On weeekdays my riding consists of 12.5 km in the morning at 26-30 km/h and 12.5 km at 24-28 km/h in the afternoon. i have to go at my maximum to avg 30 km/h. somedays i cant even do that. usually i will have one peak day a week where it is possible.
saturdays i usually go with the bunch and do 50-80km at 26-32 km/h.
my aim is to avg around 30 km/h at the same level of exertion i currently avg 24km/h and have a max avg of 35-37 km/h for my weekday morning commute.(these are done at racing effort).
my background is of being generally fit, but i have only been cycling about 4 months.
Originally posted by M2cycler On weeekdays my riding consists of 12.5 km in the morning at 26-30 km/h and 12.5 km at 24-28 km/h in the afternoon. i have to go at my maximum to avg 30 km/h. somedays i cant even do that. usually i will have one peak day a week where it is possible.
saturdays i usually go with the bunch and do 50-80km at 26-32 km/h.
my aim is to avg around 30 km/h at the same level of exertion i currently avg 24km/h and have a max avg of 35-37 km/h for my weekday morning commute.(these are done at racing effort).
my background is of being generally fit, but i have only been cycling about 4 months.
thanks for any advice
ye
1 gear at a time, pick a gear you can spin fast, 90-105 rpm for long distances, when you can ride that gear go to next hardest gear till you can spin that gear up to 90-105 rpm and so on.
Originally posted by M2cycler On weeekdays my riding consists of 12.5 km in the morning at 26-30 km/h and 12.5 km at 24-28 km/h in the afternoon. i have to go at my maximum to avg 30 km/h. somedays i cant even do that. usually i will have one peak day a week where it is possible.
saturdays i usually go with the bunch and do 50-80km at 26-32 km/h.
my aim is to avg around 30 km/h at the same level of exertion i currently avg 24km/h and have a max avg of 35-37 km/h for my weekday morning commute.(these are done at racing effort).
my background is of being generally fit, but i have only been cycling about 4 months.
thanks for any advice
ye
Hi,
If you want to go faster then I'd recommend something like -
a) pick up one of the books like Burke's Serious Cycling or Friel's Bible - read it and start trying some of the ideas.
b) ditto above - but specifically start adding some interval training to your weekly riding schedule
c) ditch your current riding group and find another club which offers faster rides. Not sure what terrain you are riding over but a top end average of 20 mph is kind of low. A fast group will average 22/23 mph over rolling terrain and 24/25 mph over flat terrain. This is what I did and it really opened up my eyes to what is possible on the bike.
If you want to go faster then I'd recommend something like -
a) pick up one of the books like Burke's Serious Cycling or Friel's Bible - read it and start trying some of the ideas.
b) ditto above - but specifically start adding some interval training to your weekly riding schedule
c) ditch your current riding group and find another club which offers faster rides. Not sure what terrain you are riding over but a top end average of 20 mph is kind of low. A fast group will average 22/23 mph over rolling terrain and 24/25 mph over flat terrain. This is what I did and it really opened up my eyes to what is possible on the bike.
SR
with the speed avg your talking about 22/23 mph group rides are you guys in traffic, having to stop @ light ect?? i ride with a fast group, this group finishes a 109 mile race in 4:41 we avg 20mph on our rides we do have some hills also and the mojority of our rides we have had to deal with heavy wind. the pros finish the 109 mile course in 4:24 Robbie Ventura of the us postal has been winning this race just about every year.
Originally posted by zaskar with the speed avg your talking about 22/23 mph group rides are you guys in traffic, having to stop @ light ect?? i ride with a fast group, this group finishes a 109 mile race in 4:41 we avg 20mph on our rides we do have some hills also and the mojority of our rides we have had to deal with heavy wind. the pros finish the 109 mile course in 4:24 Robbie Ventura of the us postal has been winning this race just about every year.
by the way our group rides are 80- 90 miles.
Hi,
For the 22/23 mph ride, we're lucky in that the traffic is pretty light. There are only a few stop signs/traffic lights. We're riding through a rural area. And the total ride is about 45 miles/sub 2 hrs.
I didn't realize that you were riding 80+ miles at 20 mph avg. This is a decent avg for the distance - however, if your avowed goal is to increase your avg speed then it will be easier to achieve this goal if you give up some of the mileage and push yourself harder on a shorter course. Then start adding the mileage back as you achieve improvements in avg speed.
Get your best buddy to purchase a pit bull from the local pound. From a rolling start, have him let the rabid beast go as you pass. I would love to have a powermeter on you then! You'd probably generate 700 watts in about 3 pedal strokes!!! Repeat 10x, or until he bites you.
Get your best buddy to purchase a pit bull from the local pound. From a rolling start, have him let the rabid beast go as you pass. I would love to have a powermeter on you then! You'd probably generate 700 watts in about 3 pedal strokes!!! Repeat 10x, or until he bites you.
the best thing you can do is get a book on training. there is so much to learn, no one can explain it fully on here. try, serious cycling the cyclist's training bible or go to your book store and see what there is for cycling training in the sports section. i will add something. makes sure you rest at least as much as you train hard. what i mean by that is, don't ride every ride as fast as you can go. aternate hard and easy days. and your easy days should only be a LIGHT SPIN, in order to improve you need to learn to recover. a heart rate monitor is valuable too, the books on training will explain how to use it in training.
I've been riding for over a couple of years but only in the last year have been on the road. Prior to that I was mountain biking and the training for that is a little different than that of road cycling. Since I started road cycling I have heard every known training guide known to man. So what I did is bought me a book. I decided to get the book by Lance's trainer Chris Carmicheal. Great book. But the way I started improving is by creating a program for myself, not just in my head but writing it down so I had a plan. Now I've been on my program for about 3 months I have seen some great improvements. Now I'm adding the gym into the mix, but not for building muscle but rather for resistence training and other cardio related excersices I can't do at home. As one of the other writers had mentioned its IMPORTANT that you include interval training thats where you start to see the difference.
