Below are one-week samples of Joe’s two most popular road cycling training plans (one for base and one for build-peak-race periods). Most of his plans are 11 to 12 weeks long. For suggestions on how to choose the right plan for you see “How to choose a training plan”.
Road Base Period
(UNDER 50) Power 8–13 hrs/wk Strength Maintenance (SM), 2 sets. 30 minutes. AnE2. Jumps (8) RPE. 1 hour, 30 minutes. ME2. Hill Cruise Intervals (6–8 min. hill), Power. 1 hour, 30 minutes. AE1. Easy Ride, Power. 2 hours. SS4. Fixed Gear or Endurance Spinning, Power. 1 hour. AE2. Aerobic Threshold (AeT) Steady State HR+, Power. 3 hours. AE3. Easy Ride, Power. 3 hours, 30 minutes. Power, ~18 hrs/wk Strength Maintenance (SM). 30 minutes. AnE3. Race-like Ride. 2 hours. NOTE: If your preferred group goes out on Sundays instead of Saturdays swap the Sat-Sun workouts this week. AE3. Easy Ride, Power. 2 hours, 30 minutes. ME2. Hill Cruise Intervals, Power. 2 hours. AE1. Recovery Spin, Power. 2 hours. AnE3. Race-like Ride. 4 hours. NOTE: If your preferred group goes out on Sundays instead of Saturdays, swap the Sat-Sun workouts this week. AE1. Base Maintenance, Power. 5 hours.
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Monday
Warm-up 5–10 minutes. Then 2 sets of SM weight lifting. First set is light (12 reps with 15RM load). Second set is heavy heavy (3–6 reps with 6RM load). Cool down 5–10 minutes spinning in easy gear/resistance at high rpm. For details, go to Chapter 12 in The Cyclist’s Training Bible.Tuesday
On a mostly flat to gently rolling course or indoor trainer, warm-up for 20 minutes at a perceived exertion of 3–5 (on a 1=low to 10=high scale) by gradually increasing intensity. Then do several powerful, all-out, 8-pedal-revolution “jumps”—count one leg only or a total of 16 both-leg pedal strokes for each jump. Do some of these in the saddle and some standing on the pedals. These are 10 on a 10 scale—max effort. Recover for at least 5 minutes after each jump. If form breaks down, take a longer recovery or stop doing the jumps. How many jumps you do is up to you. It’s possible to do too many. 8 max is probably adequate. Otherwise ride easily in zones 1 and 2. The purpose of the jump is to see how quickly you can reach max speed. Cool down at a perceived exertion of 3–5 for the remainder of the ride. (When standing, focus on keeping head low (looking forward) and back flat with butt over nose of saddle. Very high cadences.)Wednesday
BT: Hill Cruise Intervals. Warm-up about 20 minutes. Climb a 6–8 minute hill (4–6% grade), 4–5 times at power zone 4. Get about 30 minutes of high-intensity climbing today (5×6, 4×7, or 4×8 minutes). Stay seated on each. Smooth pedaling. The recovery intervals are the time it takes descend. IF NO HILL AVAILABLE, then do the 4×7-minute intervals as above with 2-minute recoveries after each. Cool down.Thursday
Ride in power zones 1–2, but mostly 1 zone. Flat course or indoor trainer. Low effort, light on pedals. Comfortably high rpm.Friday
Fixed Gear or Endurance Spinning. Your choice of 2 options.
Option #1: Fixed Gear.
Ride fixed gear bike on a mostly flat course. The gear should allow at least 100+ rpm (~55 gear inches or less, such as a 39×19). Ride in power zones 1–2 mostly. Pedal horizontally—not vertically. Relax.
Option #2: Endurance Spinning.
On your road bike, use the cadence mode on your handlebar device if available. Spin at the high end of your comfortable range in the small chain ring in power zones 1–2 on a flat to gently rolling course or indoor trainer. Allow your feet and legs to relax while spinning. Note and record your average cadence for the ride when done.Saturday
Warm up 20 minutes. Then ride 2 hours steady at about 30 beats per minute (+/- 2 bpm) below the lowest HR in your 5a zone (FTHR—see Chapter 4 in The Cyclist’s Training Bible, 5th edition). Observe power at this effort. Cool down. Check your EF for the steady state portion of this ride on the TrainingPeaks analysis page. Over time your EF should increase, indicating improving aerobic fitness.Sunday
Ride in power zones 1–2, mostly 1 zone. Flat to rolling course. Low to moderate effort. Comfortably high rpm. This may be done indoors but reduce duration by 30 minutes.Road Cat 1–2 Build-Peak-Race
Purchase this plan / View All PlansWeek 2
Monday
Warm-up 5–10 minutes. Then do 2 sets of Strength Maintenance (SM) weight lifting. First set is light—12 reps with 15 repetition max (RM = a load you can only lift 15 times) load. Second set is heavy—3–6 reps with 6RM load. Cool down 5–10 minutes spinning on a stationary bike in an easy gear/resistance at high rpm. This should be a brief workout. (See the first Monday of this plan for more details.)
You may need to go easy on legs today. Do what you think is best. If very fatigued, take the day off. Do not lift more than once in a week at this time in the season.Tuesday
Race-like Ride.
+++OPTION #1
BT: Group ride. Ride how you feel today: If tired, sit in at power zones 1–3; if fresh, ride race efforts in all zones. Ride smart. Or do one of the following alternative workouts.
+++OPTION #2 IF NO GROUP RIDE:
Long Climbs/High-Intensity Ride.
BT: Ride as hilly a course as is available to you, preferably one with long (6+ minute) climbs and varying grades. On the short climbs ride aggressively going into power zone 5. On long climbs practice both seated and standing positions. If you don’t have a course that takes 2 hours, repeat sections of your hilly route. Cool down for a few minutes.
+++OPTION #3 IF NO HILLS:
Race-like Ride Solo.
BT: Warm-up by gradually increasing the effort for 15–20 minutes. Then randomly do long (10–20 minutes) tempo efforts in zone 3, muscular endurance efforts of 5–10 minutes (power zone 4), anaerobic endurance efforts of 30 seconds to 1 minute in zone 5, and short sprints at max effort. Recover between these as you feel like it, but emphasize endurance. Cool down for a few minutes.
+++OPTION #4:
BT: Do a C-priority race today. If you decide to do a B-priority race instead you will need to reduce the training load for the 3 days prior to the race.
Start the ride conservatively to monitor how you are feeling. Test yourself if feeling good.Wednesday
Ride in power zones 1–2, mostly 1 zone. Flat to rolling course. Low to moderate effort. Comfortably high rpm. This may be done indoors but reduce duration by 30 minutes.Thursday
BT: Hill Cruise Intervals. Warm-up about 20 minutes. Climb a 6–8 minute hill (4–6% grade), 4–5 times at power zone 4. Get about 40 minutes of high-intensity climbing today (for example, 7×6, 6×7, or 5×8 minutes). Stay seated on each. Smooth pedaling. The recovery intervals are the time it takes to descend. IF NO HILL AVAILABLE, then do the 5×8-minute intervals as above with 2-minute recoveries after each. (If on a hill, the recoveries are likely to be longer than 2 minutes. But keep them as short as possible.) Cool down.
The flat version of this workout may be done on your TT bike to help prepare you for a time trial.Friday
Do a very easy recovery spin on a mostly flat course (or on indoor trainer) in small chain ring. Zone 1 power only. Light pressure on the pedals. Comfortably high rpm focusing on smooth pedaling skills. Upper body “quiet” with legs spinning easily.Saturday
Race-like Ride.
+++OPTION #1
BT: Group ride. Ride how you feel today: If tired, sit in at power zones 1–3; if fresh, ride race efforts in all zones. Ride smart. Or do one of the following alternative workouts.
+++OPTION #2 IF NO GROUP RIDE:
Long Climbs/High-Intensity Ride.
BT: Ride as hilly a course as is available to you, preferably one with long (6+ minute) climbs and varying grades. On the short climbs ride aggressively going into power zone 5. On long climbs practice both seated and standing positions. If you don’t have a course that takes 2.5 hours, repeat sections of your hilly route. Cool down for a few minutes.
+++OPTION #3 IF NO HILLS:
Race-like Ride Solo.
BT: Warm-up by gradually increasing the effort for 15–20 minutes. Then randomly do long (10–20 minutes) tempo efforts in zone 3, muscular endurance efforts of 5–10 minutes (power zone 4), anaerobic endurance efforts of 30 seconds to 1 minute in zone 5, and short sprints at max effort. Recover between these as you feel like it, but emphasize endurance. Cool down for a few minutes.
+++OPTION #4:
BT: Do a C-priority race today. If you decide to do a B-priority race instead you will need to reduce the training load for the 3 days prior to the race.
Start the ride conservatively to monitor how you are feeling. Test yourself if feeling good.Sunday
Ride on a flat to gently rolling course. After warming up get at least 50% of ride time in power zone 2. Avoid 3–5 zones. Keep the 2-zone effort steady and continuous. After the ride confirm that you got at least 50% of the ride in zone 2.