slim_77

5-7 hrs are fine for a 5. But you don't want to be a 5--you want to be a 4. Cat 4s crits are 45 min-1 hr and road races typically 40-50 miles, so around 7-10 hrs. But you really don't want to be a 4, you want to be a 3. Cat 3 crits are typically 45min-75 min, road races 50-60 miles and therefore you need to train 8-12 hrs quality hours.

...but you really don't want to be a 3--you want to be a 2. Then cat 1 and then the master's pastures.

Welcome to racing!

**brian**

There's your plan. I'll add: work on your paceline/group riding skills as much as you can.

The cat 5 races I've done (4, at the end of this season) averaged 23-24 mph, and were 24-33 miles. I'd be lucky to average 22 mph riding solo on that course for that kind of distance - but I was fast enough to be active in the races & in the mix at the end.

mollusk

Is racing cross a possibility right now? If so, I'd do that. It will get you used to the protocols of racing, build your bike handling skills, get a good work out, and you will have a blast.

umd

This. It doesn't matter if you can average x, if you can't do y you will get dropped. Racing is a series of painful intervals strung together.

mollusk

This is not entirely true. If you can average on your own a greater speed than the whole pack working together, then you can win by going off the front by yourself. And if you can do that, you don't need to be on BF asking questions.

umd

Ah yes, but the number doesn't mean anything, it only matters that it is higher than everyone else's.

palesaint

Maybe I missed a reply, but I haven't seen anyone address the "easy spinning" part of his cycling.

When starting off, easy spinning is only reserved for when your legs are too tired to go hard. This can be a recovery day or after a set of intervals.

All other times, when you are on the bike, ride like you're chasing the pack. Make the effort hard enough that you are JUST able to hold that pace for the allotted time and don't back off. The first few months this will mostly just produce sore legs the next day. But you'll see rapid improvements that will help delay being spit out the back when you start your first race.

mattm

From Friel's "Cyclist's Training Bible":

Cat 5/Junior: 200-350 hours (annual)
Cat 4: 350-500
Cat 3: 500-700
Cat 1-2: 700-1,000
Pro 800-1,200

Fat Boy

This is a quick way to make the first plateau...one that's very tough to get away from. I agree that 'easy spinning' should be kept to a minimum, but If I were going to plan something from the start, I would take the first year and do the vast majority of riding at upper zone 2 HR. The 'hard' stuff would be SST work. All of it would be to train the bodies aerobic systems. The race speed comes from anaerobic work, but building the aerobic base to support the tough anaerobic work takes a long time.

NomadVW 

Ride as much and as often as you can. If you're tired, take a day off. Start over. Ride with strong group rides that you will get dropped from, and then ride as hard as you can to keep up as close as you can.

You will learn:
a. your limits/strengths
b. how to listen to your body, when tired, hungry, sore, and more
c. how to ride/race in a group
d. your "riding neighborhood" - this is good so when you want to do structured work later, roads/traffic/lights, etc.. don't become an excuse not to complete a workout.

Then come back next year and consider getting structure.

fordfasterr

THIS is a good article about base training.

Next, if you plan to actually do well or place in your first cat-5 crit then you will have to do more LT and v02 work before the first race.

At this point, 5-7 hours a week of training is more than enough for cat 5. Of course, this is a lot of training time, and you obviously can't spend them all doing LT or v02 work... it's just too much volume. However that time-frame is great for base work and lower-intensity endurance training (base).

Crit racing is all about LT power and interval recovery. If you actually want to do well or place then you'll want to start working on LT and V02 no less than 2 months before your first race.

5 hours of training a week (not counting the actual racing) is plenty of time to work on LT and v02 max. That's at least 3 hard days of training each week...

Suppose you follow this schedule:

Monday: LT work (1.5 h).
Tuesday LT/v02 work (2 h).
Wednesday: REST
Thursday: v02 work (1.5 h).
Friday: REST
Saturday: REST
Sunday: RACE DAY. (1.5 h, including warm-up).

You have a total of 6.5 hours of total weekly volume.
At this rate, you will need to take a recovery week every 4th week... so 3 weeks of the above, and 1 rest week... then repeat !


Good luck !!

JohnKScott

But true

purefreedom

well I bought a set of rollers for those bad weather days...but the real reason is for the handling!!

2005trek1200

2nd this...

fellow newbie to you...intervals, intervals, intervals, if you are feeling happy by the time you finish for training, you did something wrong. i am trying to teach myself to train hard and then those time when i used to slow up and let myself recover i force myself to do another sprint/high cadence move/etc like my life (and ability to hang in the pelaton) depended on it.

umd

I generally agree with all this, but there are a few guys who have been riding on our faster group rides who did well in their first races. One in particular started coming on our "hammerfest" ride a few months ago and was usually dropped pretty early but kept coming back and getting stronger. He still doesn't make it to the ends (there are three turnarounds), but he did his first cat 5 crit on Sunday and got 10th. I asked him about it and he said "it was easier than this ride". So yeah, it is possible to prepare somewhat BUT like you said, IF they are killer groups. I mean, this ride is practically a race, and the guys pushing the pace are 1s and 2s and a handful of ex-pros.

seanmdo

I'm married, have a full-time job and currently train about 15-16 hrs a week. That may go down slightly during the season, but its doable. Hopefully, you marry someone who is an understanding person. My wife doesn't LIKE my bike racing (b/c of the time commitment it requires) but she is willing to not complain (too much) b/c she knows I love doing it. Of course, sometimes I have to attend the odd family event or wedding when there is a big race (Like the State RR championships this year) but I'll do it next year and life will go on. It's all about trade off's. You should be able to train as much as you can without forgetting that you have a SO/family.

JohnKScott

Yeah, but I prefer to stay married

Hey different strokes. But I guarantee you that ain't flyin' in my house. My wife works full time as well and I try to help (at least a little) around the house. My wife needs some time to exercise and do her stuff too. Always school stuff going on with my daughter. When you add that stuff to 50 hours a week for work (conservative with commute), 7 hours a night of sleep (hopefully), fixing meals and eating them etc. there just ain't a whole lot of time left. If I left all of that stuff to my wife (I know some guys who do) I'd be a divorced, less than mediocre, bike racer (I know some of those too - though they are usually a lot less mediocre than me ).

All that said. I'm EXTREMELY lucky to get more than 8 hours a week in. Last week was a good week. I got almost 10.5 hours in with almost 9 of that on the bike. And that only because I worked a deal with my boss to let me take long lunches a couple times a week while the weather is nice because I need to burn some personal time off before year end or lose it. 6-8 hours is more the norm and about all our household can bear. More power (literally) to those who can find more hours for training. I'm sure I'll be trying to suck your wheels next summer .

seanmdo

I hear you... I don't have kids and my wife actually works more hours than I do (although her paycheck doesn't show it). Thus, I pretty much do all the cooking (which has the added benefit of me controlling the diet). I do most of my riding/training in the a.m. before work and we have the evenings together and the weekends (after about 11 am when I get back from long rides) so it works out. Obviously, if we had kids, something would have to change.... but until then....

purefreedom

anyone wanna comment on the rollers purchase? damn, these things are hard!! lol

fordfasterr

My comment: I have never used them, so I have no idea. lol

ZeCanon

Spend an hour with them and they will no longer be hard. You still have to pay attention, but once you get the hang of it its just like riding outside.

botto 

that's pushing it.

ZeCanon

I meant in terms of difficulty.

tc83

I don't think I raced a single Cat 5 race that was shorter than 45 minutes. Just saying, crits aren't the only game in town.

purefreedom

I guess I just have to find a way to get more saddle time....thats the bottom line...