Road Bike training schedule??

Shantabulous

Shantabulous

Cathlete
So I have recently fallen in love with biking. I just purchased a Trek Lexa SLX this weekend and love, LOVE it. I really want to sign up for a bike race and wondered if any other biking enthusiasts out there know a good place to get a training schedule. Running a marathon used to be on my bucket list, but I hate running SOOOO much. Now I think I will replace that marathon with maybe a century ride.
 
welcome to cycling...i love it, too! what kind of race do you think you may be training for? honestly, road racing is pretty tough so a crit or a road race may not be the best place to start if you're still new to cycling. maybe start with a time trial (TT). then it's just you against the clock and you won't have to mess with racing tactics. if that sounds good to you there are a few things I can think of...the shorter the race, the longer the warmup. if you are doing a 10 mile TT, you should warm up for roughly one hour, for example. training for a road race is pretty specific, but there are probably some good training plans out there once you find out what you like.

a century would be a great goal. very similar to a marathon. a lot of the centuries will offer shorter distances so you can do a few of the shorter distances before you take the plunge & do a full 100. you may want to check on Bicycling magazine to see if they have some links. also, try looking up Chris Carmichael as well.

hope this helps! i love hearing that there are other cycling enthusiasts here!
 
Thanks, lainabaina! And I guess I should have clarified a bit. I don't actually want to race. I just want to do rides like a runner would do a 5k or a 10k or a marathon. Not sure what to call them but races.
 
My husband and I just did a metric century ride on our anniversary (july 14) in San Luis Obispo for ALS (Lou Gehrig's) Disease. late spring and summer and early fall is generally the season for century rides and they are all over here in California.

This was my first century ride of any kind. My husband is doing a regular century in Napa on Aug 19.

Generally, they are just rides and not races. They are really fun and have refueling stations every 20 mi or so.

It was great and my DH and I are doing another the beginning of Sept. called the "Tour de Fuzz" to benefit police chaplaincy programs in the area. (DH is a police chaplain).

Anyway, I found a great training schedule for the metric century that was only 8 weeks long. But I managed to lose the link. I will look for it and post here if I can find it.

The one thing that I found is that it was and is time consuming. That is the only drawback. The great thing was that it is a wonderful calorie burner...but then I get soooo hungry.

The schedule that I worked on was for 8 weeks, but since I had already been working out mostly with Cathe, I was able to start somewhere near the middle. They only had me riding 3x per week, which, believe it or not was a challenge time-wise because I work. It is soo much easier to just quickly pop in a dvd and work out at home!
 
Shatabolous,

I have trained to the Aids Life Cycle from San Francisco to LA in 7 days, 545 miles twice. I usually do spinning during the week 2-3 times per week and my long rides on the road bike on Saturday and Sunday.

You should try to find a group that will help you train for whatever goal you set for yourself.
I belong to a group called Shifting Gears in LA, they taught how to cycle safely, how to change a flat tire, use my gears properly on hills and how to get the most out of my bike.

Whey I started I did not know anything about road bikes, I only knew how to ride a beach bike on the bike path :)


Josie
 
Thanks, Tracy!! And you're right, it is time consuming, but so enjoyable. And my hubby and I just need to bite the bullet and sign up for a ride! It's a little intimidating. I'm such a novice to road biking, but have really fallen in love with it. I have an awesome bike that I need to learn how to take care of and most of all use because it cost way too much money to gather dust in the garage.

Josie-You're so right about needing to learn all the things you listed. It's hard for me to be part of a group because I have a 9 year old and 3-6 year olds and I work full time opposite of my husband, so when I'm not working 12 hour days, I'm at home with the kids. I get 2 days a week from 730-3pm to myself. That time goes sooo fast! Babysitters are an option; however, very expensive for 4 kiddos :( Maybe I can take a crash course.
 
Oh my God! You are a busy mom. You can check out youtube.com to learn how to change a flat and how to maintain your bike in a good condition.

Josie
 
Shantabulous said:
Thanks, lainabaina! And I guess I should have clarified a bit. I don't actually want to race. I just want to do rides like a runner would do a 5k or a 10k or a marathon. Not sure what to call them but races.
Click to expand...
hee hee, i was suspecting so, but since I race (mtn bike not my road bike) that's where my brain goes. a century and the like would just be called a ride. it's very addicting and i know you will have fun training. my BIL has a bike shop and is building me up a custom titanium frame road bike...cannot wait for that! he just finished building the wheels & they're super light. lately i have barely touched my road bike, been mostly mtn biking and have had several races & TTs in the past couple months. hopefully this bike will be done by the Fall so I can get out in the cooler weather with the leaves looking all beautiful. that is one thing i really love about riding...you see so much more of the countryside. enjoy!
 
something else to consider is to check with your LBS and see if they have any group rides that are beginner friendly. riding in a pack is a whole different thing and you need to learn to do this, especially if you want to do a century. some of those rides have well over 2000 riders, you can always spot the squirrly people.
you will want to make sure you are comfortable eating & drinking on the bike and that you take in enough kcals every hour you are riding. nutrition & hydration is very important.
also, you want to make sure you have a saddle bag and carry in it 2 tubes, a pump on your bike frame or CO2 cartidges & charger, and maybe a small tool kit. and...good thing if you are comfortable changing a tire on the side of the road. again, your LBS can show you how to do that or they may even offer informal classes on stuff like that.
 
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