Intervals for Recreational Riders

[rpm]

I would like to get some advice on workable interval plans for recreational riders who don't want to spend all their time "training" but still want to get stronger. I want to be able to improve my ability to bridge gaps and sustain a slightly faster pace.

I'm looking at doing a couple of one-hour or so interval sessions a week, plus throwing a little training into my Saturday 3-5 hour fun ride.

Any suggestions on plans? I want to keep them simple.

[Steelhead]

Find a loop that you enjoy and can maintain a consistent pace, ie. no red lights, etc... then go hard for a period of time, (2 minutes 5 minutes, etc..) then a recovery period, then do it again. I used to ride this little circuit that was about a 2 mile loop, I would do one hard loop and then a rest loop, then repeat.

I remember back when I was a runner (before I was returned to sanity) we did these things runners called fartleks (?? who made that up??) where you pick an object in the distance, ran hard till you got there and then backed off till you were ready to do it again. Worked well when running with a group.

:)

[Ozz]

Find a hill....about 6% grade.....1/3 mile long......ride up (max effort).....recover for a minute or so...ride down.....repeat until you can't stand it anymore.

I have a hill like this just down the street from my home. I am toast in about 45 minutes....8 to 10 reps.

[jimcav]

.

I remember back when I was a runner (before I was returned to sanity) we did these things runners called fartleks (?? who made that up??) where you pick an object in the distance, ran hard till you got there and then backed off till you were ready to do it again. Worked well when running with a group.

:)

think northern europe like finnish, norweigen, etc, but google will tell you. it works, so does indian running, which is great on bikes with a paceline.
jim

[Lifelover]

Find a loop that you enjoy and can maintain a consistent pace, ie. no red lights, etc... then go hard for a period of time, (2 minutes 5 minutes, etc..) then a recovery period, then do it again.........

:)


For a less disciplined approach to intervals try just the opposite. Pick a route with a bunch of stops, turns or obstacles and go hard between each of them and rest to get through them safely.

If you want to have the time of your life while doing intervals, find some tight single track with fairly small elevation changes to bomb.

[93legendti]

I would like to get some advice on workable interval plans for recreational riders who don't want to spend all their time "training" but still want to get stronger. I want to be able to improve my ability to bridge gaps and sustain a slightly faster pace.

I'm looking at doing a couple of one-hour or so interval sessions a week, plus throwing a little training into my Saturday 3-5 hour fun ride.

Any suggestions on plans? I want to keep them simple.
See this thread:

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=41045

[thejen12]

When I was a beginning racer, our coach had us do intervals called fifteens-fifteens. He said he got them out of Greg Lemond's book. I described them to my PT and she said they are VO2 Max intervals.

They were very simple - 15 seconds as hard as you can go, followed by 15 seconds off - repeat 10 times. Then ride at a recovery pace for five minutes. Then do it again. Then do it again. (3 sets of 15/15s).

This is very simple to do on almost any type of ride, so it's easy for a recreational rider to work in. They do help you with things like bridging through a gap.

There is a variant I liked better where the intervals were something like 10 seconds on/10 seconds off, 20 seconds on/20 seconds off, 30 seconds on/30 seconds off, 20 seconds on/20 seconds off, 10 seconds on/10 seconds off, then recover for 5 minutes, but that one is really hard to keep track of the timing. With the 15/15s I just set a timer for 15 seconds.

Jenn

[rpm]

Thanks folks. Not to get all Joe Friel or anything, but I think I'll try doing different 3-week blocks of different kinds of intervals and see how it goes.

[paczki]

I love the programs and advice in here. Great book!

http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Cycling-Successful-Training-Racing/dp/0684822431