I’ve just purchased the Fondo “Basic” training plan and have a question about the Saturday ride.
The 1st week is - 2 hours
The 2nd is - 3 hours
3rd is - 4 hours
4th is - 3,5 hours (regeneration week)
5th is - 5 hours
with the 6th being the taper and race week.
The 4th week comments say the following…
“We will be increasing the duration of your rides by 30 minutes each Saturday working your way up to a 5 hour ride so you can go the distance of the Fondo.”
Is this a typo as the next Saturday ride is itself 5 hours and they actually go up by 1 hour each time, which is quite a bit for an oldie like me.
So with plans that have to fit the majority we built the fondo plan under the assumption that the rider would part take in a 100 mile ride. This could take riders anywhere between 4 - 7 hours, so a wide range. The basic version is built around the fact you do not have as much time to train as much as you are a new rider. So the first few Saturday rides are lower in time, however to still prepare for such a long event you will want to get those longer Saturday training rides in including that 5 hour ride, if you have the time. Its a simulation ride and the one that will prepare you the most for the event. If your event will be only 60 miles and maybe 4 hours than you don’t necessary need to do a 5 hour training day. Again these plans are for the majority and what we see from our average customer.
That is a typo in that plan about only increasing by 30 minutes as the plan does go up by an hour each Saturday. As the duration gets longer just lower your intensity a bit. You want to build up towards the duration of your event in the 6 weeks. Starting the first Saturday at 2 hours and having only 4 Saturdays after that does not allow a lot of time.
Ideally before starting the fondo plan you would have a base in by completing one of our sweet spot plans such as our 16 week sweet spot plan or even just sweet spot 1 and 2 followed by the Fondo plan.