ideal roadie training question Options

[1gearnoidea]

ok, now ive got an hybrid/roadie...ive wondered what amount of riding i should be doing during the week, ready for a forum ride on weekend......so far this week, ive done an 20 mile night ride( on mtb, on monday night) and a 30 miler today on hybrid( all roads)..to say my legs are sore is an understatement..but im trying to get my overall base fitness up, so that i can keep up better on forum rides..what kind of mileage do u think is excessive..and what should i be concentrating on , during these rides..as im wanting to be a better hill climber esp..( those who have rode with me , probs best to answer)..as they know my weak points!!!..any tips/advice welcome...dont wanna go killing myself

[pauly]

ok, now ive got an hybrid/roadie...ive wondered what amount of riding i should be doing during the week, ready for a forum ride on weekend......so far this week, ive done an 20 mile night ride( on mtb, on monday night) and a 30 miler today on hybrid( all roads)..to say my legs are sore is an understatement..but im trying to get my overall base fitness up, so that i can keep up better on forum rides..what kind of mileage do u think is excessive..and what should i be concentrating on , during these rides..as im wanting to be a better hill climber esp..( those who have rode with me , probs best to answer)..as they know my weak points!!!..any tips/advice welcome...dont wanna go killing myself

you will need to build in some recovery time or you will be eating away at muscle mass and not letting it rebuild.

[1gearnoidea]

think thats half my problem pauly....in 2 years of riding..ive had one lay off of a 5 week period( start of this year) when i tor my ankle ligs...rest of 2 years ive rode...every week, sometime 3-4 times a week..and managed up to 200+ miles a week....what rest period tho?...i cant stop myslef riding..to the point that my motorbike rides have dwindled down to 0..even with me harley

[littlegirlbunny]

Rest and that is a very personal thing - some people fair well with one day off in 6 (usually those 25 yrs old or below ), others will need every other day off not to get overtrained and yet others will benefit most from a block of training (say four days) followed by a block of rest (another four days). One week off completely every 6 weeks to 2 months or so doesn't go amiss either.

I'd say have a play and see what works best for you

Either way, if you have chronically sore legs, you aren't seeing improvement, you find you are feeling off colour or have niggling injuries that wont go away you may be on the verge of overtraining. On this, I am an expert after too many years of doing it myself with weights

Unfortunately now I'm the opposite and don't train enough

[Crank]

2-3 hours of steady road riding a couple of times a week should see a real benefit for you. Actual mileage is not really relevant, especially if your road routes are hilly (like they are here), so use time as the measure - not distance.

Don't blast up the hills, just concentrate on riding at a controlled pace which you are comfortable maintaining for the duration of the ride. Your MTB work will still give you the anaerobic exercise in the meantime and you can work on your road speed once you have a few months of steady road riding under your belt...

[Mick]

Rest and that is a very personal thing - some people fair well with one day off in 6 (usually those 25 yrs old or below ), others will need every other day off not to get overtrained and yet others will benefit most from a block of training (say four days) followed by a block of rest (another four days). One week off completely every 6 weeks to 2 months or so doesn't go amiss either.

I'd say have a play and see what works best for you

Either way, if you have chronically sore legs, you aren't seeing improvement, you find you are feeling off colour or have niggling injuries that wont go away you may be on the verge of overtraining. On this, I am an expert after too many years of doing it myself with weights

Unfortunately now I'm the opposite and don't train enough

Excellent advice, for the last few years I've suffered with continually aching thighs. It then dawned on me that I wasn't 25 yrs old anymore and increased my rest time, result no more aching thighs. I was riding almost everyday but now only exercise, (usually cycling or running) about 4 times a week.

[dick5]

Don't know if this helps or not Lee but I go to work on mine 2 or 3 times a week (9 miles each way) then usually add extra on to my last trip, usually wednesday, to extend it to between 30 & 40 miles, (bit more in summer with light nights).
I usually do a MTB ride every weekend, 20 to 25 miles, but if I can't get out on MTB then I'll do 40 to 50 on roadie.
This isn't a set in stone schedule, cos I only ride for my enjoyment so if I miss a few sessions so what, but it seems to work for me

[Speedy Al]

Never touch your bike if you think your tired, i need 2-3 days rest after a ride like Saturdays before i can go again at the same level.

Crank summed it nicely

[JohnC]

Rest and that is a very personal thing - some people fair well with one day off in 6 (usually those 25 yrs old or below ), others will need every other day off not to get overtrained and yet others will benefit most from a block of training (say four days) followed by a block of rest (another four days). One week off completely every 6 weeks to 2 months or so doesn't go amiss either.

I'd say have a play and see what works best for you

Either way, if you have chronically sore legs, you aren't seeing improvement, you find you are feeling off colour or have niggling injuries that wont go away you may be on the verge of overtraining. On this, I am an expert after too many years of doing it myself with weights

Unfortunately now I'm the opposite and don't train enough

As above, rest is very important but also very personal. As you train harder you do need more rest. As an example, when I was commuting 30 miles weekdays then taking the dogs for a run or swimming then on saturdays doing about another 5 hours of mixed training I could still go out and do something on Sunday without problems but all that training was aerobic base training. If I was to introduce a speed set, hill reps or something that took me out of my comfort zone I would then need to build in a rest or I'd suffer. If I raced I would then need anything from 1 day to one week of doing nothing more than walking the dogs to avoid problems, depending on whether it was a sprint (<1 hour) or an endurance event (24 hours +).

Basically, listen to your body, if it hurts (not normal aches) after excercise do nothing strenuous, if it doesn't carry on.

John.

[1gearnoidea]

cheers for all the good advice ..legs felt ok today, so just went for a leisurely ride...and yeah all my local routes are very hilly!!...but thats good cos its climbing, whats my downfall..will just go steady then for next few weeks and ease myself inot the road miles...roll on sats peaks mtb ride

[JohnC]

cheers for all the good advice ..legs felt ok today, so just went for a leisurely ride...and yeah all my local routes are very hilly!!...but thats good cos its climbing, whats my downfall..will just go steady then for next few weeks and ease myself inot the road miles...roll on sats peaks mtb ride

Thinking about it, to improve on the hills you need to do sessions where you really push it on the climbs. Depending on whether you want to improve your ability to spin up the hills or improve your sprints up the hills you do it differently.

If you want to spin up the hills, get a computer with cadence on your hybrid and aim for pushing as hard as poss using the gears to maintain a cadence of about 90. It might take some time to get to the point where you can do this if your current normal cadence is considerably lower.

If you want to be able to sprint up the hills, you'll want to practice racing up the hills in a lower gear, lower cadence and out of the saddle (roadie style). Again, you'll find that there is an optimum cadence for this.

Either way, if the hill will take longer than about 10 seconds to get to the top you should find your heart racing and on the longer ones your legs burning when you get to the top and then just gently spin the cranks until your heart comes down to a more normal rate. One of these sessions a week with maybe 5 such hills will see you climbing hills a lot better; probably best to do this early in the week if you're doing a ride at the weekend so that you can recover enough (you will need a rest day if you do it properly) to really enjoy the ride.

John

[1gearnoidea]

oh yeah..woodhead and holme moss take longer than 10 secs lol...woodhead alone is probs 2-3 miles long!!!...holme moss is about a mile tops buts its near vertical..cars struggle..its like winnats pass but alot longer...gonna go hit the road later for an hour or so...just steady like

[Rockymtnway]

I'm with Crank on this one. 2-3 hour rides are the core of any good training program. To build aerobic capacity you want long, steady rides at a conversational pace. Rides over 2-3 hours force your body to be dependent on fat as a fuel. Fat takes more oxygen to convert to energy than carbohydrates (which most of us store enough for 90 minute of moderate riding). As a result, your body has to build new capillaries to supply more blood to the muscle tissue.

The key is consistency over time. You want to force your body to adapt to the stresses it faces on a regular basis. That means the more days per week you can ride, the more benefits you'll see. My body works best with 5 days of riding a week with two recovery days, but YMMV. It's also unclear what your problem is on the hills. Is it a speed, power, or endurance issue? For most people it's an endurance/stamina issue.

Ideally, in January or so I'd be doing something like this:
M-recovery
T-2 hour easy ride
W-60-90 minute rolling hills ride, with big ring intervals
T-2 hour easy ride
F-off
Sa-3-5 hour easy road ride
Su-1.5-3 hour fun MTB ride

This time of year, I'm only riding two days a week, running 2-3 days a week, and in the gym 1-2x. In a few weeks I'll be doing more snow shoeing and XC skiing.

In April-May, I'll spend more time on the MTB, more climbing intervals, and more sprinting.

[1gearnoidea]

cheers for that rocky...my climbing isnt the legs its my breathing that suffers, and yeah im trying to breath full in/out etc...im getting better slowly..can climb stuff now that i walked last year...maybe im expecting too much ...anyways will try your tips and try to ride as much as i can... so far this week ive done/will do

monday.. 20 mile night ride (off road)
tuesday.. rest day
wedsnesday.. 30 mile road ride( mostly climbing)
thursday... short ride this aft then tonight 20 mile road ride
friday..rest day( i think)
saturday..20 or so peak ride (off road)
sunday..rest day

will try and stick to this for next few weeks..and see how i go

[pugster007]

monday.. 20 mile night ride (off road)
tuesday.. rest day
wedsnesday.. 30 mile road ride( mostly climbing)
thursday... short ride this aft then tonight 20 mile road ride
friday..rest day( i think)
saturday..20 or so peak ride (off road)
sunday..rest day

Would be nice to find the time !! Hope it does you some good Lee, don't over do. All being well I'll be out for weekday evening rides from next week when my lights arrive !

Craig.

[1gearnoidea]

will either help me or kill me m8 lol.....watch this space!!...u doing fiddle sat?

[Suggsey]

Lee for my two penneth and sage elderly advice, firstly listen to your body, minor aching muscles just spin gently till the ache has gone, sore/tender muscles (normally will be sore to the touch/squeeze) give it a day off and eat some nice protein.
I have found that as yet ,touch wood, that since I have been using HighFive 4+1 (Citrus flavour is the best) I have not suffered at all from sore muscles after some good hard rides and have even been outlasting Matt on the cramps front.
Its basic make up is 4 parts carbs to one of protein to offset any muscle breakdown and is designed mainly to be drunk whilst riding but can be used as a recovery drink but it is actuall aimed at endurance atheletes.
And before anyone says it I am a latent athelete, semi retired-but you know I am always right

[1gearnoidea]

athlete lmao...did u mean saga?? not sage ..i aint that old m8 lol...legs were really achy after yesterdays 30 mile big hill ride.....slightly tender today..but that soon wore off once i was out riding...sat here now and yeah i can feel em achy a bit..will rest em tomoz..ready for sat's ride..then if im dying a death on the fiddle, then i surely know ive been overdoing it...time will tell

[lawmanmx]

anyone wanna come and do my Roady 35 mile + hill route with me???? you Love it ... or maybe no

[1gearnoidea]

id be up for a road ride tony....just remember to ride slower cos im on an hybrid