Whether you’re prepping for your first big ride, taking your indoor cycling outside, or training for your first race, you need a plan. As a beginner cyclist, a cycling training plan will help you set goals and maintain your focus until you reach them. We might be biased, but we certainly think a Gran Fondo is a great goal to work up to, – it's a fun but challenging ride alongside your cycling community. Long rides are vital to increasing endurance and strength, but you can’t start logging miles in the saddle until you’ve mapped out how often and at what intensity your training sessions should be. Our cycling training plans here outline how to set your goals, and how to reach them - every step of the way.
Setting Goals & Getting Started
If you’re reading this, you likely have a goal or target event in mind already. From shorter criterium races to lengthy Gran Fondos or bucket list rides, having a goal is a powerful motivator.
If you’re new to cycling, shorter can be better, especially if you are unfamiliar with endurance sports and what your body can handle. The average beginner road cyclist travels at 10-12 miles per hour, so it would take around three hours to ride 30 miles. There’s nothing wrong with setting a goal to work toward a distance like 20 or 30 miles. However, you’d be surprised what the body and mind can accomplish if you train properly.
Another factor to consider is terrain and the difficulty of routes. A 50-mile ride on flat ground is easier than 50 miles in the hills. If you are not used to hilly or mountainous rides, a flatter 50 miles may be no problem. But if the terrain is more undulating, you should shoot for a shorter distance goal.
How often should you ride each week?
As a beginner, you should aim to ride 2–3 times per week for a total of 2–3 hours. Building up consistency is the best way to build your overall stamina, strength, and speed (if that’s your goal). As you improve your performance, you can ride longer and more times per week. Rest is always important, but it certainly cannot be neglected if you’re new to cycling. Cycling pros can go 5–7 days before taking a rest, but beginners need at least 2 rest days during the week.
How long does it take to recover from a ride?
Shorter rides take 24 hours or less to recover from, but high-intensity rides require 24–48 hours of recovery time. Rest is important for muscle and tissue recovery and to keep your brain and body from burnout. If you do too much too soon or over-train, you’ll see no improvement or even a decline in performance. So increase your training slowly and don’t max out during every ride. Age is also a factor in how much rest you need. Children and senior adults need more rest than young and middle-aged adults. And anyone of any age should get plenty of sleep for optimal performance.
How many rest days should you take?
Cyclists of all skill levels should get at least one full rest day per week and the day before a goal event or hard workout. Full rest doesn’t mean just time off the saddle doing some other form of exercise; it means taking a day off and letting your body repair itself.
It’s good to take breaks from cycling during the week for other forms of exercise like strength training or swimming, otherwise known as cross-training. Cross-training is beneficial because it can train different muscles than cycling and it gives more variety so you don’t get burnt out on cycling. For example, strength training, stretching, and yoga can be used to strengthen the core muscles, which helps you produce more power and avoid overuse injuries on the bike. However, it’s always wise to listen to your body–if you’re in pain or fatigued you should take it easy, no matter what activity you’re doing.
Active recovery days can be used in addition to full rest days. Active recovery helps blood flow throughout your body, repairing the muscles that were stressed when training. An active recovery ride is usually 1 hour or less and should be very easy. You should not feel winded or like you are putting in any effort on these rides.
Basic cycling training difficulty zones
As with many training plans, we’ll use the concept of “zones” or difficulties to plan out rides. From mellow miles at a conversational pace, to all-out sprints or hill climbs, each type of ride will help you in different ways. While more advanced riders will use data such as power and heart rate monitors to set these zones precisely, we’ll keep them basic to get you moving and improving.
Moderate
Heart rate: 60-70% of max
This pace forms the base of all training, whether you are a pro or a newbie. If you have a heart rate monitor, this pace is 60-70% of your max (e.g. if your max is 180, your heart rate should be 110-125).
- Maintain a pace that’s easy to carry on a conversation.
- Keep effort constant. Don’t try to maintain the same speed on uphills. Just keep a nice, easy effort constant. You will be much slower uphill.
- Focus on smooth pedaling and good posture on the bike.
- Finish feeling like you’ve left something in the tank.
- Practice your nutrition as rides get longer over the weeks.
Moderate
Heart rate: 70-85% of max
Don’t start with a moderate training plan until you have established a cycling base of at least 15–20 miles a week. Ride at the pace you will be targeting for your goal event, if you have one.
- Your pace should be challenging but not so hard that you can’t manage to keep it for an entire training session or full event distance.
- As you begin to incorporate this intensity into your training session, remember to focus on keeping the same smooth form as on easy rides while increasing the power smoothly. This takes focus and concentration, but it’s worth it to prevent injuries and to be more efficient.
- It’s very important to practice proper nutrition while training in this pace zone. Practice with different types of energy supply (drink, gel, chew, or bar) - find what works best for you.
- To help you keep your pace high for longer, try and push your carb intake to 60-90 grams/hour. This is the level shown to maximize endurance performance. Start early and fuel often in order to benefit the last half of the Fondo and especially the last 20-25%!
Intervals & Hills
Heart rate: 85–95% of max
Interval or hill training workouts involve periods of riding that will be faster than your regular race pace and that you could not sustain for the duration of an event. These sessions work your muscles differently and contribute importantly to overall fitness.
- As with a moderate intensity session, aim to maintain your smooth form (try to keep nice round pedaling and relaxed upper body) but apply even more smooth power to the pedals.
- Do intervals on hills. If you have few or no hills in your training area, ride intervals into the wind and/or in heavier gear. But again, emphasize smooth power rather than raw speed.
- Durations can vary for interval and hill workouts, but we recommend finding a pace you can maintain for 2–5 minutes. This will take some trial and error. Typically, you will start at a pace that seems a little too easy, but by 2–5 minutes at that same pace, you’ll be ready to be done!
- Before the first interval or hill session, you should have ridden for at least 15–20 minutes, progressively increasing power to get your muscles warmed up.
- Start at 2 repetitions and work your way up to 4 or 5. The rest of the ride should be at an easy pace.
- After one interval or hill session, pedal at an easy pace for 1-2 minutes, and then repeat.
Beginner Cycling Training Plans
Below is a sample training plan for a beginner cyclist planning to ride a 50 mile ride. Note that all rides have rest days between them. The plan starts with just a few hours per week at an easy pace. It then ramps up riding time and intensity before backing off during week 8.
8 week training plan for a 50-mile ride
All rides should have rest days in between
Week 1: 3 rides at an easy pace. Aim for 1-1.5 hours each ride.
Week 2: 3 rides at an easy pace. Aim for 1-1.5 hours for the first two rides with a 2 hour ride on the weekend.
Week 3: 1 moderate ride for 1 hour. 1 easy ride for 1-1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 1.5-2 hours
Week 4: 1 moderate ride for 1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 2 hours
Week 5: 1 moderate ride for 1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 2 hours
Week 6: 1 interval ride for 1 hour. 1 easy ride for 1-1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 2.5-3 hours.
Week 7: 1 interval ride for 1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 1.5 hours. 1 easy ride for 3-3.5 hours.
Week 8: 1 interval ride for 1 hour. 1 easy ride for 1 hour. 1 easy ride for 2 hours.
While it is possible to train for a 100 mile ride in 8 weeks, taking 12 weeks allows for more time to build an aerobic base of fitness. Use the 8 week plan as a guide, but increase the amount of riding each week, layering in more volume and intensity.
Training Tips for Beginners: What to Focus on
1. Improving technique
Fitness is not the only thing that’s important in cycling. Improving your cycling technique reduces your risk of injury and saves energy. As you train, you learn how to move with your bike and maintain control with a relaxed posture and smooth pedaling. As you learn to tackle descents, winding corners, and bad weather, the more skilled you’ll become. Long, slow rides are a great time to focus on technique. Remember the basics–relax your upper body and keep your head up and feet flat. Often, problems with technique come from an improperly fitted or positioned saddle.
Learn how to measure your sit bone width to find your saddle size.
2. Increasing power
Intervals and uphills are two of the best ways to increase power. Intervals are short segments at maximum intensity. For example, you could follow a warm-up with 20 minutes at 85–90% max heart rate, rest for 10 minutes, and then repeat. At first, save intervals and uphills for shorter rides, but as you improve strength and endurance, mix them into longer rides. You can also ride against the wind or cross-train with weights. Strengthening your core will stabilize you in the saddle and increase your power.
Learn more: 10 Best Ways to Increase Your Cycling Power
3. Increasing endurance
Long rides are fundamental to any training plan. They’re the best way to increase strength and endurance and will lead to the fastest improvements. But a good cycling training plan builds distance gradually to avoid injury and over-training. Fueling with a healthy amount of carbohydrates before and during your ride will also give you more energy to ride for longer without getting fatigued.
Tools & technology - tracking your rides
Today, there are a number of digital tools that help plan and execute your training. The most popular are apps such as Strava and MapMyRide. These record your training data and are a great way to keep track of your training progress. Strava specifically is popular for its social media-like functions, allowing you to interact with friends and keep motivated by seeing other people’s rides.
Other tools include power meters, heart rate monitors and bicycle computers. Power meters attach to the crank of the bike and measure your power output in watts. These are expensive, but a popular alternative is a heart rate monitor. As mentioned above, heart rate is used to set training zones. Both power meters and heart rate monitors are connected to bike computers or watches. With a head unit GPS computer, you can more easily see your data and are popular for navigating routes. Some prefer a multi-sport GPS watch, which can also track data and metrics.
However, none of this is necessary, especially if you are just cycling for fun and personal fitness. In the olden days, training plans were tracked with pen and paper. As discussed above, the most important things are time in the saddle and intensity, both of which don’t need to involve extra technology.
Hydration & nutrition
Like any sport, hydration and nutrition are important both on and off the bike. In endurance sports like cycling, carbohydrates are the body’s main fuel source, so breakfasts of oatmeal are popular before riding. After riding, protein in the form of meat or supplements helps aid stressed muscles.
What to eat while cycling
Energy gels, bars, chews or drink mixes are the most popular way to replenish carbohydrates and calories when riding. How much you ingest on a ride depends on the distance. For rides shorter than 1 hour, fluids and whatever you ate for breakfast will be a sufficient supply of energy. For rides longer than that, you should shoot to take in 30-60g of carbohydrates per hour. As you get more experienced and go on longer, more intense rides, you can experiment with taking in more carbs per hour. Pro cyclists take in well over 100g per hour due to the amount of energy they spend, but this requires training the stomach to be able to handle it.
Learn more: Cycling Fueling Guide: How to Get Nutrition Right Before, During, and After Your Ride
What to drink while cycling
Don’t simply drink to hydrate; drink to refuel. Your body needs electrolytes and carbohydrates while cycling, and sports drinks and mixes like F2C Nutrition are a great source of both. Sodium and carbs improve the absorption of the fluid. Find a sports drink in a flavor you enjoy, so you’ll stay motivated to stay hydrated. The general rule is to drink 16oz of water per hour, but you should drink more and take in more electrolytes if it is hot.
Other Beginner Cycling Training Tips
Find training partners
Riding with other people is great for motivation and accountability as well as having fun. Riding with others is also a proven way of getting faster and more fit. The challenge of keeping up pushes you harder than if you were riding solo. Most cities have group rides and training groups. Beginner-oriented groups will focus on the basics and skills of riding in groups, while more advanced group rides are focused on fitness and racing.
Listen to your body
Recovery is just as important as training. If something feels off, don’t be afraid to skip a day of riding or doing an easier ride. It’s better to take it easy than to push yourself to a place of injury, illness or discomfort.
Planning for the big day
In the weeks ahead of your goal ride, make sure that everything is prepped and ready to go. Plan what you will eat and drink on the bike and how much. Don’t experiment with gels or drinks you haven’t used before, stick with what you know.
Take your bike to a mechanic for a tuneup or do it yourself, checking for wear and any loose bolts. Make sure your saddle bag is equipped with the emergency repair essentials.
By now, you will be familiar with how different paces feel and what you can sustain over the course of the ride. Think about your pacing strategy during the ride. The most common mistake is getting excited by those around you and going out too hard. Instead, start easier than you think you should and ramp up to a steady, sustainable pace.
Now that you have your training plan in hand, it’s time to start cycling. We love having a goal to work towards, and couldn’t think of a better place to start than a Fondo. The Gran Fondo Hincapie is a renowned favorite, filled with fun and food for the whole family. You can register for the Fondo Hincapie in 4 locations throughout the year or choose from 20 of the best Gran Fondos in the USA.
A cycling training plan isn’t the only key to improving performance–your cycling apparel is just as significant. Choose from our men’s cycling apparel or women’s cycling apparel so you can ride well, in style.
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