Training programme - when should I see gains?

outfox

I hope to race A4 this year, for the first time. I started a training regime in October, based on Joe Friel's Cycling Training Bible. I'm now in Base 2. However, after 3 months, I'm not really seeing any gains. The fastest guys in the club are still dropping me as always. More annoyingly, the guys who were at my level last summer also seem to be stronger, despite their heading out once a week only. I acknowledge that they are probably fresher than I am as they are not training. I also acknowledge that most of the training to date has been about building aerobic fitness rather than power. But surely at this stage I should be starting to notice some gains? It's disheartening when the non-training guys are dropping me.
Just wondering what others think. Am I expecting too much too soon? Thanks for any replies.

Leroy42

Well what are you looking for? JF plan is based on building a solid base to allow body to be able to deal with the the additional loads that are placed on it when moving into interval training.

Those guys dropping you probably have a significant base already biult up over years of constant training. Year in year out. No training plan is going to fix that quickly.

What you should be seeing if the ability to be more comfortable on the bike, able to handle longer endurance and able to handle longer efforts at certain pace. What I read from the OP is that once the pace goes beyond the range that you are training that you find it hard. That improvement will come when you train in those zones, but you need to have the base built to avoid simply blowing yourself to bits.

Its the long term goal you need to stay focused on. Look back at how you were at the start of the training and how you are now. Are you really not seeing any gains at all?

outfox

Thanks for the reply Leroy42. I am seeing some gains in my session on the trainer, like ability to maintain higher cadence at higher resistance for longer. But at some point, I was hoping to see that translate to the road. On club spins I feel that my endurance is good. But my climbing and sustained tempo riding are the same as they were last autumn. I understand I shouldn't compare myself to other riders, as they have their own fitness levels. But I guess I've got into the habit of checking progress each week during the club spins.

Leroy42

outfox wrote: »

Thanks for the reply Leroy42. I am seeing some gains in my session on the trainer, like ability to maintain higher cadence at higher resistance for longer. But at some point, I was hoping to see that translate to the road. On club spins I feel that my endurance is good. But my climbing and sustained tempo riding are the same as they were last autumn. I understand I shouldn't compare myself to other riders, as they have their own fitness levels. But I guess I've got into the habit of checking progress each week during the club spins.

So you have seen improvements. You have better endurance at a higher level.

You will see the other improvements as you move into the next phase of the plan and with a good base it allows you to push on and this will translate to being able to compare to others.

Unlike a lot of other sports, no matter what talent you have you simply have to do the grind of base to ensure that you have the endurance levels. There is no (legal) shortcuts.

Focus on the things you are improving and look at the upcoming training to see if it can be tweated to target those areas you are concerned about