I want to start training for my first big road race, 86 miles, mostly flat road, 01/01/05 and I need some advice on how to train. How many hours should I train per week? I figure I have at least 13 hours per week to train (7 hours during the week days and 6 hours between Sat and Sun). Is that enough ?
How should I train? I'm thinking short 1hr rides on Mon, Wed, Friday with at least 2 2hr (40-mile) rides on Tuesdays and Thursdays and long rides on Sat and Sun with at least one of those days being race distance.
Might I also add that I don't yet have a road bike. I'll be doing most of my training on a mountain bike with slick tires. I hope to get a road bike sometime in December. Oh, and I can do 20 miles in 1 hr on my mountain bike so with 13 hrs to train I should be able to put in close to 250 miles per week.
Any advice would be much appreciated.