Both amateur cyclists and professional cyclists quite often test their endurance during training, more or less giving all the best to them. Subsequently, the effectiveness of each workout is significantly reduced and the rider’s body does not have time to rebuild. They are so heavy that the forces do not have time to recover normally. This leads to a state of decline, chronic overwork of the cyclist’s body. The rider will no longer be able to train productively.

If a rider wants to learn how to ride a bike faster, has certain sports ambitions, zeal, then the training regimen itself should be clearly regulated: training days should be quite difficult, but at the same time, rest days should be spent in complete relaxation.

How to learn to ride a bike faster
The correct construction of the training process
When it comes to relaxed cycling, everything is simple. Jim Rutberg, a professional cycling coach, states that a rider should not sweat during a relaxed ride. It is necessary to try to keep a measured pace, imagining that “they took the bike with them for a walk.” The very pace of the ride should be such that even people of retirement age can make such a trip without any special difficulties.

The situation is much more complicated with training days. In order to fully control the process of riding, a cyclist must use special devices that collect and analyze objective indicators of his success. These include heart monitors, bike computers, power meters in various combinations, cadence sensors, and more. The ability to receive static data helps the cyclist to set realistic goals for the current level of training.

If the rider does not use such electronic devices, then Jim Rutberg suggests the following. You should carefully listen to your body, make a scale from 1 to 10, where you can indicate the levels for the efforts applied during the training process. One is the minimum effort as in relaxed riding, ten is the maximum possible load.
Therefore, during the course of the training day, the cyclist must exercise with varying degrees intensity:

– Levels 5 and 6 help the rider increase aerobic endurance. It should be a fairly serious pace of driving, during which it will be difficult to talk, you can only utter jerky short phrases. Depending on the physical form of the cyclist, he should spend 15–60 minutes riding during training at levels 5 and 6;

– Loads at levels 7 and 8 allow the rider to overcome any climbs much easier. At the same time, the highest pace of driving is observed, during which it is almost impossible to talk. Jim Rutberg recommends working at this intensity in three intervals of 10 minutes each. Five-minute inter-interval breaks should be observed;

– Levels 9 and 10 correspond to the maximum power and speed of the rider. Such a load is performed at intervals of 1-2 minutes. At this pace, you should train for 12-20 minutes.

The main thing is not only to correctly distribute training days and rest periods, but also to calculate the effort during skiing.

So, you’ve decided to test your strength during the training week? Jim Rutberg recommends several types of schedules depending on how many times a week you train.

Cycling three days a week:

The best option is cycling every other day. For example, Monday, Wednesday and Friday;
Monday and Wednesday in this case should be heavy training days. On Friday, you need to ride more calmly and for a long time.
Cycling four days a week:

there are two types of effective schedules: Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Saturday and Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday/Sunday;
Monday and Wednesday, as well as Tuesday and Thursday, should be heavy training days. Calm and measured skiing should be carried out on weekends.
Cycling five days a week:

the best schedule is Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Saturday/Sunday;
Tuesday and Thursday, as in previous schedules, should be heavy training days.
Once every three weeks, it is necessary to plan a weekly recovery period, during which experts advise making only relaxed trips that are light in pace and load (not necessarily short in mileage). If you have not previously adhered to any training schedule, then the methods described will allow you to get significant results after the fourth week, and after three months you will become a completely different cyclist.