Road Riding

geordiefella

Hello Peeps

Been riding about a year. Got my first road bike about 3 months ago. Did 6.20 riding time on the 104.5 mile Northern Rock Cyclone (and 40 minutes for 4 flats that were a bugger to fix for my riding partner - none for me - should i have left him?).

so my question is, How do i best improve my result?
Club Runs (not in a club as I've got kids at the weekend so ride super early mornings or late on)
Some training program (can you point me to good plans or sites etc)
Any good books people recommend to improve training using runs, heart rate monitors or anything else helpful).

Thanks Cycling peeps. very very grateful.
Dave

keef66

Try the Time Crunched Cyclist by Chris Carmichael. 6hrs training a week, all you really need is a heart rate monitor. (I got mine for a tenner from Lloyds Chemist)

Toks

Wow that's pretty impressive on a year's riding. My advice - ride moderately fast most of the time, take care to fuel up properly and rest when ya tired. Two days off the bike per week should be enough. Mix things up - solo rides, group ride etc. Enjoy your new improved fitness.

geordiefella

thanks you two. and whats the crack with punctures. every man for himself. i stopped 4 times to help the guy i was riding with most of the time. he kept puncturing. i didn;t see any other pairs of peeps fixing things. should i just have carried on? whats the protocol?

geordiefella

scratch that. i'll make a new topic....

Bronzie

geordiefella wrote:

whats the protocol?

Up to you - if it's a good friend you'd expect to help you out if you're in a fix, then yes - you never know when you may need to call in the favour.

If it's just a riding aquaintance that you suspect would cut the rope on you at the drop of a hat, then no - let them sort their own mechanicals out.