Some training suggestions please

CptKernow

I'm a reasonably light rider (~65kg) which means I'm fairly good on hills. Overall I'm fairly quick on my local terrain which averages around 100ft climbing per mile and can ride for a few hours at around 18.5-19mph.

But, put me on the flats and I'm struggling. Same with descents - on a recent club ride I worked harder to keep up with the group on a descent than to drop them on the hills.

Anyway, I feel like I've hit a bit of a plateau, so I'd just like some suggestions as to what training would best target my deficiencies. E.g. should I be focusing on longer intervals / under & overs as opposed to the VO2 stuff which I prefer.

I suppose the obvious answer would be to ride more on the flat, but that isn't a great option where I am - the only flat bits nearby are stop-start every 10 metres.

Thanks

imposter2.0

Bit difficult to suggest anything without knowing what type of 'training' you already do. More info needed.

Midlands Grimpeur

You sound similar to me, I am 15-20kg lighter than guys I ride with and give up as much as 70-80 watts in terms of ftp. The best training for me is 1 or 2 sessions a week of longer temp rides, 60-150mins at 85-90% of HR. This keeps my aerobic fitness at a good level and makes up for the power I am conceding to bigger riders. For me personally, intervals/VO2 stuff doesn't help with chain gangs or fast group riding, it's my ability to ride at a slightly uncomfortable pace over an extended period that makes the difference.

CptKernow

Imposter wrote:

Bit difficult to suggest anything without knowing what type of 'training' you already do. More info needed.

Generally try to ride 120-150 miles a week. Outside of summer I tend to try and do at least 2 intervals sessions on the trainer.

In summer I just ride - anything from an hour up. I'll usually pace it according to how long I'm riding - i.e. an hour at fairly hard pace. Probably about a third of my miles are made up on a sunday club ride.

So, nothing massively structured.

ric/rstsport

CptKernow wrote:

I'm a reasonably light rider (~65kg) which means I'm fairly good on hills. Overall I'm fairly quick on my local terrain which averages around 100ft climbing per mile and can ride for a few hours at around 18.5-19mph.

But, put me on the flats and I'm struggling. Same with descents - on a recent club ride I worked harder to keep up with the group on a descent than to drop them on the hills.

Anyway, I feel like I've hit a bit of a plateau, so I'd just like some suggestions as to what training would best target my deficiencies. E.g. should I be focusing on longer intervals / under & overs as opposed to the VO2 stuff which I prefer.

I suppose the obvious answer would be to ride more on the flat, but that isn't a great option where I am - the only flat bits nearby are stop-start every 10 metres.

Thanks

It sounds from your follow up post that your training is relatively unstructured. This may be some of the issue? On the other hand i weigh the same as you (sometimes less) and it's rare i get dropped in a road race on the flat. LIkewise, there are many pros who are lighter than us who don't get dropped.

You've also said that you struggle on the descents, and while i don't know where you live or the terrain, it may have nothing whatsoever to do with your fitness. For e.g., it could be a skills based/anxiety issue (such as you're nervous going downhill), or perhaps it's aerodynamics --- such as you sit up and go slow due to the increased drag. Perhaps you can't corner at speed.

in terms of training it may be that you need to increase your lactate threshold (or FTP as a proxy for it) or your VO2max (MAP as a proxy). There is, unfortunately, not sufficient data to go on to know what to suggest.

Ric