Are you thinking about your next cycling challenge - but are worried about having the time to train? Then worry no more!

Dyll Davies, founder and director of Viva Velo Cycle Tours and an expert in creating challenging cycling experiences also knows a thing or two about helping his clients prepare for them.

There’s nothing better than setting yourself a cycling goal particularly at this time of year. But setting yourself a goal to be achieved in the sunlit uplands of June or July means starting your preparation when the weather and limited daylight make it harder to get enthused about riding your bike. Add in the pressures of work and family life and it all just seems like something you’ll have to put off for another year. But don’t despair! There are ways to make sure that you get fit enough for that cycling challenge - it just takes a little bit of planning. Below you can see the edited highlights taken from our ‘Training Tips for Time-Poor Cyclists’ guide which is designed to ensure you’ll get plenty of bang for your training buck as you get ready for that epic ride! If what you see whets your appetite and you’d like to download the complete guide for free, simply click the button below.

TIP ONE - BE REALISTIC

It’s great to be ambitious. It’s great to push yourself. Setting the bar high is probably instinctive for you but if you devise a fitness programme that isn’t realistic you are likely to be disappointed with the results. Tip one is therefore to give yourself some room for manoeuvre by setting training goals that are achievable given the time available to you.

TIP TWO - BUY AN INDOOR TRAINER

If you already have one then you can skip to Tip Three. If not then this is a no-brainer. If you are training for an event in the summer you are probably going to have to start in the depths of winter and even if the weather is kind, if you are short of time you are going to need to squeeze in some training in the evenings or early mornings – or if you work from home some days - maybe even at lunchtime. While being a member of a gym is an alternative – and some people find the discipline of actually going to a gym helps them stick to a plan – the time saved by having an indoor trainer set up in the spare room which you can hop on in a matter of minutes is also a significant plus – not to mention a much cheaper option!

TIP THREE - WRITE YOUR PLAN DOWN

Obvious really. But some folk are tempted to free form their training. Don’t! Writing a plan out is essential. You are far more likely to stick to something you have committed to paper or written into an online app like Training Peaks than a plan you have committed to only in your head. Again this sounds obvious but along with being honest and realistic you do have to be disciplined and committed and committing your plan to paper, either literally or electronically, will help you stick to it.

TIP FOUR - MAKE IT COUNT - THE 80/20 RULE

You may have heard of the 80/20 rule. If so then what we are about to say will not be complete news to you although how we apply it may be. If not – and the majority of cyclists who come on our tours haven’t – this rule will help you get what we call ‘bang for your training buck’. Many cyclists spend hours disobeying this rule and while their efforts will not be decreasing their fitness they could be training much more efficiently. Broadly the 80/20 rule (or sometimes the 75/25 rule) is a guide to how much of your time on the bike or turbo is spent making those big efforts (20-25%) and how much is spent riding at a lower effort level (75-80%).

TIP FIVE - USE SWEET SPOT

You may have heard of ‘sweet spot’ but might not be 100% certain what it means. In short it is the zone that sits between the top end of Tempo (zone three) and Threshold (zone four) and is the zone you should use for your higher intensity sessions. Sweet spot training enables you to train without developing too much fatigue and offers a high return for your time, increasing aerobic power and leading to a quick improvement in fitness. After two months of ‘sweet spot’ training, most people will see significant improvements. Again, giving you more bang for your buck!

TIP SIX - MAKE IT FUN

While it is important that when you are training you are focused on your goal for that session, you should ensure that you build some fun into your programme. Generally this will mean that your higher intensity efforts might need to be done on your own but you should always find room for at least one social ride – with or without coffee and cake. Try to vary higher intensity sessions too, interleaving longer sweet spot training on the road with shorter high intensity intervals on an indoor trainer, or hill repeats. If you have a friend who can train with you, even better. Some of the most valuable sweet spot sessions I have ever done were ridden with a friend who was significantly stronger than me. He poured out the watts on the front while I tucked in behind him. Both of us were riding at sweet spot! Much more fun than toiling away on my own. As mentioned previously, if you commute and your route permits it, you can turn one or two days into sweet spot sessions. Variety is the spice of life and the same applies to your training.

As you can see, there’s no reason not to set yourself a cycling challenge this year. Maybe you’d like to ride from London to Paris and watch the Tour de France, try a Land’s End to John O’Groats epic or maybe you’d could give your season and training a kick start by joining us in Mallorca in April. If so get in touch today and we’ll do our best to squeeze you on to these always popular trips.

If you’re interested in getting more information about maximising the benefit of your training time then just click the button below and we’ll send you our free seven week training plan tailored for the time poor cyclist.