Training help for an upcoming race CAT5 33 miles hilly course

Training
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Hey how goes it? I have a question

I want to do the road race. it’s 33 miles .Im currently on general Base 3 low volume .Any tips , specific workouts to help me get prepared ?

Thanks

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Is this your first race? Or one of your first races? At Cat 5/Novice I wouldn’t really worry about specificity. You need a solid fitness base and anything to raise FTP is fine. But other than you will be helped MUCH more by having solid pack dynamics. If you haven’t been on many group rides lately time to get out and get comfortable riding CLOSE to other riders. A lot of Cat 4 & 5 races there’s a lot of space. If you are good with occupying that space you’ll save way more energy than the rest of the field.

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I’ve done a couple of crit races .thanks for the info.

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Hey there and welcome to the TR community!

Kudos on prepping for that race! The Berkeley Hills RR is a beautiful course but a real tough one too!

As @slipdog said, I’d focus on sticking with where you’re at in your plan for now. Making sure your base is solid is a great first step.

If you wanted anything more specific, it could be worth doing some VO2 max intervals since the course has a few climbs that should last somewhere between ~2-5min in duration. You can check out our Workout Library for those – I’d recommend filtering by “VO2 Max” → “Intervals” and then choosing a “Productive” workout.

I also agree that you should try to get on a few group rides before the race if you haven’t been with any in a while. Being comfortable around other riders and saving energy is a HUGE advantage in Novice/Cat 4 if you can practice getting that skill nailed down (and it’s honestly a huge advantage to have all the way up to the pro level as well!).

Try to draft as much as possible on the flatter sections of the course and try to hit the climbs as close to the front as you can! Easier said than done, which is basically the essence of bike racing. :wink:

I’ve done the race a few times and my teammate even won it a couple years ago! Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions about the course or getting ready for the race.

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Thanks so much for the info . I’m in Reno luckily the group here just stated there Wednesday groups rides !