How about a Paul Revere twist on cyclist training?

Remember the Longfellow poem about Paul Revere\’s ride? The signal that British troops were approaching was to be made by lanterns: \”One if by land, and two if by sea\”.

Maybe this training decision is analogous: to train by miles; or by time?

One of my cycling books suggests that going by time is a better choice if you\’re riding a mountain bike. For example, you might ride 8 miles in one hour on a highly technical track. This can be equal in effort to riding 20 miles in an hour on the road. It also says, if you ride both MTB and road; train by time for rides on both bicycles.

I do go by time when doing short, intense efforts. When making such efforts, I peek at my speed now and then to see how fast I\’m getting (have I hit 20 mph or more yet?); but I have to keep an eye on time elapsed. I also have to pay careful attention to where I\’m going if it\’s still dark!

During the week, I often don\’t have much over an hour for my ride. Over time I\’m trying to go a bit farther and a bit farther. I need more \”force\” work so I can get faster and get in more miles!

For the weekend long ride I go by miles; and I try to maintain a steady pace, even if I\’m not going as fast as I would like. I don\’t have to be in a frantic rush to warn of an invasion, so there\’s no need for a Paul Revere twist.