from zero to to hero

[reacher]

its a good route , no traffic lights , except one set , so should be a pure test of how fast i am , although it would not be my first choice of routes as its not hilly enough for my liking and suits a straight road cyclist like him , plus its busy road traffic wise ,
do none of you use the gym to train ?
thats the most common thing i have heard from just about every cyclist , that its of no use to a cyclist ,
i understand the relationship betwen the bike and the gym bike being totally differant , i'm bemused to find the attitude to doing other forms of training as a non starter amongst cyclists ,

 

[martint235]

It's a peculiar set of muscles to being a cyclist. Me, I'll never be a 1km sprinter (or any kind of sprinter really) so I need to build endurance and stamina rather than sheer leg power and upper body strength. Now I can do that in a gym on an exercise bike I admit but I can also do it by heading off into the countryside and riding for 50 miles or 100 miles as the mood takes me

 

[reacher]

just looking at the posts on speed and i can see from this and other forums the bsf has to be taken into account ,
what would be a good average speed on my bike computer which i have just fitted to be doing a say 20 mile ride at ? when i get out , probably over xmas now ,
if i was doing say 17 mph would that be classed as starter leval , average , club leval ,


something to aim for seems to be 20 mph average , but i'm in a fairly hilly area , when i say that its baby hills realy , like 1 mile long ,

 

[zigzag]

while 20mph rolling average isn't that hard to maintain, it drops dramatically with traffic lights, roundabouts and other slow downs. it would probably drop to 16-17mph. to keep 20mph overall average you would need to go at around 23mph. it's alright with a tailwind but in all other cases it would be a very hard work and i bet you can not do it anyway, good luck in training.

 

[Banjo]

Get on the bike ride 20 miles then and only then will you know what your up against. FFS how do you expect people who dont know you to predict how well you will do in a sport you have never done before.

For what its worth I would guess (and its pure guess work) that if you are pretty fit you will average about 16 or 17 mph 0ver 20 miles initially and slowly improve as your muscles adapt to the new game. Cycling is like no other sport being a good runner or whatever will help but you will still need to adapt and learn the tecniques of riding the bike.

Good Luck from another wrong side of 50 cyclist.

 

[Garz]

Get on the bike ride 20 miles then and only then will you know what your up against. FFS how do you expect people who dont know you to predict how well you will do in a sport you have never done before.

For what its worth I would guess (and its pure guess work) that if you are pretty fit you will average about 16 or 17 mph 0ver 20 miles initially and slowly improve as your muscles adapt to the new game. Cycling is like no other sport being a good runner or whatever will help but you will still need to adapt and learn the tecniques of riding the bike.

Good Luck from another wrong side of 50 cyclist.

+1

My first year of road cycling my average over a 24 mile route crept upto just over 19mph doing it solo. I will push again next year when it gets a bit warmer and start seeing if I can hit the magic 20.

Taking into consideration your age, experience and fitness I would say 16-17 will be a decent pace. Your mate sounds a bit of a tool if he's bragging and pushing you to try this unless it's totally in a jokey/encouragement kind of way.

 

[Ticktockmy]

guys i'm conducting an experiment , i'v never owned a bike , just bought one , not ridden it yet , due to work/weather , i'm doing all my training in the gym , my buddy , a keen cycle fanatic has convinced me to get on the road as i use the gym for fitness work ,
its become a challenge of sorts , its supposed to be a race , but by all acounts 50 minutes is pretty good i'm told and that may be a stretch .
he does a 20 mile undulateing run in 50 mins , i reckon if i can do it in an hour would be pretty good , difficult but not impossible , any thoughts ?
he says it cant be done , not possible with out road work ,
i'v no idea as i have'nt been on a bike since i was a kid ,
age 52 now ,
any of you guys train in a gym ?

I would pop down to you Doctor, and get him to give you a MOT, cos at 52, you might have problem which may not have shown up yet. As to your mate taking the Piss, well he seems like a bit of a tosser, as he should be encourging you. Being Gym fit is far different to cycling out on the road or trails, as you are out in the elements, wind and cold can play havoc with your riding. but good luck to you.

 

[reacher]

Get on the bike ride 20 miles then and only then will you know what your up against. FFS how do you expect people who dont know you to predict how well you will do in a sport you have never done before.

For what its worth I would guess (and its pure guess work) that if you are pretty fit you will average about 16 or 17 mph 0ver 20 miles initially and slowly improve as your muscles adapt to the new game. Cycling is like no other sport being a good runner or whatever will help but you will still need to adapt and learn the tecniques of riding the bike.

Good Luck from another wrong side of 50 cyclist.

well i was'nt asking for a prediction lol
i was asking what a good average would be for a guy who trains at cycling , so that i know if i'm crap , good or outstanding and should be entering the next toure

 

[reacher]

naw , he is just jesting , but i train seriously hard and he does , nobody in the gym trains like him , he is on a differant planet , he is just competitive , he is younger than me so its a good target he has set

 

[reacher]

I would pop down to you Doctor, and get him to give you a MOT, cos at 52, you might have problem which may not have shown up yet. As to your mate taking the Piss, well he seems like a bit of a tosser, as he should be encourging you. Being Gym fit is far different to cycling out on the road or trails, as you are out in the elements, wind and cold can play havoc with your riding. but good luck to you.

lol , i did , he took it twice to be sure

 

[Winnershsaint]

Like you I am 52, at least until Wednesday. As to this average speedstuff all I can do is relate my own experiences. I have a ride I do regularly at weekends. It's measured in the car at 35 miles/55 kms. I have done this in under two hours, but other times like yesterday it has taken me at least 10 minutes over the two hour mark, it all depends on how you feel and what the conditions on the day are like. Many moons ago I played local league football with a couple of team mates in their 50's. Even though the legs were slower their football brains a were still very much alive and compensated for their lack of speed, their fitness was never in doubt. Having taking up cycling semi-seriously in the last 14 months I do wonder if my lack of cycling nous makes it all a little more difficult. Maybe it's that which means I can only average around 17-18 mph, and maybe it's that which will make it difficult for you to sustain 20mph. Good luck to you anyway.

 

[reacher]

the cycling will form part of an on going experiment to test the leval of fitness i can attain on a bike purely by doing gym work at an intensive leval based around cycling related work with out going out on a bike , the bike will be to see what leval can be attained after 4 x 1 hour rides after doing 16 weeks training in a gym aimed at this , in fairness i have a sports and gym training background so i'm not starting from nothing as such . but i'm new to cycling and cycling related training . also i intend to ride after as well .
its a common belief that older people cannot sustain or undertake very intensive training and/or train every day at a very high leval , i'm proving that theory to be incorrect at this presant time .
i'm not saying the 20 mph is attainable , its just a target that makes it easier to base the training around . its all to do with weight loss as well as useing intensive heavy weights and aerobic exercise combined as you get older ,

 

[Garz]

Are you doing this as a temporary challenge or an ego boost to try and prove your mate wrong?

Whilst this is quite fun when your a young whipper-snapper I would be far more cautious at your pleasant age when trying something like this. I would much prefer to ride for pleasure and enjoy it, the great byproduct of this is you get fitter and lose weight. Anyway each to their own and good luck reacher!

 

[avsd]

I would listen to the more experienced guys on this site. I have never managed a 20mph ride on a bike over any distance unless I was in a pack. I am reasonably fit played sport at inter-county level. Only took up cycling after a RTA. Cycling is like no other sport I know and I only dream of doing 20mph averages on my own over a hilly course.

Best of luck but I would not bet the house on beating your mate.

 

[reacher]

Are you doing this as a temporary challenge or an ego boost to try and prove your mate wrong?

Whilst this is quite fun when your a young whipper-snapper I would be far more cautious at your pleasant age when trying something like this. I would much prefer to ride for pleasure and enjoy it, the great byproduct of this is you get fitter and lose weight. Anyway each to their own and good luck reacher!

none of the above , i was looking for a non impact way to continue training into older age that was aerobic based and fun , my brother in australia comes from the same sporting background as me and he suggested that i try it as an addition to what i already do , he has done the same thing .
training has to have targets or its useless to some one like me , as i said the 20 mph is purely a target , beating the other guy is irrelavent to my purpose but purely a challenge , also he is 10 years younger comes from a cycling background and uses chemicals , so not a leval playing field realy ,
also the cycling is only part of how i train , its just something that in the summer will enable me to do something out doors thats benificial , its the overall fitness and well being that is important ,
i'm interested in how hard you can train after the age of 50 and what leval of fitness can be achieved .