June and July are the peak months for most racing seasons throughout the US. Most championship races are held in these months, including Junior, under 23, elite senior, and masters nationals. Some state championships also take place at this time of year. This means peaking, tapering, and speed leading into these months are key. All of these are accomplished by lessening time and duration in your workouts, while increasing intensity and effort.
These changes in your workout can be as simple as removing a long ride and adding more sprints, or by pacing with a motor and incrementally increasing the speed until your peak.
An important component to these efforts is having rest days so your legs recover, as well as phasing in new exercises gradually so as not to incur injury.
One of the efforts I have my athletes do are 30 second speed intervals. These 30-second bursts are followed by a 2-5 minute rest and repeated.
Efforts in races at the height of the season are usually shorter and repeated often. By this time in the season, most riders are fit from training and racing and want to show off that fitness by attacking over and over again.
Riding in this aggressive manner splits the race fields in half, thins out the weaker riders, and helps us drop our friends on the Saturday club ride.
If you need help designing a training program that can increase your speed, we at Crank Cycling can help you. Shoot us an email. Let’s see what we can accomplish together.
Cheers,
Coach Jesse
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