How far/fast do you ride?

[lewis1641]

i see. do you drive? if i have very limitted time i drive to the next village about 4 miles away. cuts out 8 miles of road and means i can start straight out on the singletrack

 

[MartinYorkshire]

Hi Lewis,

Yeah thats basically what I've been doing. My parents live in the next village so sometimes I drive to their place or ride it. Just sucks I dont have any cool trails right near home. Adding 8 mile round trips at my level isnt a good idea hehe. Or maybe thats what I should be doing!

 

[hamster]

I really hate driving to rides. There is no such thing as junk miles, it all makes you fitter. Road miles are great for warming up and cooling down at afterwards and for building base fitness.

I ride my singlespeed 2-3 times a week for 11 miles (45-50 mins) at lunchtime (same route each time), then usually one longer ride per week, 30-40 miles on or off road.

At present I ride one evening, typically 40-45 miles mixed on and off road on the singlespeed with a pub meal and pint in the middle.

I must stress that where I live is gentle countryside and not like the Peak District!

 

[lewis1641]

I really hate driving to rides. There is no such thing as junk miles, it all makes you fitter. Road miles are great for warming up and cooling down at afterwards and for building base fitness.

I ride my singlespeed 2-3 times a week for 11 miles (45-50 mins) at lunchtime (same route each time), then usually one longer ride per week, 30-40 miles on or off road.

At present I ride one evening, typically 40-45 miles mixed on and off road on the singlespeed with a pub meal and pint in the middle.

I must stress that where I live is gentle countryside and not like the Peak District!

i sometimes drive to a ride only because of time restraints.

 

[hamster]

Don't get me wrong it's not a personal criticism, just that 30 mins in the car is still 30 mins less riding, plus extra time with the faff of putting the rack on, packing it all up etc.

For some reason my wife drives the 1.5 miles to the GYM instead of riding. What's that all about? :?

 

[Andy B]

Last time I was out on the bike I did 41 miles in 4h7mins so ~10mph avg (timed challenge event)

Generally about 8-10mph avg on rides usually lasting 10-25 miles off road

I smoke, drink & eat plenty of crap. Been riding since '87 on MTB's but stopped from '91-'97 then started again, still crap though

 

[Steve Kish]

I do about 150-200 miles a week, usually quite slowly in a group with other snails.

 

[perry]

I still like to race but I think the older you get the more you have to work/train to keep in it which I'm not prepared to do. I can usually place in the top half or third of most races without much training apart from commuting but'training' i.e using rollers and going out on roads would bore the f**k out of me lol

Brian foster gave it up because " it stopped being about riding and was all about the gym "

Shame really as a lot of quality racers in all aspects of racing give up because there is always some head who lacks a bit of talent but spends every waking moment " training " ; Ends up just coming down to whoever put in the most hours during the winter , yawn .

A guy at work is now calling me " the machine " because we were on a group ride with another shop last week and on the first hill I passed the leading guy like he was stood still I saw he shifted down far too early ( clear lack of commitment ) and then stood . At the top while I was waiting I gave him a smile letting him know that at any time ... . Good thing too as later on it turned out that he was a massive dick , the kind of guy that would be leading the ride even if he wasn't leading the ride if you know what I mean . He pissed me off at the end by saying we were slow and generally upping himself quite a bit but at the end of the day it was a group ride , so I stayed with my mates who weren't quite so fit . He made it quite clear at the start that it wasn't a race and not to pass him . It was only 17 miles and I had to hold back challenging him to a proper race after as I could have easily gone round again . I was not only the only singlespeed , but I was also the only one with rigid forks :? The ride is nothing more than a jolly family route around a reservoir

I'm more of a sprinter ( or at least used to be ) I could easily leave cars standing at traffic lights and generally put a lot of effort in for a short time so I'm really only comfortable up to 30 miles . But strangely I can have a short rest and then ride more :? Anyone who has ridden with me will surely have noticed I pedal for a little bit then coast and just keep doing that , that's all because of growing up on a bmx where the gear was often too big ( hilly Devon ) so was a challenge to muscle your way up . You don't pedal a bmx for very long

I'm fooked very quickly if I have to pedal a low gear for more than a few miles , I have to change it up a bit to rest .

10mph is a pretty good cruising speed to maintain while riding over dirt . You just need to work out where your strengths are and maintain them while also trying to improve the lesser areas . I'll never be much of a fast spinner though , just don't have the legs for it .

I think it was Jamie staff who said something along the lines of " spin a low gear fast for endurance , a big gear slow for strength and when they meet in the middle is where the fast times are "

When with a group don't worry about how fast you are , just worry about keeping up leave going quick for when your on your lonesome , riding with other people is all about the shits and giggles . Ive never seen anyone trying to prove their worth by riding fast on a retrobike ride , everyone settles into a nice pace whoever is there whether very fast or slow .

 

[johntheboy]

I tend to average around 10mph offroad with around 700 metres of climbing per 15ml ride (slowly up quickly down) about 2/3 times a week age 52 -87 kgs. To be honest does it matter how quick as long as you enjoy the ride.

I nearly all ways drive to ride because I hate riding on MTBs on the road and I find that the traffic tends to make me nervous and tense I think the Ba****d's :evil: are all out to get me. I have a car that I can just chuck the bike in and get going (no racks here) I think this give me more time to ride my MTB's where they are supposed to be ridden.

 

[legrandefromage]

30 miles today, on a beach.

7 - 15mph on the sand