by Andrew G » Fri Apr 04, 2008 8:22 pm
[quote="Carole H"]Right so what I need to do is ride like a man possessed
Don't worry it's the same as a woman possessed, you just don't listen or follow directions.
As Orv said it will depend on what you are aiming for. 10s and 25s? Is there a particular target event, or a time you want to get to.
A few simple steps would be when you can make CRs to go with the group up from where you can ride with some comfort so that you push yourself. Let the group leader know you've stepped up before you set off and that you may need to sit in occaisionally so missing a turn, just call a double rotate when you get to the front. I found that I push myself much harder to stay with a group than when on my tod where it can be easier to give in when your legs start screaming at you.
On club 10s you could ask Jon if you can ride it as a 2-up and ask someone a bit quicker than you to ride with you. You could Jack n' Jill (or Jill n' Jill) it with them really pushing you to hold on, the carrot of a wheel right in front of you. Or you could ride as a true 2-up, rotating turns either after a certain distance on the front or at certain time intervals. This way you'll again be able to push yourself harder as you do your turn on the front and then get a slight recovery when on the wheel. Do push yourself though and make sure the other person is a reasonable amount quicker than you as they'll be able to moderate their pace to the required level better than if they are too close to their limit.
Another possibility is to find yourself a nice safe loop (quiet roads and simple left turns with no dodgy junctions) and do test rides or intervals on it. Make the loop a reasonable length, say 3-5 miles and ideally with a bit or a drag on it somewhere, and you can do a warm up lap then hammer it round as hard as you can, then recover for a lap (or two maybe at the start) spinning very low gears. You could use this for intervals, but also ride it fresh now and again so you can see how your improving based on the improvements in your time.
Make sure you factor in some proper rest as well though, I think conventional wisdom is a 3 weeks hard, 1 week easy cycle if you are start training hard.
Someone will probably tell you that I'm too old fashioned though and to do something else
. It depends how you want to train as well though as some exercises may be very effective, but if you hate doing them it might spoil your enjoyment of cycling and then may become counter-productive.