RAGBRAI Training: 15 Week Training Plan & Log

Wed, Apr 4, 2012 | by TJ Juskiewicz

Share

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Okay, here it is once again, your training plan developed just for RAGBRAI.  This is the third year I’ve provided this training template to give you an idea of how much riding you should be doing to set yourself up for an enjoyable ride on RAGBRAI.  

Note that I said this is a template.  It is not to be followed literally, although it is okay if you do.  Rather, it is designed to give you an idea of how many days a week you should be riding and some suggestions on how far each ride could be.  The most important number to note is the distance of the longest ride of the week.  If you continue to allow your longest ride to step up each week.  Your weekly mileage should also increase gradually.  You don’t have to do every ride listed, or on the same days as indicated.  However, here’s a few tips. 

Aim for riding 3-4 days per week.  Typically people have the most time to ride on weekends, so if that is your situation, ride a couple of more days during the week.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are logical days, so that you have days off on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you need to ride every day.  You will make more progress with your cycling fitness if you take some days off and allow your body to recover and respond to the days your ride.  You will come back fresher and feeling stronger if you intersperse rest days in between riding days.   As RAGBRAI approaches, you do want to add in more consecutive days of riding to acclimate your body to riding multiple days in a row. 

Another tip is to ride faster on days when you don’t have much time to ride.  On longer rides your pace can be more relaxed.  So the rule of thumb is the shorter the ride, the faster it should be.

Below, you will see two versions of these charts available for downloading.  One is the training plan in a .pdf format.  You can download or print this and keep it handy for reference.  You can use it as a log of your riding if you wish.   There is also an Excel file available with the same training plan.  If you wish to use this to alter the rides and put in what you actually do, It is set up to sum the daily rides to track your weekly mileage. 

Click here to download a PDF file of the training plan and log: 
RAGBRAI Training Plan 2012 

or to download an Excel files of the training plan and log:
RAGBRAI Training Plan 2012

I need to give a shout-out to Michael Hughes for putting these plans together for me this year.  Michael is a reader of the RAGBRAI training blog and a serviceman with the Army at Fort Bragg, NC.  Thank you for helping me with this training plan and thank you for your service!

 I hope you find this this plan a helpful tool for you.

Coach David Ertl

David Ertl is a USA Cycling Level 1 (Elite) Coach and Personal Trainer. He coaches the Des Moines Cycle Club Race Team, the Iowa JDRF Ride To Cure Diabetes Team, the Above & Beyond Cancer RAAM Team, and he coaches individual cyclists.  He also provides cycling training plans and ebooks at his website: http://www.CyclesportCoaching.com . He can be contacted at coach@cyclesportcoaching.com

• David Ertl, RAGBRAI XL, training