Cycling Training Plan for Winter and Speed
Welcome to my article on getting fast for the upcoming cycling season. Whether you race bicycles, mountain bikes, cyclocross, or just want to ride your bike faster, this is the time to work on making it happen for you. I will lay out several thoughts on what to do now to make your Spring and Summer bicycling season your best ever; or Winter if you race cyclocross.
The idea is to 'not' bury yourself under a mountain of fatigue inducing workouts. Rather we need to do quality work, focusing on our weak areas while at the same time not letting our bodies forget what we are already good at doing. Do all this without causing mid Winter burnout. We need to become strong, stay sharp, stay fresh. Read ahead to learn more of what we can do now to be better later.
The key is shorter high quality workouts. These can be done during the week when most of us have limited time anyway.
Let's use a rider that has a not so speedy sprint. OK, sprinting generally requires a lot of brute force effort and high leg speed. It is Winter and we don't really want to perform brute force work. The key is to work on leg speed now. You must learn to spin a small ring 16, 15, 14 tooth cog at 110-120 rpm before you will ever be able to turn the big chain ring that fast. Also work on slow rpm form sprints. These are done at a moderate effort, paying attention to pedal form, upper body form, etc. As Winter moves along you will turn the big chain ring 19, then 17, 16, ... tooth cogs, etc. Build that leg speed first! Faster legs will accelerate that bike much quicker than the guy next to you that is over geared and bogged down.
FTP...How can you get better without performing crushing FTP+ efforts. Sweet Spot (SST 88-93℅ of FTP) is the work that will get you there. Most riders will work their tail off to kill it on a 20 minute 'test' effort. Then we magically think we can take 5℅ off that number and ride like a pro all day. No way! Most riders honestly will have trouble riding 20 minutes the next day at 95℅ of test results. The key is to build your SST to 60-90 minutes straight, no rest. This is tough. Start off with a few 15-20 minute sets. Work up to it. Repeated work will have a rider seeing slightly lower heart rate over time for the same effort. You are adapting. Work up to 2 hours SST and you will be miles ahead come Spring. Of course we will throw in some short duration FTP+ efforts as well as lightly hitting zone 5 power.
The idea is to 'not' bury yourself under a mountain of fatigue inducing workouts. Rather we need to do quality work, focusing on our weak areas while at the same time not letting our bodies forget what we are already good at doing. Do all this without causing mid Winter burnout. We need to become strong, stay sharp, stay fresh. Read ahead to learn more of what we can do now to be better later.
The key is shorter high quality workouts. These can be done during the week when most of us have limited time anyway.
Let's use a rider that has a not so speedy sprint. OK, sprinting generally requires a lot of brute force effort and high leg speed. It is Winter and we don't really want to perform brute force work. The key is to work on leg speed now. You must learn to spin a small ring 16, 15, 14 tooth cog at 110-120 rpm before you will ever be able to turn the big chain ring that fast. Also work on slow rpm form sprints. These are done at a moderate effort, paying attention to pedal form, upper body form, etc. As Winter moves along you will turn the big chain ring 19, then 17, 16, ... tooth cogs, etc. Build that leg speed first! Faster legs will accelerate that bike much quicker than the guy next to you that is over geared and bogged down.
FTP...How can you get better without performing crushing FTP+ efforts. Sweet Spot (SST 88-93℅ of FTP) is the work that will get you there. Most riders will work their tail off to kill it on a 20 minute 'test' effort. Then we magically think we can take 5℅ off that number and ride like a pro all day. No way! Most riders honestly will have trouble riding 20 minutes the next day at 95℅ of test results. The key is to build your SST to 60-90 minutes straight, no rest. This is tough. Start off with a few 15-20 minute sets. Work up to it. Repeated work will have a rider seeing slightly lower heart rate over time for the same effort. You are adapting. Work up to 2 hours SST and you will be miles ahead come Spring. Of course we will throw in some short duration FTP+ efforts as well as lightly hitting zone 5 power.
