Training for red route at dalby forest - interval training?

paul the 6th

Hiya guys,

not been back in a while due to the 'winter slump' I seem to get. Fall off the wagon with the gym, eat biscuits and chocolate til I can't stand them anymore etc. So now I'm trying to get back into the swing of things..

Anywho, I went and did the red route at dalby forest last year in June with a load of mates off a motorbike forum. The oldest guy was the fittest as he does riding all the time, the rest of us are in our mid 20's and range from skinny and moderately fit through to skinny and unfit through to me which is the fattest of the group (6ft2 and around 18 stone) but with 'reasonable' fitness for my build. It was the first time I went on a trail and in the first 15 minutes I thought I was going to die on the "never ending climb to hell", but as I was the one who organised it I just kept my mouth shut and got on with it....................... for 19 miles.

I think I got back to the dalby carpark about 25 mins after everyone else and I wasn't too bothered by this, but next time I go I want my fitness to be able to stand up to the challenge of the climbs as dalby really does feel like 80% climbing 20% downhill..

I can happily knock out 10 or 12 miles in an hour on the road/river paths, but dalby forest really was an eye opener for me. Also last week in the gym I did an hour on the x-trainer with a log of around 750 calories burned, plus I then went on to weights & rowing.. Should I be looking at interval training for trail riding? Or are there other cardio/muscle training techniques I should be looking at?

Thanks in advance
p.s. pics from dalby last year:

islandman

Great pics, what makes you think you'll stick at interval training, it's not too much fun. Finding some thing you like and working out how to make it enjoyable means you'll stay with it, you don't need any special training for what you want to achieve, just 2 or 3 sessions a week lose a kilo or 2 and you won't have to try so hard to smile on the climbs. Why not the exercise bike at the gym, I do 30 minutes reasonably hard on one a few times a week and find it invaluable, keeps me smiling on the climbs. Enjoy the burn mate, it means you're getting somewhere !

njee20

You're unlikely to gain much from interval training without a decent underlying fitness. Just ride more, and lose weight, it gets easier.

paul the 6th

cheers guys - the thing with the interval training was after a tip one of the fitness instructors gave me in passing..

Rather than the conventional 1 minute on 1 minute off ratio, I've been going on heart rate; after warming up I absolutely nail it to get my heart going as fast as I can as quickly as I can, then back off to a gentle pace and let heart rate fall to 120.. then after 15 seconds at 120bpm I nail it again back upto peak, and repeat this around 6 times with very loud drum and bass on the cross trainer. Apparently accelerating your heart rate not only builds on your fitness due to the ideas behind interval training but is one of the best ways to strip off fat..

Although I like the bikes in the gym they just don't feel as intensive as the cross trainers. I really don't mind the cross trainers as long as I've got my music on - I was just wondering if there were any other more effective exercise options to help me 'smile on the climb' I guess I just need to get out there and ride!

njee20

Can you not ride in the real world? More beneficial than doing your cardio stuff on things like the cross trainer.

paul the 6th

It's been a bit tricky of late with the weather and all.

The last of the ice has just about disappeared and the nights are getting lighter, but the lay of the land is still very much flat in and around York, hence why my road riding & endurance is fine but my uphill fitness is non-existant.. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do in the gym to make up for this.

njee20

If you ride on the road head to the hilly parts!

A lot of that will be down to your weight, you've got to lug it up hill. Losing that will make the biggest difference - more so than intervals, particularly as what you're doing will build more explosive power, so may help with the little power climbs rather than the longer slogs it sounds like you struggle with. For that you need to do longer intervals (if that's your chosen method).

rock_hopper

Just to build on what njee has already said, you need to just get out and ride a lot more, if not outdoors then indoor bikes are a good alternative. You don't need to be doing interval training to get comfortably around the red but your body needs to be quite well conditioned for cycling/mountain biking so you need to get more time in the saddle. A 90-120 minute non stop road ride would be a good starting point. Dropping weight will also make a huge difference, when you go for the cookies/biscuits you have a choice, do you want to taste that biscuit or do you want to feel fitter/stronger when cycling.......it's a choice, what will make you feel better? Also, you don't have to starve yourself and stop enjoying your food to loose weight, it's about sensible choices.

I frequently ride Dalby and although it may feel like lot's of climbing now it really isn't. It's just quite undulating so there is a lot of pedaling involved and not much recovery. Once you get fit and can really attack it it's great fun!

Hope that helps some, good luck.

Mark909

The problem with dalby compared to other trail centres is that it absolutely has no flow. Where as at other trail centres you;d be whooping in delight as you fly along the trails naturally helped downhill by excellent trail design that uses the contouring of the hill for maximum fun. Unfortunately alot of dalby has crap design and so you end having to peddle continuously to actually get anyway. This is a complete pain and has resulted in what should have been an excellent trail centre into an unforgiving slog to get to the end.

ollie51

The best thing you could possibly do is, to spend as much time as practical with your a*se on a saddle, and your legs turning the cranks.

That and losing some weight, if it's 'easy' to lose.

Briggo

York isn't that flat, however even if its flat thats not a bad thing it means more pedalling. Just keep at it, oh and Dalby is quite tame in terms of uphill climbs.

paul the 6th

Hiya guys thanks for all the encouragement (you fat beast! Lol)' went out yesterday for a spin & got the bug again properly now the weather has wised up.. Also came across some hidden trail type footpaths so will be putting my knobblies back on for next time.

I know my fitness is the main issue. It have to agree with mark909 that Dalby probably feels like such a slog because of the trail design in places - even some of the more advanced riders in our group said that it felt like 90% uphill & 10% down - however this hasn't put me off & I'm gagging to go back asap

paul the 6th

Balls clicked the sub,it button by mistake then - forgot to mention I'm doing my first spinning class today as well :twisted:

mrmonkfinger

IME two things help with hugemungously long grinding climbs: being built like a racing snake and endurance fitness. Tthe last one will just involve cranking out the miles, really there isn't a lot more to it other than getting out and riding as much as humanely possible. the first one involves the second one and simultaneously eating less pies.

Having been the far side of 16 stone and dropping to a nose under 13 stone (but with very similar fitness levels at those weights) I can attest that the weight loss makes a frightening difference to your climbing speed, at 13 stone I was haring up inclines that would scare the bejesus out of me when I was 16 stone.

Get out there and ride!

agg25

You're not going to get much endurance fitness quickly without putting in hours and hours on the bike, not that it will hurt but interval training is a fast way to results if you've got 6 hours or less per week to put in. I think intervals and losing weight is your best best. The losing weight part will be hard to start with but after 2 weeks with a new diet it'll be easier. Just picture the results in your head to motivate you, good luck ;-)

BigLee1

Is there any chance you can commute by bike? Even part way after lugging the bike in the car will help I`m training that way and aternating the route back to the car depending on the day. A better way for me getting out on the bike as I`m travelling anyway so might as well pedal some of it, My part way commute is around a 26 mile round trip taking the shortest way

Its miles better when you`re fitter, when you`re flying up those hills in summer all these winter miles wil be worth it!

njee20

Is there any chance you can commute by bike? Even part way after lugging the bike in the car will help

I was doing that, but have changed to doing the whole ride one day then getting the train home, then train in and ride home (or drive obviously). Find it much less tiring than doing half the journey. You should try it!

GiantMike

Mark909 wrote:

The problem with dalby compared to other trail centres is that it absolutely has no flow. Where as at other trail centres you;d be whooping in delight as you fly along the trails naturally helped downhill by excellent trail design that uses the contouring of the hill for maximum fun. Unfortunately alot of dalby has crap design and so you end having to peddle continuously to actually get anyway. This is a complete pain and has resulted in what should have been an excellent trail centre into an unforgiving slog to get to the end.

That's it. Blame the course not the riders. Pedalling uphill. Whatever next?