Road Bike Racing - Does riding "extra" easy hours have any negative affect on fitness?

Lately I have found myself surpassing my daily scheduled hours on the bike a good bit. These are almost all z1/z2 miles that come after doing my workout. Ive just been feeling really good and been enjoying the weather and feeling by cruising around casually for an hour or two.

Today for instance, after doing 60 minutes of threshold work on the trainer I went out on the road for the last hour of a 3 hour workout. About 30 - 45 minutes in my legs felt great and recovered. I ended up riding slowly into town to take in the sites and when all was said an done I had to pull myself off the bike after 4 hours. I could have easily kept on riding and riding in z1 but I thought better of it.

Is there any risk in riding extra miles like this? Im starting to understand why Nomad rides as many miles as he does.

I would say if they are so easy that you aren't feeling taxed at all by the extra hours on the bike, and you are really enjoying the rides, then go for it. The risk would be you are adding extra stress that makes it harder to recover before your next workout, or you could burn out from all the time on the bike. But what do I know, I only have time for 7 or 8 hours a week. I pretty jealous, actually.

Absolutely no problems. Just keep it fairly easy and make sure to account for all those extra carbs. Nothing like not wanting to get off the bike. Only positive things come from that.

Absolutely no problems. Just keep it fairly easy and make sure to account for all those extra carbs. Nothing like not wanting to get off the bike. Only positive things come from that.

i am really going through a great cycling period right now. ive never been fit enough to ride 3/4/5+ hours on back to back days and not be dying to get off the bike.

one of the greatest things about getting stronger is that your easy riding is faster too so you can go farther easier and really see new things which for me makes want to ride more.

total cycling high going on right now :love:

That's a good place to be. My fitness is starting to come together for my peak before the state champ RR, and I'm loving it.

i get worried sometime about feeling so well because i am no where near when I am supposed to peak.

I think one of the things that hurt me this year were fewer z1/z2 hours.

WET BLANKET WARNING


the one thing I'd be worried about when add ing extra slow miles is the stress it puts on my neck, shoulders, and back... not to mention the chamois areas. As long as this seems to be of no concern then all is cool.

Enjoy the high!!


-L

I would say that it will not have a negative affect, provided that you are still able to rigidly stick to the regimented training part of your program.

Even so, I was always a fan of quality over quantity, but sometimes this stuff is good mentally.

-bullseye

I would say that it will not have a negative affect, provided that you are still able to rigidly stick to the regimented training part of your program.

Even so, I was always a fan of quality over quantity, but sometimes this stuff is good mentally.

-bullseye

this extra riding does not affect my scheduled training at all. this is all coming after i have completed my workout for the day.

i am all about quaility over quanity too thats why I still get my scheduled 3 hours of quaility riding in beforehand. there is no way i could handle all these extra hours if they were "quaility"

You have it upside down. If the limitations racing imposes on your riding impedes your enjoyment of the sport, you might question your involvement in racing. If you had any perspective that is. Of course, without a massive health-whacking experience that takes cycling away from you, that's unlikely, so just grind away my little Road Nazi, grind away.

what the hell are you talking about? racing has only increased my enjoyment of this sport.

what the hell are you talking about?

How would I know?

this extra riding does not affect my scheduled training at all. this is all coming after i have completed my workout for the day.
yeah, but the issue is that your extra 1-2 hours a day of even easy riding might give you a small performance hit when you do your next training session. This sort of thing would be difficult to measure without a power meter, and even then it might be debatable.

-bullseye

honestly, sometimes I think the extra hour or two easy actually makes the next day easier. When I say easy I mean really easy. In terms of power I am usually a good 20 or 30 watts below zone 2.

How would I know?

Because you are the Pcad?:thumb:

honestly, sometimes I think the extra hour or two easy actually makes the next day easier. When I say easy I mean really easy. In terms of power I am usually a good 20 or 30 watts below zone 2.

Rest is best, pest.

I've done back to back 20hr weeks in zone 1/2. I dont think it hurt my fitness (well after I took a week recovery)

honestly, sometimes I think the extra hour or two easy actually makes the next day easier. When I say easy I mean really easy. In terms of power I am usually a good 20 or 30 watts below zone 2.

Word.

I think slow riding is good for the soul. But physiologically speaking (WARNING: Junk Science!!!) common sense would say anything beyond the prescribed workout is increasing fatigue. That may not be a bad thing and frankly, mental fatigue wears on me much worse than physical fatigue. I'd much rather be physically tired and loving the bike than mentally tired and have fresh legs.

+1 on long cool downs (warm down?).

I'd rather be resting/doing something else than doing z1/z2.

BUT variety is good. You need these kinds of rides to keep the motivation going. If you turn cycling into a "chore" [ie. structure, routine, and responsibilities] - it begins to wear on you. We have enough of that crap in our lives...

I'm wondering if the pros wish they could do what we do - d!ck around @ easy pace, get a latte and pose @ Starbucks, buy cool schwag - change frames, grouppos, clothing, etc...

last night i had a short (1:15) hard (big gear intervals) workout and when it was all said and done my legs felt crappy. I wish I had more time to ride a bit longer to try and get over that feeling because I hate getting off the bike like that now that I know my legs feel better after a little more riding. unfortunately, easy riding on the trainer does not exist.

Does riding downhill after a nice climb have a negative effect on fitness?
Does stopping pedaling while rounding a corner have a negative effect on fitness?
Does stopping to take a pee have a negative effect on fitness?

Riding, junk miles or not, isn't going to make you less fit unless you take a spill and can't ride.
Also, many wise men have said it in here before...to ride fast, sometimes you have to ride slow.

Does riding downhill after a nice climb have a negative effect on fitness? Wussy.
Does stopping pedaling while rounding a corner have a negative effect on fitness? *Gasp*
Does stopping to take a pee have a negative effect on fitness? Empty water bottle on the fly.

Riding, junk miles or not, isn't going to make you less fit unless you take a spill and can't ride.
Also, many wise men have said it in here before...to ride fast, sometimes you have to ride slow.

Just ride the damn thing.

chipcom i dont think you understood my question. It wasnt about riding slow it was about possible affects of an increased volume of low impact riding.

chipcom i dont think you understood my question. It wasnt about riding slow it was about possible affects of an increased volume of low impact riding.

same answer...more riding isn't going to make you less fit. It might be different if you were riding hard and overtraining...but a nice low intensity ride isn't gonna hurt you...unless you fall down and go boom.

Lately I have found myself surpassing my daily scheduled hours on the bike a good bit. These are almost all z1/z2 miles that come after doing my workout. Ive just been feeling really good and been enjoying the weather and feeling by cruising around casually for an hour or two.

Today for instance, after doing 60 minutes of threshold work on the trainer I went out on the road for the last hour of a 3 hour workout. About 30 - 45 minutes in my legs felt great and recovered. I ended up riding slowly into town to take in the sites and when all was said an done I had to pull myself off the bike after 4 hours. I could have easily kept on riding and riding in z1 but I thought better of it.

Is there any risk in riding extra miles like this? Im starting to understand why Nomad rides as many miles as he does.

The only thing I can think of is you would miss the window for optimum glycogen replenishment after your workout. This may impact your performance the next day.