Am I doing enough riding?

Infamous

Hi. I currently only ride 3 times a week, 2 fast rides (an hour of intervals or hills or a 10M TT) and one long ride (2-3 hours mostly flat). So only about 4-5 hours a week in total.

I'm not looking to join a club or race, but I do want to get faster and fitter. I was previously doing a lot more, 5-6 rides a week, 7-10 hours. But I have recently added a full weight training routine AND run once a week.

It's quite enjoyable this way, as I am fresh for each ride and can go a lot harder, but is it enough to improve?

thanks.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Improve what?

Blonde

Yes, improve what? You are 'training' for short, fast rides so you wil get better at short fast rides, improving your power output and strength (and imrove the quality of the short twitch muscle fibres). You won't get better at longer distances or build areobic capacity beyond the certain point that you can acheive with only short fast rides, or build endurance or improve the number of 'long twitch' muscle fibres. I'd suggest you get a book such as The cyclists training bible (Joe Friel), read about how 'fitness' is measured and the most effective ways in which this fitness can be improved, and take it from there.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Even rides as short as a 2km individual pusuit are still predominantly an aerobic endurance event.

So if improving TT's is the goal, then sustainable aerobic power is where the major focus needs to be, irrespective of the length of the TT.

Infamous

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Improve what?

Infamous wrote:

I'm not looking to join a club or race, but I do want to get faster and fitter.

I was asking if 3 rides is enough to improve, or if it would only be enough to maintain, or would it even decrease my performance.

Tom Butcher

If you have been doing more than that for a few years then when you cut your training you are likely to get slower - of course if you were previously doing 7-10 hours easy pedalling and now you do 5 hours planned training then you may improve.

Infamous

Been riding about 6 months. The training hasnt really changed, there is just less of it lately.

Barrie_G

You're not wanting to join a club or start racing, so stop worring about how much you're riding, just get out when you can and enjoy it.

redddraggon

Infamous wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Improve what?

Infamous wrote:

I'm not looking to join a club or race, but I do want to get faster and fitter.

I was asking if 3 rides is enough to improve, or if it would only be enough to maintain, or would it even decrease my performance.

Yeh he was asking faster and fitter for what,,,,,

I think you need to get yourself some clear goals.......or just carry on simply enjoying your riding.

Alex_Simmons/RST

OK, so if it's going faster on a bike, then 4-5 hours is just enough training to enjoy a Sportive or club run etc but as for providing sufficient training stimulus to continue to get sustainably faster, well if you've been doing nothing then you'll improve but otherwise I wouldn't be expecting too much improvement after a couple of months. You will need to make those few hours count though with high quality efforts (which sounds like what you're doing).

I say "improve what?" because lifting weights and running ain't gunna do much for making you faster on a bike. But you might enjoy it, like the other benefits that training brings. Just don't expect it'll make much difference to your sustainable bike speed. Riding a bike is best for that.

It's a bit like triathletes who have only so many hours for the bike, training quality and quantity is influenced by the other stresses, especially running which they need to do a lot of.

Infamous

thanks for the replies.

Yeah i'm not lifting weights and running to get faster on the bike, i'm trying to get stronger and have a more all round fitness (rather than just cycling fitness).

I don't really have any cycling goals, at least none less vague than "getting faster and fitter".

I suppose the question really would be, what is the minimum amount of riding needed to see improvement week after week?

Tom Butcher

There is no minimum amount - if you do a certain amount each week eventually you'll plateau. If you are fairly young and healthy then as Alex says 4-5 hours is enough to go out and ride a sportive - if you are really focussed and have a bit of natural talent you may be able to race on that amount but you'll plateau before you win the Tour.

Infamous

That makes sense.

But then my training would still progress within the 4-5 hours, it's not like I ride the exact same way each week. My fast rides would get faster and long ride would get longer.

wouldn't I still progress?

unclemalc

You really have to set goals/targets to aim at, otherwise there is no end to it and you could become obsessed with becoming something unfeasible, like the new Merckx or something.... :shock:

Mettan

Infamous wrote:

That makes sense.

But then my training would still progress within the 4-5 hours, it's not like I ride the exact same way each week. My fast rides would get faster and long ride would get longer.

wouldn't I still progress?

Yes, you would (IMHO) - obviously, at 4 - 5 hours ( 2 high intensity & 1 moderate intensity) you're not going to be winning any Cat 2 races, however, as said/alluded to previously, it'd certainly enable you to perform adequately in a Sportive or Club run.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Infamous wrote:

That makes sense.

But then my training would still progress within the 4-5 hours, it's not like I ride the exact same way each week. My fast rides would get faster and long ride would get longer.

wouldn't I still progress?

If your long ride gets longer, then presumably you won't be riding 4-5 hrs/week any more but clocking up more time, which will provide the additional training stimulus to continue fitness gains.

richa

Infamous wrote:

fast rides would get faster and long ride would get longer./quote]This IS progress.

Sounds like you DEFINATELY need to get yourself a goal. How are you going to know you've got there if you don't know where you're going???

Why not start with something simple. A local loop, 10mile TT time, a sportive. Or, set yourself a more challenging goal for say next summer and build towards it.

Infamous

Well, once a week I do a 10mTT (assuming weather is fine) as one of the fast rides. I always give it everything, but I wouldn't say that it was a goal. More like a measure of my progress.