tapered training
 

Today on the group ride, they start talking about tapered training.
basically during the race season the training would be done in this way.

day 1 - race
day 2 - race simulation or super high effort
day 3 - rest
day 4 - easy
day 5 - rest or easy
day 6 - easy
day 7 - rest

has anyone more info regarding this?

The training taper is normally done before a key race, not after. It usually involves reduced training volume, but retaining a degree of intensity in the week leading up to a race. The idea is that you go into the race fresh with minimal fatigue.

can you explain how it works?

Well if you thrash yourself in training the week leading up to a key race, then you are likely to under-perform due to fatigue. But at the same time you don't want to be sitting on the sofa all week. So the solution is reduced training volume, but with a few high intensity rev ups to keep you sharp.

Rounding off, that's 25% hard efforts/75% active recovery or rest. Very close to the current 20% hard/80% easy mantra.

Yes, but with much reduced volume compared to a typical training week.

So, 25% of a small number of hours, not 25% of a large number of hours.

For a big event ride, I gradually taper for 2 weeks. I alternate with a few Z1 rides and then 90" hard intervals. That's maybe a little extreme but it works. I do a long and hard simulation ride and then my taper, but that depends on what you're tapering for.

You don't realize your accumulated fatigue until you taper. Not cycling, but I tapered two weeks before a 50k ultramarathon and was really sharp for the race. As other people mentioned, it was reducing distance while maintaining intensity