A threshold is your ability to ride at a sustained pace for a longer period of time. Building your ability to sustain this pace or to ride at a higher intensity will provide big dividends. This is a perfect workout for triathletes, mountain bikers, and road cyclists.
Each Wednesday I’ll post a Windtrainer Workout that you can do in about 60 minutes to enhance your cycling. See a previous post about training intensity (Levels) to know how hard to work. If you are working directly with Coach Ray he will in most cases prescribe either a Power Zone or Heart Rate Zone to work within if you are training with these tools.
The inspiration for this workout comes from an article from Cycling Today. Click here to read the article.
Cycling Today’s Cassette Double Pyramid
- 10min WU Level II;
- Ride each gear for 60sec twice through your cassette at Level IV; Time will vary depending on the number of gears you have;
- 10min Level II CD;
- 10min Stretching
The definitions for training intensities can be found in this article.
The warm-up (WU) should be done at an intensity that is steady but not overconsuming at Level II for ten minutes.
The main set is conducted by changing into your easiest gear (eg: 39×25) and setting a reasonable resistance on the wind trainer (you can zero your trip computer and see how much ground you can cover within this session). Ride for a minute at Level IV in this gear before changing up one gear. Each minute change gear. Bear in mind that there is a long road ahead in this workout and it gets a whole lot harder before it gets easier. Once you’ve ridden for a minute in the hardest gear in your cassette (don’t worry about using the big chain ring for this workout), change down one gear making it easier every minute. By the time you get down to the smallest cog, you will be barely turning the cranks. Repeat this workout twice through the cassette. A 10-speed group set will take 37 minutes to complete – as you only ride in the biggest and the smallest cogs three times and twice each respectively (60 seconds before changing gear to head the other direction). An 11-speed will take 41 minutes and a 12-speed cassette will take 45 minutes.
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity riding at Level II for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
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If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published last year.
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