Winter Cycle Training.
To cycle in winter often requires extra motivation; the weather is bad, there’s no racing to look forward to and in the UK it is often dark by 4pm. However a good training schedule during winter is important for laying a good foundation to the rest of the year. These are some of the key areas to focus on during winter training.
- Rest. If you have had a long racing season you should not feel guilty imf mentally and physically, you feel like a period of complete rest. Many of the top pro’s like to take 3 weeks off, often at the end of the racing season in November. Personally I take 3 weeks off in December. Hopefully at the end of 2-3 weeks you will begin to regain the enthusiasm for going back on the bike. This is a good sign to restart training. I wouldn’t advise taking much longer than 3 weeks off as you will start to lose your base fitness, making it more effort to catch up when you start.
- How Many Miles? When Fausto Coppi was asked for training advice he gave the advice “ride a bike”. The Traditional approach to cycle training was to get the miles in, the more miles the better. Modern cycling methods often focus more on quality rather than quantity. However winter is a good time to get steady miles in, increasing your aerobic base fitness. Often in winter you may find yourself doing more miles than in the Summer when you are racing. To answer the question how many miles may depend on your goals and targets. If you are aiming for a maximum of a 25 mile time trial there is little to be gained by doing more than 3 hour rides. If you are training for 100 mile road races, you should aim to do at least one 4-5 hour ride every week.
- What intensity? Personally I would recommend maintaining a fairly good tempo. During my winter rides I usually ride between 60% and 80% of heart rate. If you do all your rides at a low intensity of 60% or less you will not be making the best use of your training time.
- Should I do intervals? In the last few months of the racing season I am doing intense interval sessions for the hill climb season. When its over the idea of doing an interval session doesn’t appeal at all. I like to have 3 months November, December and January of not doing any intervals at all. At the same time if you are going up a steep hill and you find your heart rate climbing into the anaerobic zone there is no harm. However if you start doing intervals too early it will be difficult to maintain your form throughout the season.
- Ride alone or with a group? Winter training usually involves fairly long training rides. If you are trying to do 15 hours a week it can get a little tedious, training with others can help pass the time and also encourage you to go out when the weather is less than inviting. However if you go out with a large group be aware your ride may be punctuated by stopping for others and if you are fit you may be riding at a low intensity. There is nothing wrong with these low intensity rides, but you want to make sure you have some good quality rides as well. On these rides you should maintain a steady tempo without too many stops.
- Weight. For some cyclists putting on weight in winter can come all too easily. To be honest this is something that has never been an issue for me, but others suggest that putting a small amount of weight on in winter is no harm as long as you have the discipline to lose it in the racing season.
- Indoor Training. The idea of training on a turbo trainer fills some people with dread. However it is good to have the option of doing an hour or so indoors. Otherwise you can find a whole week goes by and the weather has always provided an excellent excuse not to go out.
By Richard Pettinger, Sri Chinmoy Cycling Team