Perceived Levels of Exertion

Group riding etiquette can be a minefield of tradition, opinion and old tosh. Theory on paper seldom works on the road, too many variables, people for starters, then age, weight, fitness, quality of bike, route, etc, etc.

So, how do I go about choosing which group to ride in? Should I ride with The Steady Eddies, The Steadies, The Medium, or the Medium Fast group?

If you’re like me, old, old school and out of date, then you might know this bit of training theory:

Training to ‘Perceived Levels of Exertion’

This info is great if you don’t want to spend your life staring at computer screens of heart rate and power, (the new fangled obsession of sports science). I am no expert, and sports science has moved on light years in the last five years, so there will be others ‘out there’ better qualified than me to write better articles on training than me. (And I hope we get lots of brilliant articles on how to ride better, from all sorts of people).

A great quote from Mario Cipollini in this months ‘Cyclist’. “If you ride with your soul within five minutes you are in touch with your body, your muscles and your heart anyway. When I see juniors with SRMs I don’t like it. First, understand your body”. (He is talking about training at perceived levels of exertion-knowing your heart rate without having a monitor, etc).

Level One

Base training. Riding at level one is typical ‘recovery ride’ stuff. Low intensity, minimal strain on heart, legs and lungs. The sort of speed and effort that you could sustain all day if you had the stamina. This is good winter riding. You develop strength, build muscle without straining anything and can relax and enjoy the social aspect of riding. Conversation is easy, breathing is easy. Big gains in performance can be found with consistent level one and two training over the winter. It is the perfect base on which to then work on intensity training. Athletes who do high levels of intensity work without a solid base run far greater risk of injury.

Level Two

As level one, but breathing is harder, conversation still flows but may find you a little out of breath. Maybe working up a bit of a sweat. Still no real ple of hours at level three is plenty if you can manage it. Great for getting ready for race season, intervals and summer riding. Any efforts at level three ought to be focused and specific, targeting specific areas where you want to improve, hill climbing, time trialling, strength work.

Level Four

Pretty much race pace. Speaking is limited to the monosyllabic, breathing is laboured, heart, legs and lungs are stressed. Most people with average fitness will sustain this level for about twenty minutes or so. Great way to improve top end speed, hill climbing and high speed riding. Lactic acid builds up quickly at this level of riding, so your ability to ride at level four will grow as your body learns to cope with lactic acid and clear it from the system.

Level Five

This is Chris Hoy territory. Interval training. Save it for the turbo trainer. The most you’ll manage is a grunt. A minute or two at level five is all you’ll manage. You are going anaerobic. Lactic acid and heart rate will stop you going more than seconds at this level. Best way to see rapid improvement in your ‘top end’ performance.

The great thing about cycling is that studies suggest that if you put the work in, you will see a steady, consistent improvement in performance for the first five years. After that, the gains are harder to find. The greatest improvements come from riding at levels one and five. Use the other levels to polish and hone your fitness or to prepare for specific targets.

So Which Group Should I Ride In

In choosing which group to ride in, particularly over winter, you want to choose a group where you can spend most of your time riding comfortably at levels one and two: base training. It’s good occasionally to stretch yourself and see what you are capable of by moving up a group, but be ready to get dropped and left behind from time to time. Don’t batter yourself every week over the winter. Remember, cycling is a way of life, not a fad, a hobby or mere sport. Enjoying cycling for a lifetime is where it is at. Conversely, if you want a rest week, or feel tired, run down, or recovering from illness, drop down a group, chill out and enjoy the banter and the scenery.

Too many riders spend too much of their life riding round at level three and wonder why they always feel tired and never see any real improvement in their performance. It is much harder to train ourselves to ride ‘easy’ than it is to ride hard. We love the speed and we love the feeling of hard work. We are only ever going to be as strong as we are rested. The secret lies in rest and recovery.