Tempo Burst Intervals (Cycling/MTB)

In my wrap-up to Paris to Ancaster couple of years ago, I realized a few things... mostly that I was wrongly trained for the task at hand.

It is not a long steady effort. It's long, but hectic at times, quad busting at others, steady at others... so only training for one kind of riding is a recipe for a long day!

One workout suggested in this article was a "tempo burst interval".

Basic idea: punctuate your tempo ride with all-out efforts.

My 40 minute work-out based on this:

• 0:00 - 5:00 Warm-up
• 5:00 - 14:00 Tempo (about 85% of max)
  • 7:45 - 8:00 Burst! 100% effort, out of the saddle
  • 10:45 - 11:00 Burst!
  • 13:45 - 14:00 Burst!
• 14:00 - 19:00 Easy - nurse heart rate down, have a drink
• 19:00 - 28:00 Tempo
  • 21:45 - 22:00 Burst!
  • 24:45 - 25:00 Burst!
  • 27:45 - 28:00 Burst!
• 28:15 - 32:00 Easy

Early season... 32:00-35:00 Easy and done!

Full version:

• 32:00 - 35:00 Tempo
  • 33:30-33:45 Burst!
  • 34:45 - 35:00 Burst!
• 35:00 - 40:00 Cool-down
• 40:00+ Stretch and be glad it's over!

Hopefully this trains my muscles to get used to getting hammered with lactate during a tougher effort and recovering - that's the theory!

Update:
Tried this work-out for the first time the other day - it was awesome. I was actually surprised to find the tempo pace felt a lot easier than during some of my stand-alone tempo rides... might be psychological? In any case, it was a fun ride that felt hard and satisfying, highly recommend!