Originally Posted by
GhostRider62
The best way to exercise is just to consistently do a lot of long rides of 1-3 hours at a moderate and enjoyable pace. About once a week or so, do some very hard efforts like hills or intervals. In a few years, the difference in fitness to a HIIT program will be huge. Also avoids the tedium of trying to adhere to artificially constructed training zones.
This seems to work for me, too, and is about what I do. I don’t have the willpower to do intentional HIIT on a bike, but for most of the last two years I rode only single speed, and I kinda still do, despite having installed rear clusters on both bikes. That forces a sort of existential need to work harder on hills and into headwinds.
So several days I will do relatively easy work in my normal SS gear on our MUPs that have mild features. Once or twice a week I do a hilly route that requires more watts on the climbs. And if I’m really feeling it, I’ll do an hour long tempo ride, which always feels like it lasts about a geologic age.
Otto