[Closed] Talk to me about road biking to benefit mountain biking

[img] [/img]

More! 😀

Fewer people on the trails?

yep that's a good training ride distance if done at the correct pace and frequency.

Try a singlespeed to improve your strength and cadence...

Rob - I don't think it make a lot of difference until you start upping the mileage/time. I find the road bike is more about maintaining constant effort for sustained differences - the sort of thing that helps on climbs. Conversely, I find the MTB seems to interfere with my ability so "spin" on the road bike.

For me, it's been about setting targets, achieving them, and setting more. Doing the same route regularly, I started to recognise certain features and would take a mental note of how long it had taken me to reach them. Bettering those times becomes the target.

Good job the bike's borrowed - you'll soon be bored.

single speed is not an option!

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

i live in the valley below Monsal head - its a big foo koff hill either way out

druidh - Member

Rob - I don't think it make a lot of difference until you start upping the mileage/time. I find the road bike is more about maintaining constant effort for sustained differences - the sort of thing that helps on climbs. Conversely, I find the MTB seems to interfere with my ability so "spin" on the road bike.

For me, it's been about setting targets, achieving them, and setting more. Doing the same route regularly, I started to recognise certain features and would take a mental note of how long it had taken me to reach them. Bettering those times becomes the target.

Seeing as i have no intention of using the road bike when i can mountain bike (i.e. thursday thru til sunday) i will be biking after work. What sorts of time/distance of constant effort should i aim for?

I am thinking 2hr runs and about 30 miles??

Road biking is fantastic for building base fitness and getting the miles in at a constant pace rather than MTB which is all effort/rest/effort/freewheel/rest. Yeah, about 2hrs/30-35 miles or so.

I would say your idea of 2hr 30 mile rides a far better idea to me , and also being careful what you eat. Don't make the mistake in thinking that because you are riding more you can eat what you want.

I eat very well - usually porridge for breakfast, nuts mid morning, salad and couscous for lunch with fruit also, Veg based tea. Protein shakes after rides. Loads of water

Sorry Racing Ralph I wasn't accusing you of not eating well, it's just increasing your miles can make you hungrier and if your not careful about your refuelling you can undo a lot of your hard work.

For me what made a difference was big, steady rides in jan through to March, 60-90 miles every sunday with one tea break and an ave of 15-16 mph with a few hills and winter weather. Builds great base fitness. Once spring arrives I can't resist getting on the mtb and having rather more fun rides.

I suspect hard 2-3 hour rides (ave 17-19 mph) could work too but frankly i'd rather mtb (race?) for intensity.

Ed2001 - Member

Sorry Racing Ralph I wasn't accusing you of not eating well, it's just increasing your miles can make you hungrier and if your not careful about your refuelling you can undo a lot of your hard work.

Lol - i know 🙂

Don't write off the short hammer either, i started off doing a fifteen minute uphill sprint from the bottom of edinburgh to the top, and it seemed to benefit my mountainbiking hugely, maybe just because it showed me how much harder i [i]could[/i] be pedalling!

I reckon it could really benefit your mountainbiking technique too, after a few months on 100psi 23mm wide tyres, those 2.3" tubeless fatties will seem invincible, I go out looking for big fat roots to corner over now...

I know what you mean - different mentality. On my mtb i twiddle up hills whereas i am looking for a harder gear on the road

Why do you call yourself racing_ralph?

RR.
You forgot to list the beer in your diet 😆

stratobiker - Member

Why do you call yourself racing_ralph?

because i want to!!

Have a read of this article.

http://www.fascatcoaching.com/mtbpower.html

It will explain some of the differences between cycling on road and cycling off road from a power output point of view.

Oh and I find that on easy climbs (road or mountain) I twiddle away coz I get bored. On the mountain bike however, give me a challenging technical climb and I will be busting a lung to try and make it up!!

What about rest days - how frequent?

I always used to use road biking for MTB training.

Do some 5-25 mile time trials (hilly's are good) to build up your power.

If you are after losing weight then you need to be doing 2 hour plus rides of more than 30 miles at a lowish intensity. Heart rate below 130 at all times. Ideally 4 hour rides of 50-60 miles will see the weight drop off!

Then I always found road biking to be a great tool for warming down after a heavy week on the bike. If you feel a bit tired but not dead to the world then go and 'spin out' a leisurely 10-20 miles to loosen your legs up a little.

You could look into this in great scientific detail but biking isnt really rocket science. Know the basics of what works for you and just go and ride. When you feel tired then rest.

Matt 🙂

Second the old school approach to "base" fitness and weight loss. The maxim used to be LSD: Long Steady Distance. As far as I understand it, doing this means that you're not working at such a rate that you can't metabolise fat fast enough to supply energy.

This means that you shouldn't be piling on the energy drink/food when you're doing this.

But, also mix it up with shorter, harderr intensity stuff. You live in a hilly area, so there's plenty of opportunity to get te heart rate up without covering huge distances.

2 hour rides to cover 30-35 miles would be ideal. Distance and intensity. And, if you want to lose weight, make sure you stick to your diet (though be aware that on these 2 hour rides, if you're working hard-ish, then you'll need to have something to eat, as you only hold about 90 minutes worth of energy in your blood sugar).

Have fun - road riding is addictive (though so's riding a road bike off road, but that's another story).

Best thing road biking did for me was get me out on those crappy winter days when I couldn't face the trails but was gagging for a ride.