I remember doing the Green Mountain Stage Race for the first time. I think I had done one bike race before that. Nothing like starting with the hardest race in the North East! During the prologue we turned up the Sugarbush access road. I watched the pack ride away as my heart rate skyrocketed to 190 bpm. I didn’t know it could go that high. I reached the top of the climb absolutely crushed and dizzy. The second day I was dropped on a climb again. I made it to the finish and dropped out of the race.
I trained for that race by riding a lot with no real plan. I figured if I could go the distance, I would be fine. Obviously I did not know how to train. What was I doing wrong?
The answer is obvious to anyone who knows anything about competitive cycling. You have to train your body to handle repeated maximum efforts. At the time, I had know idea what a max effort was. All it took was a little race experience to reveal that.
Developing your endurance in the anaerobic zone, sometimes referred to as the “Red Zone” or “the match burning zone,” is critical to success as a bike racer in the North East. Typically the climbs are short and steep, lasting less than 5 minutes. This was very much the case in the Tour of the Battenkill this past weekend. Criteriums are also common in New England and require repeated anaerobic efforts. Developing this ability requires some pain tolerance and diligence.
I usually recommend establishing a solid base with 8-12 weeks of easy to moderate riding before beginning any anaerobic endurance work. If you are new to cycling, proceed carefully. These intervals are extremely taxing and can cause injury, over-training, and burnout. I typically take two approaches to anaerobic work: 1) interval training and 2) racing or race pace group rides.
Racing and race-pace group rides are my preferred method of training because the competitive nature of these rides cause me to ride much harder. I am always amazed at how much harder I will go in a break or on a climb when riding competitively than I will when training by myself. Nothing trains you for racing better than racing.
Most weeks, I still have to do an interval session or two. Typically workouts for me are a few sets of 5 x 1 minute, 5 x 3 minutes, or 5 x 5 minutes with equal rest. Obviously power is higher the shorter the duration. The shorter intervals I do on flat sections focusing on my sprint or breakaway abilities. The longer intervals I tend to do on short to moderate climbs. I will continue to do intervals until I see about a 10% drop in power from the second or third interval. Then it is time to stop.
These intervals hurt. They are not fun. But, they are essential if you want to improve your race results or your performance at the local hammerfest.
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