I’ve had lots of requests for MTB workouts. Thank you, that’s a great suggestion. Here’s one of my favorites to help prepare you for the specific demands of the race start.
Put yourself at the start line. You’re jittery and nervous, knowing that you have to blast out quickly to get into a good position. You know that you’ll be walking a tightrope in your start, for while you have to ride hard immediately, you can’t ride “too” hard or you’ll blow up, get dropped and never be able to catch up.
This workout simulates the race start. By practicing, you’ll learn not only just how much you can give without blowing up; it also helps your body recover without backing off too much.
Warm Up:
Prepare by riding 15-30 minutes on varied terrain. Warm up your muscles and your bike handling skills. Climb a short hill or two, recover then ride 1 interval of 5 minutes or so (on a flat, hill or rolling terrain) at threshold effort to raise your heart rate and prepare you for the effort ahead. Recover for 5 minutes prior to beginning the main set.
Main Set:
Simulate the race start, so begin from a complete stop. Ride 1 minute as hard as you can (without blowing up). At the end of this minute, reduce your power output slightly to a threshold effort (heart rate level 4-5) and ride at this level for 10 minutes. Increase your effort again for 1 minute, then back off and recover with easy spinning for 5-10 minutes.
So the length of each interval is 12 minutes.
Start with 1-2 sets and progress to 2-3 sets as your fitness improves.
Cool down:
15 – 30 minutes of easy riding. This can be a good time to practice your bike handling skills. You could also add additional endurance ride time after you’re fully recovered from the intervals.
Make the most of this workout by riding on a course that closely resembles that for which you’re preparing. This is a fun workout, and will challenge your muscular endurance, your cardiovascular system and your bike handling skills. Practice this several times and you’ll arrive at the start line confident and ready to hammer!
Let me know what you think of this by adding your comments below, then GET OUT AND RIDE!
Ride Recap:
Yesterday was interval day with a group of strong riders. I had to work hard just to hang on, so it was great practice. We rode 7 x 3 minutes at VO2 Max level or harder (2 minute recovery interval), then 10 x :30 on/:30 off. We finished up with an hour of endurance riding. Total ride time 2:20.
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