Yeah, I'm generally not bothered when people pass me. That's just life. There will always be someone faster.Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
Printable View
Yeah, I'm generally not bothered when people pass me. That's just life. There will always be someone faster.Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
Well I hadn't thought about the other users slowing us down. That is a factor to an extent. We ride West to East starting on the outskirts of Purcellville through Purcellville which is usually a mob scene and onward to Ashburn. We have to stop for a lot of traffic crossings. Leesburg can also be mobbed.
My aerobic fitness is not amazing. I did a couch to 5k several times on the treadmill last spring but got sidetracked w/achilles problems whenever I tried to go outside on pavement or hills or did any speedwork. And we are talking a very slow couch to 5K like average running speed about 4 miles per hour. I also worked my way up to riding 30 miles on the indoor bike at the gym over last winter but that was taking 2 hours. I've ridden bikes since I was a kid but the bike prior to this sat in the garage for 8 years before I dragged it out and almost instantly decided I needed a new one. I have only been riding in earnest since July adding a few miles a week to the long ride. First was on my sucky hybrid and now on my lovely Ruby.
I essentially walked in and took the Ruby off the shelf after trying a billion different bikes and not finding anything that worked w/my short torso and longish legs except that bike. They offered to send me to a fitter who works with triathletes but they didn't offer a professional fitting at the shop and I got the feeling it would be extra.
My core isn't horrible. I did private pilates last year 1-2x a week. I'm now doing the pilates on my own and doing fewer exercises but doing the main core ones more frequently. I also take two horseback riding lessons a week. The biking started as a way to just improve conditioning/leg strength and thigh tone for riding the horse. Occasionally I get to the gym for some inner and outer thigh machine and leg press but I prefer to be outside if at all possible.
My fitness goals were to have stronger quads and actually be ready for ski season for the first time in my life and to not feel like I was having a heart attack when biking with my 30 year old friend who actually has asthma but who also usually somehow manages to kick my ***.
So what I'm hearing is maybe I need to figure on it taking years to make a very pronounced dent in the VO2 max and that its a cumulative effect. I had sorta hoped it would be a fast learning curve but will just keep plugging away and will probably give the bike fitting a try too. Also those 2X20 intervals sound very doable for lunchtime rides while teleworking which as the sun goes down earlier and earlier will be about all I can get in during the week. I had been doing all out sprints for 30 seconds at a time with a few minutes of recovery in between. the 2X20s sound like a different beast.
Are you doing any group riding? Intervals are great, but riding with people faster than you will also help with speed. I spent all summer riding with kids (literally, interns and the 17 year old son of a friend) and trying to keep up with them made me a lot faster! Like 4 miles an hour faster. Find a group of people, 2-3, that you can ride with who will truly push you (and be there to pick you up!) And ride with them if your DH won't. I push my DH, as his pride won't let him be beat by a girl! I do intervals as well, and really focus on form as well as speed/heart rate, but when alone, we can slack - not when with other people! It helped me tremendously.
I've always read that the interval (i.e. the recovery) should be no longer than double the repeat (the effort). The interval workouts I do are one minute sprint/one minute recovery; three minutes at about 30 sec/mile quicker than 5K pace/three minutes recovery; ladder intervals going in 30-second increments from 30 seconds to 2:30, up and down the ladder twice, with recovery duration equal to the effort.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seal
Twenty minutes is kind of long to be considered intervals anyway, IMO - valuable work, but more like speedplay or tempo work than intervals. You might add those workouts to your weekly routine rather than substituting them for interval days.
On your other implied concerns:
Here's a great video about riding in traffic. There are certainly roads in my area that I wouldn't ride on (narrow, busy, poor sight lines), and I have no idea what the roads are like where you are, but even in Florida there are some roads that are safe and appropriate for cycling.
If the bike lanes you refer to are off-limits to pedestrians, then great, go for it. But if you're talking about shared use trails, then you need to take the other users into account for your safety as well as theirs, and that means keeping your speed down unless you're way out of town with no one else around, and no adjacent homes or parks from which someone might wander onto the path without looking. There are many threads here about appropriate speed on MUPs. Four times pedestrian speed is already approaching unsafe, but it's generally agreed that it's a reasonable compromise for an unreasonably designed facility.
Seal,
This is an issue I myself have been struggling with since I started cycling more seriously about six months ago. I trained to ride a metric century which was a couple of weeks ago. I averaged 11.5 mph on that ride. The truth is that I actually love riding 12 mph. The problem is that on distance riding like that it translates into hours in the saddle (for example, it took my husband only one hour more to finish the 104 ride as it did for me to finish the 64 ride!) Go ahead and laugh!
So, I've started to ask myself...why do I ride? What do I want to get out of it? I have definitely figured out that I don't want to make myself miserable focusing so much on increasing speed that I stop enjoying cycling. I ride to be with others, be outside, stay in shape. Every once in a while I like to push myself to achieve a specific goal but most of the time I ride for pure enjoyment.
I guess what I'm saying is don't get too stressed about it. From what I can tell there is lots of obsessing about speed that goes on in the cycling world and that can make you feel external pressure to get faster (I've certainly struggled with that this year and sometimes started to feel I shouldn't be cycling or wasn't "good" at it) but there are also lots of different kinds of cyclists. So, find your niche and enjoy it!
amen
The thing that has helped me the most is riding with better riders than myself. Learning from them as well as drafting occasionally (where appropriate) helped me to increase my MPH.
PS: You are not pathetically slow!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
BleekerStGirl, you ARE my hero! :p
Riding with a group has increased my avg speed by 2-4 MPH for a 2 hour-ish ride.
I am lucky in that Austin has the largest all-women's cycling club around. There are more than 100 women in the club. Some race, some don't.
In August, I finished a century with my club with an average at the end of 100 miles at 17.8 mph.
There is no possible way I could do that alone, or just with my husband, but also my solo rides are faster now. I'm just stronger, and my technique has improved which also increases speed.
Riding with a group provides an incredible motivation to keep up. This pushes me to go harder for as long as I can. The threat of getting dropped is a big motivator to dig deep and find a little more power.
I began riding 3 years ago. My average on a 2-3 hour weekend solo ride has increased from working hard to squeek out a 13 to easily averaging 15, sometimes higher, depending on terrain and wind.
The things that have made the most improvement for me are:
1)Ride with a group that is faster than me
2)Ride a lot
3)Drop some weight
I also participated in several clinics put on by my club which have taught me technique that has helped improve my speed as well as handling, comfort, and enjoyment.
Longer duration/lower intensityQuote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
Not just for cycling. ;)
Yeah baby! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by malkin
The year that I rode 2500 miles about 3 years ago, my top biking year, I went from a 9mph average to a 9.5mph average. Woo-HOOOOO!! LOL!
But hey, I could ride 50 miles then, or even 70...and I knew much faster riders who would totally poop out after 30 miles or so. It's all relative. Plus I'm 56 now- I deserve to enjoy myself and thumb my nose at what others might think.
Last year and this year I'm not riding nearly as much, but I do all kinds of stuff- walking, snowshoeing, dancing, gardening... it's all active and all good.
And I still love riding my bike. :p
You rock!Quote:
Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl
I am still shooting for 2500 miles this year - have it up to about 1800, it depends what happens with my hamstring. They are not very fast miles, but they do pass and I enjoy them greatly!