how much?

Martron

Ok summer holiday is oer and need to start getting motivated. before the holiday i was doing about 20k like mon wed fri.

( not sure if that enough or what..... took about an hour)

anyway i have devised a few routes and its quite hilly...... anyway what i am asking is should i try and go for 20k every day or try and go further every other day? what distances should i be aiming for ? and what would a good average speed be?

(i can manage the 20k albeit it a bit sweaty, but because i mainly cycle alone i know i am not pushin myself but i know i need a structured goal with a bit of science/experience behind it)

if i get good at it i might even treat meself to a new bike...

anyway all views appreciated

DualFrontDiscs

Martron wrote: »

Ok summer holiday is oer and need to start getting motivated. before the holiday i was doing about 20k like mon wed fri.

( not sure if that enough or what..... took about an hour)

anyway i have devised a few routes and its quite hilly...... anyway what i am asking is should i try and go for 20k every day or try and go further every other day? what distances should i be aiming for ? and what would a good average speed be?

(i can manage the 20k albeit it a bit sweaty, but because i mainly cycle alone i know i am not pushin myself but i know i need a structured goal with a bit of science/experience behind it)

if i get good at it i might even treat meself to a new bike...

anyway all views appreciated

What are you aiming for?

What sort of bike do you have?

How fit are you?

DFD.

Beasty

Matron

The answers to your questions really depend on what you are trying to achieve. Clearly the more cycling you do the fitter you will get. Going faster makes you fitter still. When I started cycling similar roads to the ones you ride along around 3 years ago, I was doing a return commute of about 46km, perhaps once or twice a week, averaging perhaps 22kph

Three years older, 35kg lighter, I am averaging over 200km per week, at nearly 30kph. I am fitter than I have ever been in my (nearly 50 years of) live, and have taken up racing this year with the Swords Club

I am not suggesting you should set your sights this high - I certainly would never have imagined how far I could have come over a relatively short period.

Check out the Swords Club website - www.swordscc.com - they cater for leisure as well as racing cyclists, and there are weekly spins covering all abilities, that take in North County Dublin. You'll find it tends to be more fun cycling in a group, and you will find a wealth of experience out there.

Martron

as a reply to DFD

i have a hybrid bike,

i am looking for general fitness and weight loss,

and i suppose i would be below average fitness.

as a reply to beasty

I was more looking to see if cycling everyday is the way to go or continue with a cycle every 2 days. i think i should increase my fitness before i start slowing people in a club down

and i suppose i was really wondering what kind of distances ( around these roads ) i would need to be pumping out. or even is there a way of cycling as in 10 minutes of normal cycling then 10 minutes of sprint ?

thanks again for the replies.

IM0

your goal is weight loss and general fitness, all of us at one time would have started with short [for us!] easy rides of 20min, maybe less maybe more it a depends on how much you want to do, that is key, if you want to ride every day, ride everyday as long as you are enjoying it and keeping it up.

If you want to get like 'us' it takes hours and years in some cases of structered discipline and exhausting but refreshing envigorating training :pac:
get that general fitness of yours up first and then start thinking about speed training and heavier type workouts and that sort of thing. Remember this, there are no short cuts, if you want top fitness it hurts ALOT at times, but again dont worry about that yet. Get your consistent miles in now, thats the key consistency and regularity and routine...for now....for you

Martron

ok.

i just wondered as benefit of an exercise should i leave a gap......

but i figure if i want to cycle. just cycle.

off out now this is going to be a hard one today..... pain in my case is just cocktails leaving my body!

blorg

Martron wrote: »

i just wondered as benefit of an exercise should i leave a gap......

If building fitness at a high level, yes, you need to rest to recover after hard efforts- but not necessarily all that much. I'm not sure this really applies so much if you are just looking to lose weight and cycling at a moderate effort; I would and did cycle as much as possible in your situation.

Martron

ok, i was thinkin of trying to get 100km a week. in 20k slots so i have 2 rest days a week i will use. and if i feel up to it do another 20k.

but fro a training point of view....

how soon should i be cranking it up. as in say 3 weeks at 100k and then turn it up to 120k?

blorg

A general rule of thumb is to increase distance by around 10% per week and cut it back for a rest every fourth week. The rest week doesn't mean do nothing just do less and stop increasing. So maybe something like:

1 100
2 110
3 121
4 110
5 121
6 133
7 146
8 133
9 146
10 161
11 177
12 161

If you feel up to doing more though I wouldn't hold back. Rest is important but again I do think more when you are doing high intensity and looking to build speed and fitness rather than just weight loss. When losing weight I looked primarily at my diet (far more important than the bike) and just cycled as much as I was capable of at a slow steady pace.

Martron

the diet has been well and truly minimised.

thanks for the suggestion i did not think to increase it so quickly.

thanks again for all the replies.

is there any other exercises that could be good for cycling when off the bike or is it just a case of cycling?

cdaly_

Proper stretches of the leg muscles before and after a spin are helpful. Not exercises themselves but they help reduce the likelihood of muscle strain as you push yourself further on the bike.

Calf stretch.

1. Stand an arm's length from a wall facing the wall.
2. Place your palms flat on the wall.
3. Keeping your heels on the floor, move your hands as high up the wall as you can manage.
4. Hold for 30-60 sec

Quads stretch

1. Stand on one foot.
2. Lift the other foot up behind you and support with your hand.
3. Pull your foot up and in until your leg is bent double.
4. Hold for about 30sec
5. Repeat for other leg