Arthur Clune wrote:
> Also get some speed work in. You'll be climbing for several hours, and
> working hard while doing it some some shorter fast rides are good for
> this (say 10 or 25 mile TT's, idealy on a sporting course)
I found moderate application of intervals to make a considerable
difference to my overall fitness. Basically, in a 90mins or so evening
ride I'd warm up for 5-10 miles (gets me to the nice open flat quiet
roads) and then (using an HRM though alternatives exist) either pick a
couple of points about 200m apart or use a stopwatch or use a sheer
'hit the wall' method, start at point A and sprint like mad, no gear
changing, no easing up, absolute eyeballs out for the duration
(typically about ten secs) then back to really gentle till the HR drops
to a steady state level (in my case I use a cutoff of 140bpm - works
for me but you will be different) and repeat. And repeat And repeat.
Then another 5 miles of moderate pace before repeating the set. If you
can then manage a third set you are quite fit;-)
This is not a substitute for all other training and should only be
attempted by those who know they are not at risk of sudden heart
problems, and in short doses throughout the season.
Alternatives: find a hill (doesn't have to be big, just steady) that
takes about 5 mins to ride up at a good pace and treat that as an
'interval', riding up as hard as you can without blowing up then coming
back to it and repeating several times. My local hill (Dundee Law) is
good for this, about 750 m with 75m height gain to climb with a
recovery loop of returning down the hill and riding round it for about
2k before repeating. On the MTB it takes about 7-8 mins per lap
according to the chavs who timed me one evening and pointed out that I
had taken longer the second time (ie between the second and third
times) than the first. Then again they seemed impressed that anyone
could even do it once. My rules are no stopping. If I have to stop to
put a foot down I go home.
The third alternative is the big climb - find a climb of 20-30 mins and
ride it once.
A colleague in Norway used to ride up Holmenkollen twice a day - about
400m climb - which was very much at the top end of that. Ouch.
And the long gentle rides at the weekends to get the miles (and cakes)
in..
...d
