Commuting as race training

I do 2x20s in couple day blocks. Then I ride in easy. Then I go back to the 2x20s. They have made a noticable difference for me. And upped my volume a lot

Certainly, I look at my commute as training.

I have the luxury of a shower at work so I can certainly do intervals, although I generally prefer to do them on the way home.

Most of what I'm focussing on at the moment is pedal technique. High cadence work, varying the rep time and recovery time. I play around with it a bit this time of year because I don't want to burn out on rigour and regimen this early.

The rest of it is just steady, 60 to 70%. If I'm feeling really robust I'll pick a hill and do a couple of reps on my way in to work. Do that with a heavy pack, you're bound to get stronger.

The main thing, I think, on the commute is to just get the miles in and be safe. Good luck with it.

I suspect that if you tried to work race training into your commute, then you would start taking more risks and feel the need to run red lights. It does depend on your route, of course.

Don Shipp said:

I suspect that if you tried to work race training into your commute, then you would start taking more risks and feel the need to run red lights. It does depend on your route, of course.

I was thinking of doing it more for off-season work, myself, like base-miles, so I don't see myself taking additional risks (beyond being on a bike while people are drinking coffee, applying makeup, and reading newspapers while driving to work) as part of that. My concern was that only riding base-miles for 45 minutes at a time (each way) would turn out to be 'junk miles'. Maybe planning for intervals, like the others have mentioned, would be a better thought.

frenchyge said:

I was thinking of doing it more for off-season work, myself, like base-miles, so I don't see myself taking additional risks (beyond being on a bike while people are drinking coffee, applying makeup, and reading newspapers while driving to work) as part of that. My concern was that only riding base-miles for 45 minutes at a time (each way) would turn out to be 'junk miles'. Maybe planning for intervals, like the others have mentioned, would be a better thought.

I do not regard cycling as part of traffic as being a big risk, I don't feel the need for a helmet for instance. But I see other cyclists doing things that I know to be unsafe (and sometimes illegal) as they try to keep their speed up.
It really does all depend on the route, and there may be a choice here.
When do base miles become junk miles and vice-versa?

Don Shipp said:

When do base miles become junk miles and vice-versa?

Well, posts from Andy Coggan indicate that the physiological adaptations from each zone are dependent not just on 'total time' in the zone, but also on the duration of each venture into that zone. He recommends that endurance/base mile/Level 2 work be done as part of a 3hr workout, so I wasn't sure if doing Level 2 work in 45 minute chunks would really be enough stress to cause the adaptations - hence junk miles.

I do. 1 hours 15 to 20 minutes each way. Close to 3 hours a day. I vary my intensity. Mostly just riding at endurance zone. Maybe a little faster when I need to keep up with the traffic. My route can get windy very often and it won't be surprising if I need to crank out 200w just to keep my pace at 16 mph.

BTW, extend your commute time by riding additional miles before work. 😄

frenchyge said:

This topic came up while riding with a race-team buddy this morning. On the surface, commuting via bike seems like a perfect way to increase volume without a huge impact on personal time. My work is approximately 45 minutes (by bike) from home, and my concern is that that may be too short a period to get much benefit from a endurance level ride. I'm not sure I want to do threshold or high-intensity intervals in the morning on the way to work (especially since there's no shower at the office 🙁 ).

If there are any out there that commute as part of race training, I'd be interested to hear your approach and the benefits you receive. Also, is it something you do only during off-season training, or do you carry it into the race season as well? Thanks in advance.

BlueJersey said:

BTW, extend your commute time by riding additional miles before work. 😄

That'd put me out in the dark. Maybe they wouldn't mind if I showed up a teensy bit.... ok, an hour... late 3 times a week. 😄

I meant leaving home early so that you can spend an extra hour for the extra miles before being at work.

frenchyge said:

That'd put me out in the dark. Maybe they wouldn't mind if I showed up a teensy bit.... ok, an hour... late 3 times a week. 😄

BlueJersey said:

I meant leaving home early so that you can spend an extra hour for the extra miles before being at work.

Right. I'd have to plan for darkness in that case. Do you commute during race season too? I was afraid that riding in the morning would mess up my race-specific workouts in the evening. Any issues with that?

Yes, I commute during the racing season just to get the necessary miles and hours. I often get off from work around 9 PM to 10 PM. Is dark out and I ride with no lights. 🙂 I live in NYC and there are plenty of street lights. I should get a set of lights soon. I even commute during the Winter (except when there are too much snow on the ground). Talking about riding in the cold, wet, and dark. 😄 I am ready. My route is very safe. More than half of my route is on bike paths. They are usually not crowed at all since most normal people only come out and play during the weekends.

My local races fall on my work day, before I am scheduled to show up. So, I would race and then commute to my work place. On the same night, I would skip the commute and take the subway home. My job requires me to stand all day. If I were you, I would skip the commute if I need to race on that same night. If you really need the training hours and volume, keep the commute intensity light.

frenchyge said:

Right. I'd have to plan for darkness in that case. Do you commute during race season too? I was afraid that riding in the morning would mess up my race-specific workouts in the evening. Any issues with that?

Yeah I totally count commuting as training kilometers. My job was 40 minutes away from home. It gave me a great opportunity to get in free easy volume. This was especially helpful when I needed to rest for a few days but still wanted easy rides. That way I hit 2 birds with one stone by getting to work cheaper, and getting in ride time without having to go after I got home in the evening.

Easy commute kilometers open up the doors to more intense evening rides when you actually have time. That's the way I see it, and it seemed to work great for me. I kept the commute rides as easy as possbile and focused on making effecient pedal strokes and no body movements. Then in evenings I would just give'er on Wed. night Team rides.

Last year though, my commute was an 18km ride through hell. I had huge hills, a 10lb backpack, and a 5lb heavier bike. Needless to say I only commuted 3 days/week because it was just too much otherwise. You can always find a way to make it work....but this is much less technical than the whole HR cadence time RPE watts thing....sometimes you just gotta go by feeling I guess