How do you train?

[Webbo2]

The readership of this forum most likely have the following:-

1. An enjoyment of cycling and the associated day to day obsession with bikes.
2. If invited to join the club we would refuse.
3. The thought of ‘Training’ is the equivalent of going to the local hall for a men’s coffee morning for a chat. (Chapeau to you who do)
4. Many men of working age commute and see their weekly distances as ‘keeping fit’.
5. Should we enter an event then all that is needed is some extra miles to prepare. If you can cycle for 50 miles you can cycle for 100 miles - right.
6. That said - Brave souls will ‘Make a Plan’ and stick to it. Poring over the stats on Strava looking for whatever it is they seek. Other apps are available.


The nub of it may come down to personal pleasure. Some of my most enjoyable training has been conducted in the most appalling weather. Sometimes the pleasure comes at the end of a Sportive - no prizes or ceremony just the knowledge that I completed the course.

I saw the following low tech equipment which if used intelligently would be just as good as any app or other high tech approach

Which is bollocks. I started cycling over 45 years ago. I got in to racing 40 years ago and stopped twenty plus years ago. However I still train doing intervals a couple of times a week plus other sporting activities as well.
Some of you need to take a good look at yourselves.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

currently presented as AI and I sometimes use ChatGPT type products

The AI used in training products is machine learning and a million miles from Chat GPT which is a LLM. This is the problem when AI covers such a wide range of things, as does intelligence.

 

[D_97_goodtimes]

Which is bollocks. I started cycling over 45 years ago. I got in to racing 40 years ago and stopped twenty plus years ago. However I still train doing intervals a couple of times a week plus other sporting activities as well.
Some of you need to take a good look at yourselves.

Absolutely agree - completely

 

[All uphill]

I increasingly see riding my bike as something I do to improve my mental and physical health.

To that end I try to get out on the bike each day, often for just two or three miles, sometimes further, up to 35 miles.

I've found some of the challenges here on CC to be great in encouraging me to get out.

 

[bridgy]

The readership of this forum most likely have the following:-

1. An enjoyment of cycling and the associated day to day obsession with bikes.
2. If invited to join the club we would refuse.
3. The thought of ‘Training’ is the equivalent of going to the local hall for a men’s coffee morning for a chat. (Chapeau to you who do)
4. Many men /women of working age commute and see their weekly distances as ‘keeping fit’. Many retired people use cycling as an excuse to get out of the house!
5. Should we enter an event then all that is needed is some extra miles to prepare. If you can cycle for 50 miles you can cycle for 100 miles - right.
6. That said - Brave souls will ‘Make a Plan’ and stick to it. Poring over the stats on Strava looking for whatever it is they seek. Other apps are available.


The nub of it may come down to personal pleasure. Some of my most enjoyable training has been conducted in the most appalling weather. Sometimes the pleasure comes at the end of a Sportive - no prizes or ceremony just the knowledge that I completed the course.

I saw the following low tech equipment which if used intelligently would be just as good as any app or other high tech approach

You do realise you're replying in the "Training" forum of this website, right?!

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

The latest incarnation of Trainer Road that they introduced last year would and would tweak your plan accordingly if it was an extra hard commute.

Thanks for the suggestion. :-)

It appears that I don’t have the necessary data to be able to use that site though. It seem to require power data either from an exercise machine or power meter.

Getting a power meter and an associated head unit is way more than I would be interested in spending especially as I don’t always commute on the same bike.

Looking at other sites they also seem to struggle with the fact that I also try and run two or three times a week. Not that much 2 five mile and one 10 mile run is a good week but that does add up into the general fatigue.

Other constraints such as there is no shower available at the end of the commute in don’t seem possible to enter.

Usually the commute is on either a 753 steel framed bike or a 16kg ebike, these are quite a different workload. Sadly the EAPC speed limit and knackered battery makes the e-bike pretty useless as a rest day riding an almost moped.

Bye

Ian

 

[HLaB]

Good morning,

Thanks for the suggestion. :-)

It appears that I don’t have the necessary data to be able to use that site though. It seem to require power data either from an exercise machine or power meter.

Getting a power meter and an associated head unit is way more than I would be interested in spending especially as I don’t always commute on the same bike.

Looking at other sites they also seem to struggle with the fact that I also try and run two or three times a week. Not that much 2 five mile and one 10 mile run is a good week but that does add up into the general fatigue.

Other constraints such as there is no shower available at the end of the commute in don’t seem possible to enter.

Usually the commute is on either a 753 steel framed bike or a 16kg ebike, these are quite a different workload. Sadly the EAPC speed limit and knackered battery makes the e-bike pretty useless as a rest day riding an almost moped.

Bye

Ian

You need a trainer, a HR monitor and computer to read them only. Whilst you'd get better power data with a power meter. They've got virtual power which estimates it off a 'dumb' trainer & hr. I used Virtual power for years without a power meter or a smart trainer and whilst it may have been slightly too high or too low compared to actual power, it was constant which is what you need for training.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Good morning,

Thanks for the suggestion. :-)

It appears that I don’t have the necessary data to be able to use that site though. It seem to require power data either from an exercise machine or power meter.

Getting a power meter and an associated head unit is way more than I would be interested in spending especially as I don’t always commute on the same bike.

Looking at other sites they also seem to struggle with the fact that I also try and run two or three times a week. Not that much 2 five mile and one 10 mile run is a good week but that does add up into the general fatigue.

Other constraints such as there is no shower available at the end of the commute in don’t seem possible to enter.

Usually the commute is on either a 753 steel framed bike or a 16kg ebike, these are quite a different workload. Sadly the EAPC speed limit and knackered battery makes the e-bike pretty useless as a rest day riding an almost moped.

Bye

Ian

You’ve got fixed hours and frequency, and certain other things you want to do other days. With those constraints the only variable you can change is to work harder during some of your commutes, fartlek style, to get fitter. The shower constraint sounds like you are not prepared to go the flannel route or get sweaty on the way to work. Thus you’ll need to work harder on your commute home to improve your fitness. If you’re not prepared to do that, then you’ll have to work harder on your runs. If you’re not prepared to do that, then your constraints mean you’ll remain at the fitness you have, assuming your commutes and running have been steady state for a while.

The basics (bottom 3 in pyramid) are well established , and will get you most of the way there within your constraints. When I had a regular cycle commute I got very fit off it, but I was prepared to put some harder efforts in during these commutes. Twice a day, 5 days a week commutes, plus a longer Saturday mtn bike ride got me 13 hours a week with a sprinkling of intensity. It was effective.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

@mingthemerciless Thanks for your thoughts.

I do have a cloth wipe down in the mornings, but I am keen to avoid being that selfish <word of your choice> that makes the communal areas unpleasent for others, the toilets are shared male/female and sweaty bib shorts hanging from the radiator would be not be appreciated. The floor is also not geared up to excessive splashing as it flows into the skirting boards making the rotten.

Because I have been doing this distance on and off since 2014, originally it was Worcester/Evesham and raced at schooboy level I have read a lot of training books and apart from some on body building every one tells me that I am doing the wrong thing but not having say Wednesday off. I agree and can feel it after say Christmas where there is a forced 2 week non commute.

I also have a three and half mile stretch that is well sheltered from the wind so can be used as a consistent flat out blast. But every hard stretch is followed in about 12 hours time by the next leg.

However my point was not meant to be the quirks of my routine, but how would the proposed guidance be able to cope with them?

I know that there are systems like WeatherNext that offer weather forcasts based not on attempting to model the atmopshere but by looking at history and an AI trainer could work the same way. However I would suspect that the AI description in many cases would just be marketing hype and even if were a genuinely sophisticated system would its database of serious cyclists traing to race with the appropriate rest periods be likley to prodcue the right results for me?

Then of course we get to winter, as well as the weeks of sub sero temperatures do you move away from the dark unlit low traffic country lanes where I stuggle in the dark worrying about hitting a rabbit or a large broken branch roads onto A roads? I have tried with lights upto 1,500 lumens but there are real dazzling any oncomming driver issues at this sort of level as well as my own eyes adjusting from 1,500 down to 200.

Trying to put this into an automated system just raises its complexity.

Bye

Ian

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Good morning,

@mingthemerciless Thanks for your thoughts.

I do have a cloth wipe down in the mornings, but I am keen to avoid being that selfish <word of your choice> that makes the communal areas unpleasent for others, the toilets are shared male/female and sweaty bib shorts hanging from the radiator would be not be appreciated. The floor is also not geared up to excessive splashing as it flows into the skirting boards making the rotten.

Because I have been doing this distance on and off since 2014, originally it was Worcester/Evesham and raced at schooboy level I have read a lot of training books and apart from some on body building every one tells me that I am doing the wrong thing but not having say Wednesday off. I agree and can feel it after say Christmas where there is a forced 2 week non commute.

I also have a three and half mile stretch that is well sheltered from the wind so can be used as a consistent flat out blast. But every hard stretch is followed in about 12 hours time by the next leg.

However my point was not meant to be the quirks of my routine, but how would the proposed guidance be able to cope with them?

I know that there are systems like WeatherNext that offer weather forcasts based not on attempting to model the atmopshere but by looking at history and an AI trainer could work the same way. However I would suspect that the AI description in many cases would just be marketing hype and even if were a genuinely sophisticated system would its database of serious cyclists traing to race with the appropriate rest periods be likley to prodcue the right results for me?

Then of course we get to winter, as well as the weeks of sub sero temperatures do you move away from the dark unlit low traffic country lanes where I stuggle in the dark worrying about hitting a rabbit or a large broken branch roads onto A roads? I have tried with lights upto 1,500 lumens but there are real dazzling any oncomming driver issues at this sort of level as well as my own eyes adjusting from 1,500 down to 200.

Trying to put this into an automated system just raises its complexity.

Bye

Ian

If you have an ever expanding list of constraints you end up with

”It is madness to expect a different outcome, if you keep repeating the same things”.

The guidance works very well with your commute if you are prepared to include some high intensity efforts. But if you are saying there’s no chance of doing that, then nothing is going to change, then see above.

 

[cristina_velovostra]

Hello! Thank you all for your replies!

I see there is a wide range of how people go about it, or avoid getting a training mindset.

I am personally not a fan of AI for this task. I prefer to use the simplest tool for the job, and I think an algorithm can suffice. I don't really see a need to employ large language models. I think this is similar to using a car when a bike can do. I have started looking into TrainerRoad to see their methodology and the way they deal with constraints.


Best,
Cristina

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

it was my birthday yesterday and it was quite surprising how heavy the collection of cakes for t’office were!

Another factor for consideration.

Best wishes to you and your project.

Bye

Ian

 

[cristina_velovostra]

Happy belated birthday 🎂

And thanks for the wishes!

 

[davidphilips]

Only just started back cycling a few weels ago after an injury in Janurary and perhaps not fit or fast enought to even keep up with a slow cycle group.
Have started mostly zone 2 along with cadence drills, think its important to have a goal in mind, to be consistent and to have a plan for every cycle.
Bearing in mind you are only as cycle fit as the cycle you have recovered from?
My goal is to be able to cycle routes up to 100 miles and not feel like its torture, plan is simple one hard cycle with short full out intervals once a week and every day i can get out zone 1 or 2 at most with high cadence drills.
Lots of online training and cycling trainers some great, best advice i can offer is have a bike that fits you and make adjustments to make sure it fits then get out and enjoy it, be safe and be happy.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Hello! I would like to develop a training plan generator as a side project while on my maternity leave. I have read some books (Joel Friel's Training Bible, The Time Crunched Cyclist, Tudor Bompa's Periodization research, etc) that made me think a lot of the advice there could be automated. I am curious to see if this would be of interest to cyclists. So my question is, how do you currently train? Is training and having a specific goal for improvement something important for you? If so, how do you go about it? Do you use a certain app, AI agent, or do you create a plan yourself, follow your mood? Thank you in advance for your opinion or experience!

Before you invest any effort into your training plan generator, do a thorough review of the market. Garmin Connect, Training Peaks, Teainerroad Sufferfest/Wahoo etc. What can your generator offer that a user can't get (often for free) from an established service?

In answer to your question, yes having a specific goal is sometimes important to me. I'm not very disciplined about training. I won't bore you with how I approach it. I use Garmin Connect to monitor things.