Charlottesville Bicycle Club - Cycling Articles

Cycling Articles

This is the first several of what we hope to be a number of articles on cycling fitness, gear, and techniques; we welcome submissions from any of the more experienced riders out there. In addition, we will consider posting articles (or links to articles) from other sources (magazines, other web sites, etc.) assuming we can get permission to reproduce them. Please contact Bill Lowe if you have questions or ideas.

Getting Started With Your Cycling Program

Training Zones And Schedules

Getting Started With Your Cycling Program For The New Year

Submitted by Horace Scruggs (htscruggs85@yahoo.com).

How are your New Year’s revolutions going? Yes, revolutions, like your wheels, tires, pedals, feet and cleats, going in circles. As we roll (quite literally) into the New Year what better time to set things up for successful cycling in 2008. Success can mean different things to different riders and can happen on many different levels. But one thing is important: true success must be monitored and measured. So goal setting is an important part of achieving success. Without goals the question that is begged to ask is "Successful at what?" Other good questions are "How am I doing?", and "How close am I to reaching my goals?" I am often surprised at how many riders don't keep track of (monitor) the number of miles they have ridden or their average speed, or who even ride and train without a heart rate monitor. Well, this article is designed to give you some tips and suggestions for goals and how to monitor them, so that by this time next year you will be sitting back and recounting your many successes of 2008.

1. Mileage and Speed:

These two things are at the heart of our sport: "How fast?" and "How far?" These two questions should be asked even before we throw our leg over the top tube. Let’s break these down separately.

Mileage

Having a yearly mileage goal brings your entire cycling life into focus. Whether its a little or a lot, 2500 mile or 10,000 miles, having a set goal for the year breeds a set goal for each month and that determines the number of miles for each week which sets the number of miles each day. Now all of a sudden you know how far you need to ride on January 7th to make sure you meet the goals of July 16th which will let you know how you doing to meet the goal of December 31. This is all because you set a yearly mileage goal.

Let's break it down this way. Ask yourself the question "How many miles can I reasonably ride each week?" Then multiply by 52. Whether you chose 50, 100, or 200, this becomes you average weekly mileage, which gives you roughly 2500, 5,000, and 10,000 miles for the year respectively.

Speed

Who doesn't like going fast? What some people don’t realize is that speed doesn't just happen because you’re putting in the miles. Riding fast must be worked on just like any other aspect of cycling. One coach put it in simple terms: If you want to ride 20 mph, then you got to train at 20 mph. It's one thing to go out for a 20 mile ride is another thing to be back in under an hour.

For years I have set my personal goal of averaging 20 mph as the benchmark of my success. Your goal may be higher or lower but having one is the key. The way I would approach attaining the goal would be pretty simple. At the beginning of the season I would often ride only ten miles but at a 20 mph pace. Only when I could consistently ride ten miles with a 20 mph average would be start to increase the mileage of my rides. What this basically doses is train your body into believing that 20 mph is the norm; that type of effort becomes the base value for any workout. There are many other speed-play workouts that will increase your speed and I will discuss them in future articles.

Whether mileage or speed both aspects of cycling must be included in your weekly training which will add variety and keep boredom at bay.

2. Monitoring and Measuring

Failing to keep track of your progress is like riding in the dark. You don’t know where you’re going, and you don’t know how far you've been. Also, without the aid of a heart rate monitor, you can’t get an accurate measure of how hard you are working. Without this data it is hard if not impossible to truly measure progress.

Most cyclist own and use a basic bike computer. Right after the ride is the most important time to record basic data such as time, distance, average speed, and maximum speed. You can do this either with pen and paper or on your computer. Pen and paper journals can be purchased at most full service book stores. For computer use a simple (Excel) spreadsheet will do the trick with a column for each of the previously named items. Program an auto sum at the bottom so the every time you enter information you can sit back and watch the miles (automatically) add up. This is the least that any cyclist wishing to track their miles can do.

For those who want to go deeper check out some of the on-line sites listed below. The TIMEX and CYCLEWORKS links takes you to a site where you can actually download a working computer-based log; the others are strictly on-line based sites. I have used the TIMEX log and it works pretty well.

CYCLEWORKS Log: http://users.pandora.be/goubert/cycleworks/down.html

TIMEX Trainer Log: http://assets.timex.com/trainer/software/index.html

BIKE JOURNAL: http://www.bikejournal.com/

PROGRESS Log: http://www.progresslog.com/

Most people think that they are not serious enough riders to warrant the use of a heart rate monitor, but I have read cycling coaches' comments stating you’re not serious until you are riding with a monitor. Heart Rate Monitors (HRMs) have been around for a while now and range from basic models that start below $40.00 to the high end HRMs costing close to $500.00! I've been using a HRM for close to 10 years now and I can’t ride without one. (Right now I'm using the Garmin 305 which combines the HRM with a GPS and provides speed and distance along with other cool features.) HRMs give you the data you need to train smarter. Knowing how hard you can work is empowering while knowing how much you're slacking off can be a true reality check. Either way the investment adds another level of focus to your riding. Check out the website http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com to see a full array of models.

Well, that’s probably enough information to get everyone planning for ’08. Next time we'll look at training schedules and heart rate zones. Until then, keep spinning,

Training Zones And Schedules

Submitted by Horace Scruggs (htscruggs85@yahoo.com).

Hope everyone is weathering the weather very well. I personally am tired of the indoor training and am itching to go outside and put in some real miles, which brings us to our next discussion centered on Training Zones and Schedules. Both of these training routines provide a well rounded cyclist, forcing the rider to both enjoy his or her strengths as well as work on deficiencies. In other words there will be fun and hard work.

Training Schedules simply bring your day to day riding in focus. Just as distance goals (see the previous topic) put the entire year into focus, knowing what type of riding you are doing each day will take the guesswork out of where and how far to ride.

For every cyclist there are universal skills and cardiovascular strengths that need to be developed. The skills are sprinting and speed, endurance, and climbing. Cardiovascular development includes endurance and intensity. All five of these areas need to be included in the weekly schedule in order to progress and become a stronger cyclist. They also must be integrated into the training in such a way that the cyclist is focusing in one on two at a time. The chart below graphically explains the process:

Day	Workout	Skills	Cardio
Sunday	Off or Active Rest
Monday	Heart Rate Ride	Race Pace	70 – 85% of Max
Tuesday	Tempo	Speed Maintenance	55 – 60 % of Max
Wednesday	Off
Thursday	Hills	Climbing	70 – 85% of Max on hills
Friday	Red Zone/Speed	Speed	90 – 100% of Max
Saturday	Distance	Endurance	60 – 75% on Max

Heart Rate Ride – This type of riding allows you to train at a fairly high intensity level for longer periods of time. Train on flat to rolling terrain where hills, up or down, will not cause the heart rate to drop or rise drastically. The idea is to keep the intensity and exertion level within a fairly narrow margin; for instance, sustaining a heart rate between 170 and 185 beats based on a 200 bpm max. If the rate drops below 170 standing up and work harder, if it goes above 185, back off and soft pedal until in drops back down into your training zone. This is as close to racing one can get when riding alone.

Tempo Ride – Tempo training supports fast riding at the lowest possible heart rate. It teaches the rider to ride smart, pacing oneself and conserving energy while riding fast. It is very similar to the heart rate ride but the heart rate is allowed to drop as low as possible on descents allowing your heart to develop its ability to recover. Again this training should be done on flat to rolling terrain. Included in a tempo ride would be 3 – 5 jumps. A jump is a quick burst of speed for a short period of time, about 30–60 seconds. A jump simulates an attack or the warding off of one. A jump can be triggered randomly (such as every time a truck passes) or can be a set event (within site of a certain landmark). Jumping during a tempo ride gives your heart a good jolt, again simulating the activity of a race.

Hills – Enough said. This training focuses on one thing, going vertical. So here is the plan: find the hilliest course you can and go torture yourself. Relax on the flats and spin on the descents but when you hit the hills, hit them hard. And to make sure you are remain balanced, alternate standing and sitting. Your heart rate will definitely yo-yo between extremes but this is part of the work-out. Ride hard, recover, repeat.

Red Zone – Riding in the red zone can be pretty torturous and equally exciting. This ride should be the shortest of the week but it also should be the most intense. The most fun way to do this is to ride an out-and-back. Mark you time at the turn-around point and then hammer all the way home. Your goal is to take 3–5 minutes off your out time as you ride back. It’s basically a time trial where you are racing the clock and yourself. The terrain should be rolling to somewhat hilly. The hills will provide the chance for your heart rate to soar and the down hills will give you a chance to spin at a high cadence and send you on your way to speedville.

Distance Riding – Distance Riding is great when you join your fellow club riders for a Saturday or Sunday morning adventure. Keep it relaxed with a few bouts of speed play, pace lines, and king of the hill. The idea here is to enjoy the ride while keeping your heart rate at a moderate level, making sure you go the distance and still feel fresh when it’s all over. The goal here is pretty obvious: increasing endurance by training the body and all systems to work for long periods of time. Try to add 10–20 miles to what you would normally ride during the week.

Overall, a balanced and varied attack will keep the avid rider pushing the limits of his or her physical abilities. Training Zones and Schedules allow the rider build to build on existing strengths while working on areas that need improvement.