bike to work or race to work

jonod777

hi all i bike to work 3 times a week its 50 ml round trip. is just biking to and a moderate phase or do i need to do interval work to get fit for next season racing

SBezza

Try a variation of different training, take some rides easier, especially if very tired. Us some of the rides as good interval training rides, if possible, or high tempo rides.

simon_e

Most of the advice I've read suggests that you use the first part of winter for building stamina. To be honest, I find winter commuting taxing enough, especially when it's cold, without trying to ride at near race pace. Whether you're doing big miles or intervals it's important that you both rest adequately and eat properly.

Should be plenty of material in this forum's history and try articles in the Bikeradar Fitness section. Don't know if this helps:

http://www.timetrialtraining.co.uk/S4TTElements.htm

Mr Plum

If your commute was shorter, probably no more than 8-10 miles each way, then it could be beneficial to power it at a good race pace when you mix this with longer weekend rides - effectively interval training. This is what I do and I really noticed the difference. 25 miles each way is probably too far for this. Mix it up and ride to a pace that your body feels comfortable with on the day - no point riding yourself into the ground and being useless at work on friday afternoon...

I can't really add much more to the comments above which I agree with.

jonod777

thanks for all the help im doing slow ride into work and 30s max 1m cool down for 10 reps on the way home

KnightOfTheLongTights

Mr Plum wrote:

25 miles each way is probably too far for this

maybe for really redlining intervals but you can do intervals that work lactate threshold rather than anaerobic.

I think a good, hard routine woudl be to do something like: 20 mins hard, at say 85-90% - 5 mins rest, just spinning - then another 20 mins at 85-90% - 5 mins rest etc.

Or 10-min efforts with 2-min rests.

Maybe not every morning, but two out of the three?

The rides back in the evening could work as nice recovery rides.

term1te

I have a similar distance commute, although I tend not to ride it in the winter. I take it fairly easy on the way into work, I need to at least give the impression I'm awake during the day, then put a lot more effort in on the way home. Given the traffic, lights, roundabouts, etc. it is hard to do a structured ride, so I just go as hard as I feel comfortable with, knowing I'll have some recovery time at the next set of lights or junction. I'm very fortunate, that for a couple of extra miles I can take the "hilly" route back and gain 800 m of climbing. I'm planning to be a little more structured next year.