Jipee

Hello, My name is J.P. and I live in Huuntington Beach California. When I was younger (13) my father and I would do 20 miles in just over an hour. I was 90lbs at max and had refused to kick a ball my whole life. Cycling for me came as a hobby. This was brief, as I then used my bike for transportation to school, eventually getting the lock cut; loosing it. This caused me to postpone all efforts up until the last 3 months of my life.

Last year, surfing gave me back my energy and fitness that I had lost over 2 years. THis year bbodybuilding gave me back my muscle and more. Cycling is once again in my life and it's staying!

As someone who is young and growing, I want to make sure I push myself not only far, but correctly for greatness.
About me(body)

16 turning 17 in july
138 lbs
5'11

My treck today was 28 miles in 2 1/2 miles with avg 11 mph. Variables were excessive uphill way there.
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What I plan to achieve: to be able to compete and race. To do long distance/endurance.
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My questions are really just asking for advice! Tips and information. Any feedback is praised.

caloso

For now, I would just recommend riding more, without structure. What's a typical weekly mileage for you now?

gregf83 

There should be some clubs locally you can join. Find one with a developmental program for juniors.

Jipee

About 65-70 miles per week.

caloso

You would get a lot stronger just by increasing that mileage by 10% each week for the next month or so.

Jipee

yesterday: avg 11.3 dst 28m time: 2:25:47
Today(Same route except a little longer) avg 13.1 dst 31m time 2:22:33

I rationed 3 granola/peanutbutter bars for maximum and proper carb intake. This helped me stayed fueled better

Eyedrop

Buy yourself a power meter or heart rate monitor, find your "zones".

A good place to start is do mostly easy miles where you are not breathing hard or struggling, "zone 2". If your new to the bike, just concentrate on this for a month or 2 and just put in the miles. If your riding lots of hills, make sure you have easy gearing. Get a compact crankset and a 28T or 32T cassette. Sometimes its hard to hold yourself back. The heart rate monitor will guide you. You pretty much want to stay in the 120bpm to 140bpm range. Even for the pros, this is 70-80% of the riding they do. Mostly fairly easy.

Increase weekly mileage by 10% or so each week, until you hit week 4, take a week off but still remain active. Play basketball with friends, take dog on walks, go swimming, lift moderate weights, etc... Its important to take this rest week every 3 or 4 weeks. Then, start the cycle over where you left off.

You can make 1 or 2 rides a week hard efforts, but no more than that. I typically do something like:

Sunday - 2 hours Z2 easy
Monday - off
Tuesday - Z4, pretty hard for an hour
Wednesday - Z1 45min, super easy, not a workout, just "moving"
Thursday - Z3, moderate effort for an hour
Friday - Z2 1.5 hours easy
Saturday - 3 or 4 hours Z2 easy

Each week, I take it up a small notch until I hit that 4th week then take a little break.

Its also important to not stay with the exact same routine every week. I throw my body for a loop each week with a different type of interval, or the occasional 6 hour ride. Just like lifting weights, you want to confuse the body, and work on known weaknesses. Just keep in mind to never make a drastic change too soon. Stick to the basics the first month or 2, then mess around with some other stuff to see how your body responds.

Staying consistent is key. If you ever find yourself bored or fatigued, take it easy or spend a couple days off the bike. Fitness comes slowly but surely.

Jipee

Been a few weeks. But, finally saw this post. Thanks a bunch The plan I kinda work with is:
Saturday: Hard (30+miles) elevation
Sunday: 10 miles short sprint intervals
monday: easy
Tuesday: hard (30+miles)
Wednesday: off
Thursday: easy
Friday: Off

Got a lot to learn and will see how I can improve it. Thank you.

Eyedrop

Nice! Good to hear that your sticking with it.

I would say its possible that your doing too much intensity right now, especially for a beginner. You may feel good now, but it can be surprising how much fatigue can creep up on you.

I would switch up Tuesday to be an easy long day. I would also try to do the sprint intervals on Thursday, and make sunday another easy day. You want time to recover from each harder session.

Make sure 80% of your riding is truly easy miles, and spend as much time as you can on the bike doing long but easy days. There is no problem with an intense day or two per week. High intensity builds fitness quickly. But just know its very easy to overdo it. Do it too much, too long and you will notice your fitness actually decreases, injuries happen, burnout, etc... The problem that most people have is their easy days are not easy enough, and the hard days are not hard enough.... Its better to stay on the side of caution when it comes to training. Think about everything long term. Its much better to be healthy, consistent, and fit rather than super fit but burned out/injured. Getting faster on the bike is like a marathon, not a sprint.

Jipee

Just an update on my progress. Couple weeks ago I joined a cycling group, hopefully start racing in summer.
Did my first 70 mile ride. 4:45 hours.