Cycling is a low impact sport, meaning it's gentle on the knees and joints, and is a great way to reduce stress and lose or maintain a healthy weight. As in all sports, the only way to improve your performance is to consistently challenge your body. If you're looking to improve your speed, increase your mileage or train for a local charity ride, it's important to start with a solid training plan.
Check Bike Fit
You wouldn't begin running before getting fitted for a pair of running shoes and the same applies for a bike. Since your body is fixed in one position for a long period of time, it's important to have the fit of your bike checked. A bike fit can prevent some cycling related injuries, improve your comfort on the bike and place you in a position to produce a more powerful pedal stroke. During a bike fit, the fitter will check your knee position as you pedal, dial in your saddle height and take other measurements that effect your biomechanics.
Go Long
To get better at cycling, you must ride more. You must also have a plan for every ride you take. This will help you reach your goals faster and prevent burnout. Aim to ride one long ride every week. This will help you increase your aerobic endurance and build your fitness base. This is especially important if you are training for a long distance, such as a century or multi-day touring trip. This should not be a hard effort. Depending on your fitness, start with a 20 to 30 mile ride and then build on that mileage every week by increasing it by 10 percent.
Go Fast
To build speed, it's important to challenge your body. Find a friend who's slightly faster than you or a group of riders who challenge you to ride faster. Riding with a group will teach you important bike handling skills and is an enjoyable way to sneak speed-building intervals into your rides. You don't always have to go fast, however, and you shouldn't do this type of ride every time you go out on your bike because it will be difficult to recover. On days that you feel like just riding, stay in an easy gear, riding at a cadence of 85 to 90 rpm and focus on spinning nice round pedal strokes.
Recovery
When you're training hard, it's also important to focus on recovery. Your body does not grow stronger while training, but during recovery. This is when your muscles repair and grow stronger. If you go hard every day, your fitness will suffer. Get at least seven hours of sleep every night, eat a diet high in fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates and lean proteins and drink plenty of water.
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