It’s the time of the year again, where races are over and I have to think of what I want to do next year. Do I want to be faster? Get further? Work on some weaknesses? Or should I ride just for the sake of fun and adventure?
I have to admit, racing doesn’t attract to me that much. If I’m not the best, it doesn’t matter. And I don’t mean the best in my agegroup or in a particular race. It mean’s better than Chris Froome, Contador or Sagan. And let’s face it: this won’t happen There will always be someone who is faster than me. 

For pure fun then? Well, therefort it’s sometimes hard to find motivation for Training. I wouldn’t go out then at -5°C for a century only because I planned it.

So what’s the target for me? 

It’s Endurance and it’s adventure. And I mean the good “sunny lake ride” and the bad “freezing my ass off in the rain” adventure.  

Therefore I’m a randonneur. And my target for next year will be to complete the brevet series. From March to June I will ride a 200Km, 300Km, 400Km and 600Km Brevet. And because the season is not over in June, I plan to ride across the Alps from Munich to Venice preferably in under 48 hours.

As a result from this decision my training targets are also clear: Build greater endurance and cruising speed.

And this is the trick, I use for my long winter endurance rides, since my first year in cycling: Don’t get out of the small front chain ring. 

This creates various positive effects for me:

• I automatically work on a higher cadence
• I work on a fluid pedal stroke
• I’ll stay warm in cold temperatures
• and I almost can’t get out of heart rate zone 1 and 2 (endurance)
• plus the decision is made for me, if I’m powering or cruising down a hill. 

Speed doesn’t matter in this period, it’s all about the time on the bike. The more, the better. 

Do you have a trick to stay in your training zones?