Next Year's Preliminary Plan

Here's my preliminary training plan / racing plan for next year.

For those who may be asking themselves where the heck this crazy spreadsheet came from and what it all means; the training plan is based on the methodologies of the Cyclist's Training Bible. I picked this book up a few years ago when I learned the hard way that riding a weekly Saturday club ride was in fact no way to prepare to race.

At this point I'm choosing to be optimistic. By optimistic I mean that my sciatic nerve recovers to the point that I can legitimately pedal round circles with my left leg by the start of next season. i.e. I can again have the ability to sprint and jump away from the field. Getting back on my bike yesterday (for the first time in a month ) I definitely noticed that I'm better able to pedal while standing up, so that's a good sign.

If things do come out well, I'll definitely be gunning for some good results next year and driving to get the points that are required to get promoted to category 3. I think I have enough races done that I could simply apply for a cat 3 upgrade; however, it doesn't really make much sense to me to be promoted based on riding a certain number of rides. I'd much rather get there by winning races and earning points.

If things go less well, I'm still going to train to my plan as it's a great way to stay in shape and keep myself motivated to train. The less well path would have me probably only doing local races like the Del Mar Crit series, Barrio Logan, Encinitas Crit, and some other flater races. I'd also adjust my training goals and objectives if things do end up going pear shaped.