Bike training schedule to get someone from the couch to riding 100Km a day in 10 weeks.

Bike training schedule to get someone from the couch to riding 100Km a day in 10 weeks.

Before you go out for a ride tell someone where you are going and when you expect to be back.

Unless you are going to ride around and round the same block, your weekend rides will take you farther and farther from home. It's a good idea to learn some basic bike repair skills before you start, skills like fixing a flat, fixing a chain and adjusting a cable. Personally checking over and preparing your bike for the upcoming season should give you enough experience to handle most roadside emergencies.

Check your bike out. Make sure it's working well. Check the chain to see that its links all hinge properly. Give the wheels a spin and see that they rotate easily. Listen. No dragging brakes. No rattling bearings. Look. See that the wheels are straight and don't wobble. Check the shifters. Make sure that they work through their whole range. Spin the pedals. They should spin as easily as the wheels. Spin the crank, make sure that it operates smoothly, easily and makes no noises. Test the brakes. They should operate easily, grip well and release with the pads equally spaced on either side of the wheel/disc. Check the tires. Run your hand over them. Make sure the tread is good and sidewall isn't cracked. Feel for any lumps or bumps and make sure the tire is evenly seated on the rim. Pump the tires up hard. Use the maximum recommended pressure printed on the sidewall.

If there is a bike repair that you think you can't handle or that you are unsure of, take it in to a bike shop for repair. Don't take it to Canadian Tire or WalMart or places like that. The guys there probably have minimal training.

Road Rules:

While riding on the road you are covered by the Highways Traffic Act. That means that you must follow the rules set out for (slow moving) cars and trucks. Ride on the right and stick to the right-hand side of the lane or, preferably, to the shoulder.

You are entitled to use the car lane if you can keep up with traffic: Not all drivers know this so don't feel like you have to assert your rights if you are dealing with an ignorant driver. You won't win an argument with a car.

Don't ride on the left side of the road facing traffic. Some people feel more comfortable doing this because it's how they were taught to walk on roads and highways. Unfortunately, many times, drivers entering from a side street will look left for car traffic then turn right without checking to see if there is a cyclist barreling down the shoulder at 20 or 30 Km/Hr on the wrong side of the road. This almost always ends with the driver being late for his appointment and the cyclist going to the hospital.

Signal your turns and use a rear-view mirror of some sort. I have a helmet mounted one.

Be Seen!

Be sure your bike has reflectors. You need lights if you are riding at or after dusk. Not just a head light for you to see by, but a tail light or flasher as well.

Dress in bright colours. Reflectors on your helmet and pant-leg straps are a good idea too because you're not always close to your well-reflected bicycle. I wear a traffic vest. Some people think such things make you look dorky, but it's better to look dorky and be alive than it is to look cool in a casket. Besides, if you get hit by a car you probably won't look all that good in the casket anyway.

Be Heard!

Edmonton requires that you have a bell on your bike. That's fine if you're riding on the pathways and through the parks. In traffic the little ding-ding of a bicycle bell just isn't going to be heard. I have an Air Zound, it only weighs 4 or 5 ounces and is as loud as a car horn. You can get one at United Cycle for under $30. If you will be riding in traffic something like that is a good idea.
For this training routine you'll also need a speedometer/odometer. You can get a cheap one at Canadian Tire or some such place. You can get a nicer (more expensive) one at just about any bike shop.

Riding checklist:

Helmet

1st aid kit

Bicycle multi-tool

Pump and patch kit or spare tube

Water

Snack

Cell Phone

A little cash

ID

Training:
I'm a guy and guys like to measure. I have a cheap bike speedometer with an odometer and trip-meter. It cost about $20 at Canadian Tire. I've found it to be a great tool for training motivation and measuring progress.

I've divided the training schedule into 6 types of rides over 10 weeks to give you a bit of variety and to have you work on different aspects of your riding. Most will challenge you at some point in the training. Push and Sprint rides will build and test your legs, Steady and Hill rides will build your heart, lungs and endurance, the longer Weekend rides will test your resolve. Easy rides might seem difficult in the first few weeks but they will quickly become easy and, I hope, pleasurable.

The weekday training rides are to be done in a given time over no specific distance. The weekend rides are to be done over a given distance with no specific time. As the training goes on, the times and distances get longer. Good thing the Spring days get longer too.

There are a total of 40 rides in this program. I've given you days on which to ride. You don't have to stick to those days, but try to do all of the rides given for a week in that week.

Be aware of your body. Some muscle ache is normal during training. Learn what is normal and what is too much. Normal aches should lessen in a day (the recovery time is usually longer early in an exercise program; say two days) and recovery should get faster as you get passed the fifth week. Joint pain or muscle pain that doesn't go away are things that you should see a doctor about.

In the first 2 weeks you shouldn't feel like you are working too hard.

Ride around the neighbourhood. Try to keep moving but don't rush. This is just intended to get your body used to the repetitive movements of cycling. And to harden your bum a bit. Bicycles have been around for 150 years and no one has ever made a comfortable seat...there are only less-uncomfortable ones.

Pace/cadence - It's hard to say what will be a comfortable/sustainable speed for you. Everyone is different with different muscle types, physiologies and recovery times. The experts say that you should rotate the pedals slightly faster than your heart beats. If your heart beat is 60 BPM you should pedal about 70 RPM.

I find the expert's cadence to be a little high but the point is to keep the workload on any pedal stroke light. If you feel like you're working as hard as you would to climb stairs then you're working 'way too hard. By the end of this program you will be riding for 4 or 5 or 6 hours in a day. Nobody climbs stairs for that length of time. Your chest would explode.

In general, beginners use too high a gear and too high a speed when starting. Start in a low gear and ride on the flat. Gear up until you feel resistance on the pedals then go down one gear. This is a good starting point. As your strength and endurance build your starting gear will go up.

The Easy Ride - Just what it sounds like. This is a time to find out what your "normal" pace is. Take the bike out and ride at an easy, comfortable pace. There should be little effort on the flats. You should work a bit going up rises and into the wind. Try not to coast down hills or with the wind, keep your legs moving. Check your speed a few times during the ride to make sure it doesn't drop off too much. That can happen on an easy ride if you're looking around and enjoying yourself.

The Weekend ride - The weekend ride has no specific work-out component. It's just a ride for you to get out on the road and enjoy yourself. Consider the distance you're aiming for today and think about where you would like to go to make up that distance. It's good to have a goal and a reward in mind before you start out. A coffee shop, a store, a town, a place with a nice view, a creek where you can picnic or some place you've never been before. If you want to use the ride as a test to see how you're doing so far or if you want to incorporate some of the training techniques used on the week-night rides that's fine but I advise you to save any of the drills for the last quarter of the ride. The last quarter is going to be the hard part anyway. There's no sense in burning yourself out too early. If you're starting to feel tired by the halfway point the return trip will likely be painful.

Be sure to carry water and/or Gatorade. Take snacks and a phone (this is especially important as your rides get longer). Check the weather report and carry appropriate clothes.

Week 1: Weekday rides - 15 to 20 minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 16 Km ride No time Limit

Week 2: Weekday rides - 20 to 25 minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 24 Km ride No time Limit

The Push Ride - Ride easily for 8 to 10 minutes to warm up. Note your speed. Ride 2 Km/H faster for about 2 minutes followed by about 2 minutes of your easy pace. Next ride 4 Km/H faster for about 2 minutes followed by about 2 minutes of your easy pace. Continue the pattern, increasing the push speed by 2 Km/H each time until you can't hold the speed 90 seconds. The work is almost finished now. Take the rest of the ride at a leisurely pace except for 1 sprint about 10 minutes before you finish.

The Steady Ride - This is a good one for a secondary highway or country road. What is your normal/average riding speed? Take a short warm up ride then add 2 to 5 Km/H to your normal riding speed and try to hold exactly that speed for as long as possible. Hold your speed up hills, down hills and on the flat. Don't just coast down the hills, gear up if you have to and keep your legs moving with slight pressure on the pedals but don't push or speed up more than the slope dictates. If you reach the point where you can't hold your chosen pace any longer, relax and finish the ride at an easy pace. At the end of the ride you should feel like you've done a long isometric squat. If you reach your time limit before you run out of energy then you should increase your normal/average riding speed.

Week 3: Weekday rides - 20 to 30 minutes

Day 1 - Push Ride

Day 3 - Steady Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 30 Km ride No time Limit

Week 4: Weekday rides - 25 to 35 minutes

Day 1 - Steady Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Push Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 40 Km ride No time Limit

The Sprint Ride - Ride easily for 8 to 10 minutes to warm up then do a sprint. Pick a spot (a tree, a rock, a clump of dirt, a cross road, a sign - not a STOP sign - or any other thing that you can fix your eye on) about 150 to 300 or 400 yards ahead. Race to that spot as hard as you can. Resume your easy pace for 8 to 10 minutes and keep repeating the pattern. It helps to do your sprints in different conditions, uphill, downhill, with and against the wind. An alternate to picking a spot to race to is to pick a time of 30, 60 or 75 seconds and go as hard as you can for that long. Finish the session with an easy pace to cool down.

The Hill Ride - If you can find a section of road with some rolling hills that would be great. Longer hills are better than steeper hills but a steep hill isn't bad either. If all you have nearby is one hill then this is going to be only slightly more interesting than riding a stationary bike.

Basically you're going to try to maintain your normal cadence (foot speed) while climbing a hill. It's your foot speed that you're trying to maintain, not your road speed. Gear down for the climb as soon as you feel your foot speed start to decrease. Waiting too long to gear down can cause problems. Hill climbing can be as much an exercise of balance as of strength. To maintain your cadence, gear down as much as you need to. Your speed will drop and it may become hard to hold a straight line. Work on it.

To change things up, try standing on the pedals to do your climb. I find that I use a higher gear standing than sitting. I have a decreased cadence but the same climbing road speed. Standing on the pedals works a different set of muscles and you can burn yourself out quickly if you're not used to it. If that is the case with you (as it surely was with me) then try incorporating some stand-up pedalling into your other rides. Add a little at a time.

When you reach the top of the hill don't rest. If you rest you'll cool off too much and chill on the way down. Take your rest as you coast down the hill. Enjoy the "Whoo hoo" moment. Now it's time to climb the next hill and the next (or the same one again and again if you've only got one).

Week 5: Weekday rides - 30 to 45 minutes

Day 1 - Sprint Ride

Day 3 - Hill Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 60 Km ride No time Limit

Week 6: Weekday rides - 30 to 45 minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Steady Ride

Day 4 - Sprint Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 50 Km ride No time Limit

Week 7: Weekday rides - 30 to 45 minutes

Day 1 - Push Ride

Day 3 - Easy Ride

Day 4 - Steady Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 65 Km ride No time Limit

Week 8: Weekday rides - 40 to 60minutes

Day 1 - Hill Ride

Day 3 - Push Ride

Day 4 - Sprint Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 85 Km ride No time Limit

Week 9: Weekday rides - 40 to 60minutes

Day 1 - Easy Ride

Day 3 - Sprint Ride

Day 4 - Steady Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 75 Km ride No time Limit

Week 10: Weekday rides - 45 to 60minutes

Day 1 - Push Ride

Day 3 - Sprint Ride

Day 4 - Easy Ride

Day 6 - Weekend ride - 100 Km ride No time Limit

A word on snacks:

Snacks should be high energy and easily digestible. I like fruit and have been known to eat quite a lot of chocolate on longer rides. It's better to eat small amounts frequently rather than a big meal half way through the ride. I know some folks who attach a small bag of gummy bears to their handle bars and pop one every 10 or 20 minutes. I can't do that but I do make a point of stopping at semi-regular intervals (16 Km, 20 Km, hourly, whatever) getting off the bike, doing a quick bend & stretch and having a small snack and a drink of water.

A word on hydration:

Proper hydration is not a matter of how much you take in, it's a matter of how much you put out. While riding you will be sweating and you will be metabolising sugar. Both of these things require water. You need water to help you turn sugar into energy and to take away waste form that process. The way you get rid of the poisons produced by metabolising is by peeing. If you go on a ride of more than 2 hours and haven't had to take a pee break you're not drinking enough.

I carry 2 water bottles. One with water and one with half-strength Gatorade. Gatorade has sugar and salts (like Pedialite or Oral Rehydration Therapy mixtures), the combination speeds the take-up of water, I just don't like Gatorade full strength.

I use water bottles but some folks prefer a Camelback. Get used to drinking while you ride. Sip, sip, sip while you're riding is better than chugging at rest breaks.

Eating for a long ride:

Snacks are good for giving you quick energy if you start to flag while riding but in endurance sports your staying power comes mostly from the carbohydrates you ate the night before. For your evening meal the night before a weekend ride have a good feed of carbs - potatoes, pasta, rice, plantain, barley, whatever - it will help you go longer and maintain better energy between snacks.

While training it won't hurt to take in a bit more protein than normal. You don't have to go crazy with special training concoctions from the GNC store. An extra egg or a couple of bites of meat or quinoa on training days is probably enough.

Training is hungry work. After some rides you are going to feel like you're starving to death. It's okay to eat to recharge your batteries but resist the temptation to over-eat. You will need some extra food because you are expending more energy but it's common to get the urge to pig out, particularly in the first few weeks. To keep from going over board, weigh yourself before the program begins and a couple of times a week during. Don't worry if you gain a couple of pounds at the start of the program, that's common. Just make sure that the trend doesn't continue. Your weight should stabilize after a few weeks and then come back down to normal by the last couple of weeks of the program. If your weight continues to go up then you'll have to start being serious about tracking what you eat, denying yourself the "little extras" and get used to being hungry. That might sound a bit harsh but it's harsher to haul 20 extra pounds a hundred kilometres a day.

A word about Wind:

Wind is the enemy and it's everywhere on the prairies. Bucking a headwind can be the most spiritually draining thing in cycling. There are really only two things that you can do to save your sanity. First, you can think of wind as an invisible hill and gear down to maintain your cadence. Forget about trying to maintain your road speed, after all, you're climbing a hill. Second, get in with a group of riders and keep pace with them. At least it will seem like you're not doing so bad if you're keeping up with the crowd.

Riding philosophy/tactics:

Every bit of energy that drives the bike forward comes from you personally. Conserve all of the energy you can during a lengthy ride.

On a big ride event like MS 150 or Ride to Conquer Cancer or Tour D'Alberta ordinary people tend to start out too fast. On the first day resist the temptation to take off after the pack. This is hard to do and most people fall prey to the temptation at one time or another. You've ridden 75, 85 and 100 K's in a day and you know the pace that will allow you to do that. Check you speedometer every couple of minutes for the first hour. If you find yourself going too fast slow down, no matter how wrong it feels. A lot of the fast starters will burn themselves out in an hour or two, once you start passing them you will feel better about your steady pace.

On a group ride, try to find a person (or group) that rides at the same pace as you. Riding in groups is easier than riding solo. It's easier to be in second place than in first. In a large group try to be in the front third of the pack but not right out front. Let the people in front of you push the wind. The energy required to move forward goes up with the square of the speed so going 10% faster (increasing from 20 KpH to 22 KpH) takes 21% more energy. Going 20% faster (increasing from 20 KpH to 24 KpH) takes 44% more energy. You can reduce the energy you put out by riding with a group that is dragging the air along with them.

Be ready to use your brakes at any time but only use them if you have to. If you're riding in hilly terrain carry as much speed as you can from the down side of one hill to the up slope of the next. There's not much sense in applying the brakes when going down a hill and then having to climb all the way up the next hill if you could have coasted half way up using the speed you just threw away. But beware if riding in a group. Not everyone will share this same philosophy. Watch for someone in front of you hitting the brakes unexpectedly.

Last Word:

Remember to have fun. Feel the wind on your face, the power in your body and the freedom of the road.

And watch out for the crazy people.

If you have questions or things that you think should be changed in the training schedule, do let me know. You can comment or e-mail.

Brent