Hi!

It is not easy to find any cycling programs free on the internet but finaly i found one that looks okay: https://www.training4cyclists.com/wintertraining.pdf



i'm 19 years old and fairly new to cycling (app. training 12 h week)



What do you think of the program? THANKS

Looks good to me for what it is, which is a speed/power increasing program suitable for experienced cyclists who are training to race - in my opinion. For a new rider, I'd like to see a program that worked more on the fundamentals of pedaling and more varying states of intensity. For winter, most folks work on the fundamentals and on endurance miles. I don't really start interval training until about February, though I always get some pretty good informal intervals on my weekly group ride. If you keep up with this program for more than 12 weeks, I think you may burn out. 12 weeks from now is January. Is there a reason that you want to be at peak fitness in January? Because you can't maintain peak fitness. Fitness should usually be going either up or down. OTOH if you ski, you'd be killer on the bumps with this program. Do this and then take a couple months off to ski and then repeat for the summer cycling season.

When I was in school, I just rode my bike as much as I could get time for, and mostly rode in the hills. Hills are automatic interval training. As a young person, I enjoyed the unstructured nature of just riding my bike and seeing what was around me. I got plenty strong.

would something like this be better:


Mon: 1 hr recovery
Tue: 2 hr zone 2 - incl 2x20 min zone 4
Wed: 1,5 hr VO2 intervals
Thur: 2,5 hr zone 2 - incl 2x20 zone 4
Fri: off
Sat: 3,5-4,5 hr zone 2
Sun: 3,5-4,5 hr zone 2

I can't really can't speak to any exact thing without knowing your goals/schedule and current/past training volume and intensity over say the previous year.

Get a copy of Friel's training bible and use it to plan your season.

i have only been training for about 5 month, but im very comitted and ready to spend up to 15 hrs/week. My fitness is pretty good from other sports and at this point i have no problem with a 12 hrs training week or doing a 90 miler. That being said i have mostly been riding L2-L3 up untill now.

Well, that's half of it. So what's your goal and schedule for achieving that goal? You want to win the blank-blank race next June or what? You have a schedule of A and B races you want to be in and have your license? Or you just want to hang with your friends on the weekly hammerfest?

Im from Denmark where we have the A, B, C and D class (A being the best). This sommer i have been doing some 'not license'-races just to get the feel of riding in a pack. Next year im planning to start in the D class in April and my goal is to move up to the C class within the first season. (to do so is the equivalent of winning 3 races)

My training plans are:

1. Back country snowboard until mid May.
2. Plant my ass on bike for the first time in mid May and do a century to see how things are shaking.

Now I just need to figure out my diet. I think for the most part I'll alternate between Indian and Italian.

Ææææææ lol

Sounds reasonable. You must have some talent or you wouldn't be looking to do 15 hour weeks.

My advice would be to buy Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible. It's a good start at figuring out a periodized training plan that would work for you. At least it teaches you how to develop such a plan. If you are going to race, you will have expenses. One of those might as well be a book or two.

If you want to skip the book learning, I'd start that internet program 13 weeks before your first race in April. Between now than then, just ride lots. Do one 6 hour ride on the weekend if the weather allows. After that first race, back off the training program and just race and ride as much as you can without hurting your race performance.

Be very careful not to overtrain. That's what most new self-coached riders do the first season or two. They do that because they don't yet know what overtraining feels like and think if they are going slower, they need to train more, when the real answer is to train less. So if you feel you are slower than you were last week, you need to take it easy for a few days. Ride, but ride easy until the hills feel easy again.

During the season, if there's not a race during a week, you'll need to do a race simulation ride. Most folks can race twice a week without overdoing it.

I've found a heart rate monitor that records data and can download it into your computer to be a very valuable aid for the self-coached. You can keep close track of time-in-zone and watch your heart rate on familiar climbs to evaluate your training state. Again, trying not to overtrain.

Thanks for the answers!

I've just been reading 'base building' by thomas chapple. From the principles in that book i made following program and would like to have your two cents - see attachment. As i'm from Denmark the program reads: uge=week, 2=2 hours at L2, 2t - 3x20L3=2 hours incl 3x20 min at L3.

After the base building is finished in week 9 i will have 12 weeks to my first planned peak.

As mentioned earlier this is my first season. The last couple of month i've been training 10-15 hours and my goal is to win races this summer!

That is a nice program. Good luck! Warm up for 30 min. before those TT tests. Watch those closely for signs of overdoing it.