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Part XII · Cycling workouts

Threshold Ride: Fifteen-Minute Blocks

Fifteen-minute blocks at the edge of steady state, with easy spinning between them.

Workout at a glance

Threshold · Lactate clearance, sustainable race pace

60–100 min

  1. 01

    Warmup

    Breathe in and out through your nose

    You could keep this up for hours

    15 min

    HR 62–76% · RPE 3/10

  2. 02

    Threshold

    In through your nose, out through your mouth

    You could hold this for about 20 minutes

    5 min recovery · easy spin

    2–4 × 15 min

    HR 82–89% · RPE 7/10

  3. 03

    Cooldown

    Breathe in and out through your nose

    You could keep this up for hours

    10 min

    HR 62–76% · RPE 3/10

The lesson

  1. 01

    Threshold, held in balance

    The hardest effort you can hold in balance, where you clear lactate as fast as you make it. Training there makes every effort below it cheaper.

  2. 02

    Ride 15-minute blocks

    Two to four blocks, with five easy minutes between that stay easy. The breaks keep every minute of work at the right effort.

  3. 03

    Comfortably hard

    An effort you could hold for about twenty minutes, not much more. Short phrases only, in through the nose and out through the mouth. RPE 7.

  4. 04

    Heart rate 82 to 89%

    Your heart rate sits lower than on a run, because you are seated and using less muscle. Do not chase your running threshold number.

  5. 05

    Judge the first block by feel

    Heart rate takes two to three minutes to rise. Pushing to reach it early is how block one gets ruined.

  6. 06

    Spin at 85 to 95 rpm

    The same cadence as an easy ride. A big gear at 70 rpm turns it into a leg session.

  7. 07

    Use a climb or trainer

    A steady 3 to 6% climb, a long quiet road or a trainer keeps the effort even. A junction mid-block ends the block.