Comments on: Let’s Talk About Planning Your Ride

By: Bob Burpee

Bob Burpee — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 23:58:00 +0000

I plan almost all of my weekend rides (20-60mi), not specifically for training but for fun, and exercise. I try to vary the route somewhat, once I’m in the city. Fortunately Pittsburgh is a fairly hilly city so I don’t have to go out of my way for any hill work. I try to not let the weather dictate the distance but I have to admit that I will from time to time reduce the distance if it’s going to be a 90+ degree day. I will try to get an earlier start (as early as 05:30) to avoid some of the heat. I’m also guilty of enjoying the actual planning.

By: Riaan Coetzee

Riaan Coetzee — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 07:50:00 +0000

Let’s see … in the mornings I go to work. If I get out early (ie the kids and wife fed, out the door and off to school, and the maid early for a change) I extend my route from the normal 12-13km to 15-25km. In the afternoons I go home – if I had a short ride in the morning, I may end up doing a longer one in the afternoon. If I can get away from the office earlier, I end up on an epic trek through a game reserve or over some distant mountain. On weekends, if I get the time, I plan to go do something ‘special’, like a certain trail or uphill I haven’t done before (or want to do again)

By: Eric McWhirter

Eric McWhirter — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 01:01:00 +0000

I usually end up riding in a new area when I get a chance to ride, So I use Google maps to plan a route, it has been helpful in getting a look at the roads and seeing if there are bike routes, and I have a Garmin and can send routes to my unit, I do use Training Peaks as well

By: Mike Neifert

Mike Neifert — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:41:00 +0000

Long rides I plan out. Short rides, I just ride. I usually ride against the wind first so it’s smooth sailing coming home.

By: Mike Neifert

Mike Neifert — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:40:00 +0000

If I’m riding by myself, I don’t plan much unless it’s a really long ride. If I’m going with others, I still don’t plan much unless it’s a really long ride. For long rides, I think through where I’m going and sometimes even map it.

By: Ben Germain

Ben Germain — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:05:00 +0000

I’m about to take off right now so let’s see what I do. Right now I’m thinking about my options and have decided that with the 1 1/2 hours I have available I will do one of my favorite loops in this area. The wind is light so that should not affect things and I’ll be back in time for dinner with my family. guess that’s how I do it.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 17:48:00 +0000

I generally stick to many of the same routes each week. So for me it all depends on how many miles I want to get in that day. Most of the time it is due to how much time I have available and how many hours I have until it gets dark outside. During this time of year I have more flexibility in the length of my rides due to it staying light longer.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I make my mind up the day before or before I ride and try to stick with the plan no matter how I feel and usually am happy I did. If I want to do 20 I will bang it out. If I feel I need 50 I will stick in there during the ride ignoring any reason to cut it short. I am use to what each ride is like so I can pick and choose. If I plan on going with a group I let them decide. I think it is very seldome I just go out and see what happens. I have a time I have allowed and I use it or a plan like ride 30 and run 5 today.

By: Keith Edmiston

Keith Edmiston — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:00:00 +0000

JJ…I had a free TP account for awhile, but seldom used it since I couldn’t use it for planning. I had other ways to track what I had done, but not planning what I wanted to do in the future. Once I decided to “self-coach”, the premium TP account became a no-brainer. It’s not too fancy from a graphics point of view, but it’s robust.

So, I used it to create an Annual Training Plan (used the wizard to make it easier/quicker), then used the Virtual Coach to spit out workout sessions that I could then drag-n-drop in to my calendar. Upon completing a workout, I upload the data from my Garmin Edge 500 and it updates the info for that workout. Pretty snazzy.

I can, and somewhat do, also track nutrition intake. I would say this has a lot left to be desired since so many other options (LiveStrong MyPlate, for one) are out there that are much easier to use. Aside from the hassle of input, the nutritional analysis is pretty cool…pie charts, etc. to break down the nutrients that I take in. I don’t take that stuff too terribly serious, as I refuse to get that crazy about it all, but “real” athletes can/do if so desired. I plan to use it more for trend analysis than anything…over time, seeing how much my change in diet contributes to my change in fitness will likely provide added incentive to keep pursuing my goals.

This brings me to my last point…goals. Joe Friel (the guy that wrote the book that this website was built to support) actively states that this is all about racing, and as such, incorporates “periodization” concepts that have you work on “base”, then “build”, then “peak” just before scheduled races. Since I don’t really want to race, other than the odd time trial perhaps, I sought other goals that I could work up to. So, for me it’s the LiveStrong-Austin 100 miler this year, followed by a Christmas time epic ride on the Rapha Continental 337 ride out near Garner State Park in Central TX. These are the “A” events that I’m working towards, and I’ve built my workout plan around that in the TP website.

Hope this helps give you some things to consider when deciding if you want to do the TP premium or not. If you do, I would recommend jumping in to the 6-month term…it’s about half as much $$ as the monthly term, and you really need more than a month or so to fully evaluate it I think. Enjoy!

By: JJ

JJ — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:35:00 +0000

I just recently got involved with Training Peaks as well after seeing the ad on this website. I havn’t yet made full use of it but will look into becoming a premium member as you mentioned.