How many miles do you ride?

[lo123]

I started riding with the local club about a month after I got my bike. I really prefer riding with a group now.

I still ride by myself some, but the group atmosphere is appealing to me because I will push myself harder to hang with the faster folks

Plus, riding with a club gives you new routes to try. I never would have done some of the routes I do now without having been on group rides.

[shootingstar]

Plus, riding with a club gives you new routes to try. I never would have done some of the routes I do now without having been on group rides.

I am very lucky...my partner has been highly active for development of bike network routes in Toronto (where we used to live) and now here in Vancouver area ever since I've known him, so I have built up some knowledge of local bike routes in both cities, how to interconnect several routes, and if I can remember all the turns/safe shortcuts that avoid lousy intersections/interchanges, etc., to ride several different long routes over 100 kms. each, if desired, across each city.

He also occasionally scouts out potential areas for bike routes/future marked lanes, future connectors, etc....so I robotically cycle along behind, just trying to remember every twist and turn.

This is how I build up my knowledge to ride all sort of routes safely, solo when I do --many short and longer routes.

[BalaRoja]

Sorry to give you what may sound like a wishy-washy answer, but 'it depends'....

Since I started riding again this year, I have never paid much attention to how many miles I ride - whether for a day, a week, month, etc. Miles I guess are something of an additional, but not particularly important detail in my scheme of things.

As you know, some miles are more equal than others (re: big hills, stiff headwinds, bumpy bad roads, etc).

I pay attention to other things when I ride (like power, intensity, duration) that are in tune with my goals. That said, I think I for this past week I had rides of 34, 28, 33, 15, 26, 8, 66 miles. I didn't plan the mileage by any stretch, but I did plan the duration/intensity/power of each one.

My advice: How far should you ride? As far as you want to do whatever it is you want to do, while still enjoying yourself. :-)

[featuretile]

I can comfortably ride 15-25 miles, four times a week (usually 18-20). I started riding about 9 months ago and 12 miles felt long then. I agree that the difficulty of the ride determines the distance (mostly hills). About 2 hours is a good amount of time for me.

I like knowing how many miles I have gone using my bike computer. I was completely jazzed when I passed 1000 miles total. I'm still not fast enough for most club rides, but I have met a cycling buddy. I like better to ride with someone than alone. You have back-up if you are out on country roads, and someone to talk to during a break.

But yesterday, I did a stretch ride in this absolutely fantastic weather we have been having in central CA. It's been 70 degrees and sunny! Can't hardly stay in the house. We went from north of Monterrey to Carmel and back. What I did not know was that there was a giant mountain we had to climb to do this coastal ride. It was 35 miles and not easy. I got home and was completely exhausted. I think I'll wait awhile before I tackle this climb again, but it was nice to be able to do it.

[azfiddle]

Featuretile- I almost could have written your post

I started riding in July and have been also been riding about 4 times a week, usually anywhere from 10-30 miles, and a few longer rides (44 miles is the longest so far). And I just passed the 1000 mile mark in October :-)

I agree with everyone who said there isn't a right number of miles to ride. I just get out when I have time and enjoy it... but that said, I take an inordinate amount of pleasure in the information the little bike computer provides. It's much more satisfying than basic distance record that was provided by the incessantly clicking odometer back in the 70's....

[MomOnBike]

One thing I've noticed is that I really feel best if I ride 10 miles a day. Anything less and I'm a little, um, off. YMMV, of course, but for me, at least, there is a minimum to ride. Sadly, I haven't been meeting my "quota" this year. Yuck.

[nscrbug]

I started seriously getting "into" cycling 2 years ago, when I decided to do my first triathlon (a sprint distance). A month after I completed my first tri, I signed up for an Olympic distance. After that race, I just kept on riding as much as I could until winter set in. That first year of riding, I did 3 centuries and numerous 80+ mile rides...all on the weekends. This year, I started my riding season at the end of March and I've put on over 4,700 miles so far. I'm hoping to hit the 5k mile mark before the snow starts flying here. I would say that an "average" ride for me would be in the 60-mile range. But frankly, with the shorter days and snowy weather coming, I'll take whatever I can get in. I did a 25-mile ride on Monday, which I would normally consider to be a very short ride (my Monday morning rides are generally in the 50-65 mile range), but in addition to that I also got my full gym workout in...so, I was okay with doing just 25.