*Cat 4 that has the time and drive to try to make Cat 3*

i'm looking to be at 'peak' performance for a race mid-end of april and will start road racing this season mid-march. i'm a 4 trying to upgrade to a 3 this year and here's what i have in mind for my prep to (hopefully) 'peak' once end of april and then be ready to rock again mid-to-end of may:

-trained and raced this last season and managed to not get dropped but had jacksh!t for the sprint in most races (road races and crits)
-raced cyclocross for the first time this year; upgraded to the B's after 4 races, and ended my season last week (did okay, not great, but had a blast!)
-i'm 27, have been riding for 2 years, racing for 1 and am 5'10" and 155pds

what i'm thinking:

ride for fun 2-3 times a week until Jan. 1, then start into "base miles" : 3-4 hour group rides saturday and sunday (some hammering-- 2-3 10min hard efforts over 1.5hrs, and then getting dropped from the weekend warriors and riding on my own for a while), 2hour rides tues and thurs, monday off, a short intense day weds, and an easy 1-2 hour spin on friday. 11-15 hrs/wk

then beginning of march start into more intensity: try to hang with the group rides on sat and sun for 3 hrs each day. rest monday, 1-1.5hr of efforts tues and thurs, 2-3 hrs easy weds, and day-off or easy spin friday. -continue with this as build-up to perform in april!

is this a ridiculous schedule? is this a great schedule? i have an HRM (powermeter is too expensive for me)

any feedback would be really appreaciated!

what are your weaknesses? you mention that you have a terrible sprint. that suggests that strength training may be something you need. are you doing any weight work, or is it all on the bike?

You're not going to 'train' to be a good sprinter by April. If your cat 4 races typically end in bunch sprints YOU are going to have to change that all on your own. If you are on a team, see if you all can work together to break the field up. If you are not on a team, make informal friends with other guys who aren't on a team either and work with them.

Long base miles has it's place, but to me it sounds like you're going to need a lot of long efforts near LT. Think time trialling.

Do group rides with better riders.

FYI - I'm in the same boat. No sprint.

yeah, i'd definetely count sprinting as my greatest weakness. - the only time i've had significant results was by placing myself really well in the last lap of crit and jumping a little sooner than everybody else: more of an attack than a sprint.

i tried strength training last year in the fall but found that i lost most of that strength when i switched into base miles in the winter. so my variation on that this year was to race cyclocross and work on power and efforts near LT by racing/training. now i'm wondering if i can maintain some of that fitness with 1 or 2 efforts a week split up by base miles, and then by the end of february, try to hand with the strong guys in the weekend rides.

cat4ever: why do you say i'm "not going to 'train' to be a good sprinter by april"? granted, it doesn't come naturally to me, but given 4 months, can't considerable improvements be made?

yeah, i'd definetely count sprinting as my greatest weakness. - the only time i've had significant results was by placing myself really well in the last lap of crit and jumping a little sooner than everybody else: more of an attack than a sprint.

i tried strength training last year in the fall but found that i lost most of that strength when i switched into base miles in the winter. so my variation on that this year was to race cyclocross and work on power and efforts near LT by racing/training. now i'm wondering if i can maintain some of that fitness with 1 or 2 efforts a week split up by base miles, and then by the end of february, try to hand with the strong guys in the weekend rides.

cat4ever: why do you say i'm "not going to 'train' to be a good sprinter by april"? granted, it doesn't come naturally to me, but given 4 months, can't considerable improvements be made?

i agree with cat4ever, on top of your regular strength training, focus on strategy. when you watch the pros the fastest, most powerful guy doesn't always win...now granted they do have teams and coaches etc but you can still use strategy to your advantage. maybe you could organize some group rides where you practice two or three man breakaways, taking turns pulling,..........knowing where to be and when to break away is just as inportant as keeping a race pace. when i used to race our coach used to always remind us to focus on more than just how fast you're going, but to pay attention to what the others are doing. he said this was the differnce between a good cyclist and someone who could just cycle fast.

by the way good luck with the racing! i'm in a bit of training mood myself to do a few next year after a long hiatus

it will be hard to make huge improvment to your sprint in 4 months if you're well trained at all right now.

Weight lifting and lots of speed drills on the bike are probably the best way to do it.