How Much Training Is Too Much For Endurance Cycling?

Breakthroughs. Yes!! ❤ You've proceeded Andy, where so many others wouldn't have. So much good happens after you 'warrior through something you weren't sure about surviving. Teared up a bit when it sounded like you found the right coach. Keep going!

I debated expressing my thoughts on the last video after seeing your volume and intensity but held back as I didn't want to be "that guy"… But seeing as you seem rather receptive and open to criticism(hopefully constructive), here's my take. The volume you've done in the last few weeks isn't inherently "too much", but given that your weekly average hours in the 12 weeks leading up to it was around 5 hours, its a pretty extreme immediate ramp up to the 15-20+ weeks. I know you mentioned traditionally training 20 hour weeks in the summer, but at a quick glance at your Strava shows that realistically every single week you managed 16+ hours, was then followed by a week of less than 12hr. I'm not saying this as a derogatory statement, but as an example of where some self introspection might be beneficial. Remember that the gains are not made while on the bike, but in recovery, and recovery is the limitation on most people's progression in a long term sense(3-4 months, or a season).
Then the real trouble begins in my opinion… Not only are you dramatically increasing the volume to something you've got no history with, but the you're also adding massive(three session in a day?!) intensity, across various training zones. I would question any coach's motivations for prescribing three workouts in a single day, as each one will inhibit the others, and potentially affect the adaptations and stimulus you're after. You mentioned being only 10 weeks out from your first event, so I understand the addition of some intensity as you move towards a "build" phase, but with that, I'd then really question the use/importance/need for an 8 hour day noodling at 12kph in zone 1…
I wish the best, and will continue to follow along, and hope our paths cross at TCR! 👍

Due to starting a new business, I've reduced my riding down from around 10 hours a week to around 4. I do two high intensity sessions a week plus one longer zone 2 ride.
Surprisingly I'm managing to maintain a 270 watt FTP, and I think I cam actually improve on that even wirh only 4 – 6 hours a week.

With regards to riding in the icy weather, you can find gritting routes on Council websites so you can plan rides that are likely to be ice free.

I eventually realised that if I set targets in terms of hours or distance, it's a recipe for overtraining because I can't visualise the stress. By setting TSS goals (or the heart rate version, which is called TRIMP) I can make plans that are based on the actual stress for my body. There is also another very useful diagram called a PMC diagram. I'm sure they have it on training peaks, but I don't know if they call it that. On Strava it's the "form and fitness" diagram, although the Strava one has a problems which I won't get into.

Anyway, a PMC diagram models your short term stress, your long term stress, your stress balance and also your stress ramp rate. The short term stress is essentially driven by the TSS at any given time. Your long term stress is a function of short term stress over time with a decaying function. The stress balance is the difference between your short term stress and your long term stress. The ramp rate is essentially the speed that your long term stress is increasing (or decreasing). The more TSS you do, the more your short term stress goes up. Over time, though, it decays — goes down. So if you have a rest day, your short term stress will drop. You long term stress is accumulated from your short term stress. If you have a big short term stress spike, the long term stress will go up only a little. If you have rest days, the long term stress will go down only a little.

The way it works is that your long term stress should be going up slowly and regularly. Your stress balance is an estimate of your body's condition. Because we subtract the long term stress from the short term stress to give the balance, the higher the long term stress is, the more short term stress you can tolerate. Your stress balance will go more and more negative every hard ride you stack up, and will drift up as you rest. This allows you to predict when you are overdoing it.

For example, I know that I can easily tolerate a stress balance of -10 to -20. However, if I get into -30 territory more than briefly, I am in danger of negative health consequences (some of which are mental). The main idea, though is to keep the ramp rate positive and to keep the stress balance as close to zero as you can get it. This gives you the best rate of return at the lowest risk.

Even though you have a coach, I highly recommend taking a look at these charts on training peaks, reading up on how they work and discussing them with your coach. For me, these charts are literally magic. If I pay attention to them, I have success. If I don't, I'm an injured grouch that hates the world and sometimes doesn't even want to cycle any more.

You are working hard out there, Andy! Interesting to hear you break it all down.

mate, thats some crazy volume for an amateur! I know you touched on it and said you are doing your best, but are you actually recovering well enough to get the adaptations? or are you gradually digging yourself into a massive hole? Im sure you and your coach know what you're doing and capable of, just would hate the sudden ramp up to derail your season before it even really begins. Doing pro hours but also having all the things that pros don't such as a 40h work week etc… All the best as always Andy!

Best of luck opening that TCR email which I have just seen have been sent out.