training plans - virtual rides

We create dynamic training plans in Training Peaks, which start 20-weeks out from the real world event.

Don’t worry if you purchase a support package with less than 20-weeks to go, a dynamic plan means you can join the plan at the point it has progressed to.

It depends on the event and your fitness level, but we would suggest purchasing a package at least 12-weeks out from the real world event.

Upon purchase, you will be provided with a hyperlink that will allow you to add the event specific training plan to your Training Peaks Account.

Our approach is to work in 3-4-day cycles. This means every 3-4-days, some form of recovery day to chip away at fatigue and give you the capacity to absorb the training stimulus.

The exact specifics of the training plan depends on the event. For instance, the climbs in the Dragon Ride gran fondo are typically about 5-6km long at about 5% and there are lots of them. Whereas there are far fewer climbs in L’Etape du Tour but they are much longer, somtimes 20km+.

These two gran fondos require a pretty different approach.

This is a very hard question to answer as it really depends on the rider, their experience level, time availability etc.

However, if starting a support package 20-weeks out from the real world event, we would suggest being able to ride 3-hours non-stop would be a really great place to start. 

Obviously, if you are starting the training plan later than 20-weeks out, we would suggest a slightly higher fitness level than the above to pick up the plan.

Once the package has started, every Sunday morning there is a virtual group ride over a section of the real world course.

We use Training Peaks Virtual to render the course and host the group rides.

Virtual group rides start at 9:30am GMT every Sunday.

A new course is available every 4-weeks and each new course is a progression on the last. This is either in terms of distance or in the amount of elevation. The goal is for these virtual group rides to act as stepping stones to give you the confidence you can handle the course.

For instance, in our Dragon Ride package, there are 5 courses:

February – The first 42km with 552m of elevation

March – 58.5km with 964m of elevation

April – 71km with 1483m of elevation

May – 100km with 2103m of elevation

June – 119km with 2476m of elevation

It is not intended that you will join a group ride every weekend unless you would like to. We would suggest doing at least one a month to keep building confidence over the distance and course.

If you would like to ride the relevant section of the course but cannot make the group ride time slots, the course gpx file will be availble to you and you can upload the course to Training Peaks and ride the course at a time that suits you on Training Peaks Virtual.

Please see the Training Peaks Virtual support pages for information on how to upload and ride a custom route.

Yes – in order to join the rides; or create and ride the courses yourself, you will need a premium account.

A premium account is also necessary to be able to move workouts around and see advanced analytics within Training Peaks.

For each support package, one of our coaches will prepare a video running through the challenges presented by the course, noting any feed stations and providing you with their suggested to approach with regards to your fuelling and nutrition.

The advice will also include how to approach fuelling and hydration in training.

Firstly, if you don’t already have one, create yourself a Training Peaks account.

Then purchase the Event Support Package for the event you are targeting.

You will then be sent a link to add the plan to your Training Peaks Profile. This will add all the training sessions to your plan.

It will then be up to you to do your best to follow the plan.

When the time comes for the first virtual group ride, make sure you have a Training Peaks Virtual account and are familiar with how the platform works.

Yes – to get the most out of the course rides on Training Peaks Virtual i.e. experience the gradient etc, you will need a smart trainer compatible with Training Peaks Virtual. Please visit their support pages to check your trainer is compatible. Most are.