Everyday or Once a week?

52Teeth

A mate and I are training for a century in November.

We have both ridden the distance before without too much heartache, currently we are both putting in around 80 miles per week.

I get out 5-6 times per week to cover this distance, he gets out 2 or 3 times. So which is the better approach or does it make no difference at all?

sub55

the milage of 2/3 times a week done 5/6 times a week.
in my oppinion , most people who think they`re training hard quite simply dont do it often enough. anybody training for 2 or 3 sessions a week ,is kidding themselves.

dmch2

that's a bit negative I think...

Any riding is better than none, but I think we all know that very few of us have the time to reach our ultimate potential.

On a couple of rides a week for a few months I found I could 50 miles without too much problem. But I know that's way short of the best I could be - at university I was doing 12 sessions a week to improve my rowing and I know I'm never going to be anyway near as fit again. Doesn't stop me aiming to do a 100 mile Sportive once or twice a year, I know I'm not going to win but it'll still be fun

Bronzie

In general, I'd say it's better to ride more frequently / regularly. 10 hours a week split over 5-6 sessions of 1-2 hours would be more beneficial than 2 sessions of 5 hours.

What you do in those 1-2 hour sessions is the key of course.

SBezza

Bronzie wrote:

In general, I'd say it's better to ride more frequently / regularly. 10 hours a week split over 5-6 sessions of 1-2 hours would be more beneficial than 2 sessions of 5 hours.

What you do in those 1-2 hour sessions is the key of course.

I think that depends on what you are training for, if it is to ride a century in a decent time, then 5 hour rides I would suggest might be more suitable even if it only 2 times a week. If you can only do 2 hours then you will not be getting the required time in the saddle in one session to even remotely replicate a 100 mile ride.

Even if you did 2 hours at tempo/sweetspot, you will only be doing about 40-45 miles, if you never go over this distance then your body will struggle towards the end of a 100 mile ride.

To be honest 80 miles over 5 to 6 sessions a week is not a great amount of training to be honest, so either approach will work as well as the other I would think.

twotyred

2/3 times a week is fine provided you build up the mileage you can do in a single ride to 75-80 miles. At that point doing a century is just a matter of going for it with a positive attitude.

batch78

Most I've ever trained is three times a week.

Last year just concentrated on distance, managed at least one metric century a month and gold standard in a couple of imperial sportives. Approx 150 miles a week

This year tried TT'ing, managed 25:30 on a lumpy ten course, plus metric ton each month and gold in two 150km sportives, probably less time training but regular race pace at least once a week. Approx 80 miles a week

Yes I'm no super rider, but think this shows you don't need to dedicate your entire life to training to achieve anything.

In summary, if you've got a good base fitness and covered the distance before you'll both make it. Who'll be quickest though is a completely different matter!

acidstrato

the more you ride, the better. simplez. recovery isn't necessarilly doing nothing...common misconception

only you know if your doing enough. nobody else can tell you for sure.

Toks

acidstrato wrote:

only you know if your doing enough. nobody else can tell you for sure.

er...are you going to expand on that? Why would people have sports-coaches or follow training programs? :roll: