Ride a Century—and Like It
Go Fast: “Many people just aim to finish,” Herrera says. “But if you include high-intensity workouts in your training, you’ll feel better when you get there.” For example: After a 15-to 30-minute warm-up, ride hard for three minutes, then recover for 90 seconds. Repeat the sequence four more times. Work up to five-minute efforts.
Practice With The Pack: “Riding in a group is a great way to learn bike-handling skills,” Herrera says. “And if you learn how to draft, it will pay huge dividends on event day.”
Hammer Your First Road Race
Train Hard: Consider rearranging the schedule to do two or three days in a row of hard training, then a day of recovery. For example: During a three-hour spin, ride 12 minutes at tempo pace, then three minutes all-out. Recover for 10 minutes and repeat the sequence.
Train Your Gut: Don’t experiment with new foods or drinks on race day. Instead, use hard training rides to figure out what fueling strategy works best for you—then stick to it.
Survive a Weeklong Tour
Ride Lots: “Training for multiday trips is about consistency,” Herrera says. Ride as often as possible, and if you can ride only for an hour one day, get out for that hour. But that doesn’t mean forgoing harder sessions. For example: During a two-hour ride, include 20 minutes at tempo pace, and three 10-minute efforts at threshold (just less than all-out) with 10 minutes of recovery between each.
But Not Too Much: Cycling should be fun. If you’re feeling drained or dreading the ride, take an extra rest day.
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