It’s been cold here, other than a freaky warm spell when the high temperature reached the 50s and there was a torrential downpour that flooded my car in its parking lot at work. I’ve been training for the brevets on rollers in my basement.
My training plan
In my training, I’m trying to balance the need to build up a good mileage base with the need to not spend all my free time on the bike. My plan is as follows:
- Commute to work daily (6-mile round trip) or ride the equivalent on days I don’t commute.
- Do two additional rides during the week, totaling about 20 miles: one focused on hills and one on speed.
- Do one long ride on the weekend, working up to 100 miles two weeks before the 200K brevet.
- Every 3rd, 4th, or 5th week, cut back the weekday mileage to give myself a rest, while keeping the long weekend ride.
Hopefully this will give me a decent base, some hill and speed training, and experience with increasingly long rides.
January results
So how have I done so far? We got home on January 9 and I started on Jan. 10 with a 10-mile ride on rollers. Then as follows (again, all on rollers):
- Week of Jan. 11: 30 miles during the week, 10-mile weekend ride
- Week of Jan. 18: 35 miles during the week, 15-mile weekend ride
- Week of Jan. 25: 22 miles during the week, 20-mile weekend ride
My speed goal for the brevets is to average 20-25 kph (12.5-15.5 mph), not including stops. I’ve been riding at 12-13 mph on rollers, with an average heart rate around 150 bpm, but TruTrainer’s website suggests that the resistance at that speed is equivalent to c. 16-17 mph outdoors on a flat road with no wind. On the other hand, on my 42-mile loop ride to Conway last Nov. 11 I averaged 13.25 mph with an average heart rate of 150, so unless my hill and speed training pay off, I might end up riding at the slower end of my target range.
Goals for February
In February, I plan to:
- Build up my weekday mileage to 40 in the third week
- Ease off in the 4th week while I’m out of town
- Continue working up to a 40-mile long ride
Check back in a month to see how I did!
