7 Reasons to Set Cycling Goals Early

Come January, the Internet will be flooded with articles discussing how to accomplish your goals for the year. By waiting until spring to begin planning and training for your goals, you could put yourself in a time crunch that isn't necessary.

Whether you're a recreational rider or a competitive cyclist, begin by determining what you need to work on to accomplish your goals. If you participated in a 100-mile ride but could only ride the first 50 miles because of back pain, now is the time to work on figuring out why you're having pain on longer rides. Is it weakness? Or is it a poor bike fit?

The body takes time to adapt to training. Areas of weakness will take longer to fix. Begin any good training plan by discovering what your limiters are. When you can discover what kept you from succeeding last year, you're one step closer to accomplishing your goals this time around. And the sooner you start the better.

Here are a few specific limiters to consider (and how to correct them) as you develop a training plan for next year.

Back Pain

If back pain kept you from finishing an event or kept you from reaching a time goal, make an appointment with your doctor. It's better to get a serious problem out of the way first instead of exacerbating symptoms. If the doctor says you're okay, move to step two.

If you haven't had a good bike fit, get one. Most back pain stems from poorly adjusted saddle height and handlebar reach. While it might not be a problem for the first 20 miles, long distances have a way of uncovering errors in your position.

Once you've had a bike fit, determine if you still feel stiff or have pain after a long ride. If you do, then the problem is likely weakness caused by a lack of core strength. Center your offseason workout routine to build strength in these areas.

Lower Extremity Weakness

As with back pain, a bike fit and an exercise plan geared towards building strength is a good starting point to address pain or muscular deficiency. The more time you spend in the saddle, the less likely that muscular fatigue will be an issue.

In Shannon Sovndal's Cycling Anatomy, she recommends a strength-building exercise called "Goalie's" that works your legs, core and arms. To perform a Goalie:

• Hold a medicine ball at chest height. Stand in front of a platform or step with feet shoulders-width apart.
• With a bounding movement, step onto the platform with one leg. Drive your non-weight-bearing knee up towards your chest. Straighten the supporting leg. Extend both arms up so that the medicine ball is raised above your head. The move is completed with a toe raise on the supporting leg.
• Use controlled movements to step back to the starting position. Repeat using the opposite leg.

The "Spinning Drill" is another exercise that will help build strength. Please note: If you can't spin at the recommended 120 rpm, start at 60 rpm and increase rpm by 10 at each minute. Recover the same amount of time you spin (4 minutes spinning = 4 minutes recovery or 3 minutes spinning = 3 minutes recovery).

• Place your bike on a trainer.
• Warm up for 20 minutes.
• Shift gears so you can spin:
  1. 90 rpm for 1 minute.
  2. 100 rpm for 1 minute.
  3. 110 rpm for 1 minute.
  4. 115 rpm for 1 minute.
  5. 120 rpm for 30 seconds.
  6. Recover and spin easy for 5 minutes.
  7. Repeat 3 times.

Hills

Including hill training into a training plan is recommended for cyclists of all levels of ability. If you avoid races that have hills or consistently get dropped by other riders when riding hills, it's a good idea to incorporate more specific hill training into your plan.

Climbing requires a lot of strength. Include standing start intervals using big gears to help gain the strength needed for sufficient climbing.

To complete a standing start interval, practice on the road or on a stationary trainer.

• Come to a complete stop.
• Stay seated in the saddle for as long as possible. Shift your gearing to the hardest cog.
• When you start to lose your balance, stand up and sprint as hard as you can for 20 seconds.
• After the sprint is complete, sit back down on the saddle and recover for 2 to 3 minutes easy.
• Repeat 10 times.

Power

To improve your time goal for an event, it's important to increase power output. To increase your power, focus a portion of your training to work on cadence and strength. Quadriceps, hamstring and the gluteal muscles are of particular importance. Cadence drills using larger gears and slower cadences than you usually use will increase functional strength on the bike.

Practice using larger gears during training rides a few times per week. Use these gears for a few minutes at a time until you feel your muscles fatigue. Always follow with light spinning to recovery.

Riding in a Pack

It's okay to drift to the back of the pack on a group ride or race if you're tired. If you drift to the back because you aren't comfortable riding in the middle of the pack, this is a limiter to performance that you should address.

Work on soft cycling skills—the ability to anticipate what other riders are going to do directly in front of you. To practice this skill, ride with as many different groups as you can. Try to stay in the middle of the pack and don't take a turn pulling at the front. And most of all, don't let yourself drift to the rear. Stay in the middle, even if it's uncomfortable.

Let the other riders around you know what you're doing. Chances are they'll give you some pointers if they see you struggling. With time, you'll become less tense and more comfortable riding around others.

Lack of Endurance

If you notice that you quickly become out of breath during a race and especially fatigued during longer climbs, you may lack the necessary aerobic capacity for the event you've chosen.

A good way to monitor your level of endurance is with a heart rate monitor. If you become out of breath when your heart rate hits 175, then interval training in this heart rate zone is likely what you need.

• Ride for 30 seconds once your heart rate reaches 175 bpm (beats per minute). Recover for one minute.
• Repeat five times (one set).
• Work up until you can complete two sets.
• Once you're able to complete two sets, move up the duration of the interval from 30 seconds to one minute.

Time in the Saddle

Fatigue before the completion of an event is a key indicator that you haven't done enough base mileage during the offseason. If your goal is to complete a 62-mile event and you fatigue at the 40-mile mark, make increasing your base mileage before your goal event a priority.

Count backwards from the event so that you can increase your long ride by 5 miles each week (or 10 percent if your goal is longer) until you reach 62. If you're going for a specific time, you may want to ride even further than the distance of the event.

Related Articles:

• 4 Tips for Cycling Uphill
• Should Cyclists Shave Their Legs?
• Why it Pays for Cyclists to Base Train

Ready to ride? Search for a cycling event