Advice on how to increase miles riddwn

[lph]

I would like to add that having a mileage goal just for the sake of it doesn't make much sense to me. What I mean is, once you know what kind of bike riding you enjoy and want to do, you can set a mileage goal to give yourself a little extra motivation, but miles are just miles, and don't have much value alone.

[ny biker]

I would like to add that having a mileage goal just for the sake of it doesn't make much sense to me. What I mean is, once you know what kind of bike riding you enjoy and want to do, you can set a mileage goal to give yourself a little extra motivation, but miles are just miles, and don't have much value alone.

I agree. Very well said.

Having a mileage goal can also backfire, and can end up stressing you out.

[kajero]

I would like to add that having a mileage goal just for the sake of it doesn't make much sense to me. What I mean is, once you know what kind of bike riding you enjoy and want to do, you can set a mileage goal to give yourself a little extra motivation, but miles are just miles, and don't have much value alone.

I agree. This makes much more sense to me that wanting to ride an unachievable goal of 2000+ miles for me.

And I also agree with what ny biker says, "Having a mileage goal can also backfire, and can end up stressing you out."

I wish I could have commuted before I lost my job. It was 16 miles each way, but I never could figure out a safe way to ride to work. There were two very, very, busy streets about 1/2 mile long with no bike lanes. I felt it was too dangerous to ride during rush hours. It wasn't worth the effort to load the bike and unload it for about 3 miles. Doing all that would have been a real stressor for me.

Thanks for the answers to all the questions. It really helped me. I learned there are a lot of things I can do to add a few miles to the total.

Thanks to all of you I already feel better about the number of miles I rode this season. It isn't a competition; It was what I feel comfortable with and what I want to achieve.

[nuliajuk]

I don't set mileage goals. For one thing, I don't have a way to measure mileage since I decided not to use a computer any more, for another, I have other activities that I do (swimming, cross-country skiing, a little running) that are just as important to me as cycling. I aim to get at least 6 hours of aerobic exercise per week as a base, then focus on increasing a particular activity if I have a plan for it. I'd love to do another Swimtrek tour, for example.
For this coming winter I'm on the fence about riding in or not. On the one hand, it's good for bike handling skills, on the other it isn't really enough to qualify as very much exercise; I have to do a lot of planning and clothes packing for just 20 minutes or less of actual riding each way. I can get a higher quality workout in on the turbo trainer. If I can figure out a way to carry skis with me, maybe I can ride to a park with ski tracks and get another workout in that way.
I was actually thinking of running to work 3 times a week between November and March (well, running with a lot of walking breaks). It would take at least 30 minutes and be much more intense than riding.

[Crankin]

That sounds fun.
I am about where you are, Nuliajuk. I am doing other things now, too.

[Melalvai]

As others have noted, commuting will really pile on the miles. My Dad & I were both training for a 4-day self-supported bicycle tour. He's retired & got in a lot of longer rides. I commute to work and rode less than 10 miles a day, but every day. I was not able to find time for longer rides, and I was worried about that. But we were both in pretty good shape. He thinks because I was out there every day, and got the same # of miles in as him, just spread out over more days, that we had roughly equal training.

So commuting or a short daily ride can be very effective training.

[Cyclingfun]

It's been fascinating to read the different 'takes' on cycle mileage and goal-setting on this thread - so thanks to all who replied and thanks to Kajero for asking the question! As I'm in my first year of road biking, and not in the first flush of youth, I haven't set any other goal than to see how far I can get... And so far I've done over 1500 miles. Admittedly I can get out quite often because I'm retired but I'm unlikely to be able to go out for more than a few hours at a time, partly limited by having an elderly husband at home and partly by my own fitness limitations; also, I've never achieved more than 12.5 mph - so far! Some of my riding is a lot slower than that because I'm very slow up hills (but now very rarely have to get off :-) ). Our terrain is mixed, some fairly flat by the coast, inland a bit more rolling and in some areas there are terrifically steep, long hills though I've only just begun to tackle the easier of these recently. Main thing is I love doing it! I have a carbon road bike and a steel cyclocross-type bike and love them both too - and even love messing about with them (cleaning, adjusting [sometimes mess things up but can always get help from my bro, or friends, or the internet - or TE, of course!] etc). Happiness is definitely bike-shaped!

[spokewench]

I looked at your basic question and your goal is to ride 1,000 miles in a season. Probably depends on how long your season is, but say you can only ride 6 months out of the year, that is approximately 26 weeks. That means you need to ride approximately 40 miles a week. 40 miles a week should be doable on any type of bike if you just ride three times a week at 13 miles a day.

[kajero]

I looked at your basic question and your goal is to ride 1,000 miles in a season. Probably depends on how long your season is, but say you can only ride 6 months out of the year, that is approximately 26 weeks. That means you need to ride approximately 40 miles a week. 40 miles a week should be doable on any type of bike if you just ride three times a week at 13 miles a day.

I am kind of a wuss. In Minnesota, I only ride from the beginning of June to the end of September, and that depends on the weather. It can't be raining or too cold or too hot.

So in my mind, I can only truly count on a 4 month riding season with extra days added in occasionally in May and October. I looked back in my diary and did find I rode a few times in March and April two years ago; the weather was a fluke. I probably could have ridden more that year except for the stupid bike accident.

I think I can set a goal of riding between 18-20 miles three days a week. It will definitely take some discipline! One of my favorite routes is 17 miles. I don't know why, but I ride it much faster than other routes even though it has a of hills. I'll just have to go around the block a few more times before I put the bike in the garage.

I have done the ride to my Dad's grave twice now, I did get it down to from 63 to 51 miles last time because I only got lost 3 times (instead of a lot more). It's a gorgeous ride and should only be 47 miles round trip. (Maps don't help . . . I keep missing certain turns.) If I do that once a month, that will help, too. Besides, I think my Dad likes me to come out there and talk to him.

I am going to go clipless or wear straps on the pedals next year. I am sure I can do better if I could keep my feet from slipping off the pedals all the time. Right now when I ride I try to imagine I have clipless pedals on and plan ahead what I need to do. I hope this makes the transition easier. I also have a trainer with a different bike on it. I plan to practice clipping in and out of the pedals we put on it.

If I go to spin classes does that count? My instructor says we get 18 miles for the hour class -- except I have never ridden 18 miles in hour in my life (unless Garmin could be wrong???) . I would only use 12 MPH which is higher than my average, but not by much.

Thanks again for all your help. I am going to ride just for the enjoyment of it. Hopefully, though, I will also have a goal to make sure I get out there and ride, but I am not going to get disheartened if I don't make it. I decided to look at like, "I don't know anyone my Facebook page who even rides a bike. Anything I do is beyond them"!

[BikeDutchess]

@kajero

1. What kind of bicycle(s) do you ride?
I mostly ride my road bike and my commuter bike. I haven't ridden my MTB in at least a year.

2. Do you do anything except ride during the riding season? (work, clean house, cook, take care of parents, etc.)
I work full-time, my house is a bit of a mess (but it would be whether or not I ride - I'm not much of a housekeeper). We eat out a lot. We're empty-nesters and our family lives out of state/country.

3. Do you ride in bad weather? What kind of weather will you not ride in? (i.e., severe downpour, high winds, temperate, etc.)
I'm somewhat of a fair weather rider. I don't do well in extreme heat. But an occasional drizzle is OK. I don't ride in the snow either.

4. Do you have apparel to ride in all kinds of weather?
Over the years I've built up a decent collection of gear for a wide range of temperatures and some precipitation.

5. Do you ride at night? (something I absolutely refuse to do)
Yes. I have lights and reflective gear. I generally ride at night only for commuting purposes.

6. Do you use clipless pedals? Does anyone only use plain pedals?
Clipless on my road bike (Speedplay Frogs), flat pedals on my commuter.

7. How many mph do you average? If I average between 11 mph and 12 mph do I have any hope of ever achieving a goal of 1000+ during a riding season?
I don't use clipless or straps - - - yet.
I don't have an annual mileage goal, but you can absolutely ride 1000+ miles a year at that speed. I checked my stats on Garmin Connect just now - in 2012, I rode 1197 miles @ 11.5 mph; this year so far I rode 1061 miles @ 13.3 mph (new wheel set). That's only the miles for which I used my Garmin, I'm sure there are more miles for commutes.

8. Do you ride mostly on trails or on roads?
Roads

9. Are the trails/roads or flat, hilly, steep hilly, or mixture?
Mixture

10. Do you do most of your riding alone, with someone else, or in groups?
Mostly with 1 or 2 others or with our bike club, some alone (commutes).

Any other things you can tell me would be greatly appreciated. I would like to increase my measly 500 miles to at least 1500 next year!
Just enjoy the ride and don't focus too much on the stats!

[Susan Otcenas]

I have over 6000 miles already this year. All but ~600 of those by August 1st! I'm taking the second half of the year mostly off, as I train to run a marathon in March.

1. What kind of bicycle(s) do you ride?

Custom steel Sweetpea, mostly. I also have a custom carbon Sweetpea and a Felt TT bike. Also a cruiser and a mountain bike don't see much use.

2. Do you do anything except ride during the riding season? (work, clean house, cook, take care of parents, etc.)

Yes and no. 99.9% of those miles are weekend only. So, on the weekends, no I don't do much else. Mostly just eat, ride and sleep. But I don't ride during the week, not even to commute. So, I work, cook and try to scale Mt. Laundry from time to time. Very little housework, though. I mean, the place is generally tidy, but deep clean? Um, no, not so much.

3. Do you ride in bad weather? What kind of weather will you not ride in? (i.e., severe downpour, high winds, temperate, etc.)

Yes. Hot, cold, rain, sun. Everything but ice. Though, I've ridden on snow covered roads as long as they weren't icy.

4. Do you have apparel to ride in all kinds of weather?

Yup!

5. Do you ride at night? (something I absolutely refuse to do)

Yup, all the time. And sometimes all night. Night riding is a wonderful thing, and not nearly so dangerous as you might think. IN fact, I am SOOO reflective and lit up, that I'm way easier to spot at night than during the day. Plus, there's so little traffic at night that I actually feel much safer riding at night than during the day. Good lighting helps, too.


6. Do you use clipless pedals? Does anyone only use plain pedals?

Yes, Shimano SPD.

7. How many mph do you average? If I average between 11 mph and 12 mph do I have any hope of ever achieving a goal of 1000+ during a riding season?

Depends on the terrain. But I keep all my rides recorded on Strava, so I can answer this pretty well. On 200Ks (125 miles), my overall moving average might be anywhere between 12 mph & 15 mph. At 12 it means it's pretty hilly/mountainous terrain and at 15 it's probably pretty flat. Note that this is overall moving, not just what I see when I look down when I'm just cruising along.

Can you ride 1000+ per season? Depends on how you define season, I guess, but really the answer is YES, absolutely. If you rode just 50 miles per weekend at a pace even as slow as 10mph, you'd hit 1000 miles in 20 weekends. That's less than 6 months.

8. Do you ride mostly on trails or on roads?
Almost exclusively on roads.

9. Are the trails/roads or flat, hilly, steep hilly, or mixture?

All of the above. Strava says I've climbed over 234,000 feet this year. It adds up fast!

10. Do you do most of your riding alone, with someone else, or in groups?

This year I rode mostly in small groups or with one other person. But that hasn't always been the case. Some seasons I ride solo more. Depends on my goals. But in general, riding with others is fun, and can help you pace yourself a bit better, or maybe even push yourself to go longer or faster when you might otherwise want to quit.

---

As for general advice, perhaps you should think about time on the bike rather than miles ridden as a goal. Maybe make it a plan to ride a certain number of hours every weekend, instead. Let the miles build naturally. Speed will come with fitness and time in the saddle.

[kajero]

I went for 6 mile ride today. It was cold for me (51 degrees and no sun) and sprinkling. I dressed for the cold, but the sprinkling . . . well, let's just say I was lucky it wasn't raining. I don't normally ride in this kind of weather so I want to THANK EVERYONE for the ideas, advice, and encouragement. I felt like I would be doing a disservice to everyone who took the time to reply to my post if I didn't at least try to ride some more even if in my mind I think the season is over. After all, that is why I posted it!

I rode to pick up a prescription and to the library to return and pick up some audiobooks that were being held for me. I discovered a beautiful new trail totally by accident. I decided to do a new supposedly shorter route to the library and got lost again. I have lived in this area for 20 years and never knew those pond/lakes were there!

[tulip]

I rode to pick up a prescription and to the library to return and pick up some audiobooks that were being held for me. I discovered a beautiful new trail totally by accident. I decided to do a new supposedly shorter route to the library and got lost again. I have lived in this area for 20 years and never knew those pond/lakes were there!

Well there you go. Great job! That's what it's all about.