In light of the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 cycling season is obviously getting affected. Races are in question, stress is high, and a lot of us are wondering how to proceed with our seasons with the calendar changing. So we decided to sit down and chat about the age old question: what should we do when our races get cancelled? How do we proceed when plans change?
A lot of us are in this position, so we hope that this clears some of the worry and unknown when it comes to the next few weeks of the season. #KeepCalmAndFtFPOn .
In a nutshell, keep riding, keep training but shift your annual training plan forward by 6 - 10 weeks or however long it is until your next race. Here are 3 training scenarios if your plans have changed per our āTiming is Everythingā Podcast:
#1 your next race is in 6-10 weeks (and/or you have MORE time to train):
Keep raising your CTL (Chronic Training Load) - everybody benefits from a ābigger baseā so keep building. In other words go from āraceā back to ābaseā [reverse!] . In this case we advocate a Sweet Spot Part 3 training plan approach
#2 your next race is in 6-10 weeks (and you have LESS time to train):
For example, your kids are home from school and you canāt ride outdoors like normal. In this case you may adopt a āgo harder to compensate for less time to trainā approach to your goals from an interval training plan like the ones here.
#3 you are a cyclocrossāer in the off season and donāt want to go to the gym anymore [#flattenthecurve]
We advocate making your own home gym with the strength and conditioning movements we prescribe in our 10 week resistance training plan. Youāll have to let go of the squat, leg press and leg curl from the plan and double down on these strength and conditioning movements and routines
Hope that helps - thatās what we are here for: to help you go faster on the bike. Should you have any more questions, concerns, dilemmas, obstacles, etcā¦ reach out to your FasCat Coach, hire one or goto our athlete forum [forum.FasCatCoaching.com] and post a question - weād be glad to try and help!
One scenario I did not think was well covered is if you have been base training since December and basically the whole season gets shifted to fall/late fall, is it fine to restart base or should one revert all the way to an off season plan? Seems like 10+ months of straight base is a lot. Could be looking at more of a 6 month shift in the season than a couple months; remains to be seen but I feel this is likely at this point, a few races already have been moved from spring to fall.
You def want to switch from base to race bc you donāt want to get stagnant from base training (and CTL leveling out). I think we are just in a 4 week pause for some gravel racing and have high hope that the DK still happens May 30th.
Iām kinda in a similar situation, Iāve just finished base, full 18 wks sst, and was going to start intervals next week for my A race on may 16. The race wasnāt yet cancelled (or postponed), but I guess thereās a big chance it will, given the current situation.
Whatās the best course of action?
1 - Do the interval plan, so Iām ready in case the race goes on as planned, and revert to base later on, if it does not.
2 - Repeat base until I get further news?
Good point on the stagnation, did not think of that, so I am glad you corrected my thinking.
I think BWR will be postponed for sure and even DK will be tight. Another issue I may run into is even if DK runs, they may not allow me to cross the border!
I would plan to be in form mid-May with interval training. But then cycle back n forth between sweet spot and intervals more of an āin seasonā style until you know more.
Good episode and information given. Unfortunately, groups rides in most of Europe, UK, Spain, Italy have been banned as well organised events cancelled, sad times but the correct decision. Therefore the āget on some group rides and carry onā bit doesnāt applied to us.
Solo outdoor rides and indoors is the only option. A podcast or info on getting the most out of indoor sessions or outdoor solo rides would be useful. I donāt have too much trouble with long solo out door rides but I used too. How do you motivate yourself for a long outdoor sole ride when the weather is less than great or you need that extra motivation, especially when there is nothing to train for in the next six months.
Basically
Advice on motivation with no foreseeable goal event - (All mine are cancelled this year until the end of June and I have none past this)
How to get the most out of solo outdoor rides and not just ride around aimlessly after a interval or two
What to do if the whole session is cancelled, this years entries have been deferred to next year 2021ās events, so assume no events til April / May next year with Worlds qualifier first week of June 2021
A lot of people train and ride for fun. Most of the enjoyment and pleasure comes from the build up to the event. The event is only a small fraction of it. Look to improve on personal goals through your training. Improve your FTP, fastest 100 mile solo ride, improve personal Strava KOMās, ride the most you have ridden in a day and etc. Know that the work you put in this year will help for next year! If you let up this year and take it easy it will only take more work next year to get back to a position you would be in if you stayed on it. Think of it this way as well, how many people go to the gyms, or do CrossFit yet never enter a competition?
For long outdoors rides one thing I also do is look to ride new roads, in new directions, ride places I have never ridden, add in Strava segments along the way throughout the ride, create new ones and etc! We have segments here that are on sections of roads that are 30, 45 and 60 minutes long. Ride to one of these, do it and ride back and already early have 3 - 4 hours. These can be great motivators. They are not climbs, some are flat, some are rolling, some are out and back, and some are loops. Try drawing something on Strava map by the route you ride. You are only limited by your creativity.
With no racing it becomes more important to keep training. There are not races to help you get into shape. So you will have to work hard on staying motived and getting in race intensity. This for most will be the harder then doing long rides. Learning to push yourself as hard as you would in a race is very hard. You can try Zwift racing! That is something a lot maybe doing to get out that competitiveness they crave and also, quite frankly, some brutal efforts. But come the first races this year or next it will be easy to tell who put in the work and who didnāt.
If for whatever reason there is not racing this year those that put in the work will never regret doing it or being in shape, but those who donāt might.
Just have fun, enjoy the riding, enjoy pushing and challenging yourself and most of all just #FtFP. Weāll get through this together enjoy some group riding, racing, coffee shop rides and drinks together soon enough.