1st 25 Mile ride, need to go FASTER!

[bikerchick2]

I am proud to announce that I did my very first 25 Mile ride Saturday!! It was the Crane Cruise in Medaryville IN. My daughter went with me, and rode my husband's bike. Both are Specialized AT bikes. Not built for speed, so I always ASSUMED my 10 mph max speed was partly due to the bike. well, since my daughter (and everyone else, including 2 people on tandems with children on the back), were passing me like I was sitting still, I realized, I NEED TO GO FASTER!!! :D So, my goals are 15 mph, and a 50 Mile ride next spring. Now, any advice on HOW to accomplish this? :o

[mimitabby]

Hey Biker chick, that's one of the things I'm working on too. Can you take a spin class? that's a great way to improve over the winter. It's a killer workout.
having a lighter/racier bike helps too. When i went from the hybrid to the Bianchi, I had an instant speed improvement. I didn't have the strength to sustain it at first though... Like i said, still working on that one.

[bikerchick2]

Thought about a new bike, but if my daughter can do 15 mph on the same bike, there's not much reason I can't. The bike will go that fast, I just can't.

No spinning classes in the area.

So, do I take short rides, and ride hard and fast as I can till I improve speed and THEN add distance? Or, keep plugging away and the speed will come?


When I started a year ago, I could only ride about 7 mph, 6-12 miles. so, I've improved most definately.

Since I'm new to this, I'm just not sure what is right. I stayed with the 6-12 miles and rode harder to get to my speed up to 10mph.

[mimitabby]

yes, i think you have the idea. Interval training. ride 20 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 40 seconds of recovery. That's one of the things we do in the spin class.
As you start really accumulating the miles, your speed will improve. Try doing 25 miles once a week every week, and some smaller rides in between. And then move up to bigger rides. And add hills. HILLS will make you stronger.

[bikerchick2]

Got the hills covered! I live in NW Indiana, and although they aren't HUGE, they're big enough for me right now. There are a few inclines in the State park where I like to ride. some are steep, some are just long steady upgrades, but they are a workout. (at least for now). so I will take your advice, and do what I'm doing. short hard rides, followed by slower recovery, and throw in the 25 mile ride once/week. I might have to get a trainer though for the really cold months, or maybe just use that YMCA membership I have. They have a few exercise bikes, it's boring as it gets, but at least when the weather is too bad, I can fit it in. I do walking tapes at home when I can't ride, because it's easy to fit into my life, and adds variety.

Thanks for the advice! It helps when you know your on the right track!

[NoNo]

Nice job on the ride!:) I went through a similar thing this summer. Had been riding my MTB and did a 50 miler for the MS Society. I was slow slow SLOW! Even on the flats, I'd be pedaling as fast as I could while my brother, on his road bike, could just cruise. That convinced me to get a road bike, and there was an instant speed improvement! But before that I had put road tires on the MTB and that definitely helped. Other than that, the only thing slowing me down was me. The more you ride, the stronger you'll get. I find that short rides are good for working on my speed, while a longer ride once a week will keep my endurance up. I have a set route that I do after work, and it's nice to see that I'm able to complete it faster and faster. And yes, as much as I despise them, hills will definitely make you stronger. Just keep riding!

[flash]

Hi biker chick! Congratulations on your 25 mile ride!!! I'm excited that you're already ready for more & setting a great new goal for yourself :)

You're in NW Indiana, I'm in SW Michigan ... so I understand what a long, long winter we have ahead of us! Here are a couple of thoughts for improving through the winter....

You said you don't have a spin class near by, but I wonder if you have an indoor trainer or could buy a new or used indoor trainer to put your bike on? Having my bike setup in my basement is a real incentive come January .... I can come home from work & put in as little or as much time as I want to. And having my own bike (instead of a bike at the gym) to ride indoors means I'm working exactly the right muscles to make me stronger, faster, and more comfortable in the spring! Sometimes, my husband and I invite friends over & we'll all do an indoor workout together, with some music or a movie on...the time definitely goes faster that way! We mix it up, sometimes doing long and easy indoor workouts, sometimes adding tough 'sprint' like intervals in, sometimes doing those awful long+hard effort workouts.

General fitness ... bike specific fitness is important for getting faster & improving endurance, but if you just can't ride (or can't ride as often as you want to) through the winter, cross-training can pay huge dividends in the spring. It helps to think about your own strengths and weaknesses. For me, power and core strength are weaknesses, so I work on light strength training and core work (pilates, other ab/back work) several times a week once the cold & dark hits, but still try to ride my trainer 1-2x/week & get outdoors for a snowy ride or xc ski 1-2x/week! Other people might feel that endurance is a weakness for them, and choose to add long walks, swimming, cardio machines, running, etc. to their winter routines.

Keep it fun :) Whatever you decide to do, keep it fun and be patient with yourself. The more you ride, and the more variety you ride, the stronger you will become! Mix up your rides so that you have a variety of lengths, terrains, and intensities/intervals, plus the occaisional ride to the ice cream shop (of course!), and it will never be boring :)

[BarbaraAlys]

Adding miles is WAY easier than adding speed, it seems. One thing you an do, mechanically, to add speed is switch to clipless pedals, if you have not already. They allow a more efficient transfer of energy from your feet to the crank. Won't give you 5 more mph, but you will notice the difference.

One of the other threads linked to this information on interval training. I think it is golden, and this kind of training will go a long way to improving speed (at least i am told so! I know that when I did interval training on the tread mill I quickly increased my max mph and felt way more energy all day). Here is the link:

http://www.trifuel.com/training/bike/interval-training-the-scientific-way

(with thanks to the woman who posted it on the other thread).

I am not fast on the bike, on a 50 mile ride I will average about 12.5mph. So, I feel your pain with not being able to go faster. I hate holding other people up, but hate being left behind too. This winter I hope to be able to increase my average.

You said you want to do 15mph by spring. That is pretty ambitious. Good to have goals, though.


Barbara

[RolliePollie]

Congrats on the 25 mile ride! I know what you mean about getting passed...I always think I'm riding pretty fast until I get passed like I'm standing still! I feel like increased speed is coming pretty slowly for me. I've increased my speed by about 0.5 mph on hilly routes and 2.0 mph on flat rides over the last 6 months. At any rate, getting out there and riding, especially on hills, will definitely help with speed in the long run.

I second the indoor trainer idea. I just picked up a magnetic trainer at an REI used gear sale and I can already tell that I've improved my spinning. For some reason, the trainer has made me realize that I have been mashing too much on hills. I don't know why I didn't realize this while I was actually on the hills! Anyway, now that I've practiced some really good spinning in the comfort of my living room, I am doing a much better job of pulling the pedals all the way around the pedal stroke when I'm going up hills. And amazingly enough, this increases my speed too!

Good luck! I'm sure you'll get there with the speed thing. And even if you don't, at least you're out there riding!

[makbike]

Congratulations and keep up the good work.

I second the suggestion of using a trainer during the winter months. Using a trainer is boring, I'll admit but it pays off in huge ways in the spring. Do you have a local bike club? Do they offer "trainer tours" during the winter months?

Once it warms up and you are outside again on a regular basis ride and then ride some more. Try increasing your mileage by 10% each week and over the course of a few months you will find your endurance and speed increasing.

Do you have a bike computer? Does it have cadence? I would suggest you focus on your maintaining a steady cadence first, speed will follow. Find a zone, say 80-90, that you can ride comfortable in consistently and focus on spinning. As your strength and endurance builds try bumping your cadence up a little and again the speed will follow.

Keep up the great work!

[Jo-n-NY]

I am all for using an indoor trainer also. This will be my 5th season it so that puts me at riding consistantly for 5 years. Once you get back outdoors, you will have lost very little fitness level if any at all, infact you probably will be stronger.

However, this winter season, if them temps are as low as the forties, I plan to take the bike outdoors on the weekend.

~ JoAnn

[Tuckervill]

I'm thinking about getting a trainer, but not because I want to improve my cycling--just so I will have another way to improve my fitness besides walking, lifting, and exercise classes during the winter.

Is most of the benefit just for cycling, or can it help my fitness, too? I'm not racing or into super long distances or anything like that. I have no mileage goals. I just want to bike for fun. Which, for next year, I want to have fun doing a century at the end of the season.

Do you think a trainer would be worth the money for me?

Karen

[blueskies]

Karen,

I do think a trainer would be a good investment for you. It's good for your cycling specific fitness, which makes your outdoor rides more fun. And it's good for your overall fitness, which makes your whole life more fun.

I find that having convenient exercise options make it's easier to keep the workouts regular. In the winter, I like to go to classes at my gym, but it's also really good to be able to just pop in a workout video & do it on my own schedule at home.

[flash]

Is most of the benefit just for cycling, or can it help my fitness, too? I'm not racing or into super long distances or anything like that.



Karen -- riding an indoor trainer would most definitely improve your overall fitness, in the same way that riding your bike outdoors will improve overal fitness.

On the trainer, it can be a little easier to incorporate intervals or focus on certain aspects of your fitness (examples would be strength or cardiovascular fitness). Why? In an outdoor ride, weather and terrain play a huge role. If you are going out for an "easy ride" to put in some base miles, a super windy day can make you work much harder than you had planned. Doing an easy ride while watching your favorite movie is a great way to get a base mileage or recovery workout in. [And, of course, it works the other way too...it can be very convenient to push yourself to do 5 high intensity riding on the trainer, whereas out on the streets you might need to stop for a red light or train in the middle of a high intensity section of your workout.

Hmm...that's probably more info. than you were looking for. Sorry! Bottom line? Whether it's for cross-training or cycling-specific training, USING an indoor trainer can improve your fitness and performance. The key is USING the trainer...a certain amount of motivation and creativity are helpful to keep the trainer from turning into an expensive bike stand...because riding indoors by yourself can get boring!

[Geonz]

The tires make a **huge** difference and are a lot cheaper than a bicycle :-)

Of course, riding a bike that takes more work makes you stronger, so that when you get on something more efficient, you FLY!

And don't forget to work on technique.

[Tuckervill]

Okay! I'll read all the threads and put one on my xmas list! ;)


Thanks!
Karen

[Kathyrides]

Congrats on a cool milestone!

Riding lots and doing harder work ie intervals is key to getting faster.

In '04 I did my first tri and averaged 12 mph and now I can do 20 and am close to 21.5 in a time trial. There seems to be a learning curve and once you get it and work hard you will get faster. Seems strange to say but to learn to ride faster you need to ride faster...question is how? Do little bits at harder effort ie you'll be going faster. In time your body adapts and you will get faster at all distances.

Trainer and a good plan to train in off season will help. Spinnervals DVDs are a good workout and they have ones that emphasis different things. Base building and ones geared for power like hills would be good.

I think for some women, it is hard to push yourself to a place where it is uncomfortable but doing that will help you improve more. When I race, do intervals, it hurts to ride my quads and hamstrings hurt and want me to slow down, learning to push on helps you get faster.

[silver]

I have no mileage goals.
Karen


:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Tell me you did not just type that!!!!! Blasphemy!!!!

Miles are EVERYTHING!!!

;) ;) (Really, really just kidding!!! )

Bikerchick2: I'm just joking with Tuckervill. But more cycling will make you faster. I personally wouldn't try to do hard intervals more than once a week. Like others have said....mix it up, one longer ride each week, one interval ride, one easy ride, one hilly ride, etc. Although I do ride a lot, it's not about chasing to get more miles. :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm not racing or into super long distances or anything like that. I have no mileage goals. I just want to bike for fun. Which, for next year, I want to have fun doing a century at the end of the season.

But isn't wanting to ride a century a mileage goal? ;)

Tip for beginner riders:
I am a slow rider. But one little trick I figured out a while back helped me raise my average speed in a simple way. After my first six months of riding, I thought I was working hard on all my rides. Then i realized that after every uphill I struggled up, I would coast down the other side and keep coasting a long time to rest my legs and enjoy the scenery. I would coast until I needed to start pedaling again. I changed that habit so that I would pedal whenever I could, even when going slightly downhill, where I used to coast. It wasn't a strain on my legs at all, but it kept me going faster overall.
I hadn't even realized I was doing so much coasting until I actually focused on it.

[Tuckervill]

But isn't wanting to ride a century a mileage goal? ;)

Tip for beginner riders:
I am a slow rider. But one little trick I figured out a while back helped me raise my average speed in a simple way. After my first six months of riding, I thought I was working hard on all my rides. Then i realized that after every uphill I struggled up, I would coast down the other side and keep coasting a long time to rest my legs and enjoy the scenery. I would coast until I needed to start pedaling again. I changed that habit so that I would pedal whenever I could, even when going slightly downhill, where I used to coast. It wasn't a strain on my legs at all, but it kept me going faster overall.
I hadn't even realized I was doing so much coasting until I actually focused on it.

I think in context of this thread, I meant no 3000 mile years or whatever. I think if I sign up for a century, I will be motivated to ride enough to make me capable. But I'm not going to get all stressed about it.

I used to do that, too, Lisa...coast to get my heart rate back down I don't have to do that anymore (well, I may because I haven't ridden since October). I like coasting, though. It's FUN. I try not to if I want to have a speedy ride.

My philosophy of fitness is


Never do anything in one session that will make me not want to do it again.
Never get caught not having any fun.


Karen

[Zen]

What's the hurry?
Everybody's in a hurry. just enjoy the ride.

[lph]

Because riding fast is fun too. :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My philosophy of fitness is


Never do anything in one session that will make me not want to do it again.
Never get caught not having any fun.


Karen

Good philosophy! A lot like mine. Happily, I love to ride often, and almost always have fun doing it. :p

If someone likes to ride fast- that's good!
If someone likes to ride slow- that's good!
If someone likes to ride both fast and slow- that's good!
:D

Sometimes a problem happens when people ride together and have differing pace. Fast riders get frustrated, slow riders get dropped out, etc.
I play oldtime music with lots of other people. My DH and I tend to enjoy playing at an easy speed (just like the way we ride bikes...and other things! =8-O ) Anyway....we have a private joke when we get unhappily stuck playing with people who zoom through playing a fiddle tune at 100mph....we say "well at least it's over with a lot quicker!" ;)

[RoadRaven]

Just agreeing with everyone else here - time on the bike/ consistent riding is crucial to your improvement.
Pushing yourself hard (by trying to ride a known course faster, or drafting others who ride faster than you so your pace is lifted) is important to.

Something that I didn't see clearly said here though is do not try and do every ride fast. Do not treat every ride as an attempt at your personal best.

This will tire your body and leave you "over trained" which will actually have a detrimental effect on your overall fitness.

Rest days (no riding) and/or recovery rides/active recovery days (gentle riding where your heart rate is not lifted by much at all... flat courses, or hills ridden at a slow steady pace with minimal exertion) are just as crucial to improving fitness.

[Melalvai]

Sometimes a problem happens when people ride together and have differing pace. Fast riders get frustrated, slow riders get dropped out, etc.
That can be a disaster when it is spouses with different paces! The male ego in particular doesn't like his wife sprinting ahead...

[kelownagirl]

This female ego gets po'ed with the hubby sprints ahead too...

[RoadRaven]

Is most of the benefit just for cycling, or can it help my fitness, too? I'm not racing or into super long distances or anything like that. I have no mileage goals. I just want to bike for fun. Which, for next year, I want to have fun doing a century at the end of the season.

Do you think a trainer would be worth the money for me?

Hi Tuckervill... I missed this post when I first arrived in this thread.
Just want to confirm that yes, a trainer would maintain/support/improve your fitness.

I understand you having no mileage goals... I guess you are thinking you have a distance or a time goal... (I have goals in all three categories - just greedy I guess :p )

A trainer will help you with endurance over winter... estimate how long you would like to take to do your century and then ride for that ammount of time on a regular basis on the road or on the trainer - don't worry about speed so much, this type of biking will help your body get used to riding for the duration. As you keep doing it you will find you ride further/more strongly in the same ammount of time.

Keep smiling - I like that its all about fun :D Thats how it should be

[aicabsolut]

Something that I didn't see clearly said here though is do not try and do every ride fast. Do not treat every ride as an attempt at your personal best.

This will tire your body and leave you "over trained" which will actually have a detrimental effect on your overall fitness.

Rest days (no riding) and/or recovery rides/active recovery days (gentle riding where your heart rate is not lifted by much at all... flat courses, or hills ridden at a slow steady pace with minimal exertion) are just as crucial to improving fitness.

^^^^ very good to remember.

Ride with people faster than you at least once a week and try to hang on. Sit in and draft when you need to rest. Skip taking pulls at first if that's ok with them, or spend a very short time at the front. The competitiveness really helps me push out of my comfort zone, much more so than trying to structure my own intervals. (Just don't pick people who are TOO fast, because then you'll be inclined to say F* it and quit, as you'll be OTB in mere moments.)

[wawaski]

Here's what I've found...a LOT of things come into play when you're trying to ramp it up...going to a different bike will help, the geometry will give you more pedal to power so to speak. Believe it or not even switching tires gave me over a mile per hr more. I was on some "bullet-proof" tires, went to Michelin Race-Pro and voila! No punctures so far either.
The spin class that was suggested is great as well...you can get a killer workout without all the distractions of the "open road". Friend of mine that rides the SF to LA AIDS benefit ride every year was trapped indoor all training season a few years ago due to incessant rain. she opted for spin classes and did the best/easiest ride she'd done to date.
I ride in windy Texas, a usual 10-15 mph headwind is the norm, after several years of riding I FINALLY made a 15.3 mph average on a 22 mi ride a few weeks ago. Ya gotta remember though, I'm older than dirt. Another thing that would do no harm would be squats !
Good luck!

:eek:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I ride in windy Texas, a usual 10-15 mph headwind is the norm, after several years of riding I FINALLY made a 15.3 mph average on a 22 mi ride a few weeks ago. Ya gotta remember though, I'm older than dirt.

So what is your concept of "older than dirt"? :cool: I would define it as a cyclist over 80 maybe (which I hope to be one day). :)

[onimity]

A 15 MPH average on a 50 mile ride is a serious goal, *especially* on a mountain bike/hybrid. I did a 65 mile ride that averaged 16.1 MPH (3,000 ft of elevation gain) this fall and it was really hard and only possible on my road bike, and drafting off of the local collegiate men's cycling team.

I've read that you should focus first on distance and then on speed, though you will naturally improve your speed a little in the process. I followed the oft-cited advice of increasing distance by no more than 10% at a time, and that worked well for me in training for my first century.

On a mountain bike my (hilly) commute is still around 12 MPH, about what it was when I started last winter. But I am a lot less tired and riding a heavier bike than I was then...On a road bike it is a lot faster, and I don't have to work as hard.

A road bike will make a huge difference, and slick tires will help a lot as well.

My biggest piece of advice, though, is not to base your goals on those of others. We are all different, and you are not your daughter. I find that a bunch of realistic short-term goals help motivate me better than a big long-term goal.

Good luck, and most of all, have fun!

Anne