Hills,speed, or distance?

[bike4fun]

Hi all!
I would like your opinion about which is more important: hills, speed, or distance. I am currently riding about 20 miles a day/four times a week. I would like to improve my biking and endurance overall.

I ride ~20 miles at 14-15mph, and that gives me a good workout. (Hills KILL me!) So, any suggestions on what area I should focus on?

Thanks for your input and opinions!

[Nanci]

Hi,

I don't know much about bike training, but I do know a lot about training for long distance running. So, transferring that to biking, here's what I would do.

Do one long ride per week, say Saturday, increasing your mileage by about 10-20 miles each week. I was surprised to see that I could easily do 20 more miles than the last week (and feel better!) when I started this. My first ride was 40 miles, then the next weekend I planned 50, but did 60, then the next weekend I planned 70, but did 80, then the next weekend, yesterday, I planned 90, because the trail is only 46 miles and I wanted to save doing the whole thing for next weekend when New Bike gets here, but I couldn't resist and did the whole 92 miles.

The next day, ride a short, easy recovery ride of half the previous day's distance, or less, but still with a weekend total at least ten miles greater than the previous weekend.

Rest on Monday.

Speed workout on Tuesday- concentrate on riding at a faster pace, and do some sprints, and do more sprinting out of the saddle. You could get by with a shorter distance than 20, say 10-15 miles. One thing that's fun for running, that may transfer to biking, is called "fartleks." You find an object in the distance, and sprint to it, then recover, then repeat.

Normal 20 mile easy ride on Wednesday.

Hill workout on Thursday. Either find a hilly route, (starting with gradual rolling hills) or if you don't have that available, then do repeats on the same hill. I've read, here, that most people agree that the way to get up a nemesis hill is to be rested before you get to it, then ride as far as possible, then stop, rest, and continue riding. Don't walk the rest of the way. But, again transferring this to running, what has worked for me in the past, both running and biking, is to have a landmark on the hill, and every time I run/ride it, make myself go further than the last time.

Rest Friday.

If that is too strenous for you, do two easy rides during the week, and alternate weeks for hills and speed workouts. If increasing your long ride by 10 miles per week is too much, then only go five more.

Once you are riding more than an hour, you probably need to think about some sort of energy replacement, such as a gel and water, or a sports drink. For me, gels are easier to regulate since they are a measured amount. Then you can drink as much water as you want. A typical amount of calories is one 80 calorie gel every 20 minutes. This is nowhere near what you are burning, but even the best athletes can only process 350-400 calories per hour. If you take in more than your body can put through, your stomach can't handle it, and shuts down, and you puke. There are a million kinds of gels out there- just because you don't like one doesn't mean you can't find one you like. And then there are Sharkies energy chews, and the new Jelly Bellys, and now Power Bar is making a chewy gel sort of thing. And then there are Power Bars and Cliff Bars and Luna Bars and Mojo Bars if you want something more substantial than gel. The point is, you need to replace your calories as you use them if you don't want to run out of energy and bonk, which is a very horrible feeling, especially if you have a long ride home.

And then when you are done riding, it's pretty important in terms of recovery to have something containing protein in the first 30 minutes after riding. Your muscle cells will use the amino acids in the protein to rebuild themselves, and the optimal time for this is within the first 30 minutes after you stop exercising. You will also have less muscle soreness, and recover faster. I drink a recovery drink called Endurox R4, but there are a bunch of other ones out there. I listened to a Podcast yesterday about protein, and that guy recommended chocolate milk as the perfect recovery drink. He said chocolate added carbs, and there was the right amount of protein for muscle recovery. I've never tried this, but it sounds good!

Something else that helps is to have a goal. Is there Century race coming up this fall near you? They almost always have shorter distance options such as 25 miles, 37 miles, 50 miles, 70 miles, whatever fits with their course and rest stops.

Good luck!

Nanci

[gretassister]

Endurance is about distance, not speed. Hills help. Just my humble opinion.

[drplasma64]

I think what is most important either strength, speed or endurance depends entirely what your goals are, and what your reason is for biking. I don't think that one is necessary more important than the others.

[KSH]

I think what is most important either strength, speed or endurance depends entirely what your goals are, and what your reason is for biking. I don't think that one is necessary more important than the others.

Perfectly put.

What are your goals? What do you want to do be able to do?

Figure that out and go from there.

For me, it's all about what is fun and challenging. I was training for sprint tri's, so I should have focused on riding a fast 10-15 miles, and then running.

That wasn't fun for me... so I ride around 100 miles a week.

Now, I have a 65 mile rally coming up soon, so I am focusing on distance, speed and endurance. As long as I have fun doing it!

[SadieKate]

I think what is most important either strength, speed or endurance depends entirely what your goals are, and what your reason is for biking. I don't think that one is necessary more important than the others.

I agree with "perfectly put."

For instance, if I need to ride a long flat century route I concentrate on training my butt for sitting and my legs for endurance. If I've got hills to ride, I go ride hills for power and strength. I'm finding that mixing up the types, lengths and intensity is critical. And, if you want to mtbike, you have to get out on the dirt. You have to train for specific goals.

[bcipam]

Since it kills you I would do hills. Lots and lots of hills. Attack your weakness and make it a strength. Plus you can get in a shorter workout if you do hills it expends more effort.

[Geonz]

Yea, whichever one you need to conquer - that's the most important.

Doing hills will help all of 'em, though. Or, go out into the wind...