The first question that I am asked about the Intermediate Bike Training Group is "when do you meet?" I would love to be able to deliver training in a group setting but that is just not possible on a large scale.

Midlife Cycling started as a small training group within the Denver Bike Touring Club. I had been a runner and was used to very structured group training on the track. This is easy to do because the group goes around in a circle on terrain that stays the same. People are assigned a group based on their 10K time. Workout speeds are specified in 1/4 mile split times.

Not so easy to do on the bike. We cover a lot of ground over varying terrain. You may be fast on the flats and could train with one group. But could be slow in the hills necessitating that you train with a different group. And, while it is easy to keep 100 people with different abilities organized on a track it is not possible to keep 100 cyclists with different abilities together on the road.

My solution at the moment is to provide general guidelines through this weekly e-mail, some group training through the Fall/Winter seminars and clinics, and eventually deliver the majority of content through the multimedia products that are being developed.

If you are a die-hard cyclist and want to maximize your training results then I would highly recommend against group training. However, as recreational cyclists, I believe that the support and motivation that comes from riding with others far outweighs the problems associated with group riding that pulls you out of your optimal training zone.

So the my suggestion is that you find 6-8 people who live near you to ride with on a regular basis. Then have your small group ride with others in the weekend RMCC or DBTC rides.

For you newbies, Nike is providing free training to the public to prepare them for the LIVESTRONG Challenge on August 20th to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. This training is free to the public whether you intend to do the actual event or not. The training will last until August 12th. The starting location is out of the southeast corner of Sloan's Lake Park (17th & Meade). Tuesday evening rides start at 6:30pm and last about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Saturday morning rides start at 9:00am. The weekend rides are designed to move your endurance from 20 miles out to 60 miles. There is a trainer who rides in the middle of the group and a sweep at the end to make sure nobody gets dropped. I ride back and forth in the main pack to provide coaching pointers. The rides have been fun and the pack is running around 12-18 people. Please come out to support Nike and LAF so they will do this program again next year.

For yesterday's ride I chose a route from Sloan's Lake to Englewood Golf Course along the Platte River Bike Trail. Some people love riding on the paths and others hate it. I happen to be one of those who rides the paths well. I think of it as "single-track" for road bikes.

Legally, we are limited to 15 mph on the paths. Of course, speeds drift up above that on occasion. The main complaint about bike path riding is the turns and twists, constant speed changes, and negotiating obstacles. For me, those are the main benefits or riding on the trails.

Training isn't about going fast all the time as we will discuss in the next section. You also need to develop your bike handling skills and ability to change speed quickly either up or down. Advanced cyclists ride close even on the road. We want to make use of the aerodynamic advantage that comes with that. Nothing is more annoying than to have someone in the group who can't maintain a consistent speed, who can't steer smoothly, and who can't fit in with the flow of the constant speed changes as we go over varying terrain.

For me, bike paths are an excellent place to practice these skills. Your average speed should be at a slower, endurance pace where you can ride for hours. At this speed you should have lots of reserve for maintaining that speed when you hit inclines on the path. I have an advantage because I'm light so the bike accelerates/decelerates quickly. However, I believe that my high pedaling cadence makes more of a difference than my weight. If you are pushing a big gear then it is like driving your car in 5th gear. You are not going to be able to accelerate very fast. Next, the path is narrow. That requires very precise steering at high speed. If you ride sloppy on the road then this will be another problem to you. My game is to pick a speed and try not to change it regardless of the path. Going through corners and S- turns at speed requires skilled bike handling and a knowledge of high speed cornering. Fortunately, my kart racing experience helps me in that area. Finally, when approaching obstacles you need to let the space between you and other bikes increase. After passing the obstacle you need to accelerate back on as fast a possible. This takes tremendous energy to jump up to high speed and close the gap with the bike in front of you.

I agree that bike paths are not an appropriate place for large group riding. But, sometimes we have no choice but to use them to get between training areas quickly or safe from cars. It is to your advantage to learn to ride them well.

Midlife Cycling training is designed for one purpose - to condition you to go 100 miles over any terrain in relative comfort. While this an be used to build a foundation for time trialing, criteriums, and other racing, we are not training to race. So the fact that someone can do 30 mph for 10 miles is rather irrelevent to us. Do a century ride in 4 hours and you will get my attention.

High speed riding is primarily used to train the nervous system to fire your muscles at a fast pace. If you are at or above Lactate Threshold it can develop your ability to remove lactate and tolerate any amount that remains. But this is very specific training and most people don't do it correctly.

Coaches say "on a slow day ride SLOW and on a fast day ride FAST". Most cyclists ride a pace that is comfortable or slightly uncomfortable for them which is what coaches consider "no man's land." In this area there is minimal benefit to endurance or speed.

Your body does not have a linear response to physical stress. Short-Intense workouts are not the same as Long-Easy workouts. The reason is that your body is very smart. It has three energy systems to draw from and it picks the most efficient system for the current conditions. A lower intensity it draws on the fatty-acid system. At higher intensity it draws on the blood glucose system. And at the highest intensities it draws on the muscle/liver glycogen system. So going fast for a short time does not guarantee that you can do 100 miles at a slower speed. If you want to learn more about this in detail then take my Cycling Physiology seminar this Fall.

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