About your commute: Your commute is ~40–45 min each way and naturally drifts to tempo — that is already a big aerobic load twice a day. The research is clear: ride it deliberately easier than feels natural. Treat the morning leg as recovery only (keep HR under ~150bpm, breathing easy), and only ever add quality on the homeward leg, max 2 days/week. This keeps you fresh for the weekend session, which carries the real intensity. The cardinal error is letting every commute drift into the grey zone.

Your weekend ride — pick ONE each week: Because the commute already gives you endurance volume, the weekend is your one quality slot. Choose either format depending on the week:

🚴 1-hour INDOOR — a focused interval session (sweet spot, threshold, or VO2). Your main FTP driver. Pick this when the commute was light/disrupted or weather is poor.

🚴 2-hour OUTDOOR — mostly easy Zone 2 endurance (132–176W). Your durability builder. Pick this when commutes were hard/frequent or you feel flat.

Rule of thumb: alternate them, leaning ~2:1 toward indoor intensity — but never skip the long ride for more than 2–3 weeks, or durability and FTP stall. The sessions below are sensible defaults; swap freely.

Build Phase: Re-establish aerobic base. Commutes Z2. Sweet spot enters week 3. Run easy. KB Circuit A weeks 1–2, Circuit B weeks 3–4.