Serious Training

[psychotica21]

I guess this is mostly applied toward those who hav been racing for a while. I am a college student (21 female) who recently got involved with my road cycling team. I am basically an endurance athlete. I ran track and Cross Country and many road races but cycling seems to intrigue me so much more. I am really interested in devoting all of my time and really training to hopefully make some sort of team after I graduate next year. I hope to be able to make a professional team in the future. I know a lot about training for long distance running but I am kind of at a loss for endurance cycling (stage racing). This summer should be the time I am building my base and I know it requires hours and hours on the bike. However, I am unsure of what the quality of those rides should be?
Running wise I run about 17:30 5K and 5:05 mile and 41:00 10K. I have seen many books availble about women's cycling but none of them seem all that informative. Thanks so much

 

[ric_stern/RST]

psychotica21,

congratulations on your move into the best sport -- cycling! there's quite a few posts on training on this forum, and the importance of getting a coach, who will be able to guide you in the right direction and help prevent you from making common mistakes.

there's also a good question and answer page over at cyclingnews.com (http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness) and some articles there.

There's some articles here too: http://www.cyclecoach.com/tips.htm

and, of course if you have any questions feel free to post them here, and the coaches and scientists (myself, 2Lap, and Maarten) and the others will be only too glad to hopefully help.

Cheers
Ric

 

[Julie W]

I have a son who just turned 14. He has been speedskating for about 1.5 years
and recently took an interest in cycling. Although there is no junior team where we live, my husband continued taking him to ride with the older aged cycling clubs and soon he was being offered sponsorships.

He does really well riding with the more experienced riders, however he wants to take the sport more seriously and I was wondering about good junior coaches and programs.

Julie W

 

[ZimboNC]

With run times that fast all you need to do is work on your swimming and cycling and you have a future as a triathlete!

Good luck!

--Steve

 

[K50]

I guess this is mostly applied toward those who hav been racing for a while. I am a college student (21 female) who recently got involved with my road cycling team. I am basically an endurance athlete. I ran track and Cross Country and many road races but cycling seems to intrigue me so much more. I am really interested in devoting all of my time and really training to hopefully make some sort of team after I graduate next year. I hope to be able to make a professional team in the future. I know a lot about training for long distance running but I am kind of at a loss for endurance cycling (stage racing). This summer should be the time I am building my base and I know it requires hours and hours on the bike. However, I am unsure of what the quality of those rides should be?
Running wise I run about 17:30 5K and 5:05 mile and 41:00 10K. I have seen many books availble about women's cycling but none of them seem all that informative. Thanks so much

If I had to say something, I'd recommend a book like "The Cyclist's Training Bible" by Joe Friel. It has everything in it you need to know about how to train for road cycling...Heart rates, Lactate Threshold specific to cycling, specific intervals for different events and goals etc....It doesn't, however, give you a training plan to really start off with. You have to make your own. I used an 8 week schedule that my friend gave me this year, and after just that, I was able to race reasonably well at the first race I did this season last weekend. It might be worth a look to check out the book. It also has good information on diet which is a bonus. Many people on this site use the book, personally I love it! Once you understand more about cycling and get the hang of it, it will be easier to make your own training schedule.

Yeah, and if you want to join a pro team eventually, I'd say to get a coach ASAP. A team coach can guide you a lot more than just yourself or training partners, or the aforementioned book. Good luck!

 

[Spunout]

Also read Ackland's Endurance Training as it will assist your transition between what you know as a runner to a cyclist.

Friel is good, and great for recreational racers and base-builders (first 2 years). Beyond that, it is time for more sophisticated tools and advice.

 

[whoawhoa]

I hate to directly contradict K50, but I would steer away from Friel. In my opinion, he places too much emphasis on weight training (which will probably hurt cycling performance, not help) and restricting intensity during the early parts of the year. It still may be worth a look, to get an idea of structure.

Anyway, I imagine run training is fairly similar to bike training. Long, steady workouts combined with intervals workouts, such as longer (15-20 minute) threshold intervals and 4-5 minute v02max intervals.

 

[ric_stern/RST]

If I had to say something, I'd recommend a book like "The Cyclist's Training Bible" by Joe Friel.It also has good information on diet which is a bonus.

I don't want to get into a "i'm a better coach than person X" type discussion, but *have* to make a response to the above, specific point. The section on diet is dire, and completely goes against everything in the scientific literature about nutrition and exercise performance. In fact, to have the book published/made available in the UK it had to have an extra bit added by another author giving far different advice on diet compared to what JF wrote. That advice falls in line with current scientific research along with what i or exercise physiologists such as Andy C would suggest on these forums.

Ric

 

[netscriber]

I hate to directly contradict K50, but I would steer away from Friel. In my opinion, he places too much emphasis on weight training (which will probably hurt cycling performance, not help) and restricting intensity during the early parts of the year. It still may be worth a look, to get an idea of structure.

Anyway, I imagine run training is fairly similar to bike training. Long, steady workouts combined with intervals workouts, such as longer (15-20 minute) threshold intervals and 4-5 minute v02max intervals.

I second that. I have spend weeks and weeks working on "base" and have been on plateaus too long. I wouldnt say Friel doesnt make sense but certainly his methods do not look like they make efficient use of time. Start getting used to power training and its concepts. It takes a while and I would say its a very important aspect of training in todays competitive cycling.