Looking for some advice…
Finishing up Coach Jack Big Climbs in a couple weeks.
No events planned but i have made improvements and looking to keep that going.
What next?
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Hi, do you have any plans for next season? Usually this is the perfect time of season to focus on seasonal recovery and aerobic development but this won’t feel like you are moving forward and unlikely to make your FTP go up.
If you like riding outside in the spring, and you start doing hard focused efforts now then you will be more likely to be burned out by spring. If you are a person that is nervous about inconsistency then that changes the rules 
Meaning doing what is fun through the winter is probably more important than doing things perfect from a seasonal perspective. So in this case fun might be doing harder efforts. Big climbs is an end of season peak block.
Generally for a “perfect” perspective. I would do 2 months of HR zone 2 right now and then start a coach jack plan with a 4-6 month event date goal ending with another peak period like big climbs again. Once you find something that works for you, you really can keep doing the same seasonal plan over and over again and keep seeing improvements.
All the advice I am giving is very traditional old school training perspectives, but recent changes in most experts views are coming back to these old standards.
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Thank you Alex,
That does give me food for thought.
While i may want to keep pushing it is probably more strategic to look long range, do the two months of zone 2 (power or hr) and then build again from there.
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Hello Francois,
Nice work finishing your plan. Alex has given you some solid advice, and Abuislam gave you some great tips, too.
You probably like climbing, as you just finished the big climbs program. Nothing beats the thrill of a climb. Looking down into a valley and see how high you came with just the effort of your legs. Enjoying the endless views at the top and then racing down at dazzling speeds, what’s not to love?
With that in mind, why not set a goal for next season for the mountains? Ride a Gran Fondo or go on holiday in an area with big climbs, wherever that is for you.
Make sure you pick a ride that is appropriate to your skills. I’m a Dutch Cyling coach. The longest climb in the Netherlands is a 2km hill in the south-east corner of our country. But still, most cyclists choose a 180km GF with 4000am for their fist experience in the mountains.
My advice would be to pick a shorter one. You can always go bigger and/ or faster.
Personally, I like to ride alone, not the organized 10.000 people events.
Take some time to do slower rides. This is your rest period for the year. You will lose a little of that ftp, but not much. It is a well deserved and needed break so you can get better in the future.
Alex is talking about fun. That is important. For me, fun is riding a race on Zwift or reliving a route with big climbs on Bkool. I do this Whenever I feel like it, but not more than once a week. This is often an extra training. The base is 2 interval trainings and one big slow ride. On top of that I ride one or two extra trainings. One of these can be my fun ride.
If you are time crunched and can’t get on the bike more than 3 times, I suggest doing the fun part at the end of your big ride or instead of your interval training.
Suppose you have a zone 4 threshold training. Instead you pick a big climb and ride that. Just ride it the way you want it or do the threshold training while going up.
Who knows, you might even set a record!?
Have fun, coach Robert
Notice he wrote this post Feb 2023 
But still good insights and advice from my perspective for everyone else that comes and reviews this.
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