I’m looking for some advice as to what to set my rider type so that the most approrpiate workouts are suggested when i want to do some intensity.
I don’t compete and just want to get better and fitter so I can ride with my friends on a weekly basis week in week out . Ride lengths are generally 4-8 hours.
I tend to train along the Inigo San Milan lines. Lots of his Z2 (basically approx LTP) with some harder stuff thrown in when I’m feeling OK. This is either on the weekly rides or on the turbo.
I can ride & train up to 15 hours a week and so long as my Training Load doesn’t go much above 90 for an extended period of time I don’t get too fatigued
An analysis of my group rides shows a distribution of 40% Sprint TimeTrialist, 30% Climber and 30% GC Specialist.
Any ideas about what is the best Athlete Type for me?
I would go for Climber or GC Specialist. This way you also get some intensity in and that’s never bad.
Another perspective is to look at your weaknesses. This can be as a absolute comparison by looking at rankings but also perhaps just in terms of where and with whom you ride. If the rides have long efforts, a longer duration focus is better. If your rides have a lot of short hard efforts that might need to improve, the something with a shorter duration.
Sometimes it’s just something you decide arbitrarily based on your preference for how you want to ride or even just deciding to mix things up. Could even be from a lack of focus or previous injury. I, for example, had lost some top end power from my injury so I’ve been trying to get more peak power training / shorter duration stuff into my routine.
My main weakness is my weight which I’m always trying to address.
.The rides tend to have lots of time around LTP plus shorter hard efforts to get up short hills. Any longer climbs tend to be sub threshold due to the overall length of the rides and we want to get home without being too knackered that we can’t go out again a couple of days later . We are all in our late 60’s early 70’s. Naturally I’m quite an anaerobic guy, I’ve just picked the wrong sport to do in retirement!
Cycling is a great sport to do regardless of your physiology.
Long duration stuff seems to make more sense but you would want to add in some intensity too just to keep it interesting. Following an athlete type religiously is well-suited for those looking to optimize outcomes. If it’s just general fitness, pick something that’ll give you lots of options for variety. Breakaway Specialist is always good for that.