Prudential RideLondon Training with Dani Rowe: Week 1

Introduction

Welsh-born Dani Rowe is a former pro road cyclist and three-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist in the women’s team pursuit with Great Britain.

Each week she is sharing her story preparing for the 2019 Prudential RideLondon 100 using the “Prudential RideLondon 100” Zwift Training Plan.  See her full list of stories, or learn more about Zwift’s Prudential RideLondon Training Plans.

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Cycling on closed roads through the centre of London is something very few get to experience. I have raced past the queen’s house as part of London Classique, but this year I have entered a new chapter of my life. I retired from professional cycling. But I haven’t put the bike away for good: I’m taking part in the iconic Prudential RideLondon Sportive.

I used Zwift extensively in the run-up to my final race as a professional, the World Road Race Championships in Innsbruck. I used Zwift as well as riding outdoors every week for the last few years.

I kind of kept it a secret whilst I was racing, because I knew how effective Zwift is as a training tool – not only for the world championships, but for every race I competed in.

Now in retirement, I still Zwift a few times a week. I also get in an outdoor ride, usually with my husband on the weekend. I round out my training with gym sessions.

My focus on Zwift for the next 16 weeks? Building my fitness towards Prudential RideLondon.

I am going to document and share my journey over the coming 16 weeks with you, to help you prepare for Prudential RideLondon. Check back here every Monday to follow my journey.

As some of you might know, my initial goal was to complete the “London Classics”, which involves finishing the London Marathon, riding the 100-mile version of the Prudential RideLondon, and completing the serpentine open water swim.

However, my running training didn’t go quite to plan — I suffered two stress fractures in the process. One in my heel and the other in my tibia. This means the London Marathon is now not achievable. So my next focus is Prudential RideLondon 100.

I’ll be following the same plan as you. I can’t wait to hear about your journey as well as your motivation for signing up for such an incredible event. 

Week 1 of the training plan is ticked off for me. The stand out session for me being the Ramp Test to establish my Functional Threshold Power (FTP). This is a great benchmark to establish your training zones, which the rest of the plan is based on. I’m not going to reveal my current FTP, but it is safe to say it is way off what it used to be! This gives me extra motivation to try and increase it slightly to somewhere a little closer to what it was when I was a full-time bike rider. That’s a big goal for 16 weeks! Here goes…

For more weekly updates click here!