Mountain bike racing at the 100-mile distance is increasingly more popular. Some courses are near sea level and others begin at over 10,000 feet and go up from there. One course might be very technical while another course has minimal technical sections. Some courses have check points and time cuts that are generous, others do not.

No matter the specifics of the course, you are competitive and want a fast race finish. This training plan is written for a cyclist that is currently fit and is looking for a solid performance at a 100-mile mountain bike race.

Find the supporting documents you need to help you with this plan in the right column of this main page.

Before beginning this plan, you are training approximately nine hours per week. You are riding two long rides each week. One ride is around two hours long and the second one is roughly three hours in length.

You are riding two or three other weekday rides that are an hour each. You may or may not be strength training.

This plan is designed to follow the Level II Foundation Fitness training plan found on on this main page.

After completing 18 weeks of that plan, you can move directly into the plan in this chapter. That combination provides you with 32 weeks of training.

Due to the volume of training necessary to complete this plan you will need to focus on recovery as much as you focus on accomplishing the training. Improved performance is accompanied by recovery techniques and high density nutrition. In summary, in addition to completing the training sessions, you need to get adequate rest and eat nutritious foods that fuel a high performance body. Be sure to read the supporting document on my main page that covers nutrition.

THE PLAN OVERVIEW

The plan begins with a four-week cycle. This means three weeks of building volume, then a week of rest. The first block of training is followed by a three-week cycle, with overall training volume continuing to build. After a rest week in Week 7, the training volume in Week 8 jumps up significantly to 22 hours. This plan uses a “crash” training week where volume and intensity is increased far beyond normal training. Crash training is effective only if the cyclist is rested going into the high volume week and recovers the week following the training.

A crash training week can give you a significant boost to your fitness and can be accomplished by participating in an organized bicycle tour or riding the hours on your own. If you are unable to do all of the hours shown on the plan, I will give you tips on how to modify the training.

Monday workouts are shown as strength training. If you are currently doing a strength training program, you can continue that program on Mondays. You may find you need to reduce the weights, sets, repetitions or some combination of all to keep strength training from negatively affecting your cycling.

If you are not currently strength training, but want to begin a routine, see the supporting documents on my main page for a description of the SM phase of training. Plan to begin with very light weights and work your way into slightly heavier weights as the program progresses. There is no need to lift weights that are very heavy during this plan.

Another option is to take Monday as a day off, rather than strength train.

Tuesday workouts are typically form work or aerobic rides. The Wednesday workouts can be done on a road bike or a mountain bike. If you live in a location where you must drive a long distance to get to the trails, a road bike works fine for these sessions.

Thursday is a day off throughout the plan.

Friday is similar to Wednesday in that if you must drive a good distance to get to a mountain bike trail, the ride can be done on a road bike.

The Saturday ride is your key mountain bike ride each week. Early in the plan, these rides can be done on a variety of trails. The closer you get to race day, the more you need to be simulating course climbs and grades. Ride the actual race course if possible.

The Sunday ride is an aerobic ride that is best done on a road bike or a mountain bike course that is not too technically demanding. The main goal for Sunday is a steady, aerobic ride. The two weekend rides paired together build your overall race day endurance while keeping your average power or speed as high as possible.

PLAN DETAILS

Before diving into plan details, I want to share some of the plan philosophy. First, I am assuming you have worked on your foundation fitness and are coming into this plan fit. Your fitness has included some early work on lactate threshold.

In the beginning of this plan, you will find lactate threshold and anaerobic intervals. The purpose of this work for an experienced cyclist is to raise your lactate threshold heart rate and speed. If your lactate threshold moves from 80 percent of your maximum heart rate to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate, you’ve increased the capacity of your aerobic engine. For example if your maximum heart rate is 185 and you can move your lactate threshold from a heart rate of 148 to 167, you’ve got a larger aerobic engine. This pays big dividends in an event that lasts some seven to ten hours.

As the plan progresses and training volume builds, intervals are more dictated by mountain bike terrain rather than structured intervals.

WEEKLY TRAINING AT A GLANCE

Weeks 1 through 4

For this block of training, Monday is strength training or a day off. Tuesday is a skills day. Wednesday is an interval day that can be done on the road or mountain bike. Thursday is a day off.

Friday workouts are intended to work on strength, on the bike. Saturday rides are your mountain bike days and Sundays are aerobic endurance. It is important to begin working on race day fueling strategies on these weekend workouts.

Weeks 5 though 7

Weeks 5 and 6 continue with the same basic structure of Weeks 1 through 4. If you are going to use Week 8 as a crash training week, Week 7 needs to be aggressive resting. To aid in recovery, feel free to eliminate or reduce any training session.

If you are participating in an organized bike tour, often these tours begin on Sunday. If your tour begins on the Sunday that ends Week 7, take the first day of the tour at an aerobic pace. Yes, I know it is hard to keep the cap on pace this first day, but doing that pays dividends later.

If you are doing your own version of a crash training week, keep this Sunday ride easy. You can ride between two and three hours.

Week 8

If you are riding in an organized tour, it is doubtful that the hours will perfectly match those shown in the plan. Don’t worry about matching exactly. Do try to match the intensities of the workouts shown in the plan.

For the Monday workout, push the pace on the climbs. Tuesday, keep the intensity mostly aerobic. On Wednesday, include one segment during the ride that is crisscrossing threshold. If Thursday is not a day off, try to keep the intensity all Zone 1.

The Friday ride is mostly Zones 1 and 2. For the Saturday, ride the fastest average pace you can for the entire six hours. Of course you cannot push the pace the first two hours and blow-up only to limp along the last four hours. Ride smart.

The last Sunday ride is whatever you have left. If you are feeling tired, take it easy. If you have the energy to ride faster, go for it.

If you are doing the hours on your own, or a self-designed tour, here are some options:

1. You can slide all rides forward one day, beginning your tour on Saturday. If you do this, eliminate the S4 ride and take the last Sunday off or put the S4 ride on that day.

2. If your weekday schedule only allows two hours each day, that works. It is more training than you normally do, so you will get a boost.

3. If you do most of the tour on your own, but an organized century ride is Sunday rather than Saturday, just switch the Saturday and Sunday workouts. Keep the Saturday ride easy, Zones 1 to 2.

Week 9

You had a big week last week, so now you must recover. Your only goal this week is to feel recovered by Sunday. Cut down or eliminate rides, if you have to, to make this goal happen.

Weeks 10 through 13

This training block is a taper of volume into race day. The key workouts are on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Ride all intensities on the Wednesday rides, and mountain bike if possible. For Saturday mountain bike rides, aim for the fastest average you can manage for the time shown on the plan. Sundays should be kept mostly aerobic and on the road bike is fine.

Any bike maintenance should be done in Week 11 or 12 so you have a few rides on any new parts.

Strength training in Week 12 should be lighter than normal. You can also eliminate strength training beginning in this week.

In Week 13, do not be tempted to increase training volume. If anything, decrease the volume so you can be rested and ready for race day. Keep some intensity in some of the rides to keep your legs from feeling flat, but don’t get carried away.

Depending on your particular needs, the Saturday and Sunday rides in Week 13 can be cut down by 30 to 60 minutes.

Week 13

Please do not be tempted to do more than shown in the plan. If you have not had a chance to ride any of the course, if you arrive in time to do a short ride on the course on Friday, keep your ego in tact. Save your best for race day and not pre-ride peacocking.

Plan to ride the race in a negative-split effort, riding the second half of the event stronger than the first half. With your fitness and fueling plan nailed, you are sure to have a great ride.

This plan is also available in the book, Training Plans for Cyclists published by VeloPress