Help A new guy

It really depends on how much time you have and what your goals are. Do you want to maintain fitness, loose weight or maybe race on some level? 100 miles a week will keep you in decent shape, 100 a day can put you in competitive shape.

I wouldn't mind competing eventually, but I know as of right now there is no way I can ride 100 miles in a single day. So with that said, lets say as a goal of getting to 100 miles a day. What would be the best training regimen to use?

If you have time get in some 20-50 milers depending on your form and if not do some intense intervals with some solid climbing mixed in. As stated it really depends on how much time you have to devote. Most pros need about 6000 mile before they hit peak form so set your self reasonable goal starting with a bench mark of where you are now and where you want be in 1 month, 3 months,6 months etc. Speed and endurance will come as long as you are consistent with training, diet and sleep.
If possible find a training partner who is better than you and stay on his or her wheel for a a month or so.

I have a fair amount of time. Id say 40ish hours a week. Thanks for all the advice!

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Gaspare [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I have a fair amount of time. Id say 40ish hours a week. Thanks for all the advice!

All good advice above, but since you have a lot of time you'll likely learn quickly that recovery is a big part of the equation. Ride a lot for sure but learn what your body can handle while still being able to recover to do more. It's better to work up to steady 2 to 3 hour rides with some shorter easy or complete rest days than it is to bury yourself with a couple of huge rides each week and then have to take many days off to regroup. IOW, pace yourself on weekly and monthly time frames as well as when out on the bike on a given day but try to find a balance that allows you to rack up a lot of saddle time on a regular basis.

A lot of folks on these boards are happy to squeeze in 8 to 10 hours per week on the bike and you'll see a lot of good advice for them to spend those limited hours doing quality work as in Tempo/SST/Threshold pacing which is not easy riding. But if you're up in the 15 to 20+ hours per week range you should be doing more Endurance paced riding and not trying to go crazy with the Threshold stuff and above at least not until you've worked up quite a fitness base. IOW, it's all a game of balancing intensity, duration, and training frequency and as you sound like you'll have a lot of those latter two, you'll likely want to be careful about doing too much of the intensity part. Nothing wrong with a spirited ride here and there or going full out on a favorite hill or with friends but if you're going to ride big hours then don't try to do that stuff every day.

-Dave

Forty hours a week - Lordy! I thought I was doing good at 10 hours. 40 hours is a full time job - don't overdo it.

maydog said:

Forty hours a week - Lordy! I thought I was doing good at 10 hours. 40 hours is a full time job - don't overdo it.

yes 40 riding hours a week is excessive, but you can use all that time in other cycling related things: like learning your bike mechanics and maintenance, cleaning your bike, analyzing training data on your PC, sketching next week's training, shaving your legs, discuss training and racing with your peers in the bike shop, hand washing your cycling apparel, keeping a training log, keeping a weight log, keeping a resting heart rate log, reading your favourite bike magazine,

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Gaspare [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I wouldn't mind competing eventually, but I know as of right now there is no way I can ride 100 miles in a single day. So with that said, lets say as a goal of getting to 100 miles a day. What would be the best training regimen to use?

To ride 100 miles a day comfortably, you just need to find a local 100 mile ride and get in shape for it. A local ride will have a map, stops that provide food and water, and of course lots of people on bikes who might give you some company and support.

To get in shape for that ride as often as you can. Ride reasonable distances. Ride at reasonable efforts. You should feel good by the time you go to bed (having eaten some and drunk some). Increase your miles as you feel you can. Work your way up to 50-60 miles on the weekends. That should get you to 100 miles.