What prep work can I do over the winter to prepare for racing season next year?

rowanharley
rowanharley Posts: 76
edited February 2018 in Amateur race
I'm moving into juniors next year and want to do well. While the rest of the group does long, slow rides, what can I do while still riding amongst them?

Comments

  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    how do you mean?

    ride with them once a week and the rest of the time do your own stuff or what can you whilst riding with them (ie at the same time as being part of their bunch).
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • I'm moving into juniors next year and want to do well. While the rest of the group does long, slow rides, what can I do while still riding amongst them?

    I'll first directly answer the question posed, before moving on to something else.......

    During the long slow rides, ask to take more or longer turns on the front. That's the best you can do.

    Otherwise: loads of information on here in other threads and on the internet and youtube about how to improve fitness over the winter. This information covers strategy and equipment. Or, find a new group. I'd say most B groups really are B groups. You'll average only about 120w in the paceline and maybe 180 to 200w on your turn up front.

    "A" groups are where you finally start pushing the pace into a workout instead of a 3 hour long choo choo train of boredom.

    Getting into an A group and A+ group you may push 230w to 300w on your turn up front depending on the group. Then you're getting some interval work.
  • joey54321
    joey54321 Posts: 1,297
    Or treat the slow, slower rides as a social/fat burning ride. Avoid carbs or even food beforehand or make sure you come in to the rides pre-fatigued from a session the previous day.

    Fitness and racing form is never built on a single session, its how they all fit in together that is important. Going up a group level may just mean more fatigue for little benefit and as such it may be more beneficial to stay in an 'easier' group so you can recover quicker and hit some intervals the next day or you can complete the ride having done a tough session the day before.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    I'm moving into juniors next year and want to do well. While the rest of the group does long, slow rides, what can I do while still riding amongst them?

    Unfortunately, the junior category is full of lots of other riders who also 'want to do well'. A lot will depend on your current level of fitness, what your current strengths/weaknesses are and what your 2018 objectives are, ie regional events, junior road series, JTW, etc. In other words, unless you can provide some more context, then we're all just guessing.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    how old are you?
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    how old are you?

    If he's moving into junior category next season, then he will be 16 this year, if he isn't already..
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    if so i'd sack off the not eating advice and change that to eating healthily.

    teenage eating disorders really don't rock and it seems he/she doesn't have s proper coach so personally i think its one to avoid ....

    must admit that if some one on a forum told my 15 year old son/daughter to stop eating I would be best displeased to say the least.....
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    Wasn't the suggestion to try some fat burning/fasted rides, not something I'd have at the top of the list for a first year junior but not exactly telling them to stop eating!

    I would ask - who are the rest of the group and how slow is slow. There is no harm in doing a weekly run at a steady pace where the distance and terrain leaves you somewhat fatigued but if you are planning to race there is no point in going out with the local CTC. You really need to get a routine which is sustainable - both physically and mentally - and beneficial in terms of progressing. Where your group rides fit in really depends on the nature of that ride and what else you are doing. Some stuff is worth doing even of it's not optimal training if you enjoy it.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    Ah the old long & slow in winter myth....classic that one.
  • if so i'd sack off the not eating advice and change that to eating healthily.

    teenage eating disorders really don't rock and it seems he/she doesn't have s proper coach so personally i think its one to avoid ....

    must admit that if some one on a forum told my 15 year old son/daughter to stop eating I would be best displeased to say the least.....

    I'm not the kind of guy that'll ever eat too little anyways. But I've just gone under 60kg for the first time in a while coming into the season and I'm feeling good. I feel fast when I'm climbing whatever local hills we have around here. But at the moment, 2 club members are telling me to keep to the base builder on british cycling's website. I'm having conflicted thoughts about this because we have previously A3 members doing their own stuff and they seem to be going well and as well as that, the training plan is labeled under "sportive" training plans in the URL bar:https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/sportivetrainingplans/offseason/TRAINING_PLAN_-_OffSeasonBaseBuilder.pdf. Should I just keep to it for the last 2 weeks, or should I ramp it up and do some VO2 Max and threshold efforts? My first race is here:https://www.strava.com/activities/523115509/ (Couldn't find a more recent strava activity but same course).
  • Actually I had a bit of a look around and found the winner from last year: https://www.strava.com/activities/905280738/overview - Average of 37.8km/h with one main hill and one smaller one
  • I'm moving into juniors next year and want to do well. While the rest of the group does long, slow rides, what can I do while still riding amongst them?

    I'll first directly answer the question posed, before moving on to something else.......

    During the long slow rides, ask to take more or longer turns on the front. That's the best you can do.

    Otherwise: loads of information on here in other threads and on the internet and youtube about how to improve fitness over the winter. This information covers strategy and equipment. Or, find a new group. I'd say most B groups really are B groups. You'll average only about 120w in the paceline and maybe 180 to 200w on your turn up front.

    "A" groups are where you finally start pushing the pace into a workout instead of a 3 hour long choo choo train of boredom.

    Getting into an A group and A+ group you may push 230w to 300w on your turn up front depending on the group. Then you're getting some interval work.

    An "A" group would require me to move clubs, something I'd rather not do unless I'm invited to join them
  • Wasn't the suggestion to try some fat burning/fasted rides, not something I'd have at the top of the list for a first year junior but not exactly telling them to stop eating!

    I would ask - who are the rest of the group and how slow is slow. There is no harm in doing a weekly run at a steady pace where the distance and terrain leaves you somewhat fatigued but if you are planning to race there is no point in going out with the local CTC. You really need to get a routine which is sustainable - both physically and mentally - and beneficial in terms of progressing. Where your group rides fit in really depends on the nature of that ride and what else you are doing. Some stuff is worth doing even of it's not optimal training if you enjoy it.

    On our sunday cycle, we averaged 29.1km/h which was alright, probably because we had a few faster riders with us. That was over 80km. Some days,we may come through on an average of only 26km/h on a relatively flat course