Biking specific training

[Determined]

Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
15 is pushing it!

determined

 

[Penny S.]

determined thoughtfully penned:
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> determined

I"ll say it for JD: just ride...

Riding is a great way to get in shape for riding. I alternate between easier MB rides that are long,
and shorter ones with lots of climbns and/or technical stuff.

Now, for me.... I foudn that spin classes at the gym really helped me to get a good biking fitness
base. I did them all winter and was a good 6 weeks ahead of where I'd be having not done it. Now,
I'm just riding 2-4 days a week, and I've added upper body weights and "core" strengthening into the
equation if I can stand to go to the gym. There's a womens bike club in Portland, I found the link
throu www.girlbike.com; Gabrielle may have it handy. Rides with people better than you are a good
way to get better too.

Penny

 

[Carla A-G]

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4zuya.48380$rt6.17608@sccrnsc02...
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!

Nope. Just keep riding...

- CA-G

Can-Am Girls Kick Ass!

 

[Jon Bond]

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4zuya.48380$rt6.17608@sccrnsc02...
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> determined

The only way to get really specific training for ANY activity is to just do the activity. Anything
else will not train the same muscles in the same way. However, cross training isn't a bad idea,
because it will balance out your musculature a little bit.

However, taking this from our team doc (www.bikedoctraining.com), get a heart rate monitor, find a
training plan (either have one made for you or one of those stupid bicycling magazine ones - they're
decent, even if they're not specific to you), and stick to it. Road riding is so much more
controllable than mountain biking, in terms of effort and heart rate, so its easier to get fit road
biking than it is mountain biking. That doesn't mean you can't ride your mountain bike on the road,
or find some super smooth fireroad somewhere to train on (although at that point, I'd rather just be
on the road), but it'll kill your tires unless you buy some road slicks. BTW, he says if he makes a
plan for a pro racer, they're lucky if he lets them take out their mountainbike more than once a
week. I'm not saying go that extreme, but its something to think about.

Once I get my road bike up and running, I'm going to be mountain biking 3 or 4 times a week and road
biking 2 or 3 times a week, give or take a little bit, weather (if its wet, sticking to the road, if
its beautiful and cool

road rides a long but slow recovery ride after a looooong mtb ride or a race.

But, in other words - ride, ride some more, and keep on riding! I forget who said it, but some coach
said "If you never ride fast, you never will" (well, duh). In other words, if you don't train for
sprints and high speed riding, you won't be able to do it in a race. Same goes for distance - "If
you never ride far, you never will".

Jon Bond

 

[Dick]

determined wrote:

> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> determined
>

Riding is the best way. You can get more out of each ride if you learn how to really push yourself.
It takes a while to find where your real limits are, just be careful looking.

 

[Bb]

On Tue, 20 May 2003 18:34:40 GMT, determined wrote:
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!

The long wet winters in Portland make it difficult to be ready to ride when things finally dry out.
The best way to prepare for the season is to start road riding earlier - the roads only need a few
hours of dry weather (the trails need a couple weeks to dry out). This year was kind of a bust
- even the roads weren't dry most days.

Head out to the hills on some days to build strength and stamina for the long off-road hills; then
some days just ride for hours. If you really want to be able to do 40-mile off-road rides, you'll
need to be comfortable riding centuries on the road by this time of year. The fireroads (e.g. Forest
Park) don't get torn up as bad as the real trails, so I've moved on to them now (they're still
pretty muddy, though).

Of course, there's the stationary bike but those drive me nuts.

--
-BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least)

 

[Jd]

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<4zuya.48380$rt6.17608@sccrnsc02>...
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!

Fifteen miles can be pushing it for anyone here, if it's the right trail.

JD

 

[B A R R Y B U R]

determined wrote:
>
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> determined

Eddy Mercxx said "Ride lots."

Barry

 

[John Santos]

> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and performance?
> Besides biking itself... I'd

I agree with everyone else that the only specific thing you can do is ride, ride and ride. Dirt
and paved.

Coming from a running background, I found that the shift to biking (road and dirt) was just learning
the skills 'cause I already had the stamina. Cross train!!! It helps a lot.

Also, ride anytime you have the chance. I commute to school on a POS (can you say Shim. Dual-SIS?)
with books.

 

[P E T E F A G E]

On Tue, 20 May 2003 18:34:40 GMT, "determined" <[email protected]> wrote:

|Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking |stamina and
performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to |do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
15 is pushing it!

Don't listen to those biking snobs.

It's a well-known fact that most, if not all, top cyclists in the World spend most of their time
either bowling or partucuoating in competive macrame leagues.

It's called "cross training."

 

[Jimbo]

P e t e F a g e r l i n wrote:

> On Tue, 20 May 2003 18:34:40 GMT, "determined" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> |Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking |stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to |do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> Don't listen to those biking snobs.
>
> It's a well-known fact that most, if not all, top cyclists in the World spend most of their time
> either bowling or partucuoating in competive macrame leagues.
>
> It's called "cross training."

http://www.m-w.com/home.htm The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling
suggestion below or try again using the Dictionary search box to the right.

Suggestions for partucuoating:
1. protecting
2. protactinium
3. protesting
4. protectionist
5. protectory
6. protectories
7. protactiniums
8. pretesting
9. predicting
10. protectors

I just want to know 2 things... what is partucuoating? and if it has something to do with macrame
how do you know about it???

Jimbo... begininng to wonder if Pete has macrame seat covers in his Porshe ;-P...(san)

 

[Supabonbon]

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<4zuya.48380$rt6.17608@sccrnsc02>...
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> determined

Hmmm....

- If you're a big fella, the best thing you could do is drop weight. Dragging 5 less pounds of
ass up a hill can make a significant difference. Take a photo of your fat ass and tape it to
the fridge.
- Start commuting/shopping by bike. Make it an integral part of your life rather than an
'exercise machine'.
- Biking's going to give your strong quads and glutes. Your hamstrings will get stronger too, but
probably not at the same rate. Your exterior quads will probably also get stronger than your
interior. These imbalances can be dangerous -- look up some stuff of 'kinetic chain'. If my back
and left knee weren't shot, I'd probably spend more time playing basketball than on the bike.
Instead, I do light weight training, yoga, martial arts, and easy running -- stuff where I control
the motion. /s

 

[P E T E F A G E]

On Wed, 21 May 2003 09:35:34 -0400, "jimbo(san)" <[email protected]> wrote:

|>
|> It's a well-known fact that most, if not all, top cyclists in the World spend most of their time
|> either bowling or partucuoating in competive macrame leagues.
|>
|> It's called "cross training."
|
|http://www.m-w.com/home.htm |The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling
suggestion |below or try again using the Dictionary search box to the right.
|
|Suggestions for partucuoating:
| 1. protecting
| 2. protactinium
| 3. protesting
| 4. protectionist
| 5. protectory
| 6. protectories
| 7. protactiniums
| 8. pretesting
| 9. predicting
| 10. protectors
|
|I just want to know 2 things... |what is partucuoating?

It's from the Latin "patrucuopia" which is a family of words relating to poor typing skills (skillz
for you freeriders).

 

[Paladin]

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<4zuya.48380$rt6.17608@sccrnsc02>...
> Is there specific exercises/training a person should do to improve biking stamina and
> performance? Besides biking itself... I'd like to be able to do a 40 mile ride someday, right now
> 15 is pushing it!
>
> determined

I've got a friend that is a pro trainer. He lives up in the hills like a hermit, looks like Sheldon
Brown, and does most of his custom wheel & bike building and coaching by fed-ex and flying out of
our little burg. His clients are mostly pro roadies, I'm sad to say, but this guy knows his
business. And he claims that riding your own bike is the very best training for riding. Amazing,
isn't it? That's why he's up on trainers, and down on the Schwinnspin cycles.

For me, an average guy with a family, a mortgage, and so on, I have found significant gains in my
wind/cardio fitness that transfers in a big way to the bike, by *running* as a supplement for when I
can't ride, like just after a big rain when the trails are too soft.

Our state downhill champion, who's also top 10 in our xc circuit recommends some weight
supplementation if you have to do something, such as lungges with dumbbells, high-rep step-ups onto
a platform with dumbbells, front of the shoulders barbell squats, and just about anything that can
attempt to duplicate the natural pedal motion, such as a stair stepper, but you bend way down to get
full leg extension.

Or, just lay on the couch and eat potato chips.

Paladin

 

[Craig Brossman]

"Paladin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've got a friend that is a pro trainer. He lives up in the hills like a hermit, looks like
> Sheldon Brown, and does most of his custom wheel & bike building and coaching by fed-ex and flying
> out of our little burg. His clients are mostly pro roadies, I'm sad to say, but this guy knows his
> business. And he claims that riding your own bike is the very best training for riding. Amazing,
> isn't it? That's why he's up on trainers, and down on the Schwinnspin cycles.
>
> For me, an average guy with a family, a mortgage, and so on, I have found significant gains in my
> wind/cardio fitness that transfers in a big way to the bike, by *running* as a supplement for when
> I can't ride, like just after a big rain when the trails are too soft.
>
> Our state downhill champion, who's also top 10 in our xc circuit recommends some weight
> supplementation if you have to do something, such as lungges with dumbbells, high-rep step-ups
> onto a platform with dumbbells, front of the shoulders barbell squats, and just about anything
> that can attempt to duplicate the natural pedal motion, such as a stair stepper, but you bend way
> down to get full leg extension.
>
> Or, just lay on the couch and eat potato chips.
>
> Paladin

You almost had me going there with the training and all ... what kind of potato chips are we talking
here? Is it a long sofa (I'm 6'2") or a shorty?

--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado (remove .nospam. if replying)