Rowman today I want to talk to you about how I plan a training ride
Rowman today I want to talk to you about how I plan a training ride. Let's cue that intro! The big question is this. How do we use cycling as a tool to improve our health, our happiness and our long-chef it? That is the question and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Anthony Welch and welcome to the Rowman Podcast. Roadman, welcome back, Roadman to another roadman, Cycling podcast. We're back, it's Monday again, looking out the window, it's all doom and gloom here, it's pouring rain, it's cold, November is well underway, the season is over, but fear not, the roadman cycling podcast will not be stopping. We're rolling five days a week, all the way through the winter, all the way into the summer, all the way through the winter, rinse and repeat. And that's actually a good segue before I jump into this topic to tell you how I've been able to keep this going and it's because of the generosity of you listeners on Patreon. But don't celebrate yet. Put that cock back in the champagne. We are a long way off the target. Your generosity so far has got us this far but I need to call on you again to keep it common, to keep sustaining this podcast. There's no podcast show sponsors at the moment. it's entirely funded by user generosity. So, all I'm asking from you is the point of a beer once a month. We're in lockdown at the moment, you're not even going to the pub, you're not even going to notice the cash, the price of a point of beer once a month and in return I'm going to give you the podcast comment five days a week as always but I'm also going to give you access to the secret podcast and last month's secret podcast I dive deep into topics like DNA testing and a secret drink I'm using to melt away body fat. Super exciting episode and I'd like to thank very much all those who are subscribing over on Patreon already. With all that said let's jump in and talk about how I plan a training ride because it's not just a matter of heading out the door and going wherever I go today there's actually a process that goes into it so I know I chat to clients training partners that I see occasionally. A recording team from all them is, I had to ride in the same route all the time. And they have two or three routes and they end up riding them all the same. And, you know, that just, it grates at me a little bit because one of the reasons that we love cycling, I spoke with Lauren's 10 dam in our podcast, right, right, fast, lives low a few weeks ago, we all love cycling, or at least I love cycling. And I got into cycling because it was that sense of adventure, making free, the shackles of my neighborhood, because your parents are at a young age, so you're only let go past the end of the road and don't go past Sanzo's house. But then, at some point, you got a bike and all those constraints were removed and you were free to adventure, to experience new things. And it was just filled, every ride is filled with joy and it was filled with a sense of exploration. Then, at some point, we decided to trade exploration for monotony and repetition and doing the same thing over and over again And so I want to talk to you about my planning, my advanced planning, sometimes mental, sometimes I go a little bit further and actually get it down on paper or in an app. But one of the main things I consider when I'm thinking about the ride is how long am I going to ride for? That's the main factor because there's no point in me planning this ambitious, this sounds obvious, but there's no point in planning an ambitious route that's true to hills if I can only ride for an hour and a half. So how long you're going to ride for is going to be an immediate factor.
Then you need to think secondarily about what session have you got…
Then you need to think secondarily about what session have you got planned today? Do you have 10, 10 second sprints? If so, you're going to need quiet road, no junctions or driveways because you don't want to carpool in it with a driveway when you're full gas through a 10 second sprint. You don't want the turns because you're not going to be able to navigate them with that speed. So you want a quiet road at least 400 or 500 meters long, preferably straight because you don't want to be sprinting through bends or corners because anything could be at the far side of it. think about your session likewise do I have two 20 minute threshold efforts where can I get 20 minutes uninterrupted no turns no traffic lights minimum traffic or at least traffic that's only flown my direction so I remember when I used to live out in Toronto and I had a route that's used for a local Thursday time trial so it's just obviously over there we're up there on the other side of the road so it's just right turns all the way around So you go up, right turn, right turn, right turn. So you're never turning with against the traffic. You're turning with the flow of traffic. So over here, you're obviously looking again to turn with the traffic. But now I'm kind of lucky in that I don't have to do that. I can head up the mountains. And I know which climbs are 20 minutes long. They're going to give me a threshold climb. I know which climbs locally are going to be five minutes long if I VO2 max intervals to do. So A, think about how long you can ride. B, think about what session you have to do. Then start thinking about what time of year it and what's the weather because the time of year and the weather also dictates where you're going to go. I know if it's January, December, I want to avoid the mountains. The higher you get, even if it's four or five degrees, the higher you get, the colder it's going to get. And as it gets colder, you risk ice patches, you risk haven't crashes. So you want to minimize going up high later in the year, especially in colder climates. But then also think about the weather. What direction is the wind blown? plan a route for your coming home with a tailwind. This is old-school planning and it's not talked about so much anymore in the new Strava era. Pull up a weather app, see which way to wind is blown, and navigate a route for your coming home with a tailwind. Because nothing is more disheartening than riding home in a headwind all the way. Also, is it going to be crosswindy all day? Is the wind carrying a bit of rain or sleet with it? If so, have those routes that are sheltered by hedges that have a lot of buildings around it, a lot of shelter. Don't leave yourself It can expose plateau with fields and metals that are just going to blast you wind all day long. I think when you take those factors into consideration, and this seems like it's a lot of advance planning for a spin, but honestly, most of this is done when I'm sitting down on the toilet before my session. It's really just, this is not like you need to make an extra two hours in your day to plan where you're going to go for your training session. I also try and mix terrain. And again, this is because cycling is meant to be an adventure. It's meant to be fun. try and have some flats, some hills, like don't be afraid if you've an endurance ride to do going over a small hill. Just check your ego and ride it easy, let people go past you. I like to have changes in settings, you know, can I start in the city, go to the country, be in the mountains and then end up back through the city again because that's change in terrain, change in landscape, change in stimulus, it all makes it way more exciting.
Could if you're going close to home, plan multiple loops that all…
Also, you could if you're going close to home, plan multiple loops that all cross over each other. I remember years ago I never thought of this concept. I used to just ride in one direction and basically turn around or plot a big, you know, loop. But I'd never have intersecting roots and that's actually where you can have someone the most fun. Having little lanes that intersect and exploring through gravel patches and fields and some of the most fun I've had is you get to the top of a climb where the climb ends and instead of it ending, just keep going. Go along the gravel into the forest. Even if you're on a road bike, the road bike is way more durable than you think. Push the boundaries of what the roll-bike is capable of and it's so so much fun. I do use an app from time to time and no it's not Stravo, I use Camusk KOMOOT from time to time. This is not, as I said, the start, it's not a brand endorsement, it's not a sponsor, it's entirely sponsored by Patreon, the podcast. So this is just an app I use and I find good commute. And what it's great for is user feedback because Strava will show you all the routes but commute will show you a route and people can, it's almost like Strava means TripAdvisor where lads can say yeah that was brilliant. Actually if you're on that route swing 500 meters down the road because there's a cool view on point there's a cool cafe or a cool castle and that sort of user generated feedback adds a new layer to it and it's until I use every now and then just to mix up my root. But I would encourage you if you're doing an endurance spin and you're not time-bound like you have to be back in two hours, you have to be back in three hours. Really, just push the boundaries of exploration. Take a turn that you're not sure where it goes. Who cares if it's a dead end? Turn around. Who cares if it goes off? Row on with it for a while. Some of the best roads I've found, especially in the last couple of months and so being back straight in this winter, have been just taking turns that I've never usually take and discovering a road that's absolutely breathtaking. So, roadman, that's what it's all about, getting out there and exploring and having fun and having adventure. Sure, performance for most of us in accomplishing our cycling goals, that's an aim all of us have. But a lot of the time, that ends up coming as a boy product of having fun, of adventure, of a lot of stuff we talk about on this podcast. Robemen, despite the bad weather here in Dublin, I know it's gonna be an absolutely fantastic week. So I hope all you guys just turn off the news, stop letting COVID numbers and news turn you from someone who plans your stuff into a reactionary beast. Get out on the bike, plan your ride, enjoy your week. Robemen, I'll be back to you again for another little intimate chat tomorrow. Hey everybody, it's Anthony again. Really quick, I want to invite you to join and arguably the best thing I've ever put out inside the roadman community. It's a challenge. It's a challenge called a 14 day kickstart challenge. So regardless of where your fitness is at right now, this is going to be the catalyst for making you faster and making you leaner. I've created this challenge to take the guesswork out of everything. It's 14 days of training plans regardless of what your level is. There's a master's beginner advanced, there's meal plans, shopping list and even a video course Just hold in your hand and talk to you at all. So what I recommend you do right now is just stop everything, press pause on this audio and go to roadmancycling.com forward slash 14 day or check out the link in the bio. That's roadmancycling.com slash 14 day.