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With 2 months of the road racing and time
trialling seasons to go, now would be a good
time to address how to approach the rest of
the season.
If you’ve been racing regularly, say a
mid week time trial and a race at weekends,
the last thing you’ll want or need is a high
volume of training. One short, high
intensity training session plus one easy
recovery ride should be sufficient. It’s
easy to get stale from racing week in –week
out. Colin Griffiths tells me that he
purposely arranges his racing so that he has
one weekend off in four to give himself a
break and avoid that staleness.
Perhaps through injury, work or family
commitments, you’ve not been able to do the
base miles you’d like to have done, and you
think that has made for disappointing
performances, don’t give up on the season
and vow to do better next year. Take instant
action!
Here are two road sessions which will put
some good miles into your legs – both are
best done on a flattish or gently rolling
route.
Session 1 – ride easy for 15 mins
to warm up, then gradually accelerate over
the next 4 mins to time trial pace. Do the
next 4 mins just above time trial pace, then
ride easy for 10 mins, then accelerate over
next 4 mins to time trial pace etc. Continue
until you have done 3 of the 4 minute bursts
at just above time trial pace and then ride
gently home.
Session 2 – ride easy for 15 mins
then 5 mins at or above time trial pace
followed by 5 mins easy riding, then 4 mins
at or above ttp and 4 mins recovery, then
3/3, 2/2, 1/1, ride easy for 10-15 mins to
allow for full recovery, then do 1/1, 2/2,
3/3, 4/4 and 5/5, then grovel home.
One of these sessions per week would be
helpful – if your main race is on Tuesday,
don’t do it later than Saturday, and if your
main race in on Sunday, don’t do it later
than Thursday.
For regular racers, wondering about high
intensity sessions, try one of these.
Session 1 - Warm up over 15 or 20
mins, which will take you to a flat stretch
of empty road. Do 1 min absolutely flat out,
then ride very easy for 1 min, then do a
further minute flat out, then take 1 min
rest. Continue until you have done 10x1 min
flat out. This session is likely to involve
some U turns – be careful.
You can do this session on a turbo,
adjusting gear and resistance to enable you
to do it flat out, with a cadence of about
100.
Session 2 – this is a Spindoctor
turbo session – warm up for 10 mins in low
gear, then choose high gear and high
resistance and ride at cadence 80 for 3 mins,
then 1.5 mins at cadence 60 in same gear,
then a further 3 mins at cadence 80 followed
by 1.5mins at 60. Now drop a gear and do the
same at cadence 90 (i.e. 2x3mins with 1.5min
breaks), then drop a further gear and do the
same at cadence 100, then a further gear
lower and do the same at cadence 110. Then
warm down for 10 mins.
I think that using a turbo through the
racing season is a good idea – you can get
the intensity of effort without the fatigue
of a longer road ride – also you’re not
distracted by wind, slopes, traffic,
kingfishers or beautiful young females/males
(delete as appropriate) floating past. It
does however get very hot – so you may well
need to invest in an electric fan, or a
punkah wallah.
Dave Birch
August 2006
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