• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Become a Premium Member
  • About

Road Bike Rider Cycling Site

Expert road cycling advice, since 2001

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Bikes & Gear
  • Training & Health
  • Reviews
  • Cycling Ebooks
    • Ebooks Training
    • Ebooks Skills
    • E-Articles Training
    • E-Articles Nutrition
  • Member Area
  • Newsletter

How Can I Go Faster at the End of a Ride?

QUESTION: I got my first road bike three years ago and fell in with a group of racers at work. We’ve been doing fast 30-mile lunchtime rides with a good deal of climbing. I’m improving quickly, but I still get dropped near the finish. My friends say, “The only way to ride at 30 mph is to ride at 30 mph.” How do I get to the next level? — Jeff D.

RBR REPLIES: Your rides are relatively short but done at high intensity. Getting dropped near the end is a sign that you don’t have the endurance base to make the hard work count.

Longer rides on the weekend will help. Do them at a moderate pace about 80% of your lactate threshold.

However, long rides will help only if you limit hard rides during the week. Many riders can handle a long ride on the weekend along with fast rides on Tuesday and Thursday, but not every day. Some riders won’t recover if they do more than one hard midweek ride. See what works for you.

In addition, you need to do a couple of easy rides each week — even easier than your longer weekend training ride. You should probably do these solo unless you can find riders who promise to go easy.

Like most bumper-sticker statements, “The only way to ride at 30 mph is to ride at 30 mph” is an oversimplification. If it were literally true, every ride ought to be done flat out. Obviously, you’d overtrain quickly. 

The truth is much more complicated. However, you do need to train your body what to expect when you call on it to hit 30 mph.

To ride fast, you have to find the proper mix of intervals, long rides for endurance, recovery rides and rest days.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ron Schechter says

    June 1, 2023 at 11:38 am

    I’ve only discovered recently that good nutrition helps with endurance. Bars, blocks, raisins, a banana, whatever. Eat something every 10 or 20 miles or so. Garmin computers can be programed to tell you when to eat. This may sound like anathema to some riders, but on longer rides, I suck down a gel 10 miles before the end of the ride. It’s like getting a new pair of legs. Finishing like a champ.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Articles

  • Newsletter Issue No. 1088
  • The Shimano Crank Recall
  • HeyChy Mini Muscle Massage Gun Review
  • Follow Doc’s Advice, Foil Offseason Weight Gain

Recent Newsletters

Newsletter Issue No. 1088

Newsletter Issue No. 1087

Newsletter Issue No. 1086

Newsletter Issue No. 1085

Newsletter Issue No. 1082

Footer

Affiliate Disclosure

Our cycling expert editors and writers choose every product we review. We may earn an affiliate commission if you buy from one of our product links, at no extra cost to you. This income supports our site.

Follow Us

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Privacy Policy

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For?

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...