thecyclist

I live in norcal, should I start base now and finish around early-mid january, or wait another month and finish in feb?

roy5000x2

If you aren't riding base now, then what are you doing with your bike?

thecyclist

not riding it

Flatballer

If you're not riding, you're getting slower (unless you're recovering). It sounds like you're just taking time off, to take time off. That's not going to help you get any stronger.

Start it right now, do some periodization to make sure you don't burn out, and then start your short interval work about 4 weeks before your first race.

NomadVW 

Base is.

YMCA

ponder this statement and you'll reveal the truth
no joke

aperez8264

That really depends on when your season starts next year and what you want to accomplish. Take what I'm doing for example; currently I'm in the 'prep' phase of the year just riding around mainly for fun when I can, for as long as I feel. Base for me will start the first week in November where I will be doing dedicated microcycles and lifting in order to get stronger for next season.

Your best bet is to read Friel and go from there.

mollusk

This is what works for me. I am VERY old school. YMMV.

First of all, is your racing season over? If "NO", then come back when it is.

If "Yes", then start putting in a lot of saddle time. Build the amount up slowly over the weeks you have available. If you are bored you might throw in an occasional SST ride, but not more than one per week. If you find yourself legs so sore you NEED a rest day then you are riding too hard. If you find yourself bored that means you are getting close to riding enough. One part of this exercise that is not played up enough is the "becoming one with the bike" aspect.

About 4 weeks before your first important race you need to change this up and start doing intensity work. The form of that depends on what you need. It might be working on your "limiters" of it might be building up your strengths. This depends on you and what you need for that race.

mollusk

+1

grolby

Cripes, dude. Taking time off isn't going to harm your season if you train and periodize smart. Training just out of a fear of getting slower is no better than just sitting around.

And, not for nothing and don't take this the wrong way or anything, but you were looking for training advice as a total n00b not 7 months ago. Where did all that authority and experience come from all of a sudden? We've got no knowledge whatsoever of the OP's season goals, so how is it possible to be helpful without finding this out.

Maybe I'm just defensive because I'm not riding right now, but I think that everything's going to work out just fine.

So, OP: when do you plan to start racing? When are your biggest goals for next season?

Flatballer

He said he's currently not riding his bike. He asked if he should wait another month to start riding it. A month is a long time to not ride, on purpose. And it seems like he probably hasn't been on the bike recently either, so it's probably over a month of not riding. There's only 12 months in the year, I can't imagine that taking 1 of them completely off can be good for your training.

I learn fast. I never said I had experience or authority, but I do have knowledge gleaned from others. I didn't learn this stuff myself, I learned it from other people who did.

ericm979

I take a month or so off before I start training. I just don't take it completely off the bike. I do take time off from training though- only fun rides, and if I don't feel like going for a ride, I don't. It usually takes about a month before I am looking forward to training. Then I start base.

I think that taking a break is important if you want to still be enjoying riding a few years in the future. I've trained hard through the fall and winter when other riders were taking time off, only to hate my bike in May and quit riding completely.

This is one of those things that a lot of people have to learn for themselves. I didn't listen to this kind of advice when I was 31, which is why I quit and didn't start again till I was 40.

Edit: to answer the OP's actual question, what you do is to look at the schedule, figure out what your A races will be, and then work backwards from there to figure out when the phases in your training change. This is what Friel's "Training Bible" book is good for. Next year's NCNCA schedule isn't set yet but races are usually at the same time each year.

Flatballer

Yeah, there's a big difference between "not training" and "not touching my bike for weeks on end".

timster

What kind of output is typical for base miles? As in what % of FTP should one aim for?

ericm979

See "Base Building for Cyclists" by Chappell.

There's a lot of theories about base but threre's two major camps- old school where you never went hard ever ("don't use the big ring for the first 1000 miles" is a prime example) and new school where you do some harder efforts in addition to traditional long endurance rides.

NomadVW 

As much, as hard, as possible.

The as hard is dependent on as much.

DrWJODonnell

All your base are belong to now.

spinwax

ZXiMan

I started transition and then base training after September 20th. I'll extend my base through January, ramp up in Febuary, preparation in March, ready to race April/May, with my first peak @ the end of May, first couple weeks of June. Then I'll reduce volume and intensity (get some good recovery) for 7-10 days, then repeat the process (ie: shortened schedule) for a second peak in September.

I like an extended base period. However, I don't subscribe to the LSD *only* type of rides during the base period. I also do some tempo and climbing during base.

umd

I'm JRA right now... only fun stuff, no "training". For some reason I still find some suffering "fun" so I'm still doing the lunchtime "hammerfest" ride. but mostly otherwise just riding to and from work at a "recovery" pace during the week and doing the regular group rides on the weekend, but being less active and trying to keep the effort steady.

esammuli

A good jumping off point would be to pinpoint your first A race, then count back ~2 weeks for a peak, 8 weeks to build, and 12 weeks of base. Of course everyone is different and ymmv.

TMonk

Do you actually ride with ranchos on the weekends during the off-season? Were not that slow; You could probably get a decent tempo workout in pulling the whole time .

Ive seen you out on the weekend a couple times but you always pull off super early cuz your just opening up for something on Sunday.

esammuli

You must have missed the weekend about a month ago where I came out on my TT bike and pulled for half the ride.

I actually don't do much in the way of group rides until sometime in January. The Ranchos Ride is never very good for sustained efforts, especially during the winter. They tend to hammer for 10-15 minutes then regroup. This time of year I'm looking for something more steady so I'm either riding solo or in small groups.

TMonk

True story regarding the inconsistency. One thing I don't like is that they never tend to ride super hard near the end of the ride, which is good training for racers.

Im a college boy so im only home riding with Ranchos ~10-20 weeks a year, depending on if im home for summer or not.

Sounds like a good time on the TT bike . Did you have a good time? Did anyone come out of your draft and attack you in small groups just for kicks? (prob not.)

Racer Ex 

I start around the 12th bar, right after Blackmore finishes his guitar solo.