Training & Nutrition - Training a mixed group of riders

I'm working on putting together a training schedule for a group of recreational riders. They range from fairly fit (I average around 17 MPH on my 30 mile roundtrip commute to/from work) to decidedly overweight. Our goal is to be able to do Lukemia Society/MS/Heart Association type fundraising rides, as well as getting into better shape for some of the folks.

I'm looking for resources and ideas on developing a reasonable training program that will keep the interest level going, not torture folks needlessly, but still make some improvement.

Any thougths?

Make the strong riders pull and the weaker rides sit in. Since fund raising rides are never races (and are usually long), just make sure to build their endurance/base up. Start with 20mi and quickly move to 30 at a steady pace. Try getting them to ride 4-5x/wk at nearly any intensity, as most of the improvements come from constant riding.

I just came off of a 4 month training program with Team in Training. We started with a group of about ten people from varying physical atributes and fitness levels. We were training to finish 100 miles in Lake Tahoe. Over the four months our group formed into two sub groups of faster riders and slower riders. However, those of us that were faster or stronger riders, would wait at the hilltops or major intersections for our slower friends to catch up. We trained like this the whole period all the way up to the day of the ride. We rode the century at our own paces and waited at the finish until the very last team-mate made it through.

As far as fitness gains, everyone made vast improvements just by riding 4-5 times a week. There are lots of century preparation topics here on BF and the internet that outline training schedules for newbies. I think that you will find if your peeps put in the seat time, they will do great. I tried to stick to my coaches schedule as good as I could, doing easy rides on Monday, Pace ride on Teusday, Above pace on Wednesday, Hills on Thursday, Off on Friday, Longish easy ride on Saturday or Sunday and a Long harder ride on whichever weekend day our team got together. The Long weekend ride was supposed to be easy, but parts of it often turned into a hammerfest for us overzelous team-mates, and our coach was often telling us to back it down. Our long rides graduated something like 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 65, 75, 80, 100.

Hope this helps
Good Luck

I'm working on putting together a training schedule for a group of recreational riders. They range from fairly fit (I average around 17 MPH on my 30 mile roundtrip commute to/from work) to decidedly overweight. Our goal is to be able to do Lukemia Society/MS/Heart Association type fundraising rides, as well as getting into better shape for some of the folks.

I'm looking for resources and ideas on developing a reasonable training program that will keep the interest level going, not torture folks needlessly, but still make some improvement.

Any thougths?

I regularly ride in a group that has big differences in fitness level and capability. We ride together in a group on the flats at around 16 MPH, and then everybody rides at their own pace up the hills. The middle people finish a little faster, and the fast people finish, go down, and then ride up again.

Also, when we get to specific known points on the way back (say, with 4-5 miles left), the group breaks up. Fast guys will paceline at anywhere from 22 to 26/28, some will paceline at perhaps 20, and another bunch will just ride back at 15 or 16.

An average ride for us is about 25 miles and has anywhere from 1300 to around 2000 feet of climbing.