Long Distance Cycling - Weekly mileage limit

I’m just wondering if I’m the only one who seems to have a weekly mileage limit. I can ride from 35 to 50 miles per day with the odd 70 to 95 mile day thrown in. I can ride 5 days a week.

But no matter what, I cannot get much beyond 150 miles/week.

If I take longer rides, I seem to want to ride less often. Sometimes I’m nursing foot, hand or back pain after my longer rides. Heavy wind & rain seem to discourage me, and we have had plenty of that this spring.

If I take shorter rides, I enjoy riding more often, even in bad weather, but the miles only add up to about 150/week.

Is this normal? I’m a 52 year old returning to moderate fitness levels.

Michael

I think it's normal until you build up your base, which would allow you to do longer rides and recover from them.

I'd try to do fewer rides, but make them longer - but that's just me.

I’m just wondering if I’m the only one who seems to have a weekly mileage limit. I can ride from 35 to 50 miles per day with the odd 70 to 95 mile day thrown in. I can ride 5 days a week.

But no matter what, I cannot get much beyond 150 miles/week.

If I take longer rides, I seem to want to ride less often. Sometimes I’m nursing foot, hand or back pain after my longer rides. Heavy wind & rain seem to discourage me, and we have had plenty of that this spring.

If I take shorter rides, I enjoy riding more often, even in bad weather, but the miles only add up to about 150/week.

Is this normal? I’m a 52 year old returning to moderate fitness levels.

Michael

Mike, you're doing more weekly miles than I these days, and I'm not working! So since I can't give you practical advice, I'll just intellectualize.

Seems to me if you often have a level of pain after a certain level of riding, some small positioning or equipment refinements are in order. Something is stressing your body in a somewhat repeatible way.

I have been doing the longer rides more often recently. I'm hoping that stiffer road shoes and fine tuning the bike fit will reduce discomfort that starts at about mile 70.

A friend asked me if I was riding everyday. I can find the time, but my body and mind seem to limit itself.

67 y/o averaging 343 miles each week this year..
83 miles today.

How quickly were you able to start riding at a rate of 150 miles/week?

How quickly were you able to start riding at a rate of 150 miles/week?

Don't forget that as you're building to higher mileages, you need to schedule yourself days where you either don't ride, or you ride gently. Your muscles will get stronger from having recovery time.

If your mileage in a given day is limited by "issues" then you need to figure out how to resolve those. Where does it hurt, and what do you need to do to fix it?

Sometimes it takes a little while to break through barriers like that ... and then you do, and you look back and wonder why you didn't do it before.

You might want to check to make sure your bicycle is set up properly so it fits you and doesn't cause you pain ...... and then next week, ride 160 miles. Just an extra 10 more. :)

It can take time to build up to high mileage, but what you are riding is still pretty decent mileage. Be careful not to try to ramp up mileage too quickly as in addition to increased injury risk, it is easy to simply burn out on riding.
I have a long commute and ride alone, and sometimes I just get sick of being alone for 4 plus hours every day.

67 y/o averaging 343 miles each week this year..
83 miles today.

Nice! :thumb:

I know exactly what you mean. For me the limit is about 200 miles a week. Any more than that and my wife starts getting real cranky, and my kids act like they don't recognize me.

I know exactly what you mean. For me the limit is about 200 miles a week. Any more than that and my wife starts getting real cranky, and my kids act like they don't recognize me.

One of the reasons I've began riding a year ago is the free time created by now having young adult children. After years of supporting my kids athletics, It's great to start supporting my own fitness!

Michael

:ride:Man you're exercising two hours every day! If you are truly riding for fitness and the enjoyment, then I think 150 miles per week will do the trick.

It's about 8 or 9 hours/week. I need to lose weight and this is better than any diet plan! I'm down 30 lbs in the last 14 months.

With the nice weather I've been getting in about 225 miles a week or so, about 75 miles more than last month. The one change that I made to help with recoveries is I sleep an extra hour or so a night, and its all worked out fine.

Seems to me if you often have a level of pain after a certain level of riding, some small positioning or equipment refinements are in order. Something is stressing your body in a somewhat repeatible way.

I finally purchased some Carbon Fiber road bike shoes this week. I'm also changing my handlebars to a compact type & raising the stem 5mm.

The better shoes are great, no more hot spots on the ball of my feet after two or three hours. The bike feels more responsive with better acceleration. I'm able to maintain a smoother cadence and feel lighter on my seat. I think I was avoiding putting any kind of load on my feet, which placed more weight on my seat. This is a much needed upgrade and the results are greater than expected.

I'm also stopping to stretch & loosen-up after 5 to 10 miles. This is reducing back pain. I'll post a review of the new handlebars once they are tested.

Cheers,

Michael

67 y/o averaging 343 miles each week this year..
83 miles today.

Thanks for setting the bar high. :thumb:

I use to alternate short and long on my weekly commute, 25 was the base, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I'd take the long way home and do 50 for the round trip. On Saturdays I'd usually do a 4-5 hour ride up into the foothills of the Daks. Sunday was my rest day, although I'd usually put in 10 or 15 just too keep loose.

My weekly mileage limit is dictated by work/family constraints rather than physical limitations. As mentioned above my wife also gets cranky when I start cranking out the bigger rides, my son also starts recognizing any male in a bicycle helmet as daddy if I spend too much time in the saddle.

I’m just wondering if I’m the only one who seems to have a weekly mileage limit.If you do find yourself stuck - you probably are doing other things that affect your overall ability to bicycle.

Either you are not recovering because of these "life stresses" or you are simply riding at an intensities and frequencies that fail to promote additional fitness.

I know exactly what you mean. For me the limit is about 200 miles a week. Any more than that and my wife starts getting real cranky, and my kids act like they don't recognize me.

+1

My body could do a lot more, family is the primary limiting factor. Which is why I've recently purchased a pair of tandems to get the family more involved in cycling. :thumb:

Sounds like you're doing fine to me.

I never thought about a weekly limit. I guess everyone has some sort of limit, it's not like the rest of us ride 18 hours a day on a regular basis. I'm hitting about 500 miles a month, and feel good accomplishing that.

If you do find yourself stuck - you probably are doing other things that affect your overall ability to bicycle.

Either you are not recovering because of these "life stresses" or you are simply riding at an intensities and frequencies that fail to promote additional fitness.

Upgrading to a Carbon Fiber sole has solved both my feet & seat problems. My low cost MTB shoes were not up to the task of supporting the loads placed on my feet for more than 2 hours. I also feel less seat pain and my cadence is smoother now that I can depend on my shoes.

I'm mostly pain free after several hours on the bike and no longer have daily back pain. I'm going to reduce the reach to the drops by installing a compact handlebar. I'm hoping that this reduces the load on my lower back and hands.

Cheers,

michael

Well, I've cracked the code: 234 miles in the last 6 days.

I'm taking longer rides at a slower pace, and I'm riding with small groups. The longer rides add up the miles. The slower pace reduces the issues related to pushing hard and staying on the drops. I now average 15-16.5, about 2 mph less than my fast rides and I'm on the hoods most of the time. Riding with partners or groups allows me to take the focus of my pace and just enjoy the ride.

The new shoes and the fit changes are working... I'm on my way!

Michael

Riding with partners or groups allows me to take the focus of my pace and just enjoy the ride.

+1 On taking your focus off the pace.

I've started doing some really long rides (by my standards) to get ready for a seriously hilly 200k. If I spend all my time worrying about pace, it can be a real grind, not to mention discouraging. If instead I look at the scenery, notice how the light plays on the hills and trees, notice the sound of birds, the smell of fields, flowers, streams and so on, it's a really enriching experience.

You can see a lot of lovely things in 100 miles of riding!

Well, I've cracked the code: 234 miles in the last 6 days.Right, and the secret to going farther is in learning to "rest enough" for 234 miles of riding - we'll see......

Huh?