1. Have a clear goal of your aims. In particular you should be aware of what distance you will be racing at. If your maximum race duration is say 1 hour. It means you do not need to focus on too much base mileage. If you are wanting to take part elite road racing you have to be able to find time for weekly 5-6 hour rides.
2. Split the year up into different sections. The style of your training should not be the same throughout the year. It is often helpful to split the year up into different sections. E.g. 3 months of winter base training. 2 months of interval training to peak for 2 months of racing in the middle of winter
3. Work out when you want to Peak. The top pros are very focused in the races that they want to win. Gone are the days when the likes of Eddy Merckx would race throughout the year and win everything. Lance Armstrong was a good example of a cyclist who focused solely on one event in July – the Tour de France. Look for the dates of your main national championships and try to focus for that.
4. Allow room for rest and recovery. Just as important as training is the ability to rest at the appropriate time. This includes having an annual break in winter. It also means having recovery periods in your most intense training sessions. It is worth noting that good recovery can be aided by gentle training rides of 1 – 2 hours. Don’t just build in rest days. Make room for recovery rides where you do nothing intense. Monday is a good day for these.
5. Be Flexible. Just because you have scheduled a really hard interval session of 20 minutes at 95% doesn’t mean you have to do it even if you feel under the weather. This is far more likely to do more harm than good. It is better to only do interval sessions when your body is really prepared and ready.
6. Listen to your body. Related to being flexible is the idea that your training schedule should be tailored to how you feel. It is important to be able to listen to signs from your body and state of mind whether you should train less or more.
7. Allow Periods of Tapering. Tapering is very important for being able to peak for a certain event. Tapering means that for 1-2 weeks before a targeted event you reduce the duration of your training. This leaves you fresh and rested for the actual race. Note tapering doesn’t mean you should reduce intensity, the main thing is reducing the time spent training.

Richard Pettinger rides for Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team and lives in Oxford. He rides in UK time trials, finishing 4th in the 2005 100 mile TT championship.