do you ride by time or miles?

I was looking at bikejournal and our local cycling club member mile #'s ... like TE club, there are some BIG mile #'s! I was encouraged and discouraged all at the same time -- if that makes any sense! :D

Anyway, started thinking about my miles and how to increase per week. Realized I ride by time, not necessarily miles. On a daily basis, I decide how much time I can ride that day and I ride that amount of time. Noticed I average about 2 hours per day, with exceptions of higher and lower. So, how do you decide your daily ride -- time or miles?:confused:

For you high mileage women, how do you get the miles in ... is there some "scheduling trick" to increase miles?:confused:

Hey there batbike,
I ride by miles and I can get in 30 miles per day easily. The trick for me: commuting! I live about 10-15 miles one way from work (depending on route), so right there I have 20-30 miles in a day. Other tricks: riding during lunch (if you have a long enough lunch to put in a couple of miles) and riding in the morning or evening, especially since the sun is setting later. Hope this helps

split decsion here
weekday - hours - I'm really pressed for time and it makes it easier -usually about an hour
weekend- miles- but It usually does come to hours -60 or so on Saturday, and around 30 on Sundays
I can rememebr back when I started reading a Gref le Mond book , an he recommend traing by time instead of miles, reason being that as you got better, if went by miles, your training time would decrease.

by heart rate!

Depending on the day, I might ride miles, hours, or by heart rate! I know, I didn't help did I?

Jeni

I usually go by miles, I ride knowing about how many miles I want to go, but if I usually try to round out my miles...like if I have done 38 miles I will ride the extra 2 miles to make 40. That's how I add on some miles.

though I just got a HRM and am figuring out how to integrate it :D

During my work week (four days/week) I pretty much can't ride until summer kicks in and it is lighter later in the day/evening. For the three days I'm off, I try to cram in miles. It's not a good way to do it, granted. My long day now is 50 to increase to 60 -- the other day(s) I try to do 20-40/ea. There are times I get up early to go to spin class before work but I am not a morning person!

I guess, I don't know. I like seeing the miles go up on my odometer so that's why I do it the way I do it. Oh and I've been known to ride by time if I have appointments or something; I just ride for an hour or two or whatever amount of time I have.

(then again I'm not high miles and when I was way back when, I worked part time and had more of a life)

I dont' know where we read it but DH said he read about this person that said he would go out and do no less then 90 minutes that is all he focused on initially. Speed and mileage come with time.....I wish I could go out and "tootle" around trust me Sunday when we had to take it easy with the little one in the trailer it was tough, because when I go out it's balls to the wall until I'm wasted and just crawl home because I only get to ride outside every so often but spin my hinder off the rest of the time.
I focus on my heart rate and time and I know it's embarassing but I average about 17 miles for every hour I ride, (without WIND).:p

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Originally Posted by Jenn

I know it's embarassing but I average about 17 miles for every hour I ride, (without WIND).:p

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HOW can that be embarassing?? I think that is REALLY REALLY good! :)

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Originally Posted by Fredwina

I can rememebr back when I started reading a Gref le Mond book , an he recommend traing by time instead of miles, reason being that as you got better, if went by miles, your training time would decrease.

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If I understand correctly, if you go by time you will increase your miles in the same amount of time as your fitness improves? :confused:

Makes me wonder if that is really true -- I guess you would have to do the same route on multiple days to determine that. Would you also monitor your HR to check fitness?

... questions, questions, questions -- I ALWAYS seem to have questions! :D

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Originally Posted by Jenn

I know it's embarassing but I average about 17 miles for every hour I ride, (without WIND).:p

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:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Generally, we ride for miles, but sometimes it's cut short due to time -- as in "We don't have time to do that long ride, we'll have to do the shorter ride."

kilometers!

I am also saving up for a power meter. I used my Tacx Flow power meter inside, but can't afford the outside version just yet. I'm hoping for an ibike very very soon.

I also use HR, but not so religiously.

During the week I have about 45 minutes to ride on the trainer stand and I do whatever miles I can get in. On weekends I'll usually decide on a route by miles, but other engagements may dictate what I can fit in.

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Originally Posted by Batbike

So, how do you decide your daily ride -- time or miles?:confused: For you high mileage women, how do you get the miles in ... is there some "scheduling trick" to increase miles?:confused:

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It all depends on what my schedule is for any given day. When the weather is nice I commute to work. If I have no place to be after school (work) I can knock out 25+ miles given we are free to leave at 3:30 p.m.. If I have to be someplace at a given time I have shorter routes I use. I simply adjust my milage/time on my bike according to my other responsibilities. I also try to ride with the club a couple of times each week. However, with soaring gas prices the 2-3 trips into Louisville each week may have to be cut back to weekend rides only.

Once summer starts (only 17 more school days :D ) I'll have even more time to explore new routes/roads and ride some of my favorite routes in this area. Last summer I typically rode 6 days a week with rides being 25+ miles each day.

In the winter months I do not ride outside. I put my bike on my trainer and leave it set up in my living room. I ride it 6 nights/days a week as well. The milage is typically 15 miles per ride but over time those 15 mile trainer rides add up not to mention adding strength to my legs/heart/lungs.

Good luck and remember it is all about having fun!

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Originally Posted by Batbike

If I understand correctly, if you go by time you will increase your miles in the same amount of time as your fitness improves? :confused:

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Exactly!

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Originally Posted by Batbike

IMakes me wonder if that is really true -- I guess you would have to do the same route on multiple days to determine that. Would you also monitor your HR to check fitness?

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I monitor my HR when I remember to turn it on :o
To check the level I have several set courses. I then use my Bike journal account to comapare (did same route with high avg speed. lower avg hr, etc

These days I'm tracking (and shooting for) a certain number of minutes/week for aerobic exercise...be it on the bike or on a machine in the gym. I loosely keep track of aerobic vs. higher HR time. I find cross training helps keep my joints more comfortable, so it makes sense for me to track total exercise time and HR intensity.

But, I also have an increasing target schedule for both mileage and climbing on the bike for weekend rides, to keep me on track for a biking goal.

I schedule my clients in time. There are no miles indicated in their training programs at all. It's up to them to choose the appropriate route for the type of workout I've prescribed for a given day. The only other metrics I use is watts (for my power-based clients) and elevation gain (for my clients focusing on events like the death ride).

Miles are not a true indicator or your effort. Your total miles will vary by terrain (ie hilly or flat), wind, traffic, road ride vs mtn bike ride, etc.

I have a coach and all my workouts are by time not mileage. I even swapped my computer onto my race bike for the summer, so now if I take the rain bike out I only have the hr monitor on so I don't even know what my mileage is....

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Originally Posted by Jenn

I focus on my heart rate and time and I know it's embarassing but I average about 17 miles for every hour I ride, (without WIND).:p

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Seriously, can someone explain to me what is embarrassing about 17 mph?

Sure, if you are a Category A rider who races in the circuits or triathlons, or you are a gifted cyclist who has been training for years, you will have speeds over 20 mph. But are fitness/fun cyclists supposed to ride that fast too? I don't think so. Suzie, Ellen and myself, when we ride together, our speeds fall between 14 and 19, depending upon the wind and such. We are proud of our speeds, not embarrassed. I don't even know if I will ever achieve a consistent speed over 18 because I have a lame left foot, two ruptured disks and arthritis in my spine, and given my physical limitations, the speed I pedal now is rather remarkable. Therefore, I am proud of my speed, and never embarrassed by it.

To answer the question asked, I ride by miles, and I increase my miles gradually so as to train to ride longer distances. My goal is to be like some other wonderful TE members who can ride double centuries, and I hope to reach that goal within a few years by staying on my bike, increasing the miles, and continuing to ride during the winter weather as much as possible.

I don't even look at the time until my ride is over.

Darcy

Ditto what Darcy said about speed.

On weekdays I ride by time, cause I have to. Some days I get out of the office too late to ride at all. Saturdays, I am more likely to plan a route with specific mileage in mind.

However, I think you have to keep in mind what your goal is. Mine is to be able to ride where ever I want for what distance I want in a reasonable amount of time.

I do it by both depending on how much time I have. If I'm cycling after work then I only have a couple of hours of daylight left. I go for what I know I can handle in an hour and get back home and there still be daylight. Since I'm still working on upping my endurance, a lot of my distance is gaged on how far I think I can take myself and get back ok especially knowing that my home is at the top of a series of hills. I don't want to ride out so far that I can't get back and have to call someone to come get me. ;)

I'm usually limited by time and try to squeeze in as many miles as I can in the time I have. And I, too, will add a few extra minutes to round off the miles.

I just pick a route I want to ride - not really focusing on miles or time (although I am trying to increase the avg speed of my rides)...but the ones I do are at least 20 miles long....so I guess it would be miles...but just more of a ballpark figure not specific mileage.

I do both.

During the week, I go by time. When I can ride at lunch, I go as far as I can in the time I have. These miles increase as the season goes on (the routes are pretty much the same).

After work, I go as far as I can in the time I have. Sometimes I'm limited by daylight, sometimes by other commitments.

On the weekends, I go by milage taking into consideration conditions, terrain and my body. Training for mountain centuries, I basically alternate weekends of long (65 - 85 miles) moderately hilly mile routes with shorter (40 - 60 miles), mountainous routes.

I also commute a couple of days a week and I'm trying to adjust my work schedule to allow me to do more.

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Originally Posted by velogirl

Miles are not a true indicator or your effort. Your total miles will vary by terrain (ie hilly or flat), wind, traffic, road ride vs mtn bike ride, etc.

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Well said.

The 87 mile survival ride of the SLO Wildflower was far beyond the effort of the Santa Rosa 200k. I've been on 50 mile mtn bike rides that were harder than road centuries.

I factor miles, terrain, bike type, effort for that ride, etc. when planning each ride. I have specific set loops that I use for road training during the week only because I know that they work for the time alloted so I don't go for a pure time-based workout like Eden. But depending on that week's plan, I may cruise an easy recovery pace or do intervals. A mtb ride is generally based on the miles only because of the practicality of trail layouts, but if I'm on a multi-day trip I'll vary the routes based on effort level (time, distance and trail difficulty).

So one of my little pet peeves: the perceived mileage competition over on bikejournal. It ain't a competition unless both riders know it. I'm for quality miles not junk miles. The members with specific goals such as races or particular events (like DMD or brevets) never get their chamois in a bundle over their rank. Matter of fact, an extremely strong rider I know states that due to knee trouble, he can only tolerate X hours of riding per year. He obviously makes the most of those hours and I wish I could ride like he does. Ok, have to step down off my little soap box now.:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

So one of my little pet peeves: the perceived mileage competition over on bikejournal. It ain't a competition unless both riders know it. I'm for quality miles not junk miles. The members with specific goals such as races or particular events (like DMD or brevets) never get their chamois in a bundle over their rank. Matter of fact, an extremely strong rider I know states that due to knee trouble, he can only tolerate X hours of riding per year. He obviously makes the most of those hours and I wish I could ride like he does. Ok, have to step down off my little soap box now.:rolleyes:

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Thank you for saying that! I discovered, inadvertantly, that 2 members of my local bike club were "discussing my miles" and that one thought the amount of miles I rode was "low" while the other wanted to "beat me". After hearing this, I noticed the one who wanted to "beat me" started riding more and more and has surpassed me in miles ... goody for him! ;) As for the one who thinks I don't ride enough, well what can I say to that ... everyone has their opinion! Yes, I do want to ride more, but on my schedule -- thus, the question that started this thread. Yet, must agree, miles for sake of miles can't be any good -- quality vs. junk miles sounds good!! :) Anyway, as for bikejournal, I ended-up going into PRIVATE mode so that my miles are my miles and not a benchmark for someone's competition (that I am not aware of and involved in).

A couple of more thoughts.
The preident of my local club is capapable of dropping pro roadies, but lil' miss pokey has more miles than he does on bike journal.
So yeah, miles without any underlying critera is just... junk. I remeber talking with the Guys that I rode into Flagstaff with on the Arizona 300K i did last weekend about how that was tough than most centuries we had done. Ironically, the last Time i was in AZ was for the Tour De Tuscon, where i did about twice the miles (109 vs 65) in less time (7 vs 8).

On my trainer, strictly time :P total miles is nada zippo. I do play a game on my trainer to keep me entertained. I want to see how hot I can get my mags by the end of the workout. I keep track of the time in different "zone".

Out on the road, typical distance is anywhere from 25-45 miles. Don't keep a log of time nor miles. I usually go out with idea of how many intervals I want to do or how many hill climb sets I want to do... So not paying much attention to miles nor time.

What I used to do after HRM became available was to watch my HR and keeping it in the "zone" during the alloted time.

Rest day is bit different I try to log in about 10 easy flat miles. No exertion really.

I just don't like to be a slave to my cycling computer anymore. But just too curious so I'm still look at my HR and compare to what I'm feeling.

But if you are just starting, keep track of miles and times.

I don’t think one can call another cyclist’s miles “junk” miles. There are too many variables with respect to weather conditions, physical condition of the cyclist, physical disabilities the cyclist might have that are not apparent to others, the condition of the cyclist’s bicycle and other factors. A person can judge their own miles, but not the miles of others.

For example, on Sunday I cycled a metric century. Maybe another cyclist cycled 120 miles up a mountain chain. A friend of mine cycled 3 miles. I know my miles were not “junk” miles. Pedaling 120 miles up a mountain chain can’t be junk miles. And as for my friend, she is only a few months out of chemotherapy for breast cancer, and her 3 miles is an incredible achievement and are most certainly not junk miles for her.

Darcy

There are many who focus on miles without thought to what the miles accomplish other than a total aggregate to be able to say "I rode more miles than you did." I know people who go out of their way to figure out the easiest way to ride more miles and then boast to the world how many miles they rode. Feel free to call those whatever you want. My term is junk miles.

Did you accomplish a century? Achieve a better TT time? Podium or win a race? Climb a hill for the first time without stopping? Ride farther than you have before? Commute to work as planned?

That is what is important to me. Not that I rode X miles for the year and definitely not more miles than someone else.

Actually , I'm in agreement with Darcy and SK - you can't compare your miles to another persons miles - too many variables , (body, bike, goals) and it's a trap that too many people get into - If i do the xxxK brevet , ill be ahead of Studette on bike journal. The number of hits on my journal there only increase right after I do a brevet. And that's one of the reasons I DNF'ed my last one - I just riding to get back to start, and not having a lot of fun (I usually send an invoice to folk who make me work and not have fun:cool: )

I started out this season with a specific, increasing schedule of days and mileage. I finally realized that I was taking the fun out of it for myself. I ride for 2 reasons, fun and fitness. I'll still hit one or 2 of my goals for the year. I'll still continue to improve.

That all came to mind with the term junk miles. That mileage was turning my rides into junk.

I think a cyclist can only determine if their personal miles are junk miles or not. I will never categorize another cyclist, no matter if I am perceiving words or actions, because I lack the knowledge to know all of the variables.

However, I think cyclists who ride in packs and who are familiar with each other, that will result in a more intimate knowledge of each other's fitness levels, life conditions and other factors that contribute to a ride, and then one can secretly think thoughts about the other members of their packs.

For myself, I've never had a junk ride, thus I've never had junk miles. I've only had rides that were too short because of the weather conditions, or I've had rides that were too slow because of the riding conditions.

I can't set times for my riding goals like other cyclists because even though I might repeat a route, the weather and road conditions will alter considerably from day-to-day and week-to-week. Wind and rain are the big factors for me. But other things will happen with respect to road condition, like getting stuck behind a large piece of farm equipment that takes up both lanes and with machine parts poking out the sides into the shoulders of the road, and the size of the machine doesn't leave me any room to pass. Therefore I've found myself pedaling at 4 mph behind farm equipment for a mile or more. Those miles haven't been junk miles either, because I learned I can pedal real sloooooooooow if I have to do so.


Darcy

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Originally Posted by SouthernBelle

I started out this season with a specific, increasing schedule of days and mileage. I finally realized that I was taking the fun out of it for myself. I ride for 2 reasons, fun and fitness. I'll still hit one or 2 of my goals for the year. I'll still continue to improve.

That all came to mind with the term junk miles. That mileage was turning my rides into junk.

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I am with you ... having set a mileage goal and speed/cadence goal at beginning of year, only to discover that the numbers were taking the fun away. I literally would have days where I felt I "had to ride" and with that attitude, the rides became **junk mile** rides.

Weird part: I ride by time -- trying to ride XYZ amount of time and hope for XZY amount of miles (toward my goal). No fun ... doesn't help my fitness because my inner soul is not filled ... yep, to me that is junk!

New goals ... time is good; miles will come ... I will improve my self because myself will be physically, mentally, and spiritually improved! :cool:

Yes... the main reason I quit downhill (besides being too small physically) was that the fun factor had disappeared long before. Most kids would love to go ski. I reached a point where I would do anything to get out of it. First few years of racing camp was okay... Then it got serious.... then it wasn't fun anymore...

I quit then moved over to freestyle skiing. We did it because we were too stupid to realize that crashing result in major pain. It took several major crashes before I realized that the two were somehow inexplicably related.

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Same thing with cycling. Everyone has different goals. Some want to be on the podium and for others, just to be able to ride is a big accomplishement.

Darcy, I really have to applaud your friend for riding the three miles. She is really a tough person. If you had fun then it was a great.

Enjoy the ride for what it is. If the goal you set for yourself is making you unhappy then seriously re think about your goal. Or is your goal really to be riding 200miles a week no matter what or train 20 hours a week?

smilingcat

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Originally Posted by Batbike

New goals ... time is good; miles will come ... I will improve my self because myself will be physically, mentally, and spiritually improved! :cool:

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Bat - you have summed it up perfectly right here. Riding should be fun. If fitness improves, great. If speed improves, great. But make it fun. I know I feel MUCH better when I can get out on the bike. I hope to get faster, but I don't really care. Hop on the saddle & ride your ride. That's what counts! :)

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Originally Posted by velogirl

I schedule my clients in time. There are no miles indicated in their training programs at all. It's up to them to choose the appropriate route for the type of workout I've prescribed for a given day. The only other metrics I use is watts (for my power-based clients) and elevation gain (for my clients focusing on events like the death ride).

Miles are not a true indicator or your effort. Your total miles will vary by terrain (ie hilly or flat), wind, traffic, road ride vs mtn bike ride, etc.

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I've been keeping track of my miles because it was the obvious way to track my riding. Now that I'm on sparkpeople and they measure by time and mph, I'm keeping track both ways.

I know that the best thing would be to get a heart monitor but I haven't managed that yet. But when I look at the sparkpeople numbers I'm confused. I'm counting my time as at 10-11.9 mph. Now that I've got a new bike computer I'll have an even better handle on my mph.

BUT -- I'm on a 38 pound bike and carrying a lot of extra weight on my body. Does that make me burn more calories than if I were a more normal weight on a road bike? Or am I just having a bit of wishful thinking, here?

It's physics. Push a heavier thing - you need more force; you need to do more "work" as in the physics kind. WOrk takes calories. More work takes more calories.

Of course, it's not a linear relationship and the fitter you are the less difference it makes! I burned extra calories today on my big red bike toting the cooler with the ice and bananas and yogurt and the blender apparatus... and didn't have *too* much smoothie to undo it :)

I'm afraid I'm just plain addicted... and right now tired enough so that even though the next ILlinois rider is a big fat four miles ahead of me I have *no* intention of taking th3 5 mile route home :) Let 'em go... my rides are **my** rides. (And when I *am* feeling competitive, I tell that side that welp, none of the folks ahead of me are on 40 pound hybrids most of the time ;))

It's interesting to see how the term "junk miles" has been perceived on this thread. Junk miles (in a training/coaching perspective) refers to miles that have no specific training value, meaning they do not create physiological adaptation.

For example, one of my clients commutes to work in SF each morning and again in the evening. Her commute is very short (3 miles each way) and is interspersed with stop lights. She doesn't get a sustained effort and her HR stays low. There is no true training adaptation that will take place during these 3 miles, so those are referred to as junk miles.

Another example is a traditional training route from SF into Marin county. In order to get out to the main loop, you have to ride through a bunch of little towns (again, stop & go like the first example). Even though there is time on the bike, the effort is not sustained and never reaches a high enough intensity to create adaptation, so those would also be considered junk miles.

I don't think there's any judgement intended in the term. It's simply a term that's trickled down from the coaching world to describe time in the saddle that doesn't really have training value.

Here's another example that might be meaningful to some of you. Let's say you workout at the gym twice a week. Your total time commitment to train includes the time to transport yourself to the gym, change clothes, and put your belongings in a locker (let's say that's 30 minutes total). Now, even though all those things are necessary to do your workout, none of them help your body adapt (ie there is no training stress). So, those 30 minutes wouldn't be considered training time (ie they would be junk miles).

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Originally Posted by velogirl

It's interesting to see how the term "junk miles" has been perceived on this thread. Junk miles (in a training/coaching perspective) refers to miles that have no specific training value, meaning they do not create physiological adaptation.

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Except a lot of cyclists who are members of this forum are fitness/fun riders, who do not belong to clubs, and who never intend to race. If a cyclist who races is going to use a specific term that is used by racers, then the term should be clarified. I know for myself, all my time on the bike is good because I get a cardio workout and I burn calories and best yet - I always have fun and enjoy myself. Therefore, no junk miles for me.

Pooks, when you bike on a heavy bike, yes, technically, you will burn more calories if you are able to pedal it like a road bike. Remember, I am one of many who biked on one of those heavy bikes and I still own it. I know for a fact that with the heavy bike I could not get my heart rate up as high because the bike was too heavy to pedal with as much effort as I give the road bike. Therefore, I actually burn more calories on my road bike per hour because I am able to pedal faster and stronger, go up steeper and more hills, and go for longer distances with more time spent on the bike. With respect to your question about the charts on your internet site, I haven't found a single chart that gave me an accurate number. The HRM gives a better estimate, and it still is not exact. Most of the charts will tell me I am burning more than twice the calories per hour than what my HRM says. I will go by the HRM because if the higher number on the charts was the real deal, then by golly, I would be very skinny - and I am not.

For example, the following activity charts says a person of 190 pounds who bicycles at 12-13.9 mph burns 690 calories per hour, at 14-15.9 mph 863 calories per hour, and 16-19 mph 1035 calories per hour. I pedal in the range of 14-19 mph, depending upon all of the variables, and I can tell you on a good day with a brisk wind and a lot of steep hills I might, just might, burn 500 calories an hour. That is how huge the difference is for me and what the charts say.

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm


Darcy