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You've just started cycling. Naturally, you're wondering how to progress on your bike. The best way to do that is to follow a road bike training. So, in this article, we'll give you a road bike training plan for beginners.
Who can follow a bike training program?
Before you can start following this road bike training program for beginners, you need a few prerequisites. This includes a long endurance workout that will need to last at least two months. Once you've done this core work by doing a certain number of miles at a steady pace and gradually increasing the distance, you'll be ready to follow this five week training plan that will allow you to progress in several areas. Each week consists of 3 rides: a short, medium and long.
Each workout should begin with a progressive warm-up and end with a cool-down, followed by stretching after the ride. During sessions, also remember to good hydration and nutrition.
Improving Your Velocity
During this first cycle, you will work on your velocity, which is your pedaling cadence.
- Tuesday: home trainer, 30 minutes. Start on the small chainring and large sprocket until you reach a fixed cadence of 90 rpm: every 3 minutes, put on an extra tooth, maintaining this cadence for 10 increments.
- Thursday: solo ride, 1 hour. Velocity: on an easy course, do 3 x (10 minutes at 105 rpm / 10 minutes at free pace). Adapt your gear to the terrain to maintain the cadence.
- Sunday: group ride, 1:45. Start slowly and gradually increase your pace while maintaining a steady cadence. You should not be out of breath.
Muscle Strengthening
During this second cycle, you will work on your strength.
- Tuesday: home trainer, 35 minutes. Warm up for 15 minutes, gradually increasing the gear until you sweat. Then do 5 x (1 minute big gear with 50 rpm max, seated or dancer / 3 minutes soft gear sitting on the saddle).
- Thursday: solo ride, 1:10. On a flat course, 5 x (5 minutes with a big gear at 60 rpm maximum, sitting or dancing / 5 minutes with a soft gear sitting on the saddle).
- Sunday: group ride, 2 hours. Endurance: for 5 to 10 minutes, ride at 75 rpm dropping 1 or 2 teeth. Repeat this exercise several times during the outing.
Working on threshold and your pedaling rhythm
During this third cycle, you will work on your pedaling rhythm.
- Tuesday: home trainer, 45 minutes. Warm up for 15 minutes by gradually increasing the gear until you sweat, then do 15 minutes grinding as fast as you can. Finish with 15 minutes with a small gear.
- Thursday: solo ride, 1 hour and 15 minutes. Choose a 10-kilometer circuit with a single hill, to be completed three times. On each lap, over a 4-kilometer segment (including the hill), try to keep the same speed on the hill.
- Sunday: group ride, 2:15. Choose a circuit with a few bumps that you will ride up quickly, at a steady pace. Ride quietly between bumps to recover.
Getting better at bumps
During this fourth cycle, you'll work to improve in the climbs.
- Tuesday: home trainer, 40 minutes. Raise the front of the bike 4 inches to simulate the hill. Vary gears and occasionally for a minute, get into a dancer's stride by going down 1 or 2 gears. Avoid wiggling while in a dancer.
- Thursday: solo outing, 1:20. Find a 4-kilometer circuit, with a fairly steep but not too long climb. Do 8-10 laps in endurance but ride up the hill really fast while sitting in the saddle.
- Sunday: group ride, 2 1/2 hours. Choose a circuit with a few bumps. Relay at a steady pace between bumps (without accelerating) and ride up the bumps at the train.
Work on your explosiveness
During this fifth and final cycle, you will work on your explosiveness, which is necessary for sprinting.
- Tuesday: home trainer, 50 minutes. Warm up for 15 minutes, gradually increasing the gear until you sweat. Then you'll do a 7-second saddle-sit velocity sprint, followed by 10 minutes at reduced gearing. The next sprint will be 10 seconds and the last one will be 12 seconds, again followed by 10 minutes at reduced gearing.
- Thursday: solo ride, 1.5 hours. Choose a course or circuit with a few hills. At the end of these, sprint for 15 seconds while keeping your gearing. On the descent, prolong your effort by taking a big gear. Repeat this exercise between 5 and 8 times.
- Sunday: Group ride, 2:45. Ride the train and have fun doing sign sprints with your teammates on pre-defined signs.
You now have all the elements in hand to progress in cycling. When you are sufficiently trained and in order to prepare for a specific goal, you can then discover a road bike training program designed for advanced cyclists.
