# Minimum training



## waterobert (Nov 24, 2009)

My goal for this year is to ride century every 5-6 weeks. I don't want to spend to much time training, however from each century I want to cut 10-15 minuets. I rode my last one in 6 hrs 56 minuets. So the plan is that after each century I will take 7-10 days off bike for complete recovery. Than I will ride 20-25 miles in the middle of a week and about 30-50 miles on weekends. No riding few days before next century. Will I achieve my goal and ride century in less then 5 hours by next year?Your opinion and suggestions please.


----------



## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Wow. Ok, just curious why you want to do it this way. Time constraints? 

All I can say is, for your limited on-bike training time, do intervals - slightly above and below your anaerobic threshold - to improve your cruising speed. 

But really, there are better plans out there if you're able to ride a bit more. 3-4 days a week is usually the minimum recommended.


----------



## Hank Stamper (Sep 9, 2009)

waterobert said:


> Will I achieve my goal and ride century in less then 5 hours by next year?


I'd have to bet heavy on: No.

Maybe in a group, on flats with favorable wind there'd be a prayer but otherwise with your planned training that sounds like a pipe dream to me.


----------



## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

waterobert said:


> Will I achieve my goal and ride century in less then 5 hours by next year?Your opinion and suggestions please.


Unless it's really easy for you now or unless you are a very high responder to excercise, you
almost certainly will not improve that much trainng that little. (unless you are riding solo now and draft the whole way in a peloton next year.)

7 hrs @ 14.3 mph average is not that hard--many or most most weekend riders in good shape can do it.

5 hrs @ 20 mph is much, much harder--need to be a trained athlete to do it solo. Not an elite athlete, but well-trained with some talent.

Just try riding 10 miles solo at 20 mph and you'll see what I mean.

It takes more than 2 times more power at aerobic levels to ride a century in 5 hrs than it does to ride one in 7 hrs.

For me solo, several hours of sustained riding at 15 mph is easy. 17.5 mph is hard. 20 mph is impossible. The effor required is not linear.


----------



## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Recovery*



waterobert said:


> So the plan is that after each century I will take 7-10 days off bike for complete recovery.


Why would you think this is a good idea? Instead of incorporating the stress of the century ride into your training, this plan would essentially let the gains drift away. One or two days, tops, off the bike after a long, hard ride.


----------



## tommyrhodes (Aug 19, 2009)

Not gonna happen. The guys riding sub 5 hour centurys have mostly spent years of focused training. Good luck though lol


----------



## waterobert (Nov 24, 2009)

Ok, century under 5 hour next year is a pipe dream, not going to argue that one.LOL 
My faulty assumption is that since I am going to ride one century after another I should be in a good shape all the time. Too much training would lead to the burn out, therefore I need to be careful when and how much to ride. When training I always ride solo and try to ride at 80-90% of max heart rate. Actually I kind of like to make my training rides as hard as I can, if I am not soaking wet at the end I feel like I wasted my time. Anyway, you guys have a lot more experience than I do so I have to say that you have every right to call me on my BS, LOL


----------



## BikeFixer (May 19, 2009)

waterobert said:


> Too much training would lead to the burn out, therefore I need to be careful when and how much to ride. LOL


Over training is pretty much NEVER going to happen for the average rider, Undertraining is much much more common.
Taking 7 days off for recovery is way too much for anything unless you have an injury


----------



## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

Taking a week off is too much like the other guys said.
Riding all the time at the same level of effort is a poor training strategy. Not every ride should be as hard as you can go, and you need to do some faster intervals if you want to improve. 

Also do some group rides to learn how to ride in a pack, unless your 5 hour century goal is no drafting.

You can't be in top shape all year. Trying to do so is ineffective and a guarantee of burnout. You need to structure your training year to peak once or twice during the season.

I suggest reading Friel's training bible. Or any book on training for that matter.


----------



## waterobert (Nov 24, 2009)

Looks like I need to get real and hope that I could ride century under 6 hr by next year. In order to do that my average speed needs to go over 16.7 mph. Probably if I lose 10# from my waist and my bike. my speed should go up by .5 mph (or not LOL). That should bump my average to 14.8 mph without any training. Is it realistic to gain 2.0 mph in one year of training? How hard I need to train, 3-4 days a week, 100-200 miles per week?


----------



## Dopamine (Jun 2, 2009)

waterobert said:


> Looks like I need to get real and hope that I could ride century under 6 hr by next year. In order to do that my average speed needs to go over 16.7 mph. Probably if I lose 10# from my waist and my bike. my speed should go up by .5 mph (or not LOL). That should bump my average to 14.8 mph without any training. Is it realistic to gain 2.0 mph in one year of training? How hard I need to train, 3-4 days a week, 100-200 miles per week?


Well, training is unique and specific to every individual.

That being said, in my unprofessional guesstimate you should be training a minimum of 8 hours per week (probably around 100 miles minimum) with a frequency of at least 4 days per week.

This is the kind of training load that can allow your average Cat 5 to hang on to the pack for dear life and is kind of the minimum necessary to call oneself a cyclist IMHO.

From that minimum baseline one can get pretty darn fast by bumping it up to 10 to 15 hours per week with 3 days per week of very high quality work (i.e. intervals and tempo riding).


----------



## root (Sep 13, 2007)

waterobert said:


> Looks like I need to get real and hope that I could ride century under 6 hr by next year. In order to do that my average speed needs to go over 16.7 mph. Probably if I lose 10# from my waist and my bike. my speed should go up by .5 mph (or not LOL). That should bump my average to 14.8 mph without any training. Is it realistic to gain 2.0 mph in one year of training? How hard I need to train, 3-4 days a week, 100-200 miles per week?


Assuming the course is not hilly, loosing 10 lbs will not make you go that much faster, if at all, on flat terrain. You could go faster now if you managed to get into more aero position (unless you are in the best position possible already). But position is always a compromise between maximal power output and aerodynamics. 

If the terrain is hilly, then loosing total weight should definitely help, assuming you don't also loose power with weight .


----------



## pretender (Sep 18, 2007)

Just ride more ffs.


----------



## mrcookie (Mar 30, 2008)

I'd get a copy of Carmichael's new book, Time Crunched cyclist. it's an easy read, and he has plans for century riders as opposed to racers. i think his premise is that you can make big improvements with even as little as 6 hours a week.


----------



## waterobert (Nov 24, 2009)

Thank you all for help. Based on your recommendations I will ride 20-25 miles three times during the week and one long ride on weekend. I guess there is no way you can get better without getting fatigued LOL


----------



## sgtgeo (May 9, 2009)

Reynolds531 said:


> Unless it's really easy for you now or unless you are a very high responder to excercise, you
> almost certainly will not improve that much trainng that little. (unless you are riding solo now and draft the whole way in a peloton next year.)
> 
> 7 hrs @ 14.3 mph average is not that hard--many or most most weekend riders in good shape can do it.
> ...




True, I ride my "off days" with my wife 20mile route her pace ~16mph this is like a ride in the park my HR rarely above 120bph.

"on days" same route alone 19-21mph HR never below 160bph


----------



## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

Riding that much will not get you fatigued.


----------

