Building Your Endurance

[John Hughes]

I'm working on building my base with the classic endurance rides at a conversational pace. My goal is never to pass anyone! I've been succeeding until yesterday when I caught up to a guy roller skiing in Boulder valley. Snow in the high country, but none down here so he was getting in a flat endurance ski and working on his technique.

In Distance Cycling we list the benefits of endurance training as described by Ed Burke:

“Aerobic base training builds the endurance necessary for a successful cycling season; it’s like putting miles in the bank. In Serious Cycling the late Dr. Edmund Burke writes that endurance cycling is a must for all cyclists because it

* increases the potential of the muscles and liver to store carbohydrates,

* improves the respiratory system, bringing more oxygen to the circulatory system,

* boosts the pumping efficiency of the heart so it can pump more blood to the working muscles,

* helps the thermoregulatory system by increasing the blood flow to the skin,

* brings about increased neuromuscular efficiency of pedaling,

* enhances the capacity to burn fat during long rides, and

* improves the endurance of the cycling muscles by increasing the number of mitochondria, the subcellular structures in the muscles where aerobic energy is produced” (Burke, Ed., 2002,  Serious Cycling, 2nd ed. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL., p. 6).

No heavy breathing!

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Cheers,
John Hughes
www.coach-hughes.com
PO Box 18028
Boulder, CO 80308-1028