With the change from summer to fall upon us and winter quickly showing up to the party, it seemed like a good time to look at some tips that will help you complete your workouts now and through this winter. Below are ten suggestions to consider when the seasons throw you off track of your training plan.

In the early season of fall, as available daylight decreases, workouts can suffer during the week. So, overall training time on the bike ends up being crammed in on the weekend. While it’s good that you are getting out, it’s not as good that it’s only on the weekend. Here are some tips to even things out over the week while the fall weather is still desirable enough to be outside.

1. Plan for one day mid-week to leave work an hour early for a bike ride. Start and end your ride at work to allow for more saddle time. This can start to balance out the longer duration weekend rides and recovery days from week to week.

2. Plan for at least one high intensity/short duration ride during the week. This type of ride has a short warm-up phase and then gets right down to the high intensity, finishing with a cool down phase. This workout should be hard and rewarding when done over several weeks, can be as short as an hour.

3. Missed a couple of workouts due to work or traffic jams on the way home and it’s now dark? Then spend a few hard earned dollars on a good set of lights. A helmet mount or handlebar mount style lantern can bring a new meaning to cycling. The sun has set but you’re still able to safely navigate your workout to complete your day. If you’re going to be on the streets also invest in a rear mount safety beacon.

4. Lights can also allow for commuting on your trusty steed which not only allows for the workout to be completed, but you also reduce your consumption of gas. Just be sure to have a collection of warm cycling gear for the colder morning temps.

5. Sometimes it’s not about the bike and you should just go for a walk with your family after a nice dinner and look at the Halloween decorations. The recovery will do wonders for the epic ride planned on the weekend and your family will appreciate the time spent with you.

As winter takes hold with messy streets and cold temperatures, cycling moves to the stationary fashion. This is great for about an hour and then the monotony of the pedaling that goes nowhere kicks in. To stay on track it is necessary to find the strength to lift a leg over the bike and ride without the nice scenery, wind in the face and the dusty singletrack of the summer months. Below are the last five suggestions to help keep the workouts rolling while indoors.

6. Have a designated spot for your bike training, preferably in front of a television that you can play videos or DVD’s on. This way your bike is always ready to be ridden and you have the ability to watch cycling workouts, last year’s TdF or even a movie. The distraction works wonders in helping the time go by.

7. Since you’re not able to create wind across the body for evaporative cooling, be careful not to overheat and drink plenty of fluids. Place a fan in the immediate area to help keep the temperature desirable and a towel handy to capture perspiration.

8. While your bike is mounted in the trainer you can do several things to increase the intensity of the workout. Simulate hills by raising the front wheel up higher than the rear wheel so you engage the leg muscles differently. Increase the resistance on the wheel or shift to harder gears to simulate hills. Last but not least, riding rollers can help maintain balance and core strength.

9. Break a long ride into several parts. Much of the same benefit of continuous exercise happens even when we break it up into smaller parts in a day. So, your three hour ride got snowed out, try two one and a half hour rides with a few hours between them and come away still on track with your plan. Another thing to consider when riding a stationary bike is that not much coasting or resting occurs. This means your duration can be reduced up to 20% and still get the same adaptations as an outdoor ride.

10. Once again it’s not all about the bike and the winter season is a great time to be inside strength training, doing Pilates or Yoga and any other form of exercise you can think of. Break up the routine and you will find that the movement to improvement happens whether you’re on the bike or a mat stretching after a group exercise class.

Hopefully these tips help you to find some balance with the change of seasons and allow for the transition from fun in the sun to making the most of the winter. Stick to a plan that has some alternative choices to mix up the routine and next spring will be full of promising new possibilities on the bike.

Get a training plan and keep track of your workouts in a TrainingPeaks account!

About the author:

Rob Lockey, CSCS, ACSM/HFS and a USA Cycling LII Certified Coach, provides testing and coaching through Optimize Endurance Services. Contact him at 303-356-9893 or rob@optimizeendurance.com

This article is based on presentations given at the US Olympic Committee’s recent Altitude Symposium as well as my own experiences coaching endurance athletes over the last decade.

Is altitude right for you, or your athletes?
Far more important than your elevation is the quality of training that you achieve at your training camp. My #1 piece of advice would be to go to the location where the training is best.

Endurance athletes that struggle to pace themselves in a group situation, or who rely heavily on their anaerobic fitness, will have a difficult time at altitude. For this reason, I think that mature athletes will tend to do better than young athletes.

You may have heard of “non-responders” to altitude. In my experience, it is far more likely that you are dealing with a slow responder; a poor pacer; or a lack of basic endurance for the workload of the training camp.

If you place yourself in a hole at altitude then you are likely to be staying in that hole until you get home. So if you get sick then best to pack it in, head home and learn for next time.

However… don’t give up on altitude! It is often reported that athletes gain strength with each altitude exposure. Learning how to adjust to the stress altitude will make you a better athlete at all elevations.

Read more in the full article on why to go to altitude, how to use altitude, and what an altitude training camp might look like. Track your own altitude training in a TrainingPeaks account to see what effect it has on your performance!

Gordo can be found over at www.EnduranceCorner.com where he coaches endurance athletes and leads cycling-focused training camps. His triathlon training plans are also available on TrainingPeaks.

Recently, Neil had the opportunity to visit Zambia as part of his team’s association with World Bicycle Relief, a charity organization that has provided more than 50,000 bikes to people in need of cheap, sustainable transportation around the globe since 2005. Watch the entire interview here, check out a video from Zambia here, and read on for more details about the team’s association with World Bicycle Relief below.

“At the beginning of the season, Kelly Benefits Strategies became associated with World Bicycle Relief… Throughout the entire season, we’ve been raising money to buy bicycles for Zambian school children and caregivers. Part of the deal was through this money that was raised to buy bikes, we were also planning to send some of our riders over to see first hand the impact of the program, so I was fortunate enough to be one of the four riders selected.”

“We got to experience this amazing thing: bicycles, how powerful they are. We know how amazing they are, I’ve earned a living riding a bike for years, we’re passionate about bikes, but then to see the other end of the spectrum, where people are using bikes just for survival… All the way from using it to commute to school, so children aren’t walking 8 miles each way, it makes their productivity go way up, to hauling 200 pounds of firewood on the back of the bike. When pretty much everyone is walking, people don’t have automobiles, it’s huge.”

“Next year we’re going to continue to do that, raising money for World Bicycle Relief through the season. It’s probably one of the greatest things I’ve been able to do.”

As the team raises money next year, the riders hope to be racing around the world, from Nationals and the Tour of California to Europe. “It’s actually one of my biggest goals, getting back on the podium at Nationals. We have the depth and the talent to bring the jersey back…. We haven’t been invited yet to the Tour of California, but I’m going to keep my fingers crossed, I think we’ll end up being there. Looking back from there, we’ll have a training camp before that, and some hard international racing if we make it to Europe.”

Happy riding to Neil and to all cyclists around the globe!

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Pre Ride and Staging: Unless you are part of a race series, and eligible for a call up, getting a good start spot is crucial, so plan ahead. Many promoters are now keeping their race courses closed to warm ups during races, so if you want to pre ride you’ll have to get there early. Plan your day so you get your pre-ride and warm up done at least 20-30 minutes before your start.

Pre riding in those hectic few minutes before your start is a bit too risky for my liking. Instead, get to the staging area early and secure that front row spot. It may mean five or more minutes of standing around waiting, but you’ll appreciate it when the whistle blows. Many is the time I’ve gotten to the staging area thirty minutes early and just stood there so I KNOW I’ll be ready when it’s time to do the first race of the day, the one to the line.

Finally, and this is nearly proprietary, learn to be a lurker. Time and again, year after year I’ve been able to get myself on the first or second row at races big and small because I have a finely honed ability to lurk my way forward. It’s as simple as striking up a conversation with the announcer, finding a crowd crossing that just happens to be near the start, or conveniently dropping by the wheel pit to touch base. Embrace your inner lurker, it will serve you well.

One trick that is NOT acceptable is the ‘roll to the front of the field after they’ve assembled and squeeze your way in’ move. If you’re not fast enough to get a call up, focused enough to wait, or smart enough to lurk then you deserve to be at the back. Earn that grid position.

Next time we’ll look at some power numbers that will help you get your starts right.

About the author: Matt McNamara is the president and founder of Sterling Sports Group, a performance coaching company in Northern California. We strive to provide cutting edge performance solutions to our athletes that make use of both state-of-the-art technology and personal service to achieve your goals. By combining these elements our coaches are able to effectively create, manage, and communicate the program to each athlete directly. Visit us online at www.sterlingwins.com