Distances during the week

[crazycanuck]

Hey there,

I'm curious to find out if you ladies do the same thing to prepare for your off road rides on the weekends/night riding..

I normally try and bike about 120km or more- if i'm not lazy- during the week and each ride work on speed, hills,cardio & general distance. In addition, my road rides are just practice for off road & normally think about how i can apply the skills on my mtn bike.

Oh yeah, Is 120km too short a distance?

How many KM's off road do you do a week???

Tell me dears....:D

(ps-i'm almost at 2000km's on my odometer....!!!! Road/mtn bike combined....!!!! Only 1500 left..)



c

[Veronica]

My weekly mileage is quite variable anywhere from 0 to 320 miles . :p Most of that is road miles and most weeks are more like 150 miles..

Ideally I get in one or two mountain bike rides a week, right around 10 miles each. But ideal doesn't happen much. :( Mountain biking hasn't been my focus this year. I consider it my strength building ride. I'm focusing more on getting my pace up for double centuries.

V.

[madisongrrl]

Hey there,

I'm curious to find out if you ladies do the same thing to prepare for your off road rides on the weekends/night riding..

Lots of miles and lots of hills. You will see huge payoffs in your mountain biking if you do a lot of hill work on your road bike with an occasional long ride thrown in.



I normally try and bike about 120km or more- if i'm not lazy- during the week and each ride work on speed, hills,cardio & general distance. In addition, my road rides are just practice for off road & normally think about how i can apply the skills on my mtn bike.

As far as applying mountain skills on the road, there are two aspects you can really focus on (not that it prepares you to ride technical single track, but it might help a little) 1. Counter weighting the outside of the bike/pedal when you turn a corner and trying to take those corners tighter (also being comfortable moving the bike to either side beneath you and having your body stay vertical) 2. Climbing super steep hills....boobs to the tube, seat on or hovering on the nose of the saddle and a nice even/consistant cadence. Practicing technical climbing will help get you up super steep goat hills that many people can't ride.



Oh yeah, Is 120km too short a distance?

It depends on your personal goals and what type of riding or racing you are trying to participate in. Any riding is good riding....especially if you make the most of your miles and time by choosing harder training rides tempered with nice easy recovery rides.



How many KM's off road do you do a week???


For me, 50 miles/80.5 km on a bad week & 150 miles/241.5 km on a superlative week (both on and off road). But it depends on what kind of races I'm doing, if I'm in a build phase, peak phase, recovery phase etc. And it depends on how busy I am....life happens and sometimes you can't ride your bike because of it.

[Kitsune06]

... Climbing super steep hills....boobs to the tube, seat on or hovering on the nose of the saddle and a nice even/consistant cadence. Practicing technical climbing will help get you up super steep goat hills that many people can't ride.

Hmm... Oddly, when I try really steep hills, and I go 'boobs to the tube' I end up half-endoing, pulling the rear wheel way up. What am I doing wrong? If I don't totally lose contact with the rear wheel, it ends up at least spinning and not getting a 'bite' of the trail.

[DirtDiva]

The point of 'boobs to the tube' is to keep the front wheel on the ground. Perhaps you need to sit further back on your saddle when you're climbing to keep more weight over the back wheel. :confused: A higher gear will help with rear-wheel traction too. Might not help your legs go the distance, though... :rolleyes:

[madisongrrl]

Hmm... Oddly, when I try really steep hills, and I go 'boobs to the tube' I end up half-endoing, pulling the rear wheel way up. What am I doing wrong? If I don't totally lose contact with the rear wheel, it ends up at least spinning and not getting a 'bite' of the trail.


I would look to one or more of the following:

1. Poor bike fit and bike set up
2. Leaning too far foward for the steepness of the hill
3. Pedaling technique...proper gearing and appropriate cadence.

Most people will end up popping a wheelie and falling backwards when they climb steep hills.....

[crazycanuck]

Thanks for the info ladies-My question has been answered actually in the new thread above!

FBG-I would love to be able to mtn bike during the week. At the moment we drive about 45min-1hr just to get to the area & it's not always feasible during the week. :(

So if we can't join the off road night rides, we have no choice but to do road riding...

I look fwd to sat & sunday....dirt, mud, hills!

c