works.

I’d also suggest taking your Workouts outside as much as you can during this period. That will hopefully help keep things fresh. Don’t be scared to do a group ride, or even another sport entirely in the early stages of this Training Plan. Being flexible early in the Training Plan can pay off further down the line. When the time comes to knuckle down and focus on quality work, you will feel ready to do so.

Below are some additional resources you might find helpful :slight_smile: .

Scientific Off-Season Recommendations for Cyclists – Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast 445

Blog post: How to Plan Your Offseason: When to Start and What to Do

Give us a shout if you have questions about any of this :+1:.