Preparing to ride again after a few years off - tips on a workout plan
- Thread starter Simplekatt
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Racing roadkill
Guru
Look at the British cycling website. www.Britishcycling.org.uk
There are lots of resources that have been put together by professionals. You should find something that ticks your boxes, for whatever it is that you want to achieve. In the meantime, just try and increase your time on the bike, and vary your routes to vary the effort levels.
There are lots of resources that have been put together by professionals. You should find something that ticks your boxes, for whatever it is that you want to achieve. In the meantime, just try and increase your time on the bike, and vary your routes to vary the effort levels.
CanucksTraveller
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
- Location
- Hertfordshire
^^ this, main thing is to just enjoy the ride and develop your cycling skills
DRM
Guru
- Location
- West Yorks
This is right, don’t over think it, just ride your bike, just go a little further each time, where in Leeds are you as some bits can be a bit hilly
Older then dirt
Regular
Oh I can relate to bike trying to kill me after 5 mile lol
Older then dirt
Regular
Lejog? What's that?.....I'm green as grass as only starting out lol
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Lands End to John O’ Groats
Older then dirt
Regular
Never heard of it, bet that's something to do adventure wise.
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
It’s just the classic ‘end to end‘ ride of the British mainland. The reasonably fit will do it over 7 days...or less. Quite an adventure for many!
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Just riding your bike will massively improve your fitness for now. When you fitness stops improving despite how much time you put in, then you can start looking at a training plan and FTP tests if you want to.
Older then dirt
Regular
Reasonably fit, well that sure ain't me lol, Betty my MTB is trying to kill me on a 5 mile round trip twice a week....but it is getting alot easier now. Respect to anyone who does that trip
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
Personally i wouldnt bother with cadence/speed sensors right off the bat. To me, those are unnecessary distractions and might affect your growth physically & mentally as you'll get stuck chasing numbers when really you should be enjoying the ride itself. You set yourself targets and get sad when you dont achieve them.
Forget the sensors. Just ride. you dont need to ride hard like an Olympic athlete - That comes later on when your fitness/strength & stamina improve.
You could even load up one of GCN's training videos for motivation on the trainer if cycling outdoors isnt possible due to lazyness or weather conditions.
Even if you dont. GCNs videos cover quite a range of topics within cycling so keeping their channel for reference might help if youre unsure about something
Forget the sensors. Just ride. you dont need to ride hard like an Olympic athlete - That comes later on when your fitness/strength & stamina improve.
You could even load up one of GCN's training videos for motivation on the trainer if cycling outdoors isnt possible due to lazyness or weather conditions.
Even if you dont. GCNs videos cover quite a range of topics within cycling so keeping their channel for reference might help if youre unsure about something
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
To be fair they don’t generally do it on MTBs! Keep going, it does get easier with practice :-)
LeetleGreyCells
Un rouleur infatigable
- Location
- Whitehaven Mansions
As has been mentioned above, to begin with simply ride your bike.
Before you begin any training plans, get to know your bike, practise handling techniques over a variety of surfaces and terrains (depending on the suitability of your bike for terrain types) and in a variety of situations. Ride until the bike and you are an extension of one another (sounds trite, even cliche, but still true).
Training plans both outdoor and indoor are great once you’ve improved your bike handling techniques. A training plan before learning and improving your bike handling skills is a little like learning to run before you can walk. My own opinion is that training plans are to improve on what you have already learnt. You need to learn basic bike skills first, even if you are coming back to cycling as you will need to fine tune and re-practise what you once knew. Correct technique for shifting, climbing, descending, cone of movement, balancing, etc. is more of a priority.
Have you tried using your bike for commuting? Whether to work or the shops, wherever. Regular and frequent shorter rides will improve your fitness much quicker than less frequent longer rides. Build up to the longer rides later. You don’t have to commute every day at first (as you’ll be absolutely knackered by half way through the week!), just one/two days a week at first then increasing frequency until you can commute every day. Take your time, no rush.
Most of all, have fun. If what you are doing isn’t fun then you are less likely to continue. Do what works for you.
Before you begin any training plans, get to know your bike, practise handling techniques over a variety of surfaces and terrains (depending on the suitability of your bike for terrain types) and in a variety of situations. Ride until the bike and you are an extension of one another (sounds trite, even cliche, but still true).
Training plans both outdoor and indoor are great once you’ve improved your bike handling techniques. A training plan before learning and improving your bike handling skills is a little like learning to run before you can walk. My own opinion is that training plans are to improve on what you have already learnt. You need to learn basic bike skills first, even if you are coming back to cycling as you will need to fine tune and re-practise what you once knew. Correct technique for shifting, climbing, descending, cone of movement, balancing, etc. is more of a priority.
Have you tried using your bike for commuting? Whether to work or the shops, wherever. Regular and frequent shorter rides will improve your fitness much quicker than less frequent longer rides. Build up to the longer rides later. You don’t have to commute every day at first (as you’ll be absolutely knackered by half way through the week!), just one/two days a week at first then increasing frequency until you can commute every day. Take your time, no rush.
Most of all, have fun. If what you are doing isn’t fun then you are less likely to continue. Do what works for you.
