Look, Tempo rides have gotten a bad rap. They are probably the easiest intensity zone to ride in day to day, which often leads to riders doing them every single time they ride. This works for a short time, but eventually leads to overtraining and lack of progress. Don’t blame the Tempo ride! Like anything else, it works well when done well.

I already did articles on Zone 1 Recovery Rides and Zone 2 Endurance Rides, so now we can step up above the first Ventilatory Threshold into the land of “moderate” exercise.

VT1 is easy to understand as the border of Zone 2 and Zone 3 in heart rate and power zones, or where if you were on a business call while riding, someone would realize you were exercising on company time! That’s right, you ARE working here.

When athletes, especially novice ones, exercise at a self chosen effort it is often in this Zone 3 area. It feels like a workout but isn’t super hard in the way Threshold or VO2 Max work can be. If using Power zones, you are working between 75% and 90% of your FTP (Functional Threshold Power). If you are using Heart Rate zones (not that there's anything wrong with that), you will find yourself at 90% to 93% of your LTHR (Lactate Threshold Heart Rate).

EFFORT:

Go for a solid 10-15 minute warm up, gradually building up through Zone 1 and 2. Once that is done and you are feeling ready, go ahead and get into your Tempo work! For power meter users, aim for somewhere between 76% and 90% of your FTP. This is best seen with a screen for the lap showing your normalized power. For heart rate users, I like to assign them to start out near the bottom end of zone 3 building to the upper end towards the end. One mistake to avoid is trying to max these out at the very top of Zone 3. Time in zone 3 is the goal, so play the long game here. Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is around a 5 on a 1-10 scale. Sort of a “slow burn”.

METRICS:

The best way to keep track of your effort is through efficient use of the screen options on your GPS. Have a Lap Screen for Tempo rides that will show you Time, current heart rate, current power, and Normalized Power for the lap. Cadence is nice here also. Average heart rate for the lap isn’t quite as useful while you are out making the effort, so I don’t bother with it. For power meter users, the 3 second power and normalized power metrics really help dial in your effort.

CADENCE:

Tempo rides are the absolute best area to expand your cadence range, so don’t miss out here! If you are on mildly rolling terrain, go for a self selected cadence as keeping the power steady is tough enough already. I should also mention that getting used to doing Tempo rides is important before messing around with cadence manipulation during them. I really like doing lower cadence climbing workouts in this zone. You can drop down to about 55-65 RPM for seated big gear climbing (expect heart rate to be lower than usual for Zone 3 power here) or work on standing climbing in the 45-55 RPM range. For the standing efforts, many riders can only do 30 to 60 seconds at once starting out, but this will get longer with practice. On flatter roads or gradual downhills, bumping up 10-15 RPM above your regular cadence is great for leg speed (heart rate will get higher here as cadence increases).

DURATION:

Tempo intervals are most often done in long continuous blocks of time. You want to be pedaling the whole time! This can start out as 3 x 10 minute intervals for someone new to them or a beginning rider. The real gains to be made here will come with longer intervals, eventually extending out to a solid 60-90 minutes in one go for more advanced riders. 2 x 30 minutes would be very common for mid level riders. Jason Shearer got me started keeping a screen on some rides for “Time in Zone 3” and this is a nice way to keep track of how much Tempo riding you have done that day. You really need at least 10 minute blocks here to be helpful. Short bursts of this with coasting and stopping are probably a good example of what some call Junk Miles. I don’t really believe any miles are junk, but if you want to train, be aware of your ride choice that day!

ROUTE:

Good news! These are easy to work into many group rides! If you are the strongest rider in the group, let yourself catch more wind than usual or take a bit longer turns up front. If you know you are out of your league already, you might get a good Tempo ride in the pack! Flatter roads are the easiest option for Tempo rides so make good use of them for longer intervals. If you end up with a hillier route, use it to your advantage! Do the climbs in Zone 3 power and let your Time In Zone build up over the ride. It is fairly hilly in Birmingham, so one of my favorite Tempo rides is to go exploring and ride lots of longer climbs. Simple. We can’t ignore the indoor trainer here. Trainers are awesome for Tempo rides! I frequently assign long Tempo intervals with the front wheel propped up to simulate long climbs.

TIMING:

These are often considered Base training, and they do well here. Consider your race goals for the year, and remember that training should become more like your race the closer you get to race day. If you are racing a 100 mile mountain bike race with lots of elevation gain…guess what? It’s Tempo time in that last 6 weeks before racing! Also be sure you are getting them done on the surface and bike you will use for race day. Specificity matters more as we approach race day, and training becomes as much about race simulation as it is about legs and lungs. If someone rides 6 times a week, Tempo rides can be 3-4 of those at certain times of the year. You can also do them on back to back days.

Comfortably Hard: A Tempo Ride Tutorial