Summer and the season here was over a few months ago. I’ve just carried on my Trainer Road Plan which seems to be ramping up but my previous coach prescribed other years a easier month before getting back on it and building for the next season 
LIFTING! heavy lifts are so great, although doing that all year round now.
This is a great protocol altho I skip the bench.
I think I am now an ex-bike racer, so my off-season has been more “off” than most, perhaps.
I just used the SkiErg and the rowing erg in August. Had to sell the ski erg because my twice-dislocated, SLAP tear right shoulder couldn’t handle the movement well (rowing is not much of a problem).
Sept-Oct-Nov, I’ve been doing 100-150km a week on the erg, and getting on the bike a couple of times a week for an hour or so. A lot less than the 300mi weeks I was doing last year to build a big base for an “all-in” racing year that didn’t happen.
I’m still not going to a gym, but pull ups and rows with Perfect Fitness Pull-Up bar (you can swing it down to do rows) and weighted vest push-ups have been plenty enough for upper body and core.
Continuing with my same base-build-repeat cycle with some ‘maintenance’ lifting 2-3 times per week and one 5-10km jog each week. Just finished a modified 4-week SSB block, starting SusPB next week.
Resurrecting this thread for the end of the 2021 season.
I’ve never really taken an off season (see below, note where COVID began and I dropped swimming due to pool closures and switched to high volume). I’m curious what others are doing during the transition period. For me I think the greatest challenge is going to be mental - working out helps keep me sane. I’m also a little concerned about losing fitness but need to take a long-term view, rather than just looking at the next couple of weeks, especially since I don’t race and really just enjoy following a plan (process-oriented goals).
My plan is to take 1-2 weeks off of the bike completely. I have an irritated IT Band and hip misalignment that hopefully benefit from some time off. Six weeks ago I added swimming back into my routine since a new facility opened on my commute route, and I plan to swim 3x per week instead of 2x during the transition. The extra swim will be an endurance day, so no added intensity. I also plan to continue upper body “maintenance” lifting 3x per week.
After the transition period I plan to follow FasCat’s 10-Week Weight Lifting Program. I’ve never done cycling-specific lifting like this before and hope to see some FTP gains in the spring / summer. I’ve been stuck around 3.75 w/kg for a while. I briefly peaked at 4.0 w/kg for my A event but quickly lost it.
Anyway, what are you doing during your transition? How do you mentally handle the adjustment? Any other tips or tricks? And how do you handle the reduced caloric demand (I’m used to eating a lot of food and am concerned about putting on weight that I’ll then have to lose later)? TIA!!
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All our groupmrides switched to gravel in mid-September, earlier than normal due to some big road projects going on. It has been great and I have set my highest 5’, 10’ and 20’ power numbers for the year.
Got sick two weeks ago (could barely get out of bed, but not COVID) and the gravel rides have been torturefests since I got abck on the bike. Went form dealing out the pain to receiving it…ugh.
Weather is finally turning after a very warm fall…so motivation is dropping with the temps, but not motivated to hit the trainer just yet.
Have TBMV 2 & 3 on my calendar to start Nov. 1…catch up on TV shows/ movies while I ride. Then start SSB in January.
Once I know what (if any) events I’ll do, I’ll plug it into Plan Builder and go from there. Hoping to nab a slot for SBT GRVL and maybe Unbound.
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I don’t race so don’t really have an off season, but I’ve been doing plans continuously since the second week of this year so it’s time to ease of a bit for the end of the year.
I have three weeks left in my (MV) sustained power build which I’ll finish and after that I’m planning to do a bit of a maintenance schedule. One, 1 hour, vo2 max session a week and something like a race or longer (Z2) group ride on Zwift.
Next to that I really want to start with some strength training. Something I’ve never done before. So I’m planning just starting with bodyweight exercises at first and take it from there.
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Mentally I need 2+ week off-season break, every year since starting outdoor cycling in 2015. Had my first gravel event mid September, and I was burned out after 14 months training. Conveniently the event was postponed to 2022.
What I did during my off season. My last real day of training was August 25, went on a trip, came home and got sick, did some easy walks and rides, went on another trip, came home and got a head cold. Ended up with no real training from August 26th to Oct 3rd.
The acceptable news - fitness dropped.
The good news - I’m raring to go.
The better news - easily dropped 12lbs over 12 weeks just by manipulating carb intake and portion control.
The best news - late Sept I cut way back on beer, and in recent weeks my resting heart rate dropping to lowest levels ever seen, and HRV out of the ‘clamped down never see it go above 30ms’ (Apple Watch) and up above 50ms. And its staying there after finishing 3 solid weeks of 5x/week training.
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The reality is this. You won’t lose as much fitness as you think. There will obviously be some reduction, but it comes back quick. Don’t worry about it. And since you’re injured you must think long term.
In terms of food and caloric demand, I would add in MORE healthy food as “filler” to sort of trick yourself. This is tough because I as well, eat a ton, and you can’t just shut it off. So for me I’m going to do more smoothies, protein shakes, and veggie-based snacks.
I think you’ll enjoy the strength training. As a testament to it, I did it this season from Oct '20 to Jan ‘21 and focused on deadlifts, squats/lunges, KB swings, and some accessory upper body work (pushups, rows) and ended up setting an all time PB of 327w for 45 min in FEBRUARY. I’m over-simplifying so PM me if you want more specifics. During this time I did very little structured bike training, focusing mostly on 60-90’ Z2 rides, a tempo ride maybe once per week, and a once per week sprint/explosivity workout (that you’ll see in FasCats program) toward the latter end. Feel free to look at my calendar to get an idea of what I was doing between Oct-Feb:
Since you don’t race and don’t really have any event-specific goals I wouldn’t get caught up in worrying. You have nothing on the calendar to peak for so you have all season to build. Seasons are long (and short, they go by fast) so take the time needed to be a more complete rider.
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Thanks for sharing!
Heading out with the winter bike and lights right now. I added this years target event date into a training plan for next year, and am picking it up again. The reason for this is that last year, I let it all go around this time and put a bunch of weight on and my FTP dropped. I had been up over 240W FTP and weight down at 64kg in the middle of last year, aiming at the magic 4w/kg. Christmas last year was really bad for my fitness and I am not going to let that happen again.
I guess its relative, if you have been averaging a weekly TSS of 800, then backing off over the winter seems sensible. Whereas I only average a TSS of 400 at the best of times.
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Well unfortunately due to getting less daylight a lot of my outdoor riding will taper off.
So more time on the indoor trainer but probably less overall time riding.
The time I would usually spend riding outdoors, I’m going to invest in core and strength training with a goal to keep the strenght training program going all year. Just a few weeks of kettlebell swings, squats, etc and I felt really good on the bike the other day. Easy miles just flying and feeling good.
I’m also taking a few sundays off to play tennis instead of riding. I played tennis in high school and it’s been a life-long sport for me, but even playing doubles, my knees are a wreck for a day or two afterwards. I love the game but I can’t play it as often any more.
We do have a local club that does a freezing saddles team contest. It’s mostly just fun and a reason to be silly over the winter, but the core goal is to ride at least a mile every day over the winter. Some people do alot more than that but it’s additional motivation to get on the bike in the cold.
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Running…takes less time to get dressed for it!
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Looks like I’ll be forced to scale down my road rides, the bike is into the shop 
I’ll give Wednesday night a miss (I’m full of the cold and have a throat) anyway, I might meet Saturdays road ride at the cafe if I’ve recovered.
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wednesday night mountain bike/gravel rides under lights for an hour and as much as possible outside on weekends. here in germany we are into the short days and wet/cold is coming. i can do dark/wet/cold - just not all at once 
last year i was on TrainerRoad exclusively through the winter minus a few rides here and there. this year making a concerted effort to get out on weekends. I also do weights and run through the week as well as a yoga practice. want to keep my total training time up around 14-16 hours which it is in summer.
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I lost motivation early August. So, I got back in the gym and JRA when I felt like it through September. Finally the weather turned nice once October hit and the miles have been easy to log. This week was 19 hours/370 miles of zone 2 goodness and one hour of Tuesday night Worlds madness to keep it fun.
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I’m doing the same thing I do most years - a roughly two week break from the bike. My last time touching the pedals was the 17th and my next ride will be the 30th. Enough to clear my head and most of my fatigue.
This year I added in some hiking and just regular walking, but other than that I’ve been pretty lazy. It feels amazing. I’m not yet mentally excited to train again, if I’m not there by this weekend then I’ll roll into some fun rides, but way lower volume than normal, until I find my happy place for training
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The same, except sub in ice cream for cake.
I’ve been nearly non-stop training since before the pandemic so with my recent “big” event done with, I took last week completely off the bike (except for a short recovery spin) and will take most of this week off also. I’m using the time to get some projects done around the house and get in some hikes. Between installing retaining walls and hiking with the wife and dog, I’m staying active, just not biking for a little while.
When I do jump back in, I’ll start with some fun rides and when I do get back into structured training I’ll reset with base and go from there. I have to look at next year and figure out what events I want to target, so it’s all a little open ended right now.
What do you mean? I’m just hitting peak form. Summer is training for Zwift Racing season!!
…I’ll get my coat and duck for cover on the way out!!
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My A event was this past Saturday. I’ve had several training disruptions this year so not taking a true break right now, but super easy week with just three endurance and two z1 rides. Getting back to it next week with a modified schedule of replacing my Thursday ride with a full body strength and adding a plyometrics routine onto Tuesday. Going to pull back for a 10 days around Christmas and then start serious work for next year with unbound being the big goal, or some other event around the same time. Weight loss is still my biggest performance gain 307–>260->235 over the last two years but wasn’t very consistent this year with a relocation and full kitchen renovation, so shooting for 180-185 by June.
But for tonight, just enjoying pizza and beer.
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