British Cycling Training plans?

bazzer2

At the weekend I signed up to be a member (snigger) of British Cycling. My main motivator was to get some help planning a training schedule to get me ready for some sportives later in the year. I want to be sure I can ride longer distances without doing myself a mischief!

Now, I'm not a cycling newcomer, I've been doing it for years. I've been on a road bike for the nicer part of the last 4 years and a mountain bike at points outside of that. I've a turbo trainer and a HRM etc.

I've looked at the beginner sportive training plan and it's excellent, there is loads of detail, it tells you what to do every single day. Exactly what I want from a training plan. But, it seems like it's starting from a point where someone has pretty close to no fitness or 'miles on a bike'. I have tried to do an hour and a quarter of 'zone 1 & 2' on a normal ride, but it was insufferably boring.

So the question is, do I stick to it or do I concoct my own training plan? And if I need to make my own, how do I know what to include?

imposter2.0

It depends what you want to achieve on these sportives, I suppose. As far as I'm aware, the only requirement of any sportive is that you complete the distance within certain (fairly generous) time limits. Beyond that, how quickly you want to ride the actual distance is up to you. If you've been cycling for a while, you probably already have the basic fitness needed to ride said sportives.

twotyred

Why not just skip the first month or so of the British Cycling plan and start it when the intensity ramps up a bit?

Wrath Rob

Or perhaps switch to the intermediate plan instead?

bazzer2

I think my goal is to finish my first sportive in the top third of the field. I'm realistic in as much as time I can apply myself to the task, I've a wife and a kid, and I work full time. I reckon I can afford an hour a day for 4 days a week plus a morning on Sunday. Weather and light both play a big part of me getting out on the road, hence the turbo.

Perhaps as it's my first go at a long ride I should just carry on as I would normally, riding as frequently as I do, then work on weaknesses as I identify them?

imposter2.0

bazzer2 wrote:

Perhaps as it's my first go at a long ride I should just carry on as I would normally, riding as frequently as I do, then work on weaknesses as I identify them?

Makes sense. I haven't actually looked at those BC plans, so I don't know if they would be useful or not. Four hours in the week plus another 4+ on a Sunday morning should actually be enough to get you comfortably around most sportive routes, I would imagine. Might also be worth linking up with a club on a Sunday am, if you don't already do this.

ric/rstsport

As well as ourselves (RST Sport) there are several companies that offer Training Plans or coaching which can be better tailored to your needs

Ric

Tom Butcher

The top third of finishers in any sportive - even something like the Marmotte - should be very doable on 5 sessions a week.

Monday - something like 2*20 at ftp session - road if weather/road is suitable - otherwise turbo.
Tuesday - Easy ride/off
Wednesday -evening chaingang/fast group ride
Thursday - easy ride/off
Friday - off
Saturday - 60 mile group ride at a moderately hard pace - as weather improves start adding on some miles before/after the ride so you are doing 70-80. Occasionally (one week in 3) skip the group ride to do some long solo rides inc. a few centuries. If you can't find a local group to join then find a few training partners of similar standard - if you can't find that you aren't looking very hard as there are loads of people getting into cycling now.
Sunday - off

For a sportive you don't need anything more than a rough plan like that.