# I want to get faster, but...



## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

Don't we all want to get faster? Me too!
However, I get to ride between 1 & 2 times a week lately. Working 50+ hours, kids at home, and chores just suck away free time. I've also got other things working against me: I'm 40, lazy, 193lbs (as of this morning, up from 189 :mad2: ), and live in Alvin TX with nothing but flat land.
I know ride faster to get faster, and to do intervals, but I think I'd need to ride a lot more to benefit from that. I usually do between 20 & 40 miles when I do ride, so I can keep my endurance up. 
I was thinking of trying a regimen that maybe I might stick to, and wondering if it would help. My ideas are to continue the long rides I've been doing, but do short 10 mile rides pushing hard the entire time for three days a week. Lately on my long rides, I'd average upper 15's to lower 15's (the heat in Texas sure has slowed me down by about 1mph on average). These last two days, I rode only 10 miles, but pushed hard, trying to average 20mph. Ended up beating that on the way out, and close to it on the way back. 
Does this sound like a feasible plan? :idea:


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## Ghost234 (Jun 1, 2010)

Before you start getting into intervals make sure that you have an adequate aerobic base. Many beginner riders who want to get faster focus on intervals too early and only short change themselves. Generally it will take 1-2 seasons of consistent effort to build up your base to a reasonable level to start intervals.


As far as getting faster, there are a few things that could help you: 
1) Core strengthening. This will give your legs a good base to push off on. 
2) Knowing your heart rate/power zones. Training within these zones will make you train smarter, allowing you to get the most out of limited time. 
3) Ride with more experienced people who can push you.
4) Try to find an event that will force you to become better. I personally found a weekly TT to be the best thing for forcing myself to become a stronger rider. 
5) Read some books about cycling training. The Time Crunched Cyclist sounds like one that would be right up your alley.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Peanya said:


> ...do short 10 mile rides pushing hard the entire time for three days a week.


No.

Do 3-5 minute all-out intervals. Begin with a sprint, continue at the fastest pace you can hold. Dig in hard to the finish. 
Then, roll at walking pace till your legs, breathing and pulse are recovered, then repeat. 

Go out, warm up, do 3-4 of those, go home.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Oh and I was 43 and 195 lbs when I won this race, which I had trained for while working a 50+ hour job that required me to travel 4 nights a week.


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## estone2 (Sep 25, 2005)

At those kind of speeds, no offense, but you really don't need specialized training. One of the guys who organized my university's cycling team had several different plans, for A's racers, B's racers, etc. For C's and D's (people who roughly averaged <18.5,19mph on training rides), his training plan was "Ride lots."

Just go ride your bike a bunch. Build up a strong aerobic base. When the strong base comes, then look at intervals. But for now? Don't do hard 10 mile efforts. Don't pay attention to speed. Go out with people who are faster than you, and get your ass handed to you. Do that enough times, and you'll get faster.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

1-2 rides per week is probably going to make it hard to maintain. I have no children, but was routinely working about 50 hours per week. 

Perhaps this might not sound fun, but perhaps spend time at home on a trainer and rollers. Use your long days at work as a recovery day and try to hit it HARD as possible the day before. 

Virtually all amateur racers have a job, wife, and kids. Most can figure out ways to be on the bike somehow.


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## vontress (Jul 19, 2009)

I try to fit time in by riding to work, riding to the store, riding to kids games, etc. It's not ideal but it does keep me on the bike.


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## nayr497 (Nov 8, 2008)

Creakyknees said:


> No.
> 
> Do 3-5 minute all-out intervals. Begin with a sprint, continue at the fastest pace you can hold. Dig in hard to the finish.
> Then, roll at walking pace till your legs, breathing and pulse are recovered, then repeat.
> ...


Can you add a bit more detail Creaky...

How many days a week for these intervals you described? How long/far of a warm up (and at what pace)?

And what about the other days of the week?

I've been riding hard for about two years now, doing fast group rides for one. I'm now kind of tired of it (the group rides that finish as sprints), riding isn't enough fun because I'm too worried about training, and, most importantly, I need to ride less and work more. But, I still want to ride 4-5 days a week. And, I'd still like to maintain some decent snap in my legs - I don't want to just do 30-40 mile rides at one pace.


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## krisdrum (Oct 29, 2007)

Ghost234 said:


> Before you start getting into intervals make sure that you have an adequate aerobic base. Many beginner riders who want to get faster focus on intervals too early and only short change themselves. Generally it will take 1-2 seasons of consistent effort to build up your base to a reasonable level to start intervals.
> 
> 
> As far as getting faster, there are a few things that could help you:
> ...


Carmichael says intervals also help build aerobic base while working on other systems as well. Not sure he'd agree with the "no intervals" until 1-2 seasons in.


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## steelbikerider (Feb 7, 2005)

You need to ride with the Pearland group. I don't know of any groups in Alvin but riding with a group will motivate you. There are all sorts of pace groups riding on the w/e here who can give you tips advice and training ideas. Check the Pearland Cycling Club website for ride times or PM me for more info. I wil be on the red Schneider bike if you show up Sat AM


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## estone2 (Sep 25, 2005)

spade2you said:


> 1-2 rides per week is probably going to make it hard to maintain. I have no children, but was routinely working about 50 hours per week.
> 
> Perhaps this might not sound fun, but perhaps spend time at home on a trainer and rollers. Use your long days at work as a recovery day and try to hit it HARD as possible the day before.
> 
> Virtually all amateur racers have a job, wife, and kids. Most can figure out ways to be on the bike somehow.


Maintaining the ability to cruise at 18 or 19mph on 1-2 hard rides a week is certainly doable. Maintaing a 350w LT on 1-2 rides a week, not so much, but we're not talking about high-high-end fitness here. I got a fairly solid aerobic base by getting my ass kicked 1 or 2 times a week when I was 15 or 16 - off of maybe 4 rides a week, 2 hard, 2 me screwing around, I had a 270w LT.


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## 95zpro (Mar 28, 2010)

I come down 528 to 35 and then 35 to Hwy 6 all the way down to I45 on one of my long days. We should try to meet up some time or catch one of the group rides out of League City or Clear Lake. I've also found that I have the roads to myself in the early morning hours.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

estone2 said:


> Maintaining the ability to cruise at 18 or 19mph on 1-2 hard rides a week is certainly doable. Maintaing a 350w LT on 1-2 rides a week, not so much, but we're not talking about high-high-end fitness here. I got a fairly solid aerobic base by getting my ass kicked 1 or 2 times a week when I was 15 or 16 - off of maybe 4 rides a week, 2 hard, 2 me screwing around, I had a 270w LT.


I suppose if each 1-2 rides is 100% structured. Speaking for myself, cutting down to this would slow me down. Not sure of my wattage at this point, but will be training with power sooner or later.


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## MisterC (May 26, 2007)

The one descriptor that doesn't fit is "lazy". There isn't really a lazy way to get faster. 

On my busy days i often have to sacrifice an hour of sleep in the morning to get in my workouts. It's hard to do but if you make it a habit you can adjust.

I just want to make sure I understand, you do 40 mile rides on flat roads and average 15mph but a hard effort for 10 miles puts you over 20mph. 

If this is the case it sounds like you could be working harder on the 40 milers.


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## ping771 (Apr 10, 2006)

spade2you said:


> 1-2 rides per week is probably going to make it hard to maintain. I have no children, but was routinely working about 50 hours per week.
> 
> Perhaps this might not sound fun, but perhaps spend time at home on a trainer and rollers. Use your long days at work as a recovery day and try to hit it HARD as possible the day before.
> 
> Virtually all amateur racers have a job, wife, and kids. Most can figure out ways to be on the bike somehow.


Hate to beg to differ, but even at CAT 5 and CAT4, where I live, in NYC suburbs, most of the CAT 5's and 4's tend to be younger, and the ones who are older, say mid 30's and higher, don't have kids. I used to ride with a hard core group of riders and racers, and they either they had one kid and was divorced, married and no kids, or single. And those who were hard-core pretty much were riding by 5:30-6pm on the weekdays, which means they left work at 5 or earlier. Most of the hard core riders/racers I know have flexible work schedules, and some worked at home. But if career and family takes complete precedence and you work in a professional field, like law, medicine or finance, and work in the NYC area but live in the burbs, where the commute is 1hr each way, you leave home in the morning around 7:30 and get home at 6:30-7pm on a perfect day. And in my field, law, I bring home work so I will read files after dinner, if I am not too friggin tired. By 9-10pm I am beat. So the only time to ride is really on a Friday night if I can make it out early, and Sat and Sun mornings-early afternoons. 

If you have to get kids ready for school (I have no kids yet) around 6:30am, what are you going to do, ride at 4:30-5am?

So to Peanya, just ride as much as you can when you can. Since you're relatively starting out, I would just ride 1hr or so once or twice a week after work at high cadence low threshold for the next few months. On the weekends ride with a group that you can feel comfortable with that does 40-50 mile rides. Just work on cadence (90-110 on flats, 70-90 on hills), and forget about speed and avg mph. Build your base from now to early next spring. You don't need interval work outs, which I think is pre-mature.

Your training logic now is the equivalent in running jargon of sprint training. It's like your rides are 5k sprints all the time, which really doesn't benefit you because it's an anerobic effort. Your heart is the strongest muscle in cycling, not your legs. Learn to ride slow, keep smooth round strokes (and no coasting), and do longer rides to build your threshold. I don't race anymore, now I just do long rides when I can, and on most occasions I ride at a pace where I can talk with my riding partner without losing my breath. Oh, btw I'm 39, 145lb, but equally lazy.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

ping771 said:


> Hate to beg to differ, but even at CAT 5 and CAT4, where I live, in NYC suburbs, most of the CAT 5's and 4's tend to be younger, and the ones who are older, say mid 30's and higher, don't have kids. I used to ride with a hard core group of riders and racers, and they either they had one kid and was divorced, married and no kids, or single. And those who were hard-core pretty much were riding by 5:30-6pm on the weekdays, which means they left work at 5 or earlier. Most of the hard core riders/racers I know have flexible work schedules, and some worked at home. But if career and family takes complete precedence and you work in a professional field, like law, medicine or finance, and work in the NYC area but live in the burbs, where the commute is 1hr each way, you leave home in the morning around 7:30 and get home at 6:30-7pm on a perfect day. And in my field, law, I bring home work so I will read files after dinner, if I am not too friggin tired. By 9-10pm I am beat. So the only time to ride is really on a Friday night if I can make it out early, and Sat and Sun mornings-early afternoons.
> 
> If you have to get kids ready for school (I have no kids yet) around 6:30am, what are you going to do, ride at 4:30-5am?
> 
> ...


I am not going to say I'm sorry for my post. Virtually all of the local racers, and perhaps I should have clarified "local". Basically everyone is either a student (with a job) or has the usual job, wife (or husband) and kids. 

I work in healthcare, so the days are long and far from the usual 9 to 5. I also got married this year. 

Long story short, if you want to find a way, you will. If you want to piss, moan, and complain, you're not as likely. I have no doubt kids will be a challenge for me, but I'll find a way. That's the mentality that has gotten me this far.


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## Ghost234 (Jun 1, 2010)

spade2you said:


> I am not going to say I'm sorry for my post. Virtually all of the local racers, and perhaps I should have clarified "local". Basically everyone is either a student (with a job) or has the usual job, wife (or husband) and kids.
> 
> I work in healthcare, so the days are long and far from the usual 9 to 5. I also got married this year.
> 
> Long story short, if you want to find a way, you will. If you want to piss, moan, and complain, you're not as likely. I have no doubt kids will be a challenge for me, but I'll find a way. That's the mentality that has gotten me this far.



I find that making a schedule really helps. I always try to get Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings to myself, and every other day I focus on my other life commitments. Being a full time university student, who is also working makes it very challenging to make time for biking, but I have always found a way to deal with the time constraints. 

The first few years of having kids will wreck havoc on your cycling life. My brother and his wife had a baby 16 months ago and he is barely able to make time to ride to work. I'm not saying it will happen to everyone, but babies require a lot of attention.


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## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

steelbikerider said:


> You need to ride with the Pearland group. I don't know of any groups in Alvin but riding with a group will motivate you. There are all sorts of pace groups riding on the w/e here who can give you tips advice and training ideas. Check the Pearland Cycling Club website for ride times or PM me for more info. I wil be on the red Schneider bike if you show up Sat AM


I would love to join a cycling club. My problem is, working retail, I hardly ever get weekends off. My days off now are Mondays and Tuesdays, so the club rides are out. 

To Mister C: I usually start out going a bit faster, but in this heat, I get quite slow near the end. I'm sure it's not just the heat, it's also the lack of mileage. Since March, I've put on just over 1000 miles, not exactly where I want to be.
Did 20 miles yesterday, finishing up at 17 average. I had about 6 stops along the way, so my cruising speed was pretty decent.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Ghost234 said:


> I find that making a schedule really helps. I always try to get Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings to myself, and every other day I focus on my other life commitments. Being a full time university student, who is also working makes it very challenging to make time for biking, but I have always found a way to deal with the time constraints.
> 
> The first few years of having kids will wreck havoc on your cycling life. My brother and his wife had a baby 16 months ago and he is barely able to make time to ride to work. I'm not saying it will happen to everyone, but babies require a lot of attention.


No doubt that kids will be an obstacle. I've known a racer or two to take a little time off from racing during those early years. Most of my racing scene still have children, so I'm under the impression it can be done some how.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

PeanyaMy problem is said:


> Check around. In my own area, there are Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Sat, and Sun rides. Why no Friday, no clue, but that's the way it is. A major benefit of riding in a club is being privy to information like this.


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## AkbarnJeff (May 31, 2005)

I work 10-12 hour days, 4 days a week, have the wife, kid, honey-do list. I got Time Crunched book last fall and used it in training for a race. Forced myself to get up at 4:30 am 2 days a week to do intervals. Did intervals on Friday too, then rode 2 hours each on Sat and Sun. I did that for 8 weeks, lost 10 pounds, improved my race time by 37 minutes. If you really want to lose weight/get faster and you have the time constraints most of us have- you gotta make time somewhere when the wife/ kids/ job dont interfere. FOr me, that was 4:30 am. It sucked getting up that early, but at the end I felt great the rest of the day, plus my metabolism got a huge jump start on those days. I only do that plan a few times a year- too hard on the body to do it all the time, but it will definitely help.


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## Peanya (Jun 12, 2008)

Update on this: Been riding a bit more lately, and that's helped a LOT. Doing some intervals, but not that much. More 30 min hard rides 1 to 2x a week only, and 20 to 40 three times a week. Used to ride averaging (not what the trip computer says) 16 to 18mph, headwinds 12 to 14. 
Lately, been cruising at 18 to 21, headwinds usually 14 to 16. I also attribute a tiny bump in speed due to lowering my bars about 1".


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## teddysaur (Dec 30, 2004)

This has work out for me. I don't have to ride like long distance or do intervals. The key is consistency(daily training) and maintain high intensity. I don't use a heart rate monitor either.

I will ride everyday on weekdays for no more than 1 hour. Go out, warm up and do some intensity ride for 40 mins. Instead of using HRM, I use my breathing as a gauge. If I'm out of breath, I slow down or reduce effort by 10% or so. During the weekend, I will go for long rides 2hrs or more.

Most of the time, I will take Monday or Friday off because they are the most stressful and relax days of the week.

You need to do this for 8 weeks or more to gain the real results. As you go along, you will find you get stronger on weekend rides.

Once again, the key is consistency and maintaining high intensity in your short rides.


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## atimido (Jun 17, 2009)

I have long days at work, and don't always get to fit in my training rides. I have supplemented this lost training time by purchasing a set of Kreitler 2.25" rollers, which I do intervals on at home. The indoor training is not quite the same as the outdoor training I do, but at least it's something...


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## zender (Jun 20, 2009)

To the OP: Any chance you can figure out a way to ride to work? Maybe not every day but twice a week? Or, drive half way, park somewhere, and riding the other half? I know it's a pain in the ass to work out the logistics, but if it wasn't a pain, well then everyone would be at 5.5W/kg. Riding to work doesn't have to be slow on a single speed, you can work Carmichael's Time Crunched system into it, or whatever intervals you want.


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