I know there is no magic solution to this but have been invited out on a regular ride that i know is distance and speed wise a step up from my normal stuff. I know i need to get my speed up but at the moment just hang back with the slow people on group rides as i hate long stops and when riding solo don’t tend to push myself that hard. Is the best way to up me speed just do some solo stuff and set myself time/distance goals? Is it best just to go to the quick rides and use the motivation of always hanging off the back to get me quicker?

Also I seem to be slower than the quick guys i currently ride with for the first 40 mins of any ride but towards the ends of rides will be up with them. Is this likely to be a nutrition thing or is it just me? I normally don’t have diner before riding but eat a few bananas and a snickers 10-20mins before starting riding then just rely on water for 2 hour rides. For longer stuff due to money constraints tend to use sugar water mix and fun size snickers bars and that seems to keep me going.

Id say the best way you could improve is to regularly ride with these guys!

its all to easy to ride at your own pace when riding solo. your body will easily & quickly adapt to the kind of riding you do and you’ll stagnate & not progress.

do some specific training instead of just riding – hill reps, speed work with a stop watch.

if you feel weak on speed then thats exactly what I would work on.

maybe swap 1 ride a week to a training ride

http://www.fullysussed.co.uk/web_documents/fully_sussed_training_plan_beginner.pdf

have a look here its all using a heart rate monitor but you get the idea of different kinds of training rides & progression.

They’ll always be someone quicker than you, and someone will always be “last” in a group ride. Such is life.

Speed and distance goals don’t really work off road as the terrain is so hard to compare, however.

To ride faster, simply ride faster. Maybe try a shorter route than normal at a quicker pace. Maybe do two short loops at different speeds to evaluate what you feel comfortable at.

Unless the planned ride is a few months off nothing in the short term will make you quicker, just enjoy it.

Have you got any fat you can get rid of? Dropping a stone makes a huge difference.

Intervals.

Ride with the faster people. It will be tough at first but you’ll soon improve and it will make riding much more enjoyable.

I know there is no magic solution to this but have been invited out on a regular ride that i know is distance and speed wise a step up from my normal stuff

Sounds like you have a plan right there. As long as they’re ok with waiting for you occasionally, what’s the problem? You’ll soon find yourself keeping up with them.

Otherwise: intervals and weight loss are the best ways to go about it. Faster tyres and lighter wheels will help, too.

i am 2Kg into losing the 7 i know i should lose (winter blanket). I guess you are right, i should go out there be prepared to come back broken and make sure they know i will slow them down a bit. I have a comparitivly cheep bike but it seems to work ok and can’t aford to upgrade.

the bike means nothing. it’s the meat on top which makes the difference.

ok so your bikes not as good – over time you’ll compensate its weaknesses with gained skill 😉

it may be heaver meaning you’ll have to work harder – again this will add to you fitness

when your catching these chaps comfortably drop your body weight, upgrade the bike and leave them catching you! 😆

It’s not about the bike.

How long are the rides?

Most of my bike rides are about 30 miles long which are usually done as quick as I can. I dont bother eating or drinking throughout. When I go on longer I rides I can cope without bother, I just have to remember to eat and drink a little bit.

Short interval sessions for speed.

Single leg drills, intervals, ramp-ups, sprints, hill training.

Helps if you have a based from the winter

Other than whats been said, i.e get out and ride with them.

Eventually every rider plateau’s so you need to do focussed training to break out of a rut.

If you want to throw in a few sessions outside the rides and boost your turbo.

Google Fartlek training.

If you can stomach the idea, find a local gym that does spinning classes and try a few of those.

Yes, I would commit to a brutal structured interval-based training regime to be able to keep up on a social group ride… Honestly, some of you need to get out more… 😉

Fartlek

Here you go then badly, its not that brutal really 😆

I’m lucky enough to have someone who rides with me once per week who is about the same fitness level as me but is incredibly motivated about getting fitter..

He’s ex military too so is not averse to pushing himself that little bit harder.. all I have to do is to keep up..

once you get into that groove of trying harder than you thought you could and challenging yourself on the climbs it becomes much easier to do it again when riding solo etc..

BWD you don’t have to become uber geek, just do some short hill reps on your mid-week rides. If you want to be quicker quickly that’s how to do it. Otherwise just ride. Whatever you wish 🙂

Go out with faster riders and accept a kicking. You will get quicker.

Riding with faster riders made a massive difference to my fitness\speed. Don’t be ashamed to be last, keep plugging away and in no time at all someone else will be at the back. worked for me anyway and it also helped me lose 3 stone in a year. Go out, ride, have fun!

Road bike.

You’ll be amazed at how much fitter/faster a spot of road biking will make you.

You’ll be amazed at how much fitter/faster a spot of road biking will make you.

Depends on how you ride innit. There’s nothing magic about tarmac.

BWD you don’t have to become uber geek, just do some short hill reps on your mid-week rides. If you want to be quicker quickly that’s how to do it. Otherwise just ride. Whatever you wish

Just a geek then 😉

I envy your position.

Get out and get on with it.

My speed and endurance noticeably improved when I started training with a heart rate monitor, I train in different heart rate zones each day alternating between easy (zone 1), medium (zone 2 & 3), and hard (zones 4 & 5). I’ll have one or two days a week when I won’t be on the bike but may go to the gym to do some core strength training. The heart rate monitor really helps to motivate yourself, you can see when you need to try harder and when to back off. It’s even more effective when used with a cadence monitor which helps to train your leg speed high.

My zone 1 days are recovery days, normally upto an hour. Zone 2 and 3 will be longer rides (2-3 hours) and Zone 4 and 5 will be shorter interval / fartlek training sessions. Every 4 weeks I’ll have a rest week with only zone 1 rides. I’ll always try to fit in an epic ride with mates on a Sunday.

For zones to be effective you have to know both your resting and maximum heart rate. I’ve found all the max heart rate calculations to be a waste of time. You’ll only find your out by getting out there and pushing yourself to the limit after a good 30 minute warm up. This is only advised if you have already been exercising for some time.

I use the Heart Rate Reseve method to calculate my zones which I find far more effective than the max heart rate alternative.

In regard to nutrition, I find for best results eat a high carb meal 1-2 hours before a ride, on a ride water is ok up to an hour but an energy drink is better for longer rides. Post ride a carb/protein meal (ratio 4:1) or recovery drink (e.g. For goodness shakes) works best for recovery. Through the week following a high nutrient diet diet helps lots as does eating 6 smaller meals per day. Think breakfast – snack – lunch – snack – dinner – snack.

Lastly, all your hard work will be for nothing if you do not get adequate rest and recovery. This is where all the gains come from, if you do not allow enough time to recover you will end up overtraining and will find you’ll make yourself il and slower. 8 hours sleep a night is highly recommended.