1 month prep time

n2olowe said:

So, I'll confess-- I have not spent anywhere near enough time on the bike this winter. I've got a ride scheduled in 1 month. Whats the best way to prepare with such little time. L4's, L5's, or just base miles. It's a 65 mile ride with climbs. Any help appreciated.

I'll be watching this thread with interest - I've just been convinced to sign up for a race on April 22. First one ever for me. My race is roughly 2/3 the distance of yours. I have ZERO time on a bike this winter, but have recently bought a trainer.

deedubya said:

I'll be watching this thread with interest - I've just been convinced to sign up for a race on April 22. First one ever for me. My race is roughly 2/3 the distance of yours. I have ZERO time on a bike this winter, but have recently bought a trainer.

Found a similar thread:

cyclingforums.comt382077.htmlOpen ↗

Deeddubya--thanks for the link!

deedubya said:

Found a similar thread:

cyclingforums.comt382077.htmlOpen ↗

Just some feedback here.
First a disclaimer I previously had a training regime that was very dysfunctional basically put together with the group rides I wanted to do with some L4 if I needed to cram for a race.

I have followed the advise Timan gave in the linked thread (I am in the taper type week which happens to coincide with a race I have entered for this weekend). I have found that my body and I agree with this method of training to the extent that some of my long term ride buddies are coming up alongside and taking a peak at my HR monitor before muttering something about "riding strong" and "time for a swab" 😄

The way I took it was the L4 days I actually did 2 x 20 and worked up to 3 x 20 on my mag trainer and then rode to work at, on average L3 creeping up to L4 on the climbs. This was about 1 hr each way. I did stick to the easy/rest days fairly religiously however, and lowered the intensity/duration each day as suggested. Basically I am in the happy position of suddenly having to set some new goals for this season as I dont feel my old ones were challenging enough 😎 . Please bear in mind that the level I started at was quite low compared to many on this forum (top 10 in C grade crit here in Oz).
not trying to kiss Timans' bum, but credit where credits due.

8fold said:

Just some feedback here.
First a disclaimer I previously had a training regime that was very dysfunctional basically put together with the group rides I wanted to do with some L4 if I needed to cram for a race.

I have followed the advise Timan gave in the linked thread (I am in the taper type week which happens to coincide with a race I have entered for this weekend). I have found that my body and I agree with this method of training to the extent that some of my long term ride buddies are coming up alongside and taking a peak at my HR monitor before muttering something about "riding strong" and "time for a swab" 😄

The way I took it was the L4 days I actually did 2 x 20 and worked up to 3 x 20 on my mag trainer and then rode to work at, on average L3 creeping up to L4 on the climbs. This was about 1 hr each way. I did stick to the easy/rest days fairly religiously however, and lowered the intensity/duration each day as suggested. Basically I am in the happy position of suddenly having to set some new goals for this season as I dont feel my old ones were challenging enough 😎 . Please bear in mind that the level I started at was quite low compared to many on this forum (top 10 in C grade crit here in Oz).
not trying to kiss Timans' bum, but credit where credits due.

I also was very inspired by TiMan pragmatic approach, although sickness has interfered in my planning (I also have a daily25 mi commute). One thing I was wondering though is what power he alludes to with threshold. Is it FTP? and if so how does this compar with all the talk about SST training, is he an advocate for more intense training?