Most cycling training mistakes come from a single, deeply ingrained habit: riding too hard, too often.
It feels productive. You push when the road tilts up. You surge into the wind. You hang onto fast wheels in group rides. But over time, progress stalls, fatigue builds, and fitness becomes inconsistent.
As we explain in the video, this isn’t a motivation or discipline issue. It’s a training structure problem specifically, how intensity is distributed across a ride and across the week.
This article breaks down why this mistake happens, what it does to your fitness, and how to fix it using the exact principles demonstrated in the video.
Quick Answer: What’s the Number One Cycling Training Mistake?
The biggest mistake cyclists make is riding too hard, too often. This creates poor intensity distribution where you’re neither easy enough to build aerobic fitness nor hard enough to create real performance gains.
The result:
Upfront, this type of riding will make you improve. Why? At the end of the day it’s new and the body will respond to a new stimulus. However, over time, your power numbers will stagnate, constant fatigue will kick in (often unbeknownst), and frustrating plateaus will be your new norm.
The fix:
Structure your week with dedicated Zone 2 sessions (circa 65–70% Functional Threshold Power) and properly spaced high-intensity rides. Stop letting terrain, wind, and group dynamics dictate your effort – train with intention instead.
The Root Cause Behind Most Training Mistakes: Misplaced Intensity
Most cycling training mistakes aren’t about gear, motivation, or consistency. They come from letting terrain, wind, and feel dictate effort.
- You push harder because the hill is there
- You ease off or free pedal because the descent is fast
- You surge because someone accelerates
- You ride hard because you feel good for 30mins
The list goes on…
Ultimately, the ride becomes reactive.
As demonstrated in the video, this leads to riders never truly working specific zones, otherwise known as physiological systems. Lactate levels remain consistently elevated in the working muscles, which creates a constant sense of fatigue. Over time, that fatigue becomes the norm, and riders lose awareness of how tired they actually are.
Prefer to hear this explained instead?
In this episode, we walk through a simple Zone 2 training approach that helps cyclists stop riding too hard, too often and start training with intention.
Why Riding “All Over the Place” Stalls Progress
In the video we demonstrate a typical unstructured lap around a criterium track which many riders unknowingly do every week.
During Lap 1, he hits:
- Zone 4 surging out of the tunnel
- Zone 0 coasting downhill
- Zone 2 briefly on the flat
- Zone 3 pushing into the wind
- Zone 6 attacking the hill
In a single lap, I touch Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3, Zone 4, Zone 6 and free pedalling.
That’s not training – it’s chaos.
When this pattern repeats week after week:
- Aerobic base adaptations are disrupted
- High-intensity sessions lose quality
- Fatigue accumulates faster than fitness
No doubt you will feel like you’ve had a good training session when you ride chaotically through the zones. Sweat is present and fatigue in the muscles is felt. But there’s no specificity to what is happening in the training session.
Understanding Zone 2 and Its Role in Cycling Training
We explain power zones using a simple analogy:
Power zones are like the weight rack in a gym.
You wouldn’t randomly grab different weights and expect structured progress. Each weight and repetition range trains something specific. Power zones work the same way.
Cycling Power Zones (Based on FTP)
Each zone targets a different energy system. When effort constantly shifts, none of them are trained effectively.
Why Power Is More Reliable Than Heart Rate
Heart rate is useful, but as we explain, it lags behind effort, especially during:
- Zone 5 VO₂ max work
- Zone 6 anaerobic efforts
Heart rate is also influenced by heat, hydration, fatigue, and stress.
Power gives immediate feedback. It tells you exactly what system you’re training right now, which is why we use power as the primary control in the video.
That’s not to say that we don’t use heart rate as a measurement. Quite the opposite. However, when focusing on specific zone training, a power meter provides a clear, instantaneous number that allows for more precise control.
How to Calculate Your Training Zones
The simplest way to determine your training zones is to complete a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test although at the RCA we use something a little more advanced called Critical Power, which also provides an FTP number. Please see this critical power vs FTP article as a helpful reference.
However, if you just wanted to use a basic FTP test, we commonly recommend:
- the Half Monty test on the Wahoo system for riders training indoors
- the classic 20-minute FTP test performed outdoors
Once you have your FTP, plug that number into a power zone calculator to define each training zone clearly.
Example (from the video):
My FTP is 350 watts. Thus my power zones would looks like:
- Zone 2 (Aerobic Base): 192 – 266 watts (55-75% of FTP)
- Zone 4 (Threshold): 318 – 367 watts (91-105% of FTP)
- Zone 5 (VO₂ Max): (106-120% of FTP)
This gives you an example of how I would train each energy system effectively without guessing.
A Smarter Way to Fix Cycling Training Mistakes (Without Doing More Work)
To fix this common mistake, riders need structured training built on intensity control, starting with Zone 2. This is often the most commonly neglected zone when people are out riding randomly and it’s a great place to build discipline on working zones exclusively.
Zone 2 is also where aerobic adaptations happen, such as:
- improved mitochondrial function
- better fat metabolism
- stronger endurance foundation
- Build & establish more slow twitch muscle fibres
Understanding Zone 2 and Why It Matters
Zone 2 is typically 65–75% of FTP. It’s not glamorous. It’s not fast. But it is effective and it’s explained in more detail in our guide to Zone 2 training for cycling.
Many riders skip this zone because it feels “too easy.” That’s exactly the point – it must be easy enough to repeat, yet hard enough to trigger deep aerobic adaptations.
For most amateur and recreational cyclists, aiming for the top end of Zone 2 (65–75%) improves adherence and consistency.
Example:
My FTP is 350W,so I target around 230 watts for Zone 2 sessions. Outdoors.
Lap 1 vs. Lap 2: Common Cycling Training Mistakes in Action
To bring this to life, let’s go back to the above video to look at two laps on a criterium track, a clear metaphor for reactive versus intentional training.
Lap 1: How This Mistake Shows Up in Real Rides
In Lap 1, we demonstrate what not to do:
- Tunnel exit: Surges into Zone 4 chasing speed; heart rate lags in Zone 3
- Descent: Stops pedaling completely straight into Zone 0
- Flat: Drifts into Zone 2, dictated by tailwind, not intention
- Crosswind: Pushes into Zone 3, a common overused zone
- Hill: Attacks into Zone 6, then fades back to Zone 1
What dictated the ride?
That’s reactive riding not training.
Lap 2: How Specific Zone 2 Training Should Look
In Lap 2, we target Zone 2 intentionally.
- Target power: 230W (circa 65% of 350W FTP)
- Downhill: Keeps pedaling, increasing cadence by 5–10 RPM
- Flat: Holds steady power, ignoring speed
- Crosswind: Lets the bike slow down; power stays locked
- Hill: Drops cadence to 60–70 RPM instead of gear-hunting
The result:
Over 90% of the lap spent in Zone 2, with only brief, controlled deviations.
This is intentional training.
How to Execute a Proper Zone 2 Session
Based on our demonstration:
- Set your power target (65–70% FTP)
- Keep pedaling downhill adjust cadence, not watts
- Manage hills with cadence, not power spikes
- Ignore speed completely
- Trust power over heart rate, unless HR drifts abnormally
The Weekly Fix: A Simple Structure That Actually Works
If you’re keen to give some structure a go and want to incorporate some zone two training, here’s a general blanket framework to get going. Ultimately leaving you with some freedom to have your random unstructured rides. Or what we call at the RCA, ‘not negotiable rides’.
- Monday: Rest or easy recovery
- Tuesday: Zone 2 (60–90 minutes)
- Wednesday: High intensity / unstructured
- Thursday: Zone 2 (60–90 minutes)
- Friday: Rest or recovery spin
- Saturday: Group/social ride (manage intensity)
- Sunday: Longer Zone 2 ride (start with 2hrs and work progressively towards 4hrs)
Key principles:
- At least two Zone 2 sessions per week
- No back-to-back hard days
- Easy rides stay easy
- Hard rides are done fresh
Quick Self-Audit: Are You Making Common Cycling Training Mistakes?
If Zone 2 still feels too easy or “not hard enough” to matter, that doubt is common and it’s something we’ve addressed directly in our article on whether Zone 2 training is a waste of time for cyclists.
Ask yourself these five questions:
- Do I know my true FTP and power zones? If not, you’re training blind.
- Am I reacting to terrain rather than holding steady effort? Attacking every hill and coasting every descent = reactive training.
- Do I push too hard on hills or into headwinds? Letting terrain dictate effort = riding all over the place.
- Are my hard sessions placed intentionally? If you’re doing back-to-back intensity, you’re preventing adaptation.
- Am I doing one to two dedicated Zone 2 rides per week? If not, my aerobic base isn’t developing.
If you’re reacting more than planning, you’re not alone but you’re also not maximizing your potential.
The Key Takeaway: Intensity With Purpose
Fixing cycling training mistakes doesn’t require new gear or more volume. It requires smarter intensity distribution.
Start simple:
- Commit to Zone 2 twice per week
- Stick to your power target regardless of terrain or speed
- Let hard rides be truly hard and spaced enough to matter
You’re not training to win today’s ride.
You’re training to be faster in 8–12 weeks.
Zone 2 is the foundation that makes everything else possible.
How Road Cycling Academy Helps Cyclists Fix Training Mistakes in Real Life
At Road Cycling Academy, improper intensity distribution is the first thing we correct, regardless of experience level.
Before adding volume, intervals, or race prep, RCA coaches teach riders how to control effort with purpose. Once intensity is understood, training stops being reactive and starts producing results.
RCA supports cyclists through:
The goal isn’t to ride harder.
It’s to ride with intention, so every session moves you forward.