Road Cycling - Wow.. what a difference base miles make..

Last year, was my first year road cycling. I got my bike, and just went out, as hard as I could, pretty much every day. Ended up with my "hard effort" average being between 16 and 17mph for 20 or so miles.

Well, this year, I decided to start with 500 or so base miles, to get my legs "up to speed" so to speak. After about 300 miles, I started throwing in a few pseudo-intervals (5-15 minutes of moderate to intense effort), and started doing some good hill loops. Well, today I took my first hard effort, TT style ride. The ride was 34 miles long, and started off with a 400' climb (5 miles long) and about a 300' descent (1 mile). For the first 30 miles, I averaged 18.6mph, including the big climb, and 7 or so miles into a 10-15mph headwind. I also had a stretch of about 14-15 miles of a 20mph average (mostly flat, no headwind). For the entire 34 miles I ended up with a 18.3mph average (the last 4 miles or so are on a gradual uphill, and kill me every time.. lol). It was a personal best for a 30+ mile ride!! Looks like the base milage made a huge difference, and I am only at the beginning of my season..

Ok.. I'll stop rambling now.. Just had to tell someone who would understand.. :D

Good job. It is great to see the effort pay off.

Last year, was my first year road cycling. I got my bike, and just went out, as hard as I could, pretty much every day. Ended up with my "hard effort" average being between 16 and 17mph for 20 or so miles.

Well, this year, I decided to start with 500 or so base miles, to get my legs "up to speed" so to speak. After about 300 miles, I started throwing in a few pseudo-intervals (5-15 minutes of moderate to intense effort), and started doing some good hill loops. Well, today I took my first hard effort, TT style ride. The ride was 34 miles long, and started off with a 400' climb (5 miles long) and about a 300' descent (1 mile). For the first 30 miles, I averaged 18.6mph, including the big climb, and 7 or so miles into a 10-15mph headwind. I also had a stretch of about 14-15 miles of a 20mph average (mostly flat, no headwind). For the entire 34 miles I ended up with a 18.3mph average (the last 4 miles or so are on a gradual uphill, and kill me every time.. lol). It was a personal best for a 30+ mile ride!! Looks like the base milage made a huge difference, and I am only at the beginning of my season..

Ok.. I'll stop rambling now.. Just had to tell someone who would understand.. :D

Awesome job. That is inspiring.

A distance base is critical in any endurance sport. Back when I was running it wasn't until I started putting in 80-100 miles a week that my 5k times dropped from the mid 18's to sub 17. A good foundation of distance training does wonders.

thats awesome. it is so uplifting to know that you are improving. great job!

Fantastic! Less effort, greater output ... it's what we feed on. What are your goals for the remainder of the year?

-mark

Fantastic! Less effort, greater output ... it's what we feed on. What are your goals for the remainder of the year?

-mark

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!! :)

My goals for the rest of the season? Well, goal 1 is to do a century in early July. Seeing as my long rides are already up to about 50 miles, I dont think this should be too much a problem. My second goal, is to get myself up to a point where I could race next year. I am going to start doing some group rides (first one will be on Sunday) so I can get used to riding with others, and will be doing some race club group rides here in a month or two. A good friend of mine races, and said if I can get comfortable averaging 20mph or so in flat to rolling hills, for 20-25 miles (on my own), and get some good group experience, I could be competitive. We'll see how it goes.. :)

snip ... A good friend of mine races, and said if I can get comfortable averaging 20mph or so in flat to rolling hills, for 20-25 miles (on my own), and get some good group experience, I could be competitive. We'll see how it goes.. :)

I have to agree with your friend. You should be pretty comfortable hanging with even a relatively fast-paced group even at your current fitness level. Riding with the group should only make you stronger assuming the group is slightly faster than you on average. Best of luck.

-mark