How can I improve?

supermurph09

Hi

I've been cycling for 7 months now, as an example my last ride on Sunday was 53 miles, 4700ft of climbing, average 14.7mph. Its my intention to join a local club pretty soon but for now I'm riding alone. I've been using a Turbo trainer in the week with the sufferfest downloads, downward spiral and then the time trial one and then getting further and further on my long rides at the weekend. This weekend I'll be looking to go beyond 60 with a lot of climbing.

During the week as the nights are getting lighter its my intention to do 2 rides and then 1 at the weekend. The weekend ride will follow the same pattern as mentioned above as I prepare for a 80 mile sportive in April. I currently have 1 loop of 11 miles with 2 tough climbs, which I'll extend to around 20 miles. This should see my climbing continue to improve.

My question is, as well as the long ride and loop I mentioned, what other type of ride should I try to do to improve? Should I be looking at doing some kind of fast paced effort similar to a time trial and measure my improvement over time? My current goals are to do a 100 mile ride and basically just get faster and stronger and of course enjoy my riding.

Input welcomed.

imposter2.0

Improvement is usually measured against some sort of objective in terms of racing, TTs, sportive times, etc - do you have any?

supermurph09

Imposter wrote:

Improvement is usually measured against some sort of objective in terms of racing, TTs, sportive times, etc - do you have any?

I take your point, no specific goals as yet. Not perfect but I currently measure my performance on a number of strava segments of varying lengths and severity. There are 6 that I do regularly, so my theory is the faster and strong I get the quicker those segments will be done. My point really was, if there is any specific riding I could do that would improve things generally. Lactate threshold maybe as opposed to just doing my usual loop and longer rides?

danowat

So what exactly does your current weeks training look like?

supermurph09

Currently I'm doing a loop of 11 miles (the light fades if I do more) on Tuesday http://app.strava.com/activities/42576436 as mentioned I'll extend this as it gets lighter with some more climbs (cat 3&4 strava classified). So anything upto a couple of hours, about 30 miles. Then typically sufferfest downward spiral (to be replaced by additional loop outside as the nights get lighter) on a Thursday and then my longer ride on either sat/sun depending on weather/commitments. Does that help? Appreciate its not a training schedule, its just what I'm riding or will be riding currently. I used to do a lot of running a while back which I would call training and followed a schedule. (Hill sprints, tempo sessions, long runs for endurance etc). That was with a goal in mind (1/2 marathon).

Would it be more beneficial to have specific goals in mind and then look at how to train towards them? If that's the case, my current goal is an 80 mile sportive http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1967426 in April. After that I'd like to aim for a 100 mile but also to improve my average speed in general.

danowat

3 sessions a week?, me personally I'd do a LT session and VO2 max session and a long(er) tempo session at the weekend.

3 sessions isn't much, so you'd need to be quite specific.

Muffintop

What 80 mile sportive in April are you doing?

*edit* ah just clicked.

Good luck!

supermurph09

Muffintop wrote:

What 80 mile sportive in April are you doing?

*edit* ah just clicked.

Good luck!

Cheers, will be tough, but I'm familiar with the climbs it takes in, over the next 3 weeks I'll have done the distance as well so here's hoping for a good time!

MattyDeez

Get out with other people will certainly make you go faster and longer. Join the club now, go on the longer rides that they do and you'll see yourself get better.

bobones

You're doing pretty well I'd say. Just up your mileage and time/frequency on the bike. For example, turn your 10 mile rides into 20 mile rides, do a 50+ mile ride on a Saturday and a 30-40 mile ride on a Sunday. Try to do something on the bike 5 or 6 days out of 7. Join a club and go out with them.

ianbar

i agree i think your pretty good, your doing double the climbing i do at the same pace and distance i can manage so to me your looking good. i would say try increasing your rides in distance and frequency, if not both then certainly one or the other.

shamone

Funny, I read your post and thought that sounds similar to me. I been riding more seriously for about 6 months and have just got up to 44 miles for my longest ride, also in very hilly Derbyshire. I do a bit of turbo work a couple of times in the week and want to improve generally as I've just entered a Sportive, only 53 miles though.

Followed your Strava link and was surprised to see you might live locally to me. I'm from Wessington and am still getting used to all the hills round here.

supermurph09

Appreciate the replies, I'll certainly be taking on board the advice.

Shamone, I know you'll relate to the hills around our way! If you're riding alone and fancy meeting up then drop me a message.

Team4Luke

look at the demands of the 80m sportive and train to replicate that, so simply plenty of 50+ milers and hills should see you sufficent to complete it, throw in some 30/40 milers and ride bit harder than you can for the 50+ milers. No point in doing any intense training like TT work as you won't be going that hard in a sportive.

Tom Butcher

There may be times in a sportive when you are riding hard - but even if not there's still a point in doing stuff like 2 * 20 intervals. It's probably not worth practising your sprint if that's what you mean but relatively high intensity stuff will bring benefits. It may not be necessary - if you have a lot of time to train especially - but if you find you have an hour or 90 minutes in the evening then shorter and harder sessions are the way to go. Even something like a local chaingang if you don't like structured intervals.