Seedy J

With it getting closer to racing season, I've been doing more different types of rides. Right now, my plan is to do hard rides on Tuesday and Thursday (rolling hills treating the climbs as intervals, followed by LT or VO2 work on the flats), a group ride on Saturday, and a less intense long solo ride with big climbs on Sunday. Monday will be a rest day, and Wed. and Fri. will be easy days.

What should I do on the easy days? I'd like to ride for at least 2 hours. Today I went for a 2:15 flat ride mostly in Z2. Is it ok to go into the hills if I can keep my HR down (like around Z3)? Or is it better just to stay in Z2 on the flats and do form sprints or high cadence spinning every once in a while?

umd

Do whatever you want as long as you can keep your effort down. Some people can't resist hammering on the hills, but if you can you're fine. If it's truly supposed to be an easy day you really should keep it to Z2 and not bump into Z3 just because it's a hill.

ericm979

A recovery ride should be Z1, not Z2/3. And 2 hours is too long. If you have excess energy to burn up, do more intervals on hard days.

umd

I don't believe that recovery was specified, just "easy"

Seedy J

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I was looking for ways to make easy rides interesting, not full recovery rides. Most of the hills around here have sections over 10%, so I doubt I can stay completely in Z2 on them.