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.

[OakLeaf]

Yes. What they both said.

[Crankin]

And this is why I am good with riding 1,000 miles less this year. The first time I set a goal of 2,500 miles (in 2005), I missed it by 99 miles. I was crushed. I rode over 3,000 in 2006, but 2007 and 2008 were re-building years for me. I did a lot of errand and farm stand rides those years, as well as some commuting, along with my regular fitness/recreational riding. In 2010, I did a 6 day tour in Spain, early in the season, and then I started doing longer rides every week with Hirakukibou. I rode 3,100 miles that year. We had no winter in 2011, and I rode about 3,400 miles. Last year, much less (2,700). This year, I was away for 2 weeks in August and we didn't ride on our trip to the Berkshires, because of weather. If I start putting pressure on myself about this, it's not good.

[Catrin]

I agree. Very well said.

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

Yes, this! I've had it happen myself which is why I focus more on riding when I can and for as long as my body is happy with it. I do pay attention to the numbers when I ride as that is just how I am, but I don't worry about the cumulative totals any longer. My 1,500 mile goal for next year is simply an incentive to get out there - I've competing physical activities

[Veronica]

A quick look at my logs shows that in 2006, I rode 5,800 miles. This year I've got about 350 miles and most of those have been on my mountain bike. My overall fitness and body composition are much better than they were in 2006 because I've chosen to branch out and now do other things besides ride my bike. Goals are nice. I'm a huge fan of goals, but it's important to ask yourself what do you really want.

My job is pretty stressful. I have 30 5th graders, 6 of whom read at a 2nd grade level and are lacking basic math skills. I also have 4 students who receive resource assistance. I'm the lead teacher for my grade level which gives me extra responsibilities. The state just changed the rules of the game about testing but hasn't provided the tools (curriculum or computers) to accommodate the change, so I'm scrambling to figure out what to do. I may plan to ride after work but seldom do because I need to spend the time on something for work. While my state testing scores are pretty decent, our overall school's scores fall short. I deal with teachers who insist that they are doing a good job, but have no evidence to back up their claims. Since the scores are dropping, we have more meetings and a longer paper trail to create. That's my life during the school year.

I'm happy to get in my two pre work sessions with my personal trainer and another on on Saturday. We also run on Saturdays and ride on Sundays. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

Veronica

[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.

[velo]

I think setting goals is a great way to see what you are capable of doing. I set goals for many things that help me through life. I set them for work because they help the community I serve. I set them at home to help the family I love. But they never stress me out and really they never have. I think they are great as motivation but each person has to do what is best for their own comfort level. I know several people who will hit 10,000 miles this year. I know two people who moved from riding paved trails to road riding in traffic. I don't think there is a person here who would qualify those accomplishments. It doesn't have to be a competition for people to work outside of their comfort zone and push themselves to expand and grow. The feeling that it's a competition comes from within. I love seeing what other people do in all areas of life...not just cycling...because they are where I'm heading and where I've been and it's nice to know the possibilities and also how I can help.

[Crankin]

Well, speaking for myself, even though I know I do more, in terms of physical activity, than 99% of Americans, it makes me feel *bad* to hear about all the 5-10K a year people. There's nothing wrong with my self esteem, but truth is, even my DH wonders about this, and he is a very strong rider... but we just think we are wusses. I mean, if I do a 50-60 mile one day, I will not be doing that again the next day, unless I am on a tour. And people who routinely ride 100 miles every weekend? Well, if you are a racer, sure. If not, then you surely can't be doing anything else besides riding. So, even competition with myself doesn't work so much, because I often just set goals that are high. I am generally an extremely disciplined person, organized, etc., but even being around others who talk about this stuff makes me kind of annoyed.

[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.

[shootingstar]

For certain, I wouldn't have stayed cycling for the last 22 yrs. as part of my car-free lifestyle if I always had an annual mileage goal in my head. I think I might be appalled how much less cycling I did for certain years.

The loose goal I do have is: bike daily. If it's too icy/snowy on pavement on certain days to start off, forget it. I walk or take transit. The other goal is at least 1 touring bike trip for several days per year by cycling with my own pannier weight.

I also gauge my cycling fitness to relation to my health every new season. All of this helps me enjoy cycling year after year, decade after decade.

(I did track my mileage for first 5 years when I returned to cycling. It was initially a great motivator, then it started to wear me down psychologically when I didn't cycle much.)

[ny biker]

I think setting goals is a great way to see what you are capable of doing. I set goals for many things that help me through life. I set them for work because they help the community I serve. I set them at home to help the family I love. But they never stress me out and really they never have. I think they are great as motivation but each person has to do what is best for their own comfort level. I know several people who will hit 10,000 miles this year. I know two people who moved from riding paved trails to road riding in traffic. I don't think there is a person here who would qualify those accomplishments. It doesn't have to be a competition for people to work outside of their comfort zone and push themselves to expand and grow. The feeling that it's a competition comes from within. I love seeing what other people do in all areas of life...not just cycling...because they are where I'm heading and where I've been and it's nice to know the possibilities and also how I can help.

I think the important thing is that what works for one person could be a disaster for another person. If someone is indicating they feel they have to ride more simply because people on the internet say they have ridden a certain number of miles this year, then I think a mileage goal could turn out to be stressful for that person.

One of my cycling friends rode more than 11,000 miles last year. But he didn't do it because it was his goal. He did it because he loves to ride his bike. He rides almost every day. He considers riding a century to be the best possible way to spend a day, and he'll get up and ride 50 or more miles again the next day because he just wants to.

Setting goals can be good motivation in the right context, but they can also backfire. Unless you're a professional racer getting paid to ride your bike, I think it's important that any cycling goals you set have an underlying element of fun. It can very easily go from something you enjoy to something you have to do even though you'd rather be doing something else.

[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!

[Catrin]

I think the important thing is that what works for one person could be a disaster for another person. If someone is indicating they feel they have to ride more simply because people on the internet say they have ridden a certain number of miles this year, then I think a mileage goal could turn out to be stressful for that person...

I remember my first year cycling, which was 2010. I had just learned to ride and convinced myself that a 200K brevet that fall was just the ticket for me! I focused on getting as many miles as I could, I even started to ride metric centuries most every weekend. Now, my body wasn't ready for all of that, and instead of riding the brevet as planned, by that date I was off the bike entirely for close to 6 months due to over-use injuries. Due to that, and mountain bike injuries the following year...well, I will likely never meet the miles I rode that first year and that is OK!

Now that I can no longer ride at full capacity (if I ever really did) I focus on the joy of riding. I do look at my numbers at the end of a ride but don't even bother to write them down. My bike computer tells me my seasonal miles, and I do use it to keep my cadence in a knee-friendly range. I really enjoyed my "simple" hour long ride yesterday - and at one time I would have been very frustrated at not being able to spend 3-6 hours on the bike, but you know, that is ok! I do other things as well, and focus on over-all fitness and doing what I can. THAT is what matters.