Speed over distance is a balancing act
Being fast for ten minutes and being fast for three hours are different skills. Hard intervals raise the pace you can reach, while long easy rides raise how long you can keep a decent pace going. Improving both means doing some of each, in a sensible ratio, with enough rest to absorb the work. This article is general information, not coaching, and results vary from rider to rider. Check with a doctor before starting hard training if you have any health concerns.
A useful way to think about it: average speed over a long ride depends less on your top effort and more on how steady and efficient you are. Pacing, gear choice and fatigue all matter. Smooth pedalling and cycling efficiency often matter as much as raw fitness, so it is worth working on technique at the same time.
The two ingredients
Interval days. These are rides containing a few harder efforts with easy riding between them. They stretch your upper limit. Because they are demanding, a rider typically does only one or two a week, and not on consecutive days.
Long easy rides. These build the base that lets you hold a pace without fading. They should feel comfortable enough to chat during. If every long ride turns into a race, you lose the benefit and risk building up fatigue.
The balance usually tilts towards easy riding. A common pattern is that most weekly time is easy, with a smaller share spent hard.
Intervals worth trying
Pick efforts you can repeat evenly:
- Steady blocks. A few spells at a firm, controlled effort, a notch harder than you could hold for hours, separated by easy spinning. Aim for the last block to feel like the first.
- Short surges. Brief hard efforts inside an otherwise easy ride, for example lifting the pace for a short time every now and then. These are gentler to start with.
- Hill efforts. Climbing provides natural resistance, and uphill pacing is a skill worth practising so you do not start too hard and fade.
Always warm up with easy riding first, and choose safe roads. If you ride with a bike computer, using bike computer data to improve can help you keep efforts even, but your own sense of effort is just as valid.
A sample two-week block
This is an illustration to adapt to your own life, not a prescription. It assumes you already ride regularly and feel well. Reduce it if you are newer or short on time.
Week one
- Monday: rest.
- Tuesday: easy ride with a few short surges.
- Wednesday: rest or very easy spin.
- Thursday: interval session with a few steady blocks.
- Friday: rest.
- Saturday: long easy ride.
- Sunday: short, relaxed spin.
Week two
- Monday: rest.
- Tuesday: easy ride with hill efforts.
- Wednesday: rest or very easy spin.
- Thursday: interval session, similar to last week, perhaps with one extra block if you feel fresh.
- Friday: rest.
- Saturday: long easy ride, slightly longer than last week.
- Sunday: short, relaxed spin.
Notice the pattern: two quality sessions, one long ride that gets a little longer, and rest days that separate them. If you finish week two feeling flat, repeat the easier elements or take a lighter week rather than adding more.
Reading the signals
Some tiredness is expected when training, but a few signs suggest backing off: heavy legs that do not clear after a day or two, trouble sleeping, a raised resting heart rate on waking, or dreading rides. Easing off for a few days costs little and can prevent a longer setback. Riders returning from illness or a long layoff should rebuild gradually, as covered in riding after a break.
Practical details that help
Eat and drink during longer rides, and keep your cadence comfortable rather than grinding. Your position on the bike also affects how long you can stay efficient, so drop handlebar positions are worth varying on long rides if your bike has drops. Check your bike before every ride, particularly the brakes and tyres, since you will be moving faster. Follow local traffic laws, keep to safe routes and avoid hard efforts where visibility is poor.
Finally, be patient. Average speed tends to creep up over weeks and months rather than days. Record how rides feel as well as how fast they were, and change only one thing at a time so you know what is helping.