Need help choosing plan

[sarider]

Hi all,

Hope someone can assist me. I’m new to road cycling, I have been riding MTBs for about 2 years and completed some 30-40km races on MTB with good results.

I am now getting into road cycling and loving it! I’ve signed up for a 100km road ride in mid November. Which may seem easy to some, but scares the heck out of me! Never done more than 40km (off road), so 100km with a fair amount of elevation gain is daunting!

I’ve just completed the sweetspot training on TR and now need to know my next plan to go for (bearing in mind the time remaining before the race). I don’t care about my finish position (ie. I’m not “racing”), I simply want to be able to complete the ride and still be alive at the end, haha!

My FTP is currently 2.4w/kg (I know this still needs work and should be around 3w/kg?), the elevation gain over the 100km race is 1480m and I’d like to aim at a completion time of 4h or so. According to Best Bike Split, I “should” technically be able to complete it in 4:23h, so there is hope based on that.

So do I choose half triathlon base or build? (and just ignore the swim and run training?) or do I choose speciality, and use century? Or is there something better for my scenario? I’m quite confused.

Thanks in advance!

[julianoliver]

What you absolutely should do is:

1. Sweet Spot Base I (6 weeks)
2. Sweet Spot Base II (6 weeks)
3. Sustained Power Build (8 weeks)
4. Century Speciality (8 weeks)

Hopefully this schedule lines up to hit your mid November event. Assuming that the date of this event is around 16 November that gives you 14 weeks of training to prepare. If you’ve just finished the 12 weeks of Sweet Spot Base, you’re in good shape. Do the Sustained Power Build block of 8 weeks and then do weeks (1-5,8) of the Century Speciality plan. You want to keep week 8 as a taper for your event so that you’re fresh, so just chop off the last 2 weeks since each plan is a progression.

Bonus Section
I’ve frequently seen new TR users get confused about Sweet Spot Base and do either SSBI or SSBII (so only 6 weeks of base training). If this happens to be you, I’d do Sweet Spot Base II (6 weeks) and then Sustained Power Build (8 weeks) and call it good. If you have done both Sweet Spot Base blocks, then ignore this.

[sarider]

Hi Julian!

Fantastic, thank you so much for the advice. You’re 100% correct on your assumption, I only did SSB1, doh!

Alright, I’ll do SSB2 followed by Sustain Power Build! Wish me luck…

Thanks again, really appreciate it.

[julianoliver]

Good luck!

[pkwell]

Sounds like you’re enjoying the change of pace, which is great! Whatever plan you go with, I suggest doing as much as you can to get actual time riding outdoors, in a group setting if possible. The more familiar things are during the event, the less stressful and inefficient your riding that day. Good luck!