Time is of the essence.

TKing

Right...

Basically, I'm an 18 year old club cyclist, looking to race later in the season, yet I have one big thing holding me back. Time. I have exams in January and cant afford to be doing 4 hour club rides on the Saturday morning. I have a turbo, but what would be the best thing to do, to keep me fit, yet not spending hours on club runs? I can get back on the bike in Feb.

Cheers, TK.

Tom Dean

Missing your Saturday rides for the next three weeks isn't going to make that much difference. How many hours a week do you have to spend on college work? Any other commitments?

Tom Butcher

Yes if you can't do 4 hours do 2 hours a bit harder or an hour on the turbo -plenty of time yet. If you are studying hard you need a break anyway - a hard blast on the bike is probably the best thing - come back mentally refreshed. Everyone has commitments to some extent - it's just a case of prioritising and planning.

Tri-ing

It's all about priorities. I've got exams myself coming up and I know the feeling. It's been mentioned, but maybe go for quality not quantity? As nice as it is on the club run, 2 hard hours on the turbo may well get you the same benefits and has with the turbo you can do it at 9am or 9pm, doesn't matter. It's also surprising how many hours we all spend doing nothing essentially - telly watching, cooking blah blah. Watching 3 hours of telly can be done on the turbo. Cook things that can bubble away for hours. You get the idea.

Herbsman

Cooking stuff in the oven with a timer is great if you have one. It takes 10 minutes or less to prepare the food before the ride. I put the stuff in the oven before a 4 hour club ride; the oven comes on 90 minutes before I get home and switches itself off just after I get out of the shower.

bigpikle

You can get the same, or perhaps better results, in the time you have.

I rode a 91 mile club ride yesterday, with 5 hrs riding time. The power data shows 2hr 50 mins in L1 or recovery zone, so only 2 hours or so was spent at any meaningful power output. Although my HR data showed 4hrs at endurance and tempo zones, I suspect I could have got as good a workout in 2 hours solo on a flat route with a route that minimised stops at junctions etc. I wouldnt get the 5 hrs saddle time obviously but for a few weeks I doubt that would matter...

furrag

How long are the local races?

okgo

Wait till you get a job and a partner, you have NO IDEA how much time you have right now, more than you'll ever have again.

rick_chasey

okgo wrote:

Wait till you get a job and a partner, you have NO IDEA how much time you have right now, more than you'll ever have again.

You'll still have time to post on internet forums mind

okgo

Rick Chasey wrote:

okgo wrote:

Wait till you get a job and a partner, you have NO IDEA how much time you have right now, more than you'll ever have again.

You'll still have time to post on internet forums mind

Well yes, I have time to do everything while at work, but I can't very well nip out on the bike ha, I have to be sat here as that obviously means I'm working

SBezza

I would try and do regular training on the turbo, even if it is only 1 hour a day, being more regular with your training in the short term is better than just focusing on the one day a week of the club run. Riding one day a week is unlikely to benefit you much at all.

cyco2

If you don't have time to ride out with your mates then do your steady state at a good HR level on the turbo. Because it will equate to a longer time on the road. Then for road work spend an hour criterium type training. For that you need to look for a short road circuit where after slowing down for corners you have to sprint to gain speed again. I have been in the past been lucky enough to find a disused road with traffic islands in it. Or a trading estate at night. This type of training is excellent for road racing. In order to get say an hours effort in it helps to monitor the sprints by counting the pedal revolutions to stop from 'blowing up' . Get in to a comfortable rhythm and then add a few more revs.
With this and turbo work you will be doing a high level of training so make sure you get a proper amount of rest between sessions. Save your long rides for when you have time

cougie

Did anyone see the article in the comic last month - the bloke who won the Premier Calendar I think ?
Has a family, runs businesses and trains. He only did a small amount of training, but he made it count. Very impressive.

DavidJB

okgo wrote:

Wait till you get a job and a partner, you have NO IDEA how much time you have right now, more than you'll ever have again.

Agreed! I have to get up at 5am to Turbo before work a couple of days a week just to fit it in. Then at the weekends I'm pretty much out no later than 8am so I can be back in time for lunch. I don't honestly remember the last time I had a lie in...

CakeLovinBeast

DavidJB wrote:

okgo wrote:

Wait till you get a job and a partner, you have NO IDEA how much time you have right now, more than you'll ever have again.

Agreed! I have to get up at 5am to Turbo before work a couple of days a week just to fit it in. Then at the weekends I'm pretty much out no later than 8am so I can be back in time for lunch. I don't honestly remember the last time I had a lie in...

^^ This.

Herbsman

I think the OP is wrong. If you look it up you'll see that time is not of the essence, but in fact the essence is of thyme.