Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster here. This next season I have decided to take training more seriously and over the last couple of months I have invested some time in trying to learn and develop an ATP for next year. Any advice or critique on that would be greatly appreciated.

INTRO/GOALS

I’m 28M, 63 kg, FTP 220W. I did cycling “seriously” up until 18, but then quit and treated it as a hobby of just 1-2 rides per week. Over the last two years I have regained that drive for training and improving and I have been riding more consistently and also done 3-4 sportives per year (avg. of 150km - 2500m).

For the next year, my main “A” race is on the weekend of 10th of May. It’s 175km and 2600m. I think I can get to 10-12h weeks consistently for next year, so I expect my FTP to go from 3.5 to 4 W/kg. Is that reasonable?

ATP

While reading the Cyclist training bible, I have noted the following points and tried to incorporate them:

• Periodization and progression.
• Limiting intensity at 2 days per week.
• Importance of weight lifting. I have included 2 sessions per week up until Base 2. 

If you see any mistakes/ inconsistencies please let me know. I am not too sure on which type of workouts to do in each mesocycle, so I am open to change what I put. From what I understood:

• Base: SS progression (2x15, 2x18, 2x20, 3x15, 3x20, 2x30, 1x45, 2x35, 1x60, 2x40, 3x30, 2x45, 1x90, 4x25, 3x35 & 3x40). More or less tried to combine the progression from u/gedrap and u/pgpcx (older comments).
• Build 1: VO2max block (6x3, 4x4, 4x5, 5x4, 7x3, 5x5)
• Build 2: Threshold block (still haven't had the time to prepare this one)

Base 1:

• 5 weeks because on the second week I'm away for 4 days.

Base 1 programme

Base 2:

• 4 weeks, following the SS progression + endurance days.
• More full weeks due to xmas break.

Base 2 programme

Base 3:

• 4 more weeks, finishing the SS progression at 16 sessions total.

Base 3 programme

Build 1:

• 4 more weeks, incorporating the first VO2max block.

Build 1 programme

DOUBTS

• Considering I expect my A race to be somewhere around 6.5 to 7h, when should I incorporate these longer rides?
• Other "usual" workouts which I've seen around, such as Over/Unders, when should they be put?

As commented, I would love to hear your feedback and to see if there's something glaringly wrong, correct that. Thanks in advance!

I’m trying to find a good offseason strength training plan to compliment my bike training. I’ve seen a lot of general discussion on this searching old threads but for those of you lifting twice a week, I am curious what exercises, number of sets/reps, and weight targets you are using?

I have a strength sport background (track, football) so I tend to really cook myself if I try to lift like I did for those sports and also train for cycling. I’m looking for a little rational moderation.

For brief background, I currently ride 8-12 hours a week. I race both road and XC.

A couple years ago I switched hobbies from rock climbing to cycling. My body is so confused, spent years building upper body strength and suddenly a bait and switch where all that is baggage and we need legs baby. Needless to say, they aren’t the strongest. I’ve made great gains in cardio fitness but can’t help but wonder if building some serious leg muscle could help me out. I am thinking to focus completely on lower body strength through the off season with maybe just 2-3 hours of riding, and start base in February. Anyone done something similar or have any suggestions?

Edit: should add, I expect this will not benefit me next year with so little cycling through winter, wondering if it will pay off in 2+ years. I already strength train twice a week.

Edit 2: love the comments so far, sounds like maybe not the most productive way to spend time. Ranked order of how I like to spend my time is winning things, cycling, 100+ other activities, then weight lifting… I’ve never combined #1 with #2 but glad I don’t need to spend my winter on > #102 to try

This post is for all of you hypertensive riders out there. What BP medication are you using that’s not hurting your performance? My dr just recently put me on a diuretic (chlorothalidone), and it’s just about impossible to ride now… I’m going for a follow-up visit with my doctor to talk about an alternative med. Please tell me what you’re on…

I have just finished the season and did an FTP test which showed that my FTP is 215watt. I am going to train for an event in July 2025. What can i realistically expect as an improvement for the next 8 months?
I am taking semi off from the bike during Nov. and will be going to a gym. From Dec. I will start Base and so on. What are your biggest FTP changes and what did it cost you ?

Edit: I am turning 43. I am 69kg, not fat rather lean, 180cm in height. Don't smoke, don't drink. My current season ended with 6k km behind me. Most of the time doing z2-z3 rides. Many rides are 100+km.

Hi. First off, apologies my Google-fu sucks.

I'm interested in racing Heffron and trying to get information on:

1. How can a non-local sign-up and race
2. Process for licensing/waivers/etc?
3. Where, what dates, what times?
4. Can I jump to A Grade or do I need to do B if coming in with no local experience? I'm Cat1 overseas.

BONUS:
5. Any other races in Sydney worth doing? What about Melbourne, Brisbane, etc? I have some free time to move around.

When I Google I only get Facebook and some really old, stale cycling club websites. So trying to use this sub to get in touch with someone who knows someone. Thanks.

I’m not sure if this will get deleted but I just wanted to share my frustrating story. I am a young cyclist who a few months ago got hit by a car, my bike was separated in half and literally not a single part on it is left usable. I was in a hospital for 10 days and 2 days in a shock room. I had internal bleeding and if I stayed just a half an hour longer on side of that road I probably wouldn’t be writing this. It took me close to 2 months to get a green light from a doctor to ride my bike again. Then a whole another month of just casually riding so that I could ride with no pain again. I was aiming to win the National championships in elite category and to be the youngest one to do it (19yr old) and I crashed in peak form 20 days before the race. I have some good results (for my country standards) and I was a “promising young cyclist”, I also rode some elite races for the national team.

I gave my life to racing and in a second everything I have trained for was erased. My country is shit, I was not insured by the club nor by the federation, and by the looks of it I am not going to get any insurance money from the person who hit me because I am still not invited to the court and looks like I won’t be invited for quite some time (it’s a slow process here)

I sent many messages to my national federation and every time I would get the same reply. They would just say that they have no money left to help me. Same story is for the club which I am in. Not a single person wants to help me in my toughest moments. I am not from a high standing family and in a country where the average salary is 600€ it is really hard to save enough money to buy a good road bike for racing. Currently I am studying, working a full time (minimum salary) job and trying to train on a aluminium 12kg bike, which is 2 sizes too small for me. I managed to save some money but doing all 3 things is just a receipt for disaster, since I am sacrificing everything and I am not able to give myself to just one or two things.
I am too far in to just give up on my dream and I do not want to give up, and I still have the goals which I want to achieve.

This game called life is not fair!

It's a database of 160+ fuel options for endurance activities where each fuel has over 60+ data points to help you filter, sort and compare them side by side to find fuelling options that work for you!

https://findtrail.co/food/

There is also a side by side comparison tool here https://findtrail.co/food/compare where you can select up to four fuel options and compare them all in a much simpler format.

Some examples of what this tool can do:

Each food includes things like;

• Votes based on bad stomach or happy stomach (user experience data, if you register you can share your experience)
• Carbs per 100g so you can compare all foods side by side on the most energy dense fuel options
• How many servings you need to take per hour to get 72g of carbs per hour from each fuel
• Price per hour based on RRP of single servings
• Carb type (maltodextrin, rice syrup, naturally present, etc)
• Carbs per $ so you can work out which is the cheapest option to get
• Consume speed (energy gels fast, bars medium, etc)
• Packaging type
• Energy sources (single, dual carb, triple, etc)
• How many ingredients are in each fuel
• Stimulants used (caffeine, ginger, etc)
• Ingredients composition (wholefoods, processed, processed and wholefoods mixed)
• and over 40+ more data points per food item

You are only shown a handful of data points/columns when you load the page but you can add and remove extra data using the select box above the table.

Lets take a look at some of the answers you get from some specific queries:

Carbs Per 100g

Here i have filtered to show just energy gels and then sorted the table by Carbs Per 100g: https://findtrail.co/food/category/energy-gels?fields_on_off_hidden_submitted=1&search=&order=field_food_carbs_per_100g&sort=desc

You get a range of 88g of carbs per 100g at the top all the way down to as low as 23g/100g.

Interesting to see a pure maple syrup gel at the top of this list (i've used pure maple syrup for years in races and this is one of the reasons why, its full of carbs).

Cheapest Energy Gel Per Hour of Running (for 72g of carbs per hour)

Here I have filtered to show only energy gels and then sorted the column Price Per Hour and you are shown in ascending order the gels which are the cheapest to fuel on.

https://findtrail.co/food/category/energy-gels?fields_on_off_hidden_submitted=1&search=&order=field_food_price_per_hour&sort=asc

Carbs Fuel come out dramatically cheaper than any other fuel source, by quite a bit too at $2.84 per hour With the next few gels hitting over $4 per hour and everything else gets steadily more expensive.

Energy Gel With Least Servings for 6 Hours (for 72g of carbs per hour)

Here you can see all of the energy gels sorted by the least servings required of a gel for a 6 hour ultra marathon if you were to consume 72g of carbs per hour from the gel.

https://findtrail.co/food/category/energy-gels?fields_on_off_hidden_submitted=1&search=&order=field_food_servings_amount_6_hou&sort=asc

No surprise the Precision Fuel comes up top with its PF90 gel which is a stonking 153g of energy gel per serving. From this you can also see that this works out at $4.24 per hour.

No other gel comes close here with the 11th gel and beyond all having double the amount of gels that you would have to carry for that same 6 hours.

Energy Gels Without Maltodextrin

Thinking of giving maltodextrin a miss? Here i have filtered to show energy gels and without maltodextrin, it gives us 26 results.

https://findtrail.co/food/category/energy-gels/without-sugar/maltodextrin

These are just a couple of the potentially thousands of specific queries this web app can answer.

I'm trying to help out people find something they can afford, that tastes great, works for their stomachs and works for their energy needs and there are very few queries it can't answer.

Side by Side Comparison Comparison Tool

You can select up to any four fuel options to compare side by side, here i am comparing a Maurten, Precision Fuel, SiS and Gu energy gels https://findtrail.co/food/compare/vs/gu-orginal-lemon-sublime-energy-gel/vs/maurten-160-energy-gel/vs/precision-hydration-pf-30-energy-gel/vs/science-in-sport-beta-fuel-orange-energy-gel

I'll continue to develop the two food web apps daily with new foods being added every day and new features, the current feature list is massive but I just wanted to launch it as i believe it could already start helping.

User Experiences

If you have any experience of the fueling options already in the database it would mean so much if you could register, leave a review and select the "i use this", "bad stomach" and "happy stomach" bookmarks which can help other people trying to find new fueling sources!

If you have any questions or feature suggestions, i would love to hear them.

Me: 47 year old scrawny male, 60kg, FTP 260, 6 hrs / week training, living near Bellingham, WA.

TLDR: No racing experience but motivated. Stage race as freelancer next summer doable?

I've been a decades long "cat 6" racer. My "racing" palmers/experience is limited to: hammering sections of various gran fondos and huge group rec rides (then waiting for friends to catch back up), lots of downtown urban riding with traffic, occasionalgroup rides in the long long ago with town line and hill top sprints, a recent XC MTB race, and racing the Mt Baker Hill Climb each of the last 2 years. All this is a way of saying I'm comfortable riding in groups but haven't done so in a properly competitive setting - no bumping, fighting for positing, etc.

Two years ago I started unstructured training mostly around random Zwift workouts and chasing Strava PRs. My interest in racing has only gone up over time and I've decided to get more methodical and mindful about my training and goals. I've been consuming all the old Dylan Johnson Youtube training content and am educating myself on better use of my limited training time. I've linked my Strava to intervals.icu and am now actively trying to take rest days, be mindful of Zone 2 rides, and really hitting my interval days hard. (Still not on a proper training plan yet though).

With that background, I'm wondering if it's realistic for a racing newbie to target the Baker City Cycling Classic next year in June. My official goals for the race would be:

• Don't get hurt or hurt anyone else
• Don't get dropped every race and then have to do long solo efforts.
• Finish the overall with at least a few folks behind me in the standings in my category (4/5 or 40+ 4/5).

Things in my favor:

• I've done countless endurance rides farther and with more elevation gain than the road stages.
• The road courses seem to suit me - I'm fast uphill relative to my (historical) peers.
• I have 6 hrs / week to dedicate to training through the winter and can probably get spousal support to bump that up to 10 hrs / week in the Spring
• I already have a bike that should be race appropriate for this (2020 rim brake Trek Emonda Sl6). (Cat 3/4/5 time trial uses road bike, not TT bike)
• I can throw a little money at prep for this - like getting a coach.

Things working against me

• Never raced anything like this at all - in particular the crit
• I feel like I'm crazy slow on the flats. I'm really worried about getting dropped. (I definitely have room to improve with my aero position.)
• I'm new to the Bellingham area and not connected to the road scene here at all. This is amplified by me being an introvert and having quite a bit of imposter syndrome around my bike riding.
• I've read up on the race support logistics for this race but putting things in practice is a different matter. If I can convince a buddy to join me for support, is that enough?
• I don't even know what I'm not considering.

Am I overthinking this? Just do it? Totally crazy? Find a bike club and do group rides for a year first? Go do some smaller practice races next summer? Do I need way more training volume?

Any advice, thoughts, or feedback is welcome - especially from anyone that has ridden this race in the past.

Thanks in advance!

As the weather turns, I’ve officially set up the bike indoors for the winter season and did a tempo/ss workout yesterday. (FWIW, it was Herman on TR). I completed this at my normal cadence of 90-95.

My indoor setup has a powerful fan in front of me, a ceiling fan above me, and I can open a large window to let cool air in too. I was able to easily regulate my temperature, in fact almost too well as I was a bit chilly at the start and end.

My question is, does this have an effect on training stimulus and adaptation? My HR for the whole ride was Z1 (1/6) and Z2 (5/6) and never drifted close to Z3 due to the cooling measures. However, from a power standpoint this was a tempo + SS ride with half the workout in Z3+. I’m curious if this is a good thing — being able to ride at higher efforts from a watts standpoint while having a lower PE/HR — or if this could be suboptimal — i.e. not actually spending time at a tempo/Z3 HR leads to this being a “Z2” ride from an aerobic adaptation perspective.

Should I intentionally try to align my power and HR zones when training indoors by modifying my cooling system?

Assuming you've went to the gym 2-3 times a week during base season and you did a variety of exercises (squat, deadlift, etc) either with high rep low weight or low rep and high weight.

Once you've switched to the build and specialized phase, what would be the minimum required each week to keep those gain over time?

Ok so weight on outside pedal, hand pressure on inside drops. Look where you want to go, steer with your hips.

Where does your bike and body play into all this? Am I leaning the bike and keeping my body upright? Am I leaning my body and keeping the bike upright? Am I leaning both bike and body?

Thinking about going to California early February. Wanting to get some road cycling in. Will ideally be closer to Disney (going to tack that on at the end probably) but not adverse to traveling a bit. Max 3 days.

Elevation is no issue. My wife is a better climber than me so she'll wait at the top lol Distance 75-125 km 45-77 miles (or anything below as well).

Ride in the PNW so recommendations on clothing as well.

Any recommendations or top routes to do? Got Strava but I'm not paying for that premium lol Or at least not paying right now.

Thanks!!!

I’ve heard different things from people about how many grams of carbs per hour they consume during rides. I’m wondering what you all do. Race days/ long weekend rides / training? Thanks.

Last year, during this time of the year, I was the fittest I have ever been, after two blocks of 3w on/ 1w rest, and I could actually feel it. I was doing more 20/25W for the same heart rate and that felt good.

However, after a while, I did some trips, got sick and that fitness went a bit down. I kept training and putting, roughly, the same amount of hours, but I wasn't doing those Vo2 workouts consistently (4x5m, etc), and being honest, I never repeated that 8 week block.

I'm an average cyclist with, 67kg and 260/270W FTP, so I would say that peak fitness I experienced isn't the most I can achieve, considering I'm doing between 8 to 10h per week. So my question is, how much time do I have to be at that peak, so it becomes my "base general fitness"?

Right now, I can achieve an FTP of 260/270W just by riding +8h while doing some interval sessions, how much time do I need to be at a higher level, so that I can achieve an FTP of 280W/290W as easily as I can achieve 260W now?

Is this even a question that can be answered?

It appears that training peaks has acquired indieVelo.

While still free until March of 2025 it will now be bundled with trainingpeaks premium moving forward.

Thoughts? I've used indieVelo in the past and being free was a major perk, but nothing free lasts forever.

If you train and drink carbs like a MOFO, and have been avoiding the dentist, just go.

I hadn't been to the dentist for years and after some visible plaque build-up that was bothering me, I finally went. They got everything out, and it was a huge relief because I thought it would have been much worse. The dentists asked me about how I got to this state. I told them I train and race like a cyclist and drink +100g/hr and I do this ALL season.

The dentists were shocked, and also fascinated about the training and the carbs intake. I guess I was the first person they met with this type of lifestyle. They said I have extremely healthy teeth and I'm lucky it was just plaque build up, especially considering I haven't been to the dentist in +5 years. I'm now kinda famous at the clinic and they still remember me and ask how my training's going a year after the fact.

I sometimes look at people's teeth at races and some of y'all definitely need to go too. I know you're drinkin' dem carbs and being a good cyclist.

In before Cervelo jokes. Srsly just go if you're past your checkup bruh.

I've been cycling for about 3 years on a road bike now, structured training for the last year. Before that I was into weight lifting, nothing super crazy but could do 150kg on squats and dead lifts 5x5. I wanted to add weights back into the mix and find that I'm getting some pretty intense pain in my lower back. Been at it for about 3 weeks now and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. I started slow with about 60kg 3x6 and and now up to 72kg for 2 sessions now. That's not even my body weight yet and man I woke up this morning barely walking... The Squat and Deadlift movement doesn't hurt but reaching for stuff does. Stretching seems to have helped a bit. Any tips to get over this hump? After years of lifting I feel the form is good, for sure no pain while doing the exercise. I'm not looking to get back to my former lifting self, just improve my on the bike performance. Should I drop the squats and dead lifts, maybe concentrate on single leg work for a bit? For othe context I'm 43 and ride between 8 to 12h a week.

I'm looking to start doing 5 hour rides once or twice a month. These will be probably solo and I am aiming to average around 33-35 km/h (20-22 mph) over rolling terrain - no power meter so this is the best indication of intensity I can give. The last time I did a 5hr 160km/100mile ride I ate 4 oatmeal bars and it wasn't enough as the last was seriously tough going. I've found that as I pick up my intensity and speed it is really hard to eat enough.

In simple terms, what should I eat to get the most out of these rides? I'm not exactly a pro looking to optimise performance, but I do want to make sure I'm giving my body what it demands. What do others consume for similar efforts?

For those of you with a true TT or Tri bike, do you have a different FTP on your TT bike than you do on your road bike? I know for a fact that some strong pro time trialists say that their power is lower on the TT bike and mine is too. But do you have a different formal FTP and train to that power when in a TT position? Or just try to suffer through an ftp that is a little too high in hopes that the muscles will eventually adapt? I ask because I want to prioritize TT training in the coming season, so I want to spend a fair amount of base miles on my TT bike this winter.

Hi!

Not competition related but might be the best sub for this kind of question

I started cycling 3 years ago with 2 others friends. We had a similar pace but because of injuries (tendinopathy on both knees, feeling better since 5 months) and two knee sprains (bad luck...), they are now faster than me. I can't even stay in the wheels (we all have similar bikes, carbon frames, carbon wheels, ultegra or sram equivalent so not bike related 😂)

We had an amateur race two weeks ago, 93km/1600+ and they were 30min faster than me (I did 3h40). I could have been maybe 10min faster in a better group but anyway they are still a lot faster than me.

Obviously, this situation must end!

Do you have training suggestions or program to optimize my progression? Or any literature to increase my knowledge?

I'm in south of Europe, weather is not that bad some winter so I can ride once a week outside during weekend and I have a direct drive home trainer

Any recommandation would be much appreciated!

Any (past) Kom Op Tegen Kanker 1000 km (international) riders here?

I’m participating in 2025, and am wondering how much pieces of outfit to take with me for these four days. Unless the organisation washes the outfits, I’m thinking of taking 4 full sets with me.

I'm making a comeback after being away from serious racing for well over a decade. When I raced last, about half the peloton raced with power, the other half didn't.

Now it seems pretty . . . necessary? De rigueur?

What I'm worried about is that it will be too much data for me and I'll feel burned out on it my first year back. The vast majority of my training (this has always been the case) is large volume zone 2 riding as it is--which with racing or one day training race/intervals I was able to make it to a Cat 2. I'm a little time crunched, but have now estimated I can get in at least 13 hours per week during the racing season.

I wondered what others thoughts were.

How'd your races go? Questions about your workouts or updates on your training plan? Successes, failures, or something new you learned? Got any video, photos, or stories to share? Tell us about it!

—

/r/Velo has a Discord! Check us out here: https://discord.gg/vEFRWrpbpN

What is /r/Velo?

• We are a community of competitively-minded amateur cyclists. Racing focused, but not a requirement. We are here because we are invested in the sport, and are welcoming to those who make the effort to be invested in the sport themselves.

What isn't /r/Velo?

• All simple or easily answered questions should be asked here in our General Discussion. We aren't a replacement for Google, and we have a carefully curated wiki that we recommend checking out first. https://www.reddit.com/r/Velo/wiki/index
• Just because we ride fancy bikes doesn't mean we know how to fix them. Please use /r/bikewrench for those needs, or comment here in our General Discussion.
• Pro cycling discussion is best shared with /r/Peloton. Some of us like pro cycling, but that's not our focus here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Velo/comments/1gb74fc/how_would_you_pace_a_100_mile_road_riderace/

Posted that a few days ago and got lots of helpful responses.

Completed the ride this weekend and had a blast. I went out with the goal of staying with the front group as long as I could. The front group started out with a brutal pace for about 30 miles. I remember looking down at the computer on one of the hills seeing 23 mph up the hill at 600 watts and just kept telling myself if you're hurting they're hurting too.

Eventually we were down to the top 15 or so riders out of 100+ that started and we slowed to a more comfortable cruising speed for a while.

There were some breakaways that I followed for a while in the second half. At about 92 miles in the really fast guys turned it loose and I finally got dropped. The heat had come up quite a bit on the day and I was cramping and almost out of water so I just slowed up and took it easy the last 5 or so miles. All in all a great time and set a PR for speed for every distance including the 100 mile at an average of about 23mph including brief stops.

Hi all,

Cat 3 road cyclist here, been racing crits and road races for ~2 years now but only in the past few months got more serious into polarized training. FTP ~310w, ~77kg so ~4w/kg.

I’m also a long-time runner, used to do races years ago but since then just enjoy long runs at moderate paces.

That said, right now is kind of my off-season/time to do lots of base miles (trying to peak around March-April), so I’ve been doing mostly Z2 with some 15sec-1 or 2min anaerobic efforts on every few days.

I know getting in lots of hours of Z2 is pretty important to build a solid base for the season, but my understanding (which I admit could be quite flawed) is that this is mostly for your aerobic base, and the tolerance for high intensity efforts builds later in the training block when you start doing more intervals.

That said, are running/swimming/other aerobic sports fair substitutes for Z2 days, sometimes?

I know just pure hours on the bike are of course more valuable, but I feel like if the primary goal of all the Z2 is a strong aerobic system, then doing Z2 in other aerobic sports sometimes should still be beneficial. Just curious what the general consensus on that is?

Thanks!

Hi all,

I currently riding 6 days per week following a lavished plan. Usually 1-2 interval sessions, one long ride, the rest zone 2.

I also currently lift at maintenance 1x per week (full body, compound exercises), on my first interval day of the week.

But now I'm wanting to up that to 2x lifting per week to make some progress.

My question is: for those of you following polarised training with 2 interval sessions per week and the rest easier, how do you manage? Do you count lifting as an intensity day and therefore drop one intensity day on the bike?

I've heard good reviews of bone conduction headphones by a couple of friends who cycle commute, and thinking of getting some myself. Does anyone have any experience using them on fast rides? How do they cope with wind noise when it gets to 40-50kph?

I'm specifically looking at the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2s if anyone has experience with them?

I'm a 62 yo that has been a recreational rider for 30 years, I've stepped up my riding performance the last 2 years with diet and weight training. I have always used 220 - my age as my Max HR. Until the last year or so it was very rare for me reach my max HR. Now I have to watch it if I go much over my max I am wiped out for 30 min or so. When on a climb or something if I start getting close I have to back off never had to deal with this before is this normal ?