Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Miles/km's or hours?

This year I've promised myself to count hours, not distance. Reading Joe Friel's "Cyclist's training bible" was a part of the inspiration, but mainly because it makes so much more sense.

A mile in the flats is not the same as a mile in Appalachia, or a mile down the side of a mountain, or a mile into a headwind, or a mile drafting a friend. It's just silly to count something that has almost no meaning. It almost seems to stem from car culture, because everything about your car (value, maintenance, repairs, gas consumption) revolves around miles driven but the only difference between miles is how far you push the gas pedal.

Time in the saddle has much more meaning, especially if you're going at your normal brevet pace. It could be averaging 8 mph in the hills or 15 in the flats, but you're probably working at about the same level. Hours just seem to be a much better indicator of work done than miles.

What do you think?

I've been doing the time thing for a while now. People ask how far I went and I have to change my computer to tell them and they kind of laugh. I've been trying to get my wife to do that, but she wont. She thinks after 15 or 20 miles she wont make it home.:D

An hour in the flats is not the same as an hour of climbing, or an hour of descending, or an hour of headwinds followed by an hour of crosswinds.... ;)

An HRM and/or a power meter will provide far more accurate and useful indications of your level of effort.

Perhaps the better question is, though: what's your goal for next year? And what is the best way to accomplish that goal?

I measure by bottles.
Rides lengths vary from:

1. partial small water bottle...
all the way up to
11. 2 full sized bottles plus snacks plus lunch stop in town I've never heard of plus beer plus Coke...

I'm not sure I can see the difference.

As you've pointed out, the real difference is in conditions/topography of the route. And if you ride faster over any route, your time will be less than if you ride slower. So what significance does time alone have?

The data I collect -- time, average speed, distance, elevation gain, route -- all interact to give me a record of my workout. They're all important parts of the picture.

These all go into the daily log, printed out every Sunday and added to the 3-ring binder for the year.

At the end of the year, I have a total distance I can brag about. But in the big picture, all the other stats come into play. For instance, at this time last year, I had ridden 7,550 kilometres and climbed 47,000 metres. This year, after yesterday's 90km ride over my usual Wednesday route, (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/wodensride.html) I've accumulated 8,230 km and climbed 46,200 metres.

However, I'm in better shape this year and 5lbs lighter.

Aren't stats fun!:)

I don't see "hours" counting for anything more intrinsically meaningful than typing in notes about "headwinds" or hills, or pot holes and "jerks on the roads."

My ride log incorporates both ride distance and time spent. Actual training rides may be recorded to even indicate specific heart rates and miles per hours for certain give distances.

I guess if recording "time spent" is somehow more meaningful for you then go for it. Typically, the more you keep track of, the more you know about yourself.

An hour in the flats is not the same as an hour of climbing, or an hour of descending, or an hour of headwinds followed by an hour of crosswinds.... ;)

+1, just what i was gonna say..

personally i like distance (km), because bigger = better

whereas with time, wouldn't your goal be to spend less time on the bike overall (e.g. go faster)?

let's say you did X hours in 2007, and Y hours in 2008; if X > Y did you go faster, or did you ride less in 2008?

if anything you could count both, and come out with some overall average speed. but what does that really tell you about a whole season?

when it comes down to it we're really talking about the same thing, so i don't care which way people measure.

I am 66 y/o. Running out of time.
So I track miles.
Ride Safe.

The only place it definitely matters is inside where miles are meaningless.

I track kilometers, with some idea of the time it takes me to do them.

the last training plan i had a coach work up with me was all in time... but time @ specific heart rates doing specific things. mileage was listed to give an idea of how hard to go - so for a recovery ride @ 2 hours there might be only 25 miles listed as a suggestion. this helped choose a route / terrain.

certain days would just be listed as an event - ie: 'bolton hill climb' 30 min warm up, climb, 30 min cool down - so these days the event itself would rule the clock - in this case about 4 miles @ 10 - 17% (if memory serves). the faster i climbed the faster i finished the work out... but that was sort of the point for climbing days.

other intensity days would be listed in time as a minimum, with a specific amount of reps to be completed. these always took longer than the time listed - so a warm up to irish hill followed by 6 repeats. max hr last 1/4 mile each. cool down on ride home.

so i've generally stopped looking at my odometer unless i'm doing an 'event'. i still 'track' it - but its less important to me now (until i work on cue sheets for friends... eek!).

interesting - were you training for racing, or brevets? (or both)


the last training plan i had a coach work up with me was all in time... but time @ specific heart rates doing specific things. mileage was listed to give an idea of how hard to go - so for a recovery ride @ 2 hours there might be only 25 miles listed as a suggestion. this helped choose a route / terrain.

certain days would just be listed as an event - ie: 'bolton hill climb' 30 min warm up, climb, 30 min cool down - so these days the event itself would rule the clock - in this case about 4 miles @ 10 - 17% (if memory serves). the faster i climbed the faster i finished the work out... but that was sort of the point for climbing days.

other intensity days would be listed in time as a minimum, with a specific amount of reps to be completed. these always took longer than the time listed - so a warm up to irish hill followed by 6 repeats. max hr last 1/4 mile each. cool down on ride home.

so i've generally stopped looking at my odometer unless i'm doing an 'event'. i still 'track' it - but its less important to me now (until i work on cue sheets for friends... eek!).

I track my training rides by time, my total riding (monthly, yearly) by distance.

An hour in the flats is not the same as an hour of climbing, or an hour of descending, or an hour of headwinds followed by an hour of crosswinds.... ;)




Time in the saddle has much more meaning, especially if you're going at your normal brevet pace. It could be averaging 8 mph in the hills or 15 in the flats, but you're probably working at about the same level. Hours just seem to be a much better indicator of work done than miles.



Not sure what else to add.

interesting - were you training for racing, or brevets? (or both)

brevets.
i'm too slow to race. :)

I track both distance and time in my spreadsheets. I want time on the bike for fitness but I need to make sure my average speed also increases. Especially since I am training for brevets. No accounting for terrain in a brevet, average speed must be over 15km/hr including all breaks. (some discounts as distance increases but the basic rule is 15km/hr.)

Your body doesn't know miles - only time and intensity. So, go with time and intensity.

SP

Is there anything specific you plan to do with this data? I personally don't track anything. I guess I would see it like trying to put a number on how much fun I'm having.:)

Not sure what else to add.
You can't evaluate your level of effort correctly using subjective methods. Even in a low gear, when you climb your heart rate will go up. Time doesn't measure your efforts; HRM's and power meters do. Ergo, once you've built up your base, measuring "just time" (or just miles) has no appreciable benefit or utility.

The better option here is to decide what your training goals are, and figure out the best training methods to accomplish those goals....

you can also get pretty good at RPE... it takes practice and some time with a HRM - but after awhile you'll know where you are at...