How many kms/miles do you ride each week?

[roadiechick]

ausgirl

your training plan sounds great! so organised, i like it.

to answer your questions:
i feel pretty good doing the 250km, i find it fairly easy to do that much except for finding time. the km themselves seem ok but finding the time is harder. on bunch rides i can do a few turns comfortably but as the ride goes on i eventually get churned out the back and find it hard to keep up. on the weekends i started doing 100km sat and 70km sun (the last two weekends) and that's been good, i feel stronger and feel like the rides that once felt long (50km) are beginning to feel shorter and that the longer rides are getting easier. i guess i should just go on how i feel, if i am recovering quickly and can keep up with the bunch and don't feel lactic etc, i guess then its time to step up the kms???

i have more questions for you if you don't mind me asking....

how do u fit all the km in with work etc? do u mostly ride in the mornings (i only ride in the mornings)? how many hours would it take you to do the tuesday and wednesday rides? what did you training schedule look like in your first year?

roadiechick

[gretchen]

Holy Shamollie! You ladies are awesome!
I love hearing about others riding "habbits"!
Now that the weather is nicer (and as i say that...it's raining out!) i hope to get 20+/day with longer rides on the weekends.
I can't wait for the day to last a little longer so i can ride in the evening. I have been strictly solo for fear of keeping up with a group! My average (and i swear my computer is stuck here!) is 14.8 various touraine and traffice the first half of the ride. I"m not sure if that's good, bad, or just so so.

You have all def. inspired me!!!!
And made me aware of the fact that i need to learn the conversion from metric to miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pile on those miles!

[ausgirl]

Roadiechick.

Thanks for the compliment, but my coach organised it for me - he's also one of my best mates too so that's good.

It sounds like you're doing well with your training - being able to do 100km rides is really good. As for fitting in the rides, well I'm a uni student so my hours are more flexible than other people - but I'm doing my PhD so its like a full-time job in terms of hours. The short answer is I make time. I ride in the mornings - this morning I did a 60km ride with the bunch and that only took 2 hours 4:45 -6:45am. My Tuesday ride is about 1hr15min - 1hr30min. One advantage we have here is that from about September until early April the sun rises before or around 5am making it easier to train in the mornings. Today though, dawn didn't start until about 5:50am which is annoying, but even in the middle of winter the sun will always be up by around 6:30am. Another thing with time is it depends on what time you start work and how long it takes you to get there. I don't know what you have to do in the morning but say if you have to be at work at 8:30 and it only takes 20 min or less to drive there, then you should be fine if you're home by 7:30am. Stuff like ironing clothes and getting lunches ready the night before could give you an extra 15min or more in the morning.

My old training schedule was a 70km ride on Sunday, 30km or so each on Wednesday and Friday, 50km rides on Tuesday and Thursday, and racing on Saturday. Racing was shorter then because i was in a lower grade. In my first year I found it hard to keep up even on the 70km ride and might only be able to do one short turn - say 4 or 5km compared with the 8-10km turns that a lot of other riders do. Just stick with it on your longer rides, in a month or so you will feel a lot better on those rides than you do now and it will gradually improve.

Ausgirl

[gretchen]

Ok, do you think i have the right idea..just pack miles on when i possibly can?
or...should i be pushing myself more?
gretchen

[annie]

Depends on you goal, Gretchen. Are you aiming for long rides, races, or long fast rides? Or all of the above? If you want distance, you need some endurance training, to go fast, you need to push yourself to higher efforts. To do both, you need a combination.

Once you have some good base miles in (say 500) you can begin to push yourself more. You need the base to get muscle, tendons, lungs, ready for harder work. Since you had surgery not long ago (that was you, right?) you probably need to make sure you are recovered from that before you put lots of extra effort on the bike.

I take two days a week that I really work hard on the bike. I either go out with a fast group and work to stay with them or else I go out on my own and do hill work or intervals. I get in at least one longer ride each weekend, 60-70 miles or longer. I try and do one easy ride on whatever day it works out best. Sometimes I'll do a social ride with the bike club. I ride as much as I can. Not mornings, 'cause I work pretty early. But that means I get off early so sometimes I go right after work. If I go in the evening, I always have lights with me so I don't have to cut my ride short if it gets dark. Sometimes I think I'd like to live on my bike, but the real world just keeps interfering!

Of all the bike quotes I've ever read, I still think I like Eddy Merx's best. It's short, simple and to the point. "Ride lots."

annie

[Veronica]

I use that quote by my name. I like it a lot. One of the patterns in my Hokey Spokes can be programed and that's what it says.

V.

[gretchen]

WWOW! I LOVE that quote!
That is SO true....use up life, huh?!!!!!
I have a paint your own pottery shop (I'm an artist) and am going to paint that on a tile...
i wonder how many people will "get it".
I live in a town where that is def. not a way of life!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gretchen
ps...annie...thanks for the advice! I'm out for distance...how ever i get there (hopefully sooner then later!) is fine with me. I just don't want to die on my bike trip this summer! Day after day of 70 miles is scareing the heck out of me!
I did 24 this morning...should have stretched more first. This weekend i'll go for 50? 60?
Hey, how often do you stop and stretch, take a break, etc?

[magrat22]

Hey Gretchen, how long have you been riding? I'm only at 12-13 kph as I only started road biking a week ago (although I got the bike 3 weeks ago, I spent 2 weeks working up the nerve to ride it!!!) so I'm really unfit. Have to say though my experience on it so far has been positive. I never thought I'd cycle 10km..I know if sounds like nothing to you and the other ladies on this forum but to me it's amazing. I'm really hoping to increase it to 20 soon and from there up and up.

Man designed pavement for us to ride bikes on

[annie]

Gretchen,

I did 64 miles by myself last Sunday. When I'm out alone, I don't stop much. Twice, just to refill water bottles and potty break. But only for as long as that takes and then I'm off. I don't stretch much unless I am feeling sore. I try to start out slowly enough to warm up that way and my bike fits me so well that I don't tend to get many aches while riding. I also try and cool down on the bike before I get home. I suppose I should stretch more........... If I get out for a short evening ride, 20-30 miles, I probably won't stop at all. Two water bottles is enough to get me through so far. Tho' once it heats up, I'd probably have to stop once for a refill. I really try to stay hydrated.

If I'm with a group, I stop when they stop, go when they go, etc. Some groups are fast, some are more social. I enjoy both.

Tonight is our womens' training ride. I'd best get moving and feed the family so I can get out on the ride!

annie

p.s. glad you like the quote. So do I!

[ausgirl]

Magrat22

Congratulations! Just getting that roadbike and getting out there on it is a huge step if you haven't done much sport for a while! I know, about 3 years ago when I took up cycling I'd never really done any sport before that - just the physical education that you have to do at school. 10km is a great start and as long as you're willing to stick with it you will be doing 20 and 30km rides before you know it. Have fun, it's a great sport!

Ausgirl

[roadiechick]

Magrat22

I agree with ausgirl. You've taken the first step, got the bike, started riding! Before you know it you will get addicted and want to do more and more km/miles.

I read a good quote somewhere, I think it was someone's signature, not sure if it was in these forums but it said something like: 'It only take one pedal stroke to start a revolution'. I like it.

Keep it up and congratulations.

RoadieChick

[magrat22]

Ausgirl you only started 3 years ago and your already doing 400km a week....holy hannah!! Well there's hope for me yet then, right so in 3 years I'll be doing 401km a week..

Actually I'm really proud of myself as I went out biking yesterday I was tired but I wanted to keep to my schedule and I nearly fell off 5 times but the amazing thing was I didn't!! If that had been a month ago I would have been eating pavement pie. I know I'll kiss one of these days but by then I'm hoping I'll be so attached to my bike I'll be more worried wether it's okay then me. I've already started checking it before I go to bed!!.


Thanks for to you and Roadiechick for your support.

[ausgirl]

Nearly falling off 5 times... it's all part of the learning process. You're right, I don't like to say it, but one of these days you will fall off because it happens to everyone, I just hope you don't get anything worse than gravel rash out of it. Being more worried about the bike's health than yours is natural - I crashed in my second race ever and got a heap of gravel rash and got knocked out for 5min, but the first thing I wanted to know when I came to was whether my 2nd hand $250 chromoly bike was ok!

Use these first few months not just to increase your kms and fitness but learn some bike skills too - how to get your water bottle in and out while riding, clipping in and out of clipless pedals (if you have them) and how to corner properly.

[gretchen]

Ok, Let's talk "the corner thing"!
I've got the water bottle down pat, no problem, can ride with one hand, signal for the full turn, even look behind me without making my bike swirve all over the road.

BUT!...the taking a sharp turn! I can take a sharp turn on my hybrid with no problem but when i'm on my road bike...i feel like i have to slow way down! I think it has something to do with the feet being glued to the peddles? Maybe being afriad of not being able to just casually put your foot down for balance?

Not sure...but any tips would be helpful!

[ausgirl]

This is probably because on a road bike you're often going faster than what you would be on the hybrid. A common trick is to raise your pedal on the side that you're taking the corner, so that you don't accidentally clip your pedal on the bitumen. I mean if you're turning left, make sure that your left pedal is raised. Make sure that your hands are on the hoods (where the brakes join the handlebars) and apply a bit of the pressure to the side opposite where you are turning to balance things out a bit. So for a left turn have your left pedal raised, lean to your left, but apply a bit of pressure to your right hood. This seems to work for me.