botero.

I'd guess 6 days a week and average 50 miles a ride. Since Cat 3 races are long.

EdZ

My lower limit is 300 miles per week, not counting racing. This is only possible due to being on summer break.

patentcad

I don't know any Cat 3's who ride more miles than me. But most of them are faster than I am. Let that be your guide.

Snuffleupagus

Truth.

I was faster on ~9hrs per week than 15. YMMV.

DrWJODonnell

Sandbagging ones train 8-10 hrs/wk.

Or so I hear.

Duke of Kent

When I was a 3, I'd do 15-16hrs a week, for 300-320mi a week.

Now I'm doing about 18, 20+ if I'm not racing twice each weekend.

Oh, and the more miles I do, the faster I get.

waterrockets 

+1... but I don't think I'm sandbagging yet

Enthalpic

Notice how all these very good racers immediately jump to discussion of ride quality and hours, not vague metrics like average miles and days per week. Learn from this.

Duke of Kent

Oh yeah.

I alternately kill myself, and roll around really slow. And then kill mother f^^^ers on the weekends.

gsteinb

really?

patentcad

Trust me on this. You don't want to get into a mileage pissing contest with Pcad.

gsteinb

I train 19-22 hours a week in season, my long week in the winter was 28 hours.

patentcad

So what you're saying is you have no idea how many miles you ride, and that you spend half your time on the trainer. Those aren't miles you silly Road Nazi.

P.S. How much do they pay you for all that?

gsteinb

I only recently got a computer on one of my bikes, and that was mainly so I didn't have to wear a watch.

patentcad

Your inscrutability remains intact. You will fit right in up in the Daks my friend.

ldesfor1@ithaca

my longest weeks during the winter were 15 hours or so and 7500ish kjs.

My biggest weeks this season have been about 11300 kjs and 14 hours.

Normally 9-12 hours per week and 7000-9000 kjs.

I'm very much a quality over quantity kind of rider. Maybe this will change if I choose to try and upgrade.

-L

CastIron

So I'll be the chubby cat 4 for life with other hobbies and interests then. At least that's my take away lesson.

MDcatV

varies all over the place. I know 3s that train 6-ish hrs/week and still do OK under certain race situations, and I know 3s who somehow find 15 - 20 hrs./week and suck. Converse is also true.

Personally, I'm on 7 to 9 hrs/week and feel that it's a little lean, I'm not quite firing on all cylinders. A couple of years ago, before becoming a parent, I was regularly on 12-ish hrs./week. Although that schedule had alot more junk time than my current, I was on better form. This leads me to conclude that what everyone calls "junk time" aids recovery (for me), because I dont have it now and recovery from day to day is right now an issue. That probably = trouble for me this weekend at the Tour of Wash. County stage race. Yikes.

FatguyRacer

Mine too. C'est le vie!

Apus^2

Right now, 3 rides a week-40 miles, 40 miles and about 65-80 miles on Sunday--7-8 hours total. I can hold my own easily, but because of various issues (baby on the way, house for sale, getting used to the longer races and dealing with cramping), I haven't been too pleased. We will see what happens this weekend. I'm about to throw in another ride, probably a hill repeat ride on Saturday morning so I can get another hour and a half to two hours in. This is my second year racing/third year riding, so I am beginning to fumble together a training plan. Next year, I may have 8-9 hours available, but they will all have to training hours (except for the sunday ride. that is about 65-80 mile ride with 10-20 people in a solid pace line the whole way. That is my ride to get my legs used to the longer miles.).

Really I am beginning to find only one ride needs to be race length. The others I can concentrate on intervals, drills, etc.

wfrogge

Most of the good ones I know train 9-13 hours a week but if you ask them they say 15-20 hours............

FatguyRacer

They do that so the competion wears themselves out by overtraining.

gsteinb

actually I'd imagine it to be the opposite....I rarely admit my actual training program.

jfmckenna

I train less now as a cat 3 then I ever did before. Maybe 8 hours a week if I'm lucky. Still got 5th in a RR two weeks ago.

merlinextraligh

Typical Cat 3 crit, 45 minutes plus 5. Typical Cat 3 RR around here, 50 miles.

It takes intensity, not long hours, to perform well in events like these.