training year round/ how to be ready for spring racing

[wnowak06]

i started riding a lot last summer, but then came my senior year of high school and i didnt get to cycle too much. this summer, though, i'm back on my back and doing about 250 miles a week. i'm off to college in chicago so i know the weather wont let me ride outside a lot in the coming months. i have a trainer so i can workout on that indoors.

i'm wondering though, just b/c i've never really trained year round, how this whole thing works. do i up my milage in the winter or lower it? these days, i spend several days a week doing intervals or hill repeat workouts, but in the winter do I continue these, or just ride miles at a steady pace?

how do you all train in the winter to be best prepared for the spring???

thanks a lot for any responses

 

[DennistheMennis]

I highly recommend Joe Friel's "The Cyclist's Training Bible" book. It takes you through a detailed process to schedule your whole training year. It takes a couple hours, but when you're done you'll know what you should do every day for the next season. Covers off-season too.

 

[RapDaddyo]

frenchyge has had a very successful racing season this year thanks to a winter training program (almost exclusively on the trainer). You might want to search some of his posts from about March to June of this year for his regimen.

 

[park]

I worked with a coach beginning last October through March who had me doing trainer workouts all winter. I don't mind riding in the cold so got outside some,but the bulk of work was done inside. I never got hung up with mileage but instead focused on hours spent training, which ended up being around 4-5 hours per week. The variety of trainer workouts I did was bewildering but the variety was fun. I did some intense sessions but those were short efforts. Sometimes I did high cadence motorpacing, sometimes hill grinds and sometimes just easy recovery spinning. Most workouts were 60 minutes and the longest 90 min. The sessions were periodized and testing was done regularly. As spring arrived I spent more time outside but always did my intervals inside on the trainer. I'm 48 and knocked 2 minutes off my previous best 40k this summer. I plan to follow a similar plan this winter. Whatever you do, don't just spin aimlessly at low intensity watching movies. This is exceedingly boring and a sure fire way to lose high end fitness.