Courage Classic Training Guide

The Courage Classic Tour is not a bike race, nevertheless, if you are not in the habit of riding long distances regularly, you will need some form of preparation.

In the coming months, you should make a point to do some training each week. Even if you do not have much time to devote to training, you will still benefit from small consistent effort leading up to the day.

Don’t feel discouraged if you find yourself falling behind in your training. The Tour is well equipped to assist riders on the day.

Basic training plan

1.  Base training – Get some miles in the saddle. We recommend 500-750 at least. It sounds harder than it is!  Don’t let the numbers scare you.  Do one ride at a time.

2.  You will want to do some riding on consecutive days, even if you do 2 spin classes on 2 consecutive days. Your bum will thank you in July if you do 🙂

3.  Work up to a 4-5 hour ride (approx 50 mile ride). Do 2 of these long rides before the Courage Classic.

4.  Once you get some base training on your legs you will start doing some hills and riding at elevation.  Our training rides are geared towards these goals.  

Include different types of rides

• Interval training – 2 to 5 minutes of hard riding (spin class is good for this type of training) with rest in between
• Hills – You will definitely want to do some hill training, hill repeats if possible, and include some climbing/descending and then climbing again!  The CC has many up and downs so you want your legs to adapt
• Tempo rides – Riding at what is called “race pace”, it should be hard and you should feel like you worked out after.  It is not an all out sprint but a speed you can maintain for the entire hour ride or designated time according to your plan
• strength and core work – Include abs, glutes and hip flexors.  You should stop your leg strengthening about a week before the event. The last week you should taper and rest up so your legs will be fresh