Advice on how to increase miles riddwn

[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.

[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.

[shootingstar]

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.

Yup.

For velogirl: I've set goals for my career, for saving money to buy a home, etc. It's been helpful to me, but cycling needs to be stress-free for my own mental equilibrium..so yea, cycling is for me, time to chill out. The very fact that I'm car-free, cycling sometimes does have daily goals...for transportation and to get something else done (work, shopping) and piling in my mini-fitness ride at the same time. But I don't think of "goal' every time I mount on my bike. I do often think of "destination"....instead of mileage.

I just have survive and live daily....by getting food to feed myself. And I do it by bike. Hope this makes sense to those who bike for transportation a lot.

My partner is also a long term cyclist and car-free like myself. He tracks his mileage faithfully since 1992. Sometimes he tells me his mileage when I ask. Most of the time, he seldom offers it because it's just for him. (Frankly I'm amazed he is so modest when he's with other cyclists and says nothing, but praises others. This year he's done 11,000 km. so far. You have to understand he's done over 250,000 kms since I've known him! He's my dearest used car. But again he only offers it ...when I ask him. )

He's super supportive of my cycling and has never put me down on my annual mileage. Of course, he's retired, I'm not. I'm not sure what it would be like to live with someone who constantly obsessed over their mileage.. I probably make encouraging noises and tune out after while. After all, one loves a person for who they are, not their mileage.

[Owlie]

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.

I didn't set a mileage goal this year. I was sort-of hoping to do 2000, but I knew that between an unhappy knee, schoolwork, work (weekends and random days during the week) and a cross-country move, I'd be very lucky to get near that. So I "focused" on riding when I could, for however long I thought my knee could handle, usually 15-20 miles. By the way, the unhappy knee? Brought on by riding too much without other activities to balance it out. Just have fun.