How can I train with my husband???

[joannofsonoma]

My riding partner is usually my husband but we are at two different athletic levels. He is much more powerful then me and is carrying around a bit of extra weight while I am a light weight and tend to slow on hills but have no problems with steep or long climbs due to lower body weight.

My question is, how do other pairs ride together and each get a good work out when you are at different levels??? If DH leads I am like a squirrel just trying to keep him in site and not 1/4 mile ahead. When I lead he is just kinda peddlin like it is a Sunday slow ride..............

Any tips on training or riding together would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Jo Ann

[maillotpois]

"Train" separately. "Ride" together.

It's tough. DH and I have been back and forth with one of us being stronger over the years. when we started riding, I was significantly faster, for a few years. Now it's him for sure - on flats and hills. I can't keep up.

We're both pretty competitive. It's tough to be unequal and be competitive as we are. So what we do is basically do training rides separately (with training partners) and then "fun" rides together.

You could also do rides where it's a recovery ride for one person and a training ride for the other. I find it hard not to let the competitive spirit get the better of me in this sort of situation, though.

[Mighty Mo]

Hi, I sympathise.

Mr Mo is much faster, fitter and leaner than me. We've been riding a couple of times a week together. We usually do one long ride on the weekend, and he uses it as his recovery ride. We go at my pace which is really slow for him.

Once a week, we will ride about 15 miles together, which is enough for me, He will them go and do an additional 10 or 15 on his own, and usually incorporates some hills.

I ride on my own the rest of the week. I am starting to try to find a good training plan that will help me become stronger and faster. Once my MPH increases, I'm sure we will ride together much more frequently.

[Veronica]

My husband and I are fairly close in ability. He generally climbs faster than I do, so on hills we each do our own ride. He waits for me at the top. Every now and then it will be the other way around for us and I'll wait for him.

I have a lot more endurance so once we get above sixty miles or so I have a definite advantage.

V.

[F8th637]

My husband and I ride together even though we are at different athletic levels as well. We don't necessarily "train" together though. Generally, when we do ride together he is ahead of me and when I catch him at rest stops he's typically only been waiting for 4 minutes or so so he's not that far ahead. I do a good job of catching him on downhills as I am more aerodynamic than him on my road bike. I should mention he rides on a hybrid and I ride my heavy, lugged steel road bike. He totally kicks butt on that thing too.

I ride a lot more by myself but generally if we're riding together he rides ahead of me and we meet up when we meet up. I like it because it works for us and I'm not keeping him from getting his workout and we're still doing it together.

[Pedal Wench]

My BF and I live apart, so most of our rides together are while we're on vacation, not training. He's faster, so he'll pull if he wants a workout, or he hangs back if he wants me to set the pace. When we're on vacation, we use the camera a lot -- he hangs back and gets lots of action pictures of me, or he goes to the top of the climb, takes landscape shots, and then get shots of me summiting.

You can do things to even things out. Give the faster rider all the gear to carry -- pump, spares, food, etc. Give him a heavier bike -- he rides a mtb or hybrid while you're on a road bike. Have him do an hour of intervals and then come and ride with you.

[chutch]

My husband and I have been riding together for many years and rarely are we at the same fitness level. If we are training for an event, we work on skills together and focus on endurance.

One summer, I was more fit and could totally out-climb him We were training for a century and found that it worked out great- I'd end up dropping him on the climb, but he'd catch me on the downhill at which point I would latch onto his wheel and draft off him, once we hit the flat we traded pulls. Since we worked on this all summer, we were like a well-oiled machine and we both had our best times ever.

So, if possible, look at it as a team effort.

[parity]

If you want to ride together, I have found its best to have the slower rider setting the pace (on the flat or climbs). If the faster rider wants to pull, then it can also help the faster rider to wear a mirror to see if the slower rider is falling back.

One way of training together is to do circuits on the same course. So lets say you both want to do a 60 mile ride but you both want to do it at your own pace. So pick a route which is 20 miles let say and do 3 laps. Whoever finishes first, does the course in reverse until they meet up with the slower rider. Then you can finish together.

This also works for climbs as well. Instead of waiting at the top, the faster person goes back down and meets up with the slower rider. And then climbs back up and back down until the slower person is done. This way the faster person doesn't have to wait a long time at the top and can get more training in over the same period of time.

[LBTC]

My DH is 10-20% faster and stronger than I am on a good day, and I don't have as many good days as he does!

One thing that has worked for us is attending the weekly time trial event. We each do our all out effort for the 13km track and compare our experiences at the end. This racing has greatly helped us both in speed and power. It's very cool!

We also have each had to find other riding partners. I think it is very important for each rider to train with riders who are better (stronger, faster, more skilled), and riders who are about the same skill level and speed, and with riders who are slower or who are learning. If you're not training for something specific, I think it should be a pretty even split between the three types of rides (this is not based on any science or training knowledge, just personal experience / opinion). So, when DH and I ride together, I'm getting my faster rider experience and he's getting his slower rider experience. It works.

He does "vulture" (go on ahead, then double back), but rarely does he keep going after we ride together, or start sooner then come get me, but we're thinking about those options.

We act competetive with each other, and have high expectations of each other, so I'm really glad that we use heart rate based training. The system we use is that 80% of our riding should be below the lactic balance point, and only 20% should be above. When I ride with him, most of my ride is above, most of his ride is below. And the cool thing is, I can prove that I'm working harder than he is. This is made expecially easy since our LBP is the same BPM.

At the beginning of each ride, we usually try to discuss what the pace and type of ride it will be so we both can have realistic expectations. It seems to be working.

I'll send you lots of butterflies so your rides together are always a pleasure and always accomplish what you want them to!

Hugs, too,
~T~

[tulip]

Tandem!

[Mighty Mo]

Too funny Tulip! In my relationship, a Tandem would be the fastest way to divorce court!

[tulip]

Too funny Tulip! In my relationship, a Tandem would be the fastest way to divorce court!

mine, too, but it works for alot of people.

[salsabike]

mine, too, but it works for alot of people.

Us, for example. We got a tandem several years ago and have put about 5000 miles on it. We do our single bike rides separately, if you see what I mean...I like to ride my single alone; he rides alone or with groups. This works out really, really well for us. We have a blast on the tandem and never have to sort through the individual riding differences.

[Zen]

I thought it said 'how can I train my husband?" and I thought, 'you can't, men are untrainable'

[lauraelmore1033]

There's a mis-matched (apparently) couple who ride together on local training rides who even out the differences by having him ride on a single speed townie cruiser (while the rest of us poke along on our fancy little road bikes). He must be strong as an ox! Usually rides up in the front near the leader, and doesn't seem to be slowed in the slightest by his big ol balloon tires. Usually. I think he was actually hurting on the century ride this weekend, but for shorter distances, it is an effective means of "handicapping".