Share YOUR fitness journey

[50000tears]

I am pretty new to cycling having only been back on a road bike in June and even newer to really trying to get fitter. My first few months were taken up getting used to riding again after a 20 year absence so lots of short rides and basic pottering around. I guess I can mark the start of trying to get properly fit at the beginning of September when I had my first 30 mile ride. I am 43.

At the moment I have just upped my training to 5 days a week, with the standard plan of reigning it right back every 4th week to fully recover. Currently I can do 40 miles at over 15mh average and 60 miles is my max distance done. I can only average 16mh for 1 - 1.5 hours max.

What got me thinking though was on my ride this morning which was just a level 2 20 mile ride after a hard interval session yesterday and planned hills tomorrow. As I was heading back home I was on a 2 mile climb which is more of a ramp than a serious incline and another rider came past me like I was standing still. I wasn't pushing hard at the time and he clearly was, but my token effort to try and grab his wheel was very short lived. He was certainly on a much better bike than me (on my winter bike with steel forks, slow winter tyres etc) but 99% of the extra speed was just fitness/strength etc. He was soon a spec in the distance flying up the slope far in excess to my 12mph.

I know I am still very early into my cycling fitness curve but wondered if those who can remember being in my shoes can share where they are now compared to then in terms of average speeds, ease of distance covered, how you used to get dropped on club runs and now lead at the front etc etc. I am in this for the long haul but would like the experiences of others to guide me in how long the journey is to being able to catch that guy on the hill, or not have him come past me in the first place!

 

[midliferider]

You are training for????

 

[50000tears]

You are training for????

Epic sportive in April, 86 miles

 

[midliferider]

I have no plans to reach where you are now!

 

[Irish_Marty]

If you're new to cycling ( 1st year ) and you can cycle 60mile ( as long as that's without stopping ) then you will definitely be able to hit a 100 someday. Much of it is down to mentality. Whatever you're doing at the moment you can do more and the same applies to everyone but hitting the wall or coming close to it is not the way to go about trying to improve.
Do at least one 60 mile cycle every week and try to add 5 mile to that cycle each week or fortnight and you will be up from 60 to 100 in around 2 months.

I recommend Sunday as the best day for a long cycle due to less traffic and starting around 6am.

 

[50000tears]

I am spreading my long efforts at the moment as did the 30-60 mile rides as you suggested, most weekends with +5 miles on each one. In preparation for my sportive which is still 4 1/2 months away I plan on doing a 65, 2 x 70, a 75 and few 50-60 efforts. In my head I am looking for only about 8 more rides beyond the 50 mile mark with 2-3 hour efforts on the weekends I don't go long. The sportive is actually 86 miles rather than the normal epic distance of 100 miles.

 

[bozmandb9]

It's an interesting question. I've quickly realised that I have no desire to reach a high level of aerobic fitness as many people here do.

I compete in veterans athletics, and run up to 400m, so really just sprints. So far I've found the cycling very good cross training, but if I up my endurance and stamina then I'll sacrifice fast twitch muscle fibre, and upper body strength. Not a problem for most, but not what I want.

So I'll happily carry on doing shorter rides, enjoying around 11-20 miles, perhaps the odd longer ride, but with no real goal of going for endurance. I've started also to focus more on strength training, with olympic weights.

It is of course the case though that endurance/ stamina work does suit us much better as we age, so I don't expect many would be attracted by what I do. However I find the idea of the long hard slogs I see many people of my age doing, very unappealing. Equally I can appreciate many might not like the idea of 60-400m sprints.

I guess my point is primarily that there are many different types of fitness!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I find the main appeal of these long, hard slogs is that you see more spectacular scenery, which is why I enjoy a good, long ride with lots of mountain-climbing in it .