The plan is designed to start at the beginning of the year (January) and take you to your "A" race. Adjust the start date (or end date) so the plan completes in the week of your "A" race. If you are actively training before this plan begins I would recommend a "light week" before the plan begins.

This plan assumes you have a power meter and heart rate monitor. This will make it much easier to execute the structured workouts and maintain a good level of effort on longer endurance rides. That said, most of the workouts can be approximated by use of heart rate and subjective feel. For short intervals, ignore your heart rate and just go as hard as you can for the duration. Over time you'll improve your pacing so you don't blow up before the finish.

Some rides can be replaced with group or team rides. To get the best effect, make similar efforts in the group rides. The efforts don't need to be exactly the same duration or effort level, but try to stress the same systems. If the group ride is going to be mellow or steady, that is a good substitute for the longer endurance rides on the schedule.

This plan is 12 weeks long and is designed to end with your Conference Championships or National Championships (late April to early May). The training volume is 10-12 hours per week including both on and off-the-bike time. Although this plan is intended for "A" and "B" level riders, there is no reason why lower category riders couldn't benefit from it as well.

If at any point during the plan you reach a level of deep or extreme fatigue, rest and recovery is the best course of action. The goal should not be to complete the plan "to the letter", but rather use the plan to push you to your limit and help you improve. If you are unsure whether you are too fatigued for a particular workout, the best course of action is to get on the bike and give it a go. If after a normal warm-up and a couple efforts you are unable to execute the workout or are feeling really tired, just spin home and take it easy. Take a day or two easy and then get back on the plan. Don't try to make up for missed workouts, this will almost certainly introduce too much load as you "double up". A plan is just a plan, circumstances always require deviation from even the best plan from time-to-time.

Best of luck with your racing season!