How Many Hours?

[macca1234]

i am 14 years old, 5 foot 6 -128 pounds and want to be as good a cyclist as i can. I have been riding properly for about 2 years and am just starting to race now. I ride 300-400 km's a week and swim and run 4 times a week. should i be doing more or less, do u recommend riding in the morning? and should i be going to the gym? is it beneficial at my age or should i just do sit ups and core body exercises at home? any advice from you wiser cyclists would be much appreciated.

 

[shming123]

i am 14 years old, 5 foot 6 -128 pounds and want to be as good a cyclist as i can. I have been riding properly for about 2 years and am just starting to race now. I ride 300-400 km's a week and swim and run 4 times a week. should i be doing more or less, do u recommend riding in the morning? and should i be going to the gym? is it beneficial at my age or should i just do sit ups and core body exercises at home? any advice from you wiser cyclists would be much appreciated.

If you want to concentrate purely on cycling, you could probably stop the running and swimming, but those are also good exercise and can help break the routine and keep you fit. I also think weight training in the offseason is good. Ride whenever you have time/ feel like.

 

[Catabolic_Jones]

If you are that young, and handling that kind of volume, I really wouldn't worry! Sounds like you are well on your way.

Eventually you can get yourself a coach and focus on specifics. For now, ride lots, race lots, and enjoy it.

 

[Roadie_scum]

i am 14 years old, 5 foot 6 -128 pounds and want to be as good a cyclist as i can. I have been riding properly for about 2 years and am just starting to race now. I ride 300-400 km's a week and swim and run 4 times a week. should i be doing more or less, do u recommend riding in the morning? and should i be going to the gym? is it beneficial at my age or should i just do sit ups and core body exercises at home? any advice from you wiser cyclists would be much appreciated.

The key question: Do you enjoy it?

It's absolutely critical that you don't become too 'task-focused' at your age. If you are enjoying that kind of training and not becoming too tired to handle school and a social life, great. Many great cyclists started late in the game and it is unlikely you will get any benefit later on from pushing yourself hard now - more likely you will get burnt out and injure yourself. If you do want to keep going with that volume and you honestly enjoy it try to find a coach who knows about training juniors do make sure you aren't doing so much you harm yourself.

I know one kid your age who could definitely handle what you've described, so I'm not saying it's not possible, but you need to be careful with it.

 

[macca1234]

in reply to roadie scums reply: yeah i love it and i ride with a very experienced cyclist once a week and race twice a week. They keep me going, i admit sometimes the last thing you want to do is tackle a 4km hill at 6:00 am but when you actually get on the bike everything feels better. thanks for the input.

im still deciding whether to gym in the off-season...hmmm?

 

[Don Shipp]

in reply to roadie scums reply: yeah i love it and i ride with a very experienced cyclist once a week and race twice a week. They keep me going, i admit sometimes the last thing you want to do is tackle a 4km hill at 6:00 am but when you actually get on the bike everything feels better. thanks for the input.

im still deciding whether to gym in the off-season...hmmm?

Well, in a previous thread you were asking for motivation tips, if you now are saying that you enjoy it all then you've presumably got that sorted.
Overtraining can be harmful, and running and swimming are not cycle-specific training. Both have their benefits, but if at any time you feel that you are doing to much I would say drop the running.
To get the benefits from any training, you do have to have rest and recovery days. You will get fitter and stronger by having time off. To find out what overtraining feels like, read Carrera's threads. He's always getting ill.

 

[blue1]

i am 14 years old, 5 foot 6 -128 pounds and want to be as good a cyclist as i can. I have been riding properly for about 2 years and am just starting to race now. I ride 300-400 km's a week and swim and run 4 times a week. should i be doing more or less, do u recommend riding in the morning? and should i be going to the gym? is it beneficial at my age or should i just do sit ups and core body exercises at home? any advice from you wiser cyclists would be much appreciated.

if you enjoy it I think it ok .sometimes I do the same when I have time .

 

[whoawhoa]

in reply to roadie scums reply: yeah i love it and i ride with a very experienced cyclist once a week and race twice a week. They keep me going, i admit sometimes the last thing you want to do is tackle a 4km hill at 6:00 am but when you actually get on the bike everything feels better. thanks for the input.

im still deciding whether to gym in the off-season...hmmm?

I'd say no gym. Have you read the other threads on it? I don't think it would be any different from a junior, unless you had the strength of a "frail old lady."

BTW, I'm 15 and do 450ish kms a week but don't swim and just run a bit for cyclocross. One thing I've found is that more rest is better, I've dropped overall kms a bit lately to allow for more recovery. I just cut out anything not really long or hard. Whereas I used to ride 2 hrs or so wednesday, in between my interval days, I've dropped that to 1 and cut all riding monday and friday. Seems to work.

 

[limerickman]

whoawhoa & macca1234 :
good to read about youngsters like yourselves coming in to the sport and putting in the miles.
It's great to read it.

Advice ?
As regards training, you both seem to be dedicated and you're both getting the distances in.
I agree with the advice already given - ig you enjoy training and it doesn;t interfer with your studies, there is no reason why you cannot put in more miles per week.
I do think that you're doing plenty as it is.

For me, i found cross training beneficial : as well as getting the miles in, our team did gym work (situps, pressups, indoor football, very light weight work)
during the winter.
This helped to burn the calories and it broke up the routine of miles.

Progress in this game is slow - and sometimes you feel you're getting howhere
despite putting in the effort.
But believe me, as a guy who had only moderate ability, I worked and worked and managed to cycle at national stage race level.

The only surefire way to improve to stick to the miles and watch what you eat and try to avoid the temptations of teenage life (like alcohol).
It isn't easy and you need to be dedicated.
Good luck to ya.

 

[macca1234]

of couse i lose a bit of motivation. Thats not not too say i dont enjoy riding, its more getting out of bed really early in the really cold weather to tackle that really hard hill that gets me down sumtimes.

 

[EoinC]

of couse i lose a bit of motivation. Thats not not too say i dont enjoy riding, its more getting out of bed really early in the really cold weather to tackle that really hard hill that gets me down sumtimes.

Keep going at it, Macca. the advice has been good. Just keep an eye on yourself as a lot of juniors show promise and then drop out. The key there is to keep enjoying yourself. At your age it's important to make sure that it doesn't tear up your life off the bike.
If you reach a stage where time becomes a constraint, just focus on making sure that your time on the bike is quality training. Spend as much time as you can with experienced cyclists and keep getting those races in.
I'm not sure on the gym-work (others will be much more informed), but I'd be guessing that you need to keep it fairly light. You're not at a stage in life where bulking up is going to serve much purpose, but staying fit definitely will.
I personally think that the cross-training is good, not just for maintaining overall fitness, but for adding a little variety to stop it all becoming stale.
How are you doing in the races, Macca? Are you in a position where you can try a bit of track racing? You may find it to be a good balance against your road work.
Let us know how you're getting on.
Eoin

 

[macca1234]

i havent got the courage yet too take on the older riders in the races i usually just hang with them do a bit of work upfront and let em go at the end and watch them sprint. it was weird on the weekend i found myself in awsum position to win the sprint but didnt realise what was going on, before i knew it the race was over...i thought we ahd another lap left. lmao. track sounds pretty scary, i dont have the fast twitch muscles to accelerate every few seconds like they have too.

 

[EoinC]

i havent got the courage yet too take on the older riders in the races i usually just hang with them do a bit of work upfront and let em go at the end and watch them sprint. it was weird on the weekend i found myself in awsum position to win the sprint but didnt realise what was going on, before i knew it the race was over...i thought we ahd another lap left. lmao. track sounds pretty scary, i dont have the fast twitch muscles to accelerate every few seconds like they have too.

Macca, if you get the chance, try a ride on the track. Aussie Velodromes often have beater track bikes which you can hire for training / racing. Not all track racing involves jumping every few seconds. It's a good place to pick up some bike-handling skills and some speed. Many velodromes also have training nights where you can get a good feel for it without having to race. If you are close enough to one, give it a try. If you like it - you like it. If you don't - you don't. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Regards,
Eoin

 

[park]

Definitely don't specialize in cycling now unless that is what you want to do. It sounds like you're having fun so don't spoil it by becoming too fixated on the tedium and minutae that can bog down cycling. I think the biggest problem for someone your age is burnout. Don't be shy about asking masters riders for advice. You may even find that one will volunteer to informally coach you. There is a 14 old kid, whose father is a strong 45+ racer, in our area who started racing this year. He won several races and posted a 58 min 40K time trial! He is lucky to have a dad so involved in the sport and his potential is almost Lance-like, but everyone keeps saying that they hope he doesn't get burned out
because they have seen it happen so many times before.

 

[foild1]

wow. im 20 and ride 30kms a day, work 6 days a week 9 hrs a day.. how the heck do you guys fit in 450+ kms a week? good on yah, but wow!

 

[macca1234]

burnout hey, im not so sure if i should just have fun tho. i know i want to be a cyclist and i want too be as good as i can so i dont know if just riding when its fun to avoid burnout would be beneficial and surely putting in hard km's when youre young has its rewards? doesnt it?

 

[Roadie_scum]

burnout hey, im not so sure if i should just have fun tho. i know i want to be a cyclist and i want too be as good as i can so i dont know if just riding when its fun to avoid burnout would be beneficial and surely putting in hard km's when youre young has its rewards? doesnt it?

There is a limited amount of scientific literature in the area of training for non-adults, but on first principles and from the evidence, putting in hard km's when you are as young as 14 probably won't have much effect at all on what kind of cyclist you are as an adult, when you would have a realistic chance of riding professionally or achieving your peak performances. If you are really interested in this question, there is a good section on the dubious bases for training children and adolescents in endurance sports in a book by Tim Noakes called 'The Lore of Running'. If you can read the relevant section it might give you a better explanation on why I say be careful rather than train yourself too hard. While you are still growing you lack the hormones to adapt properly to training. You also have weaker joints and risk injury. Finally, there is no evidence hard training as a kid in endurance sport improves performance as an adult and many counterexamples of athletes in endurance sports who started very late.

A wise man told me as a kid that until I was 17 I should ride as much as I enjoy and only think about structured training after that. I enjoyed the occasional 100km plus ride and I liked racing, so I'm not saying you should 'only' do a certain amount, but there's no need to push too hard or to structure your training too much in a way that takes out the enjoyment.

 

[EoinC]

burnout hey, im not so sure if i should just have fun tho. i know i want to be a cyclist and i want too be as good as i can so i dont know if just riding when its fun to avoid burnout would be beneficial and surely putting in hard km's when youre young has its rewards? doesnt it?

Macca - I think it's not so much a case of having fun every time you hop on a bike, as it is overall enjoying what you are doing (that is, making sure it doesn't get to a stage where you really don't like it each time you hop on the bike).
I think Roadie Scum is right in that, what you do as a 14 year old won't have a huge amount to do with how you ride as an adult other than that you will have picked up some bike-handling skills and you will know how to race. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it (both of those plusses are important), but I'm not so sure that the body you build at 14 is too closely related to the body you'll have in your mid to late 20's.
As Roadie Scum pointed out, there are a lot of mighty fine Senior riders who never raced as Juniors. There are also a lot of mighty fine Junior riders who have given it away before they got to become mighty fine Senior riders. As long as you can maintain a degree of enjoying doing what you are doing, you should be OK. You are exhibiting a lot of dedication and self-discipline for your age, which is a definite advantage in road racing. In some ways these are more important than physical prowess.
Keep it spinning, Macca, but keep an eye on yourself to see whether there are moments of pleasure in there - it certainly helps.

 

[limerickman]

Eoin C : you hit on the core of the issue concerning training, as far as I can see.

I think dedication is the driver of success.
You can be the greatest talent in the world but if you're not dedicated to the sport, no amount of talent alone will get you to the top.

All of the professional cyclists that we see on our screens take part in what is the hardest of sports.
They lead lives which are solely dedicated to improving/maintaining supreme fitness.
This means that not only do they have to put in hours and hours on their bikes, they also have to watch their food, ensure that they rest etc.
In other words they have to tailor their entire lifestyle to make sure that their
bike and only their bike, is what counts in the lives.
To do this, they have to be very dedicated.
Some would say selfish.

Either way, that is what success in this sport requires.
And even after putting in all those hours and all that self sacrifice, a puncture at the wrong moment can be the dfference between glory and failure.

Why do we do it ? Maybe it's because some of us relish the journey and not the destination.
Training and "living the life" in themselves should be something to savour.
I won't for one second try to say that hopping on the bike in the depths of winter and going out and doing 4-5 hours is the greatest entertainment in the world but part of you must want to have to do it and must be prepared to do it if you want to have a chance of gaining success as a competitor.

But always remember, there are more bad days than good days in this sport
of ours.

 

[Chance3290]

of couse i lose a bit of motivation. Thats not not too say i dont enjoy riding, its more getting out of bed really early in the really cold weather to tackle that really hard hill that gets me down sumtimes.

As an old fart, I wake up on the cold mornings and think; "Naw, its too cold. I'm staying in bed today." Then later in the day I get mad at myself for not riding. I started riding later in life. I wish I had the years back.
Now I know I'll never win a race, but I ride because I like to ride. If you want to ride to win, and not look back in your later years, get up! The cold only lasts until you've warmed up.