Training/Club Run/Goals

[novemberdelta]

Hi,

I am a beginner to cycling; started about March and have really taken to it, doing about 1600 miles since then.

I have a 102 mile sportive booked in for July, already having completed one at 82 miles. I am really looking for guidance on what kind of targets would be good for this stage in my career - I like a bit of a target and just time in the saddle is good, but a goal would motivate me a bit more - what were others targeting at this stage? I was thinking maybe 10 mile TT would be good place to start but am a bit clueless re how to train for it.

Also, I have been thinking about doing a programme (eg British Cycling) but the Club Run I usually do every week is about 60 miles, and it doesn't seem to fit in with any of the plans - it's too long. I like doing this run, and would like to keep doing it as part of a programme. It isn't an easy run for me, at about 17-18 mph average. Any tips? Thanks.

 

[vickster]

What are your goals? Other than the sportive? You talk about career, do you mean turning pro?

Most of us just like to ride our bikes as much as possible, look for posts by @MickeyBlueEyes if racing is your ambition

Why is 60 miles too long? If you want to TT, just try the ones organised by your club

 

[novemberdelta]

What are your goals? Other than the sportive? You talk about career, do you mean turning pro?

Most of us just like to ride our bikes as much as possible, look for posts by @MickeyBlueEyes if racing is your ambition

Why is 60 miles too long? If you want to TT, just try the ones organised by your club

Thanks for the reply. Career was a poor choice of word, definitely not turning pro.

60 miles is too long in terms of the plans I have seen which generally have a 3 hour "long" run. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong plans.

I like riding my bike, probably would like to be faster. I'm just looking for an idea of the kind of goals people aim for a beginners - solid targets motivate me.

 

[123456789]

The training for a long sportive would be different to for a 10 or 25 TT so you should really have a specific goal in mind

If you are time crunched then concentrating on 10 or 25s is good as you don't have to put in massively long rides (you still need your base endurance and a lot of your training will be done at this level regardless of whatever stage you are at in your cycling career), your goal would be to increase the max power / effort you can put out for an hour and this would be done with various types of interval training which will be in excess of the power/effort you can currently put out.

There is also the Aero aspect to TT ing but that is a whole other subject.

In terms of Training plans there are plenty out there on the internet but as Vickster says the first place to start is establish what you want to do with your riding and if it is TT ing then enquire at your club.