Many Male Bike enthusiasts experience the frustration of hitting a performance plateau. You start cycling with enthusiasm, see initial improvements, but then progress seems to stall. This was exactly the situation I faced after resuming cycling. Getting back on the bike in August 2015 was challenging. Initially, even a short ride of 400 yards felt like a monumental effort. It took almost two months to comfortably reach 10 miles, and those rides were punctuated with frequent stops to catch my breath. Within a year, I managed to ride around 20 miles at a pace of 12 mph, which felt like a decent achievement at the time.
However, despite this initial progress, I felt my conditioning had plateaued. The same hills that were challenging before remained just as difficult. These weren’t even significant mountains, just rolling hills with an average 2% incline, occasionally featuring steeper sections of up to 10%. To overcome this stagnation, last summer I acquired an older steel road bike and decided to incorporate interval training into my routine. A strictly regimented schedule proved difficult to maintain due to family commitments, so I opted to blend interval training with my regular 20-30 mile rides.
Both moderate and high-intensity intervals showed promise initially, helping me improve over the summer months. However, by the end of 2017, I realized I had overdone it. Instead of getting stronger, I was becoming weaker and slower. Following a nearly two-month bout with the flu in January and February of this year, I decided to scale back on HIIT and explore a different training approach that would be more suitable for my age (60) and physical limitations.
My current approach draws inspiration from the training methods of Kenyan marathon runners. This style is characterized by a more relaxed and less rigid structure. Instead of strict adherence to HIIT or other interval protocols, their training often incorporates the Fartlek method. This involves continuous running at a sub-threshold pace with random, intermittent bursts of speed. This flexible approach seemed particularly well-suited to the varied terrain I typically cycle on. Some days, I focus on increasing my speed on flat roads and downhills. On other days, I conserve energy on flats and descents, reserving bursts of effort for uphill climbs.
This method appears to be effective, at least for now. I’ve regained the conditioning I lost during the winter due to illness, and I’ve even observed improvements in my overall speed and times on familiar routes. It’s worth noting that I also made some adjustments to my bike to enhance its efficiency, so the improvements are likely a combination of both training and equipment changes. My average speed over the same 20-mile route has gradually increased from 10 mph to 12 mph, then to 15 mph (where I remained for several months), and now to 16-17 mph. While I’m still not quite ready to join the local fast club’s group rides, I am making progress. Being older than most of those riders, I maintain realistic expectations about my capabilities. On shorter segments of 2-5 miles, I can actually keep pace with or even outpace some of them, but I lack the sustained effort required for the club’s longer rides of 26-50 miles.
The Kenyan training philosophy also emphasizes adaptability. If you feel unwell or weaker on a particular day, it’s crucial to listen to your body. Avoid pushing yourself in the misguided belief that you’ll improve by forcing it. Instead, take it easy, or simply take a rest day. Conversely, on days when you feel strong and your body is cooperating, push yourself harder or go for longer distances than initially planned. I experienced this firsthand last Sunday. After missing rides on Friday and Saturday due to neck pain, I only intended to ride about 20 miles on Sunday after installing a shorter stem and making bike adjustments. However, during my return trip home after about 22 miles, I felt surprisingly good and decided to continue riding. I ended up completing nearly 50 miles. As a result, I felt quite tired on Monday and opted for a rest day, although I considered a short, easy ride to the grocery store later in the evening.
Another key aspect of the Kenyan method is prioritizing rest and minimizing distractions. This is an area I find more challenging. I know I don’t get enough sleep, a lifelong habit, and periodically it catches up with me. I definitely need to switch off the TV earlier in the evening, ideally by 10 pm. I don’t actively watch it much anyway; it’s often just background noise or on in case there’s breaking news. Relocating my main computer out of the bedroom and keeping only a Kindle for some bedtime reading would also be beneficial.
