Training advice needed

[La_Pluie]

Hi,
I am 25 years old and I've been casually riding mountain bikes for years but have only seriously taken up road cycling in the past few months.
I'm riding 4-5 times a week usually for an hour each time with at least one long ride a week of about 2 hours 30. The days I dont ride i'm still having a short spin on an exercise bike but I make sure I have enough rest days to recover.
I was wondering how long I should expect to wait before I see real improvements in terms of speed an endurance?
I am currently solely doing low intensity 'base' training using a heart rate monitor which I've read is a good way to start out and I will start to include high intensity intervals over the next month or so.
I can average 14mph easily but my initial aim is for 18mph with a longer goal of 20+.
Do you think I training effectively and how long do you think before I can average 18mph or even see any improvement as currently I am seeing none?
Thanks

 

[black'n'yellow]

riding at 'low intensity' for an hour is a bit of a waste of time, in my opinion. By all means knock out 2-3 hour rides at a low intensity, but you will gain nothing from a one hour ride at that effort level. Upping the intensity on the shorter rides will give you more of a benefit. You only get faster by riding faster - and harder.

 

[Arsen Gere]

Hi,
I can average 14mph easily but my initial aim is for 18mph with a longer goal of 20+.
Do you think I training effectively and how long do you think before I can average 18mph or even see any improvement as currently I am seeing none?
Thanks

Is it an objective to ride for an average of 18mph for a given time or distance ? Are you aiming to do a time trial or triathlon ?

 

[ianjmcd]

get a book this one is quite good Joe Friel - The cyclist training bible

 

[Eribiste]

I used to bumble about at 12 mph for a year or so, content to do a regular 7 mile route 3 - 4 times a week, with a twice yearly 'extended' ride of 27 miles. After a year of doing this, I started to notice 1. An eventual reduction in weight (combined with a reduction in calorie intake) and 2. a gradual increase in average speed. When I noticed this, I started doing the same route with more effort and drove the average up to a gnat's under 16. Now, on the same bike, I do a 16 mile route at about 15 mph, but I seem to have hit a plateau at this. I'm changing bikes now, for a much lighter one with 18 speeds instead of 5, so I'm hoping to justify my spend with an increase in speed. As they say, it don't get easier, you just go faster!

 

[boydj]

You've done the right thing in building up an endurance base. Now you have to start building some intensity into a couple of runs a week. There are various ways of doing this and you can mix these up into a loose schedule, or you can build a more strict schedule. What you choose will depend on you, where you live and cycle, the roads you cycle on and what type of training suits your personality

Some ideas :
Hill intervals : find a hill that takes about 5 - 6 minutes to climb and do this about 5 or six times with some recovery time in between.
Timed intervals : use a watch with a count-down timer and do 5 minutes hard, 5 easy on a route where you don't have traffic lights etc to worry you. Vary the timings over a period.
Fartlek : (running term) fit in a few harder efforts, as you feel like it or suits the road, of varying lengths on a regular run could be for a couple of lampposts, or a mile or so - doesn't matter as long as you raise your pace and recover after the effort.
Traffic light sprints : if you commute, kicking hard for a couple of hundred yards from traffic lights is good.
Time trial : find a regular route and do it at a sustained pace - that you can hold for the whole route. Do this one once a month or so and use this to measure your pace and see how your are improving.

The idea with more intense sessions is to maintain the quality to the end. Don't go too hard at the start and end up knackered by the time you are half-way through. Take it easy for a day or two after a hard session. Don't do it if you are feeling tired - you could do more harm than good if you get over-tired.

One of the best ways of improving is to find a local club and get out on a club run where the folks are a similar standard to yourself. Most clubs will have groups that go at different paces so it should not be too difficult to slot in.

Good luck.