Dr. Conconi is the granddaddy of cycling doctors. He first gained critical acclaim when he guided Francesco Moser to his first world hour record in Mexico City in the winter of 1984. Today he still counsels numerous professionals, but he believes in cycling as a sport for life.     

He proved his point in 1994 when he and Moser returned to Mexico and shattered Moser's original record set in 1984. At 43 years of age, Moser rode an inspiring 51.840 kilometers in 60 minutes, 689 meters beyond his record set a decade earlier.     

"Francesco never really stopped riding after he retired," Conconi explained. "He rode a lot less, but when he went out, he really rode." The 1994 effort stemmed out of a gentlemen's bet between Conconi and Moser, but it served as a monumental statement to the positive effects of exercise on aging.     

Conconi himself practices what he preaches. He, like most working people, has little time to train. Despite his crammed schedule as professor of biochemistry and Vice Rector at the University of Ferrara just north of Bologne, Conconi always finds at least an hour a day to ride. It shows, as only his birth certificate could prove that he is now in his mid-60s.     

"You can work any domain you want in an hour: power, endurance, etc. But you can't just go out in the park and toddle around - you really have to work that hour. I would never advise riding without suffering at all. That's just for fun, but you get nothing from it," Conconi related by phone from his university office.     

"Of course I'm not talking about the elite athlete but of the fitness athlete. There are no miracles, but I've seen some everyday people who previously led basically sedentary lives really change their form over a year or two. With an elite athlete, change is hard to monitor - 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 if you're lucky. But with average people the difference can be up to 30 %," Conconi said.     

To maximize your hour-long workout Conconi has several suggestions. "The best is if you live close to a long, steady climb." It is the perfect way to warm up and the perfect way to work out because a gradual climb guarantees consistent resistance. "If you ride 30 minutes up a hill, you work both endurance and power," Conconi explained. However, he does realize that many of us do not possess a handy little mountain outside our doorsteps. "Wind trainers are great when you don't have much time. You can really monitor your efforts and get the specific workout you desire. I often use one when it's raining or when I simply don't have much time," he said.     

The first important element to an efficient workout is a progressive warm-up. Conconi always takes 30 minutes and during that time he progressively works up to the limit of his submaximal capacity. Using a gear that you would choose in a flat time trial, you should start at 60 rotations per minute (rpm) and increase approximately 1 rpm per minute until 90. Then after a brief pause, the real workout can begin.     

For Bicycle Guide, Conconi has outlined three workouts designed to improve endurance, power and overall muscle strength (see the charts and diagrams for specific workouts on the next page). Conconi assures that by varying these workouts, you can maintain a respectable fitness level. "At a general fitness level, it is more important to maintain one's power and strength. If you maintain these elements, endurance comes easily. In contrast, if you simply ride long and slow, the power is much more difficult to attain."     

The basic idea is to work just under the anaerobic threshold, which is generally accepted as 81 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate - the maximum sustainable effort that you can maintain for 20 minutes or more and when the body starts building up lactic acid. During the warm-up, get your heart rate just at the aerobic limit, then maintain.     

"Once you reach a certain work intensity, the heart rate no longer increases, but the physical output still increases," Conconi said. Although the good doctor does not go as far as to equate cycling fitness with the eternal fountain of youth, he does insist that a consistent training program can slow down the aging process. "We are really pushing the frontier in this domain," Conconi said.     

"We are the first generation that is really active and it is hard to say where it will take us. Many sedentary people age tremendously between 45 and 55. But those who have consistently exercised can push those limits. We definitely age, but we can surely slow it down. In the case of Moser, we clearly saw that he no longer had the same level of endurance and his performance was declining in the last part of his 1994 hour-record attempt. But I also recently ran into a guy who has always cycled and now at the age of 88, he is still climbing mountains such as the Stelvio. And he looks great."

Chart 1: Aerobic Endurance Workout.

30-minute warm-up, gradually reaching submaximal speed. Make a slow progression from a cadence of 60 rotations per minute (rpm) up to 90 rpm in increments of 1 rpm each minute. Gearing should be one you would use for the race pace in a time trial on a flat course (e.g., 52x15).

30-minute exercise at medium intensity. Use the gearing employed in the warm-up and in three minutes reach a cadence of 84 to 86 rpm. Keep that cadence for the times indicated in this diagram. If adequately trained, one could do this workout for 30 minutes without interruption

Chart 2: Muscle Strength Workout

30-minute warm-up; see Chart 1.    

30-minute workout specific for increasing muscle strength. The course should be uphill at a 6 to 9 percent grade. The gearing is the same gear used in the warm-up (e.g., 52x15).. Keep the cadence at 40 to 50 rpm for the times indicated in this diagram and heart rate should not exceed the heart rate reached in your workouts at medium intensity.

Chart 3: Aerobic Power Workout  

30-minute warm-up; see Chart 1

30-minute workout specific for improving aerobic power. The course should be flat and the cadence should be up to 105 rpm for the times indicated in this diagram. The gearing and exercise intensity should be similar to those you would use for a long time trial (i.e., this workout is not meant to be an all-out exercise)