speed on the bike

(Dani) said:

I made an Olympic Distance Triathlon the last weekend and was not so happy about my bike time.

How should i train on the bike to become faster? is there a better way then just adding miles to
the training? Its not the distance that is the probem its realy just the speed!

To learn how to ride faster, you just have to ride faster. Schedule short, fast rides or intervals
on some days. I found I was faster overall in races when I was riding fewer miles faster, even
though I hardly ever get in "long rides" any more.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

[email hidden] (Dani) wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I made an Olympic Distance Triathlon the last weekend and was not so happy about my bike time.

How should i train on the bike to become faster? is there a better way then just adding miles to
the training? Its not the distance that is the probem its realy just the speed!

thans for any tips

Dani

I don't know how many miles you are putting in now but more miles may not help.

For me, the best is intervals in some fashion. I understand you problem. I used to race bicycles and
now because of my schedule I am doing triathlons which helps me because I can run at night. I am
training to do half ironman and spent most of May and June on getting the time and distance and now
my average speed on the short runs isn't very good.

You need to add intervals in your ride or do them on a trainer where it is a more controlled
workout. You aren't going to be able to average 25mph on a bike if you ride all day at 20mph. I'm
not very good with structure like that but I would do 10 1min intervals on my trainer and I was
amazed at the affect it would have on my TT speed. I would also find a hill about 1/2 mile to 1 mile
the didnt have a major change in grade and go up and down it 10 times and a faster speed than I
normally would. My ride home took forever but the value of doing it paid off when racing. The long
rides are good but the quality of your short rides is more important to me.

Also, I used to find a short course where I can get in a short time trial that takes 45min to and
hour to do and I do it once a week to see my progress. This will help you learn to ride hard for an
extended period of time when you keep up with your time checks. When I see my
1/2 turnaround time is off from last time, it may be becasue of of wind or how I felt that day but
still it makes me push just a bit harder and my avg speed starts to creep back up. I started 3-4
weeks ago and have already shaved 40 seconds off of a 16mile time trial.

Hope it helps

Matt P

[email hidden] (Dani) wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I made an Olympic Distance Triathlon the last weekend and was not so happy about my bike time.

How should i train on the bike to become faster? is there a better way then just adding miles to
the training? Its not the distance that is the probem its realy just the speed!

thans for any tips

Dani

by increasing sustainable power. a couple of ways to do this... intervals is probably the most
common, some people like weights, and if you live in a hilly area, hill repeats are a good choice.
check out the 'cyclists training bible' for some good guidance to bike training, or the 'triathletes
training bible' cycling section for some relevant discussions.

Dani said:

How should i train on the bike to become faster? is there a better way then just adding miles to
the training? Its not the distance that is the probem its realy just the speed!

You've pretty much answered your own question -- longer rides/more miles will train you to ride
longer. Riding harder (that is, with higher intensity) will train you to ride faster.

Getting fast on the bike requires a ton of hard -- make that VERY hard -- training effort. If you
can, map out a TT training course for yourself, something like 10-12 miles. Ride it as fast as you
can several times a week. I used to ride my course twice a week, twice per workout with a 10 minute
rest. Collect some data if you can (time, speed, cadence, heartrate) to get an idea of how your
training is going.

Sprint intervals, hill repeats and riding/racing with bike racers are other ways to gain speed,
meaning these are other ways to force you to ride with very high intensity.

Good luck, Doug Fuller