2021 Season Planning Starts NOW! (September!)

Full post here with the checklist to review: https://www.evoq.bike/blog/cycling-season-planning
Email: Brendan@EVOQ.BIKE

Hey Brendan,

I’ve got a question for your cat 4 series. I’ve actually never had a coach through the off season because I’ve historically been burned out by the end of the season, and stop using one before the actual off season. So, my question is how do you approach the off season after your last block of the season? Do you take 2 weeks completely off the bike and lifting before starting over with lots of endurance rides and lifting again? I took too long off a few years ago (5-6 weeks), and lost so much fitness. I don’t want to do that again, but I figured it might be necessary to lose a bit to rebuild, and make new gains. Thanks!

Here's what I send to my athletes to get the creative bike racing juices flowing IN AUGUST for the next season!

Long email, not urgent, please read when you can review and give it some thought. There are questions at the bottom that I'd like you to send back once you've considered this.

While 2020 isn't totally dusted, it is time to start thinking about 2021.

Why? We want to lay out your calendar now so we can see the roadmap and figure out what's coming. If someone is starting to race B priority races in February, we need to start this in 6 weeks!

I just want those creative bike racing juices to get flowing.

While you may not have an EXACT date for the biggest event, starting this process is still a good idea to get an idea of where we are taking this ship.

If you are looking to upgrade, you may decide to not have an "A event", but rather a big month with a lot of upgrade possibilities.

These nuances we will discuss, but I want you to get a sense of when you're starting to race and what's important to YOU.

The Power Phase of building strength and aerobic power will take us 16 weeks plus 4 more of speed work before the first race. That's 5 months! We clearly need to start planning for your goals!

Gym Work: linear progression works well, and the strength gains are no joke. We will be using GZCLP again (minus bench press), and 2 heavy lifts a week.

As you read below, if we started foundation in October, we would be early race ready for B and C races by February. If you live up north, we would probably start this in November so you are race ready in March.

Race ready does not mean peaking with multiple specific cycles to getting you absolutely shredding. It does mean toeing the line, ready to race and be competitive, while also making it through the entire season.

Foundation

8 weeks: aerobic foundation, extensive aerobic focus. (Base miles, tempo, long tempo of 150-200% TTE)

Pull the curve to the right. Just below FTP power and just beyond TTE time.

Gym Heavy 2-3x a week

Build

4 weeks: aerobic build, intensive aerobic focus (faster tempo, Sweet Spot, FTP)

Gym Heavy 2-3x a week

Raise

4 weeks of VO2max raise, MAX Aerobic (FTP/FRC and Max Aerobic); race prep, shaking out the cobwebs.

Zwift Racing

Gym Heavy - athlete dependent, at least 1x per week heavy

Early Races / Group Speed Rides

4 weeks: FTP efficiency (repeatability) and economy (FTP Speed Work and Racing)

Back to threshold, in speed development (RACE, motor pace, ultra fast group rides)

Zwift Racing

Gym Heavy - athlete dependent, at least 1x per week heavy

Go check out the full blog for more! https://www.evoq.bike/blog/cycling-season-planning