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So i want to get faster and dont own a road bike...

7K views 50 replies 30 participants last post by  Trail_Blazer 
#1 ·
I can get in one good mtb ride a week,will jogging help? I want to get fitter and start doing a few races. I did a search and didnt find what i was looking for. My buddies now have road bikes and are starting to put it on me on rides. I actually got a road bike but had to sell it because of some un expected bills .
 
#4 ·
Ride more. A lot more. Having some structure to your plan would help immensely. Time Crunched Cyclist if you don't have the hours to put in or google sweet Spot training if your're really strapped for time. But nothing is going to take the place of hours in the saddle imo.
 
#6 ·
Time Crunched is a good read, but really structured and you'd probably need to have a couple of years steady training and a lot of miles in your legs to require that sort of structure. It's got lots of other good info and is worth reading anyway.

It sounds like you're pretty new to regular riding? Like said above 1 day a week of riding will not give you much gain, but is better than nothing. Jogging is better than nothing too, but if you have time to jog, ride the bike instead.
2 rides a week would be the bare minimum for seeing actual improvement in your endurance and speed (I got back into cycling 2 years ago, starting riding twice a week for a year), 3 rides a week is hugely better, and probably a minimum if you want to begin racing. Can you get a trainer to stick your bike on in your house to add a workout or two a week?
 
#32 ·
Time Crunched is a good read
No, not really. Carmichael is a charlatan. All his coached results were doped. PM me for link to the 6o minutes segment on him.

As a word of warning regarding "ride more. Lots more" advice, the unspoken part of the competitive cycling cult is suffering, and suffering more and longer is always better. It's not.

IMHO, Joe Friel's book is very good. The gym is excellent as is an exercise bike. I do 10 minute suffer sessions and they do great for me. I'm incrementally faster over many months at very low volumes.
 
#7 ·
Dave Wiens have won races, especially the Leadville 100 7 times if I'm not mistaken, without training on a road bike. He's doing all of his training aboard his mtb on dirt. More saddle time and doing intervals both on flats and hills. Each different cardio workout uses a different muscle group, therefore, to get better with cycling, ride more. I also race and I use road biking as cross training but I do more mtb'ing during training in order to get used to my bike and to keep improving my handling skills.
 
#8 ·
If you can't get free to ride you can always scour Craigslist for an exercise bike. It's amazing how much exercise equipment that is practically new ends up for sale on CL after a year or so of sitting in someones livingroom. ;) Many upright exercise bikes with electronic control with have interval workouts pre-programmed into the machine.
 
#9 ·
I had a road bike that I am selling to free up cash for some upgrades. I still plan on doing my road work on the mtb. In fact when I get new wheels I may keep my old ones and buy some slicks for them, depending on the cash flow at the time. I'm finding that the biggest thing I got out of riding a road bike is realizing that I'm fine riding in the road and it taught me tons about pacing. But I feel I could be just as effective at a slightly lower pace on my mtb, as can you.

I am kind of like you it seems with the amount of time to ride. I love spending time with my son and wife too much to go bonkers and be on a bike all the time. I thought about a structured program and am not sure it's worth it for where my fitness is. Reading Time Crunched Cyclist and may give it a go but my priority is more effective saddle time for the hours I have.

Also, a few years ago I did get into jogging when I was traveling lots and not riding more than once a week. The added cardio helped me get quite a bit faster and built endurance, but it was likely a reflection on how untrained I was at the time. I also overdid the running intensity sometimes and it gave me heavy legs when riding. If mixing the two just be sure you recover from running before a planned ride otherwise you'll feel like you're going backwards.
 
#10 · (Edited)
...I thought about a structured program and am not sure it's worth it for where my fitness is. Reading Time Crunched Cyclist and may give it a go but my priority is more effective saddle time for the hours I have...
More effective saddle time is EXACTLY what structured training will give you. I've seen a couple posts stating that their fitness level isn't appropriate for structured training and frankly that is a major cop-out.

The sooner you get structure, the sooner you'll be going faster. It might take you a bit to figure out how to keep the structure fun -and truthfully that can be a big challenge but even that is doable. If your goal is to get faster for xc in the least amount of time, you will get there much faster with a structured plan.

Without preaching much more, just be honest about where you're at aerobically and your near & long term goals.
 
#11 ·
Yeah I didn't get any faster until I started riding four times a week with a plan of how to challenge myself, thinking about that technical spot on climbs. And then my diet became much more demanding. Then I needed to work on doing more sit ups for my back. Before I knew it the hardest part is finding new music to cook and warm up with. Of course I'm no xc racer, but I think the enduro thing is pretty cool, and it seems to be working for others. Structure builds.
 
#12 ·
I just looked at the 'new competitor' tables in Time Crunched, and they don't look too tough, maybe they are really for relatively new riders (?), it's hard to tell how 'new' the competitor is supposed to be, "less than 5 years" is a little vague.
I guess I do ride with quite a bit of structure: no more than 2 days off in a row, no more than 3 days on in a row, shorter harder rides twice a week, longer rides Wed night and Sunday am). It seems like I would have to ride road or trainer to do the intervals in Time Crunched, since my trail loop has several short harder hills, spaced out such that I end up doing hill intervals of a sort every lap, timed to the terrain not the clock.
Like ehigh said, I saw good gains moving up to 4x per week. I figured out I can make a sandwich for a quick lunch and sneak in 2 one hour rides per week on a sort of lunch break. I'm fortunate enough that my work schedule allows that, but it's still very random, I can't say which days I'll be able to ride during the day each week, but I can usually find 2 days to ride. It pays to be creative finding time to ride.

When I first got fairly fast 20 years ago (a few decent Expert finishes), a riding buddy was an Expert racer, chasing him up a 1600' climb on a 27 mile loop a couple of times a week was a good program! Finding other faster riders to ride with can be great, and adds to the fun and motivation.

ehigh; try doing 'backwards situps' (I'm sure there's a proper name for them), lay face down on an exercise ball (under hour hips), with your feet under something heavy (I use the end of the couch), drop your head down to the floor (pause), lift your torso and head as high as you can (pause), repeat. Those seem really good for the lower back.
 
#13 ·
a cheap second wheelset with some 1.5 road tires for your mtb would be great. you will need the same exact cassette and disc fyi..

also, using the same brand/style of hub is recommended, because that way you can be sure the disc fits into the calipers perfectly when you switch them out.

get a stationary trainer that you can ride at home if needed. riding once a week will keep you weak...haha...see what i did there?

good luck.
 
#14 ·
This is really mundane, shopworn, non-novel, and does not involve tricks or shortcuts or special structured training. Like others have said, riding more is the path to speed. Off-road when you can, road if you like. Also, here's another non-trick: Set up an old bike on a trainer in front of the TV so you can fit riding into changing schedules that revolve around life, work, family, etc.

I'm not going to dismiss weights or running as part of a good general life fitness program, but, if the goal is to ride bikes faster, then ride bikes more (as long as you don't overdo it - that;s another discussion).

BP
 
#15 ·
This.

I'll also add two other non-tricks:

1. Find people who ride lots and are already racing, and do a hard group ride once every week or two, road and/or mtn. Suck it up when you're dropped hard right after the start, finish on your own, show up the next week with a grin and try to get dropped a little later. Repeat for 1-3 years.

2. Go racing now, even if you currently feel you are slow. It'll make you faster.
 
#17 ·
There's no need for even a second set of wheels really. Pump up the offroad tyres on your mountain bike to a higher pressure (I use 50psi) and simply ride that on the road.

You're getting the specificity of the mountain bike position and a good workout for the time spent with the added weight and rolling resistance also.:)
 
#19 ·
According to WKO+ I got 3,500 miles out of my last rear tyre (Specialized Ground Control control 29x2.1), riding a mix of on and offroad on it. It's riding offroad tyres at low pressures on tarmac that really kills them quickly. At higher pressures they last much better.:)

A harder tread compound should wear slower and last longer than the super soft tread compounds too.
 
#21 ·
MTB's can be ridden on roads. If fact road riding and hill repeats (on the road) have helped me so much this season. I went from mid-pack last year to up front this and blame it on my dirt road rides. :)

During my road rides I incorporate both hill repeats and intervals to up my threshold and V02 max.
 
#24 ·
Definitely don't need different wheels for road slicks.
I ride my stumpjumper on a daily basis with 1.25 specialized fatboys ($60 a pair) on stock wheels they are a very nice ride that eliminates all the tire hum and go fast.
Want to train with resistance/weight? Try hauling a chariot behind your bike! I drag my 3 year old all over the palce in one it'll make your legs burn for sure
 
#27 ·
If you haven't done much road riding on this bike before the main thing to pay attention to initially is your pedal stroke, maintaining a smooth mile eating rhythm, probably in the 80 to 90 rpm cadence range and a still upper body. I always like to imagine a metronome as I'm pedalling.:)

Riding on the road without stopping can also show up any existing fit issues with your MTB riding position as it's quite unforgiving. See how your knees, back, hands etc feel afterwards as it could be that your SPD cleats, saddle height and saddle angle etc may need tweaking for comfort.
 
#29 ·
I do like to have music on whilst I'm getting ready for a ride. On a long ride I'll sing songs to myself and tell stories as a way of filling in the time. If I have some catchy tunes on beforehand I can then play them back in my head for the next few hours on the road.:)

Today was quite funny. I was heading down the A38 to begin with, which is a flat main road, only it was into a raging headwind. I'd originally intended to turn off and go through the lanes but it was so hard into the wind that it would have been quitting and showing weakness to take the sheltered route. I stayed on the main road instead for the added challenge. 9.7miles in 45 minutes at an average speed of just 12.9mph on the flat.:lol:
 
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