Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Annual miles for long distance cyclists

A post in the road forum made me wonder about typical annual miles ridden (or km if you swing that way) for cyclists that do a fair amount if long distance rides. In road it seems common for people to do about 5000 or so... So how many miles do you guys put in a year?

Not trying to start a pissing contest, just curious. It may help to say what kind of log distance riding you do too...

when I was racing, I rode more miles. I have 2100km in brevets so far this year. No odometer on the bike, so I have no idea how many miles I've ridden otherwise.

I think 10k miles is good for me. There are people who put on 30k a year. Cycling is a great hobby but it is nice to have a balanced life and unless someone is going to pay me to ride/race my bike I don't see the point of doing huge miles.

My annual totals gradually increased from 1990 where I did 1200 km to a peak of 14,588 km in 2004 ... and then declined in the years since then because University and my degree took priority. I have been doing about 7000 km during the three of the University years. But this year has taken a complete nose-dive.

My final year of University, my practicum, the bushfire, a kidney stone and subsequent surgery, preparing for an international move, moving and getting used to the new area, developing Deep Vein Thrombosis and being hospitalized for 2 weeks, and going on a 3-week vacation in Tasmania, have all eaten into my cycling time and ability.
http://www.machka.net/2009/2009.htm

This year I have a whopping 1700 km so far.

Fortunately it is spring here and summer is on its way. So if all goes well, maybe I can double that amount!! :D


As for type of cycling ... the year I did 14,588, I commuted to and from work, I rode long distances each weekend - centuries, double centuries, back-to-back centuries, etc., I rode randonneuring brevets, including a 1000K, then I came to Australia for 3 months in late September where I rode 5000 km including a 1200K randonnee. Lots of different types of cycling that year!! :) :)

Biggest year was 16000 km... on track now for a 10,000 km year.

~8,500 mi last year, probably coming in under that this year.

Started racing so training hours have become shorter and faster this year.

There's a new rando that acheived the ultra rando (http://www.rusa.org/award_ur.html) award in something like two seasons!

And I'm not sure many can stack up to this guy (http://www.dannychew.com/). I like riding but not that much..

I might rack up more next year since we'll be running a bunch more brevets for next year's PBP-qualification (via RUSA).

I should have around 6,000 miles this year and have done one brevet in my lifetime.

I'm on track to do a little over 8,000 miles this year. It's hard for me to imagine doing much more than that and still stay married.

A good chunk of my miles are my daily commute. I've also done 2,300k of brevets and the rest is mostly solo training rides.

8300 last year. 6800 so far this year.

13,000 miles ytd
Got paid for 3700 of them.

694 miles for September, 4113 miles YTD.

My target is 5000 miles this year. I'm new to long Distance riding, my longest event was 127 miles this summer. I now have a "base" for next year. I'm planning on working with a trainer in 2010.

Michael

7000 + miles so far this year. 4300 miles commuting, the rest are brevets, club rides, training rides, tandem rides with wife, etc.

Ron

I put on about 4,000 miles per year. 3 kids doesn't allow me to ride as many long distance rides per month as I'd like to.

And unlike 10 Wheels I don't get paid to ride my bikes. (how do you do that, anyway?)

And I'm not sure many can stack up to this guy (http://www.dannychew.com/).

I don't know if you know him or not but...when I talked about getting a life...

I'm a middle-of-the-pack rando, aim to do at least one SR series and a 1000 or 1200 every year, and ride 8-10,000 miles a year, a lot of which is commuting (24mi rt). I could probably get by on less, if I did more high-intensity stuff, but I don't really have the self-discipline to actually train, and I just like to ride (and ride, and ride...)

SP
Bend, OR
RUSA #3481

:recum:

6000 so far this year. My first year of double centuries (4 so far).

I've slowed my rate this past month barely getting over 1,000 miles for September, but I could easily hit 15,000 miles (24,154 km) this year.

A review of the UMCA cumulative year lists, a voluntary reporting by members, suggests there aren't that
many that go above 8000 mi/yr even among ultracyclists. This suggests quality of riding more than suffices unless your commitment (addiction?) pushes you to ever greater miles. This is also a comment on leisure time versus job/family/home and on recovery capacity and injury avoidance. Students, younglings and retirees have an advantage here.

4200-something for the year so far. On track to finish out over 5000.
1200km was brevets, the rest is commuting, charity/club centuries, weekend fun rides with friends and some errand running.

11,700 miles YTD; 64 centuries YTD (type of LD riding I do). A month from 60, still working. No kids at home; understanding wife. :thumb:

More details: Ruptured L4/L5 disk; can't run any more and can't sit for more than a few minutes. Stand at work all day, and while at home. Time on the bike is time off my feet! So I ride as much as I can after work and on weekends.

If you don't follow the roadie forum, *** rides many 1000+ mile months.

A review of the UMCA cumulative year lists, a voluntary reporting by members, suggests there aren't that
many that go above 8000 mi/yr even among ultracyclists. This suggests quality of riding more than suffices unless your commitment (addiction?) pushes you to ever greater miles. This is also a comment on leisure time versus job/family/home and on recovery capacity and injury avoidance. Students, younglings and retirees have an advantage here.


Bingo!!!! you get the prize!!!!

If you don't follow the roadie forum, *** rides many 1000+ mile months.

I didn't want the thread to be about me, like I said I'm not trying to start a pissing contest, just curious how the self-selected population of long distance riders compares to the "roadie" population.

^^ Just wanted the LD folks to know you know something about mileage.

In either case, roadie or LD, what we do for mileage and workouts is tempered by our goals and constraints. Those trying to maximize performance wouldn't ride the miles I do. And if training sensibly, they would ride circles around me. I'm not training, but do like riding my bike, and as I mentioned above, it sort of defines my life at this juncture. I wouldn't wish the same on someone else. And as sch alludes to, proper training is not about mileage.

Since I'm not a competitor, even in LD, my workouts are irrelevant to what *** seeks. Those of you who regularly "compete" in LD events and train specifically for them are the folks he'd rather hear from than me. ;)

I'm between 6500 and 9500 miles a year. This year I'm at 6900 and will likely end up around 8500. 5000km of that is brevets (a PR for me); the rest of it is commuting and training rides. I used to do a lot of centuries (50 a year), but that number had plummeted with the arrival of Baby Octopus. I keep the randonneuring a priority and limit the rest of my riding to fairly short, quick stuff. Long meandering rides and 300-mile weekends (fun as they are) are out the window for the near future.

I didn't want the thread to be about me, like I said I'm not trying to start a pissing contest, just curious how the self-selected population of long distance riders compares to the "roadie" population.

Just keep in mind that the long distance forum isn't necessarily about high annual totals ... it's more about lengthy individual rides.

I had a friend in Manitoba who rode the SR series with the Manitoba Randonneurs ... and that was pretty much it. So she logged a little over 1500 km for the year, but she was a long distance cyclist because those 1500 km were a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K.

Just keep in mind that the long distance forum isn't necessarily about high annual totals ... it's more about lengthy individual rides.

I had a friend in Manitoba who rode the SR series with the Manitoba Randonneurs ... and that was pretty much it. So she logged a little over 1500 km for the year, but she was a long distance cyclist because those 1500 km were a 200K, 300K, 400K, and 600K.

That's basically what I'm trying to get an idea of. Whether long distance riders also just ride more. It's looking like the answer is "usually, but not necessarily"

In road it seems common for people to do about 5000 or so... So how many miles do you guys put in a year?Right.

Without any measure for intensity - any road dog can put in 10,000 miles. It gets weird to do much over 12,000 miles because of bike/clothes/nutrition maintenance. At 18,000+ - all you do is ride, or get ready to ride again.

I've kept logs for over 30 years and know of a dozen others that have kept records as well. One thing, most people think "pros" get all these miles - but they can't - simply because of travel and recovery needs.

So what's your mileage for 09, RC?

Without any measure for intensity - any road dog can put in 10,000 miles. It gets weird to do much over 12,000 miles because of bike/clothes/nutrition maintenance. At 18,000+ - all you do is ride, or get ready to ride again.

I don't see how you can make statements like that based on distance and not time.

I'll be over 10,000 miles this year with only a couple of those rides being less than 70 miles. I enjoy riding for its own sake, getting out every second day if I can. I have about 2 "down" months of the year when I don't do much if any cycling because we're up north and it's cold and I'm a wimp -- early October to early November and mid December to mid January.

There's no way that I could get in that many miles if I a) were not retired and b) lived in a colder climate during the winter.

best year so far.. 02.. little under 8800 miles.. I strive for more..
Seems my odometers keep malfunctioning so sometimes I sort of get lazy in logging in miles. .Commuting to work is one of the easiest ways to increase your base miles.