The right session in the wrong place is a wasted session. Where you ride matters as much as what you ride.
Watch: Why The Turbo Might Be Ruining Your Cycling. More on our YouTube channel.
Indoors
Good for: precise intervals, time-crunched weeks, bad weather and dark evenings.
Watch out: it gets hot, so use a fan and drink more. Long easy rides can drag.
Outdoors
Good for: long endurance rides, skills, group riding, and race-specific work on real terrain.
Watch out: traffic, junctions and weather make precise intervals harder.
Matching place to session
Intervals: a steady climb, a quiet flat road or the turbo. Somewhere you can keep pedalling without stopping. See cycling intervals, types and zones.
Sprints: a safe, quiet straight. See how to sprint faster.
Endurance: varied outdoor routes, with company if you like.
Recovery: flat and gentle, or how to ride rollers.
Event prep: terrain like your event. Hilly sportive, hilly training. TT, flat and steady.
Training loops
A loop of 10 to 20 km you know well is gold. Fewer junctions, easy to repeat, and a fair way to see progress over time. In London, closed circuits like Lee Valley VeloPark and Herne Hill are worth their weight for safe, repeatable efforts.
Planning an event? Our climb planner and race planner read the course so you can train for it.
London riding
Closed circuits: Lee Valley VeloPark road circuit, Herne Hill, Hillingdon, Crystal Palace and others. Safe and repeatable.
Parks: Regent's Park and Richmond Park are popular for laps. Ride considerately and watch the speed limits.
Getting out: the Surrey Hills, Kent lanes and the Chilterns are all a train ride or a long ride away.
Making indoor training work
A big fan or two. Heat is the biggest problem indoors.
Structured sessions, not just spinning.
Keep long rides outdoors where you can.
Watch the video above on why the turbo might be holding you back.
Get it planned
Want sessions planned around where you can ride? Prefer to go it alone? A Season Plan (£150) maps it out for you. Want weekly support? Coaching starts at £140 a month.
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