The details of today’s, and future, interval sessions can be read below and are also found on our Winter Activities page
To keep those that wish to stay on top of their fitness during the winter in training miles we have our first interval session tomorrow. The track is not booked, there are no session fees and there may be other people using the track. So, come prepared for whatever the weather and whoever the company with your road bike.
Winter sessions traditionally focus on recovering from an intense summer and building up slowly to the next season. Thus, we start long and gentle in our efforts [though not very gentle, this is interval training after all] and progress to shorter and more intense.
Week 1
Warm up: 10 minutes in a middle to low gear, pedalling with high cadence. Small ring, middle of your cassette, perhaps 39 x 17 or 19. As the warm up progresses avoid changing gear but pedals fast. This can result in good pedalling technique and be quite taxing.
Main session: 4 x 10-minute efforts with a 2 minute rest. For the efforts pedal at 90 x 110 rpm cadence so that you are well on top of your gear. You need to maintain an effort where after the first 4 minutes you no longer wish to hold a conversation. To communicate with other riders you should not wish to say more than a quick word. For the rests freewheel and then pedal gently in a low effort.
Cool down with gentle pedalling until your breathing has returned to normal. This is typically 5 minutes.
Total cycling time: 63 minutes
Week 2
Warm up: Group warm up 8 laps, odd laps gentle, even laps put the pressure on so that you are breathing a little deeply by the end of the lap. Repeat until 8 laps have been completed. Lasts 10 minutes.
Main session: 6 x 5-minute efforts with a 2 minute rest. For the efforts pedal at 90 x 110 rpm cadence so that you are well on top of your gear. You need to maintain an effort where after the first 3 minutes you no longer wish to hold a conversation. To communicate with other riders, you should not wish to say more than a quick word. For the rests freewheel and then pedal gently in a low effort. You will be aiming to ride faster than for last week’s session as the efforts are shorter, but the key is to work hard and maintain your effort. 42 minutes.
Cool down with gentle pedalling until your breathing has returned to normal. This is typically 5 minutes.
Total cycling time: 57 minutes
Week 3
Warm up: 8 laps, with 4 laps steady, 2 laps increase the speed, 2 laps fast. Lasts 10 minutes.
Main session: Pyramid. 5 minutes, 4 minutes 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute each with a 1-minute break between. After the 1-minute effort pedal gently for 5 minutes then go back up the pyramid from 1 minute to 5 minutes with the same rests.
Cool down with gentle pedalling until your breathing has returned to normal. This is typically 5 minutes.
Total cycling time: 58 minutes
Week 4
Warm up: 10 minutes in a middle to low gear, pedalling with high cadence. Small ring, middle of your cassette, perhaps 39 x 17 or 19. As the warm up progresses avoid changing gear but pedals fast. This can result in good pedalling technique and be quite taxing. 10 minutes.
Main session: 2- and 1-minute intervals. Ride 2 minutes hard, take 1-minute rest, repeat 4 times. Ride 1 minute hard, take 1-minute rest; repeat 4 times. Repeat the set twice but reverse the 1- and 2-minutes interval order for the second set so that you finish with the 2-minute intervals. Take a 5-minute rest between the two sets. 43 minutes.
Cool down with gentle pedalling until your breathing has returned to normal. This is typically 5 minutes.
Total cycling time: 58 minutes