DIY fitness bootcamp?

[Bobby]

After a miserable year so far I've just had a nice holiday & come back feeling a bit healthier and ready to ride again...

I'm going to ride tomorrow - first time in 5 weeks.  I'll ride a few more times this week to get the legs back into it. Then:

• 13th May I'll be on a 200k audax
• in Sept I'm riding the 1000k Boarders of Belgium

(There will be a few more ride in between )


Before getting into back something a bit more structured (trainerroad plan with a long rides outside, and a couple of days riding both morning and evening), I quite fancy a 'DIY bootcamp' to help jump-start my fitness a bit.. 

Has anybody done anything similar & able to offer any advice?

• Something really simple like 60k a day for 7 days?
• Something more focused such as hills or intervals? perhaps alternating hard days/easy days?

[Kim]

I think it's called "cycle touring"...

[rdtrdt]

Before getting into back something a bit more structured (trainerroad plan with a long rides outside, and a couple of days riding both morning and evening), I quite fancy a 'DIY bootcamp' to help jump-start my fitness a bit..

This sounds akin to all those "training camps" that some cyclists pay a load of money to attend, usually somewhere in a nice climate to facilitate all the planned cycling...

...while there they cycle massively more distance than they're accustomed to, with little to no recovery possible, and then wonder why many of them return home injured and/or sick 

Not a great plan!

Better to contain your new found enthusiasm, IMO, rather than letting it get the better of you, and plan instead for a measured and progressive raising of workload over the medium term. Dull-sounding, perhaps, but likely more effective.

[DuncanM]

If you are going to do Trainer Road (or equivalent structured training program), why not just start there? Doing a bunch of unstructured training, just to load you up with some stress before starting the structured training seems like it's going to compromise what the structure is supposed to achieve.
That's not to say you shouldn't just go out and ride your bike for fun, but...

[Bobby]

If you are going to do Trainer Road (or equivalent structured training program), why not just start there? Doing a bunch of unstructured training, just to load you up with some stress before starting the structured training seems like it's going to compromise what the structure is supposed to achieve.
That's not to say you shouldn't just go out and ride your bike for fun, but...

I was thinking that the FTP test would be quite depressing with no miles in the legs... but maybe you're right on reflection I should just go for something structured (with a bit of fun thrown in!)

[LittleWheelsandBig]

If starting from a very low base, I find little adverse effect (other than a sore bum) from repeated 100km days (+-50km, depending on conditions) of low-moderate intensity. 4-5 days of that regime noticeable lifts my fitness. A recovery day or two and then repeat at slightly higher intensity. I find higher intensity riding with low fitness leads to injury from overuse or other injuries but YMMV.