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There are countless books written on bicycle training, and if you’re very serious about it then I recommend you check them out! They will surely have more information than what is contained on this page. But, hopefully this will be a good starting point for you...
As in any serious athletic endeavor, there are a couple rules you should follow. Not only to optimize your training, but also to keep yourself safe.
The first is proper nutrition. No, you can’t survive on ice cream and pizza alone, even if you ride a hundred kilometers a day. Your body needs lots of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to stay healthy, burn fat and build muscle. Unfortunately, the ice cream and pizza diet are probably going to be missing a lot of those (and adding extra fat which you don’t need). Try to eat well-rounded balanced meals throughout the day. If your goal is to build muscle, then you’ll need to eat a larger amount of protein. Just be sure that you aren’t eating a proportionally larger amount of fat! Low-fat meat, nuts, eggs and protein supplements are all good choices. If you’re unsure about how much protein to add to your diet, consult a registered dietician.
When you’re out riding, you must take in a sufficient amount of water, electrolytes and calories to keep you going. If you don’t, you’ll run the risk of dehydrating (lack of water) or “bonking” (lack of food energy). In warm weather, the average person will require about a liter of water for every hour of sustained exercise. Based on how long you plan to ride, bring enough water for the whole ride.
Sweating might be an undesirable side effect of exercise, but without it your body would quickly overheat. To ensure that your body sweats normally, it needs electrolytes. Specifically, sodium and potassium. If you look at the ingredients in a sports drink, sodium and potassium will both be there, in one way or another. When you’re out exercising, drinking a sports drink will help keep your electrolytes topped up. You don’t have to leave home with three liters of Gatorade strapped to your bike, though! You may find that diluting a sports drink with water in a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio will be just as good, and cheaper, too. You can also make your own sports drink, with diluted fruit juice and a pinch of table salt.
Along with adequate water, make sure you bring enough food to sustain the energy you’re expending on your ride. You probably won’t need to bring anything on a short commute to work (eat breakfast, though!), but on rides that last several hours you will need something to keep you going. Avoid foods with lots of refined sugar, and opt instead for foods packed with complex carbs, like bread products and cereal bars. Sugary foods might give you a temporary boost, but their effect is short-lived. Complex carbs are better because they takes longer to digest, thus prolonging the effects.
If you haven’t ridden a bike in a few years (recumbent or otherwise), don’t expect to be able to hop on and ride a century (100 miles) right off the bat. You’ll need to work up to it, first by riding 5, 10, 20, 50 miles at a time. You also need to know what your goals are: do you want to ride really fast, or really far? The training will be different.
If your plan is just to ride fast, then all you really need to do is ride fast wherever you go. Ride fast until you’re tired. Then rest. Repeat. Make sure you eat right, as well.
If your goal is to ride long distances, you’ll need to work up to it, as mentioned above. Plan a weekly routine, where you ride a set distance every day or two. Plan in one or two days of rest for every week, because your muscles will need time to recuperate and rebuild in between your rides. When you find that the ride is no longer challenging (ie. you’re not tired at the end, not hungry, or feel able to go further), then you can increase your mileage by a few miles as you see fit. Repeat as before. Longer distances (say, around 100miles or more) will certainly be harder, and less frequent. You may only be able to manage a century every two weeks or so, simply because it will take up a significant amount of time. That’s ok, you can do shorter and longer rides throughout the week as you find time.
Remember that your body will need time to rest and rebuild. During this time, eat lots of protein to provide your body with the building blocks it needs. Try not to strain your leg muscles, though you can concentrate on upper body work during this time if you wish.