The better weather which is (hopefully!) around the corner also gives the opportunity to increase the duration of your weekend rides.

It’s a good idea to build up the duration of your longer rides slowly, aiming to get out for one ride which is at least close to your goal distance each month. 142km on the relatively flat roads of the UK is not the same as in the Alps, so as you get comfortable with the distance start to look for hillier routes and increase the duration further. Work out a realistic goal time for your ride and focus on getting comfortable with for that duration.

As these rides get longer, nutrition will become more and more important to allow you to both complete the rides but also to stay strong all the way through to the end. While the fasted rides we talked about in the last article are great to make the most of shorter rides, such as your weekday morning commute, once you get beyond the three hour mark it’s important to take on enough food and drink. Correct nutrition allows you to ride further and faster but will also make a big difference in your recovery from that monster weekend ride and mean you can train again sooner in the week. Again, think about consistency in your overall training programme, not just the one-off ride.

A good rule of thumb is to take on around 60g of carbohydrate each hour (for example, a bottle of energy drink and half an energy bar or a banana) during your moderate intensity endurance rides to top up your energy levels and prevent the dreaded ‘bonk’.