If you want to be one of those self-trained cyclists and want to start training without a specific schedule, you’ve got to keep things balanced.
Making a training mistake or two during your cycling life is inevitable. Making too many, however, can cause you to miss goals, recover poorly, perform below par, get injured or burnt-out.
Below are five mistakes self-trained cyclists typically make during the training process.
Not riding hard enough on your hard rides, and easy enough on your easy rides
This is a classic. Many riders prefer to stay on rides they’re comfortable with and don’t want to challenge themselves. Riders don’t want to let go of their “grey zone”, but you need to remind yourself not to make this mistake. A coach will be helpful in this situation.
Putting in your best efforts in training, and not in the race you’re training for
Everyone knows that one super-strong rider who smashes everyone in training, and doesn’t have what it takes in racing. If you empty the suitcase when it doesn’t matter, there is nothing left for when it really does. Often a cyclist’s best performance happens a week before a race instead of in the race itself.
Comparing yourself to what others are doing and not committing to your own routine
It is fine to maintain the social aspect of the sport, and it’s important too. But getting obsessive about how your fellow riders are training isn’t healthy. Remember, core workouts are required to be done alone to ensure that you get the most out of them.
Not training with specificity
It’s incredibly important to understand what the demands of your target race or event are and develop workouts to target them. There’s no sense training speed for a race in the mountains, for example.
Avoiding the easy rides
Most self-trained cyclists assume that only the hard rides matter. But, that’s a wrong assumption. In fact, easy rides are just as essential as the intense rides. You need to do the easy rides as they help in developing your aerobic system and promote the recovery process.
