fietsbob

20 miles each way , figure you add 4 hours to your day..

FBinNY 

I tour a 50-100 miles daily (sometimes more) and it's not that hard to get into that kind of condition. But most of the time commuting is a harder type of riding. You might be pushing harder because you're on the clock, it's usually more stop and go than the open road where you might stop only to eat or something.

At 36 you shouldn't have too much trouble getting into shape for a 20 mile each way commute daily, but give yourself enough time to get do so. Going from 1 to three days probably wasn't tough because you had rest days, but filling in the blanks is harder, so I'd shoot for 4x a week with Wednesday as a rest, before going 5/5.

mklos1

I'm doing 30 miles every day for about 6 months in the year. 15 miles one way, 8-9 hour work, 15 miles (or more) back. It can be quite exhausting for the body over a long time period. Proper diet and rest is highly recommended.

loky1179

You folks are making me feel like a wimp.

At 20 miles, your average speed really comes into play, and it is not so much about miles as it is about time in the saddle. I know there are some monsters out there that can maintain a 20 mph average. I'm lucky to average 16 mph in the summer.

What are your average riding speeds? And how long does your commute take?

There is a big difference between two hours commuting, and three hours commuting. It may be as much as 50%.

The other thing that has been mentioned is that you can't hammer all the time on the commute. I've certainly found that to be true. Unfortunately, I guess I'm not hammering enough. My commute times have actually gotten a little bit longer over the last two years - the miles have been quantity instead of quality.

noglider 

None of this excellent advice should make anyone feel like a wimp. Basically, if you give yourself enough time and approach it wisely, you can be as fit as most of the long-distance commuters here. I hope the advice in this thread helps.

I just took a job which is over 60 miles from home. But I'm allowed to work four days a week from home, so I can't complain. Needless to say, I will not be cycling to the workplace. More good news is that it's actually better to get there by train than by car, so I won't have to drive. Thank goodness.

imi

wimp

thelazywon

I made it in this morning with a very nice ride. Felt pretty good when I arrived. Definitely going for round trip Mon-Wed-Fri, and bus to work cycle home Tues, and Thurs this week.

You're right @aqua_dot, There are a few hills, but nothing I would consider particularly challenging. Granted, I'm not speed racing up them, but spinning up in a low gear is pretty easy. Actually, the roughest part for me is Dillingham and Vineyard on the way in and Beretania and Dillingham on the way out. Lots of traffic and no bike lane, so I hammer all the way through to keep up with traffic. It would be better if it wasn't stop and go, but spinning up to 25mph over and over just starts killing me by the end of the week.

As far as diet goes, I'm trying to lose weight, so I've got that going against me. When I started back up cycle commuting, I was 201 lb (5' 8.5"). Now I'm 180 lb, and want to lose 30 more lb. I try to eat high quality, but not so much quantity. I usually have oatmeal for breakfast, the "mindful meal" (half serving of meat, full serving of vegetable, and half serving of starch) from the hospital cafeteria at lunch, and meat/starch/vegetable for dinner. I usually drink beer on Saturday, and sometimes Wednesday. Once I lose the weight, I'll probably be eating more.

My commute typically is 1hr 8 min to 1 hr 14 min riding time, with a total time of about 1 hr 20 min to 1 hr 30 min, depending on conditions. My average speed varies wildly because of the different environments I go through, but it can be anywhere from 16mph-30mph according to Strava. The vast majority of my sections are 17-22mph.

I can definitely appreciate you guys talking about slowing down some, but I don't think it's going to be an option for me. I'm not trying to go as hard as I can, but I do like to carry a good pace, and when I slow down, my mind is screaming at me that I'm slacking off too much!

Dunbar

Zone 2 isn't super easy like zone 1. It's just that zone 2 can feel slow if you're used to hammering hard every ride. Zone 2 also won't feel as slow if you alternate fast and slow days so that you're recovering on the zone 2 days. If I go for a zone 2 ride and shoot for 75% of FTP when cruising it actually feels like I'm getting a good workout. I'm coasting anywhere from 30-40% of my ride riding in Los Angeles so I'm getting plenty of zone 1 time in as well. This is obviously MUCH easier to do with a power meter than by heart rate. The point to drive home here is that overtraining is actually counter productive to getting faster.

I would also make sure you're eating enough food. I just saw a thread in the nutrition forum where a guy was complaining of extreme fatigue and it turned out he was trying to go for 2+ hour bike rides and longer runs while eating well under 2000 calories per day.

jeffpoulin

In 2009, my commute went from a mostly flat 25 miles RT to 43 miles RT with 3000 ft of climbing. It took me about 2-3 months to get used to the change. I did it every weekday for a couple of years but eventually cut back due to the amount of time it took (3 hrs/day), a lingering knee injury that just wouldn't heal, and the fact that I just didn't like riding so much in the winter when it's cold and dark. These days, I multimode commute from October to April so I end up riding about 20 miles/day on average. From May - September, however, I go back to riding the full distance since I love to ride when the weather is nice. I'll be 45 later this month.

thelazywon

I'm eating between 1800 and 2200 cal/day. I think that's probably just on the low side of OK for energy, and continue to lose weight. I am dropping weight very slowly, about 1 lb per week, so I think I'm on the right track there.

What is FTP? I would love to use a power meter, but I think it's out of my budget for now. They are very expensive! I have been wanting to use a HR monitor, just haven't shopped for one or done any research yet. Thanks for the information. I'm going to look up the zones, and maybe get a little more serious about HR monitoring, I might start a piggie bank for a power meter, they are pretty fascinating.

Dunbar

Here is a link explaining FTP. It's a measure of power output that allows to set training zones. You can use heart rate for setting your zones but it's not nearly as accurate as a power meter.

1800-2200 calories is probably fine on rest days but I'd be shooting for 2500-3000 calories on commuting days. When I go for a 40-45 mile ride I'm burning something like 1500 calories. Trying to calorie restrict on a day like that is just asking for trouble IMO. BTW, one pound a week of weight loss when you're doing that much activity is quite a lot.

noglider 

My approach would be to forget the power meter. Put aside the goal to lose weight. If you manage to cycle commute five days a week, it will happen. Better yet, choose between building endurance and losing weight. Don't shoot for both at once. I would probably do the former, but I can't really say. Given that you want to be able to do a substantial amount of physical work, trying to lose weight would probably get in the way, and there's even a chance that you would harm yourself. All that working out on insufficient calories sounds like a really bad idea. In fact, now that you've mentioned it, I think it explains a lot.

Your weight is not as good an indicator of your health as your ability to do physical things. If you can cycle commute 200 miles a week, you are a very fit person, even if your weight is above whatever you think is ideal!

FBinNY 

+1 you don't need gadgets, you'll improve over time. Scientific training might (might) speed the process, but it comes at a toll, namely being tired. Use your common sense, and gauge how you feel, and on good days push a bit harder, especially on climbs. Also push hardest on Fridays, especially the Friday ride home, because you have 2 full days to recover.

Also, totally disregard weight, eat to keep yourself fueled, or you'll tire quickly, and feel miserable all day. Bike training to lose weight is tricky because you tend to build muscle mass, which offsets any weight gain. You'll lose fat, and get a smaller gut, but since muscle is denser than fat, you could actually gain weight in the process.

Focus on getting into shape so the commute doesn't tire you even if you ride round trip 5 days a week. Once you're in shape you'll be burning more calories, and can shift your focus to weight reduction.

CB HI

The worst portions of the Pearl Harbor Bike have been resufaced and two of the bridges worked on. So it is much improved and way better than the road surface on Kam through Pearl City and Aiea.

CB HI

You should consider:
Morning - N. Nimitz, then Punchbowl to Hospital.
Going home - Punchbowl, Queen St., N. Nimitz and at Waiakamilo zig-zag to Dillingham (right onto Waiakamilo, left onto Hart, right onto Kalihi, left onto Kalani, right onto Mokauea, left onto Hau, right onto Puuhale and left onto Dillingham with the rest of your route).

Coming in on N. Nimitz between Puuhale and Waiakamilo, you can hit every light green by riding 18-25 mph and if the motorest have it too jammed up to flow, cut over to Republican for 3 blocks. The distance is longer, but you will hit fewer red lights than Dillingham/Vineyard.

The zig-zag going home is surprisingly efficent (adjust speed at turns to move into or through traffic without stopping) and I think you also miss some of the longer red lights.

IR Baboon

Ha! Fartlek. Word of the day! I've always wanted a shirt that said "I fartlek when I run." Cycle would be even more appropriate.

Hang in there OP. Like others have said it's totally doable. I also do a 40 mile round trip daily. I hardly think about it anymore. Most of it is in your head, seriously!

noglider 

I'd like to belabor the point of fuel. Sorry, but it's important. Your lousy feeling could be mostly or completely due to insufficient fuel. It's more important to eat enough than to keep your weight down if you want to do this. You could also injure yourself in various ways from being under fueled. Please eat more first and solve your other problems later.

How are you doing?!

thelazywon

The trip home last night was not bad. There are some issues of pacing I think. Started out very strong, but became fatigued in the last 5 miles. I made the trip in 1hr 24 min total with 1 hr 6min actual moving time. I could feel the energy change almost like it was a light switch. It wasn't any particular muscle group, it was a whole body thing, kind of like one of those old key wind toys running out of spring power.


I can tell that you are probably right about eating. I'm going to try to add a bit more food each meal, and get some snacks like the nuts and dried fruit they have at Costco. Maybe keep some fruits in my office and have one fruit between breakfast and lunch and one after lunch before my ride.

I am very sedentary at my job, I pretty much sit at my desk for 8 hours straight and read, or write letters.

What types of foods would you keep at the office to energize you for long commuting?

I'll take a look at that route [mention]CB HI[\mention]. I started off with something a little similar to that, but I got too nervous at that big Nimitz transition. I do like the way Dillingham just dumps right off at the Nimitz bike path.

FBinNY 

I wouldn't necessarily eat more at mealtime (but not less either), especially at dinnertime. You want to raise the available fuel when you need it, so I'd use a fast energy source like dried fruit, a banana, or similar just about immediately before riding or up to 1/2 hour before. That makes the right fuel available when it's needed. You can experiment with the choice, amount and timing of your booster fuel to find what seems to work best for you.

noglider 

Nuts and dried fruit are excellent foods. Your description of yesterday's ride sounds like bonking. You ran out of fuel during your ride. It's awful, isn't it? It can bring on a feeling of panic, and the feeling is almost well founded: if you don't do something quickly, something bad is likely to happen. Bring food on your ride. If you bonk, eat immediately. Also drink. Better if you can prevent bonking by eating before it happens, but you'll learn how to pace that eventually.

So bring food and water. In fact, it's a good idea to have an energy bar (stupid name) or a candy bar in your toolkit for unforeseen needs. Cycling needs more constant fueling than many other sports. I don't know why, but it is my observation.

thelazywon

You know, it could be that the trade winds are in a little bit. I had a 15mph headwind on the way home today and yesterday. I was riding along today, and got exhausted at about the 10 mile mark, thought it might be the heat (this afternoon got really warm) then realized how much I was being blown about by the wind. Came home and checked the weather and sure enough, in my face all the way. I also noticed that my ride in on Monday morning was really nice, and I felt like I was flying. In any case, it wasn't food today! I ate oatmeal with brown sugar, coconut, granola, and cranberries, then had an orange, then ate 3oz steak, 3 oz ahi, and 2 pieces of garlic chicken with brown rice.

Supposed to be back to the round trip again tomorrow, I think I'll have a decent dinner, a couple of beers, and a couple liters of water, take a motrin before bed, and see how it goes. Going to bring nuts/dried fruit on the ride in the morning as well as drinking water before I leave the house.

imi

Headwinds will suck it out of you. I don't battle them, just relax and ålod on.
If you open your mouth all that headwind oxygen will pressure flow into your lungs! (well that's what I tell myself anyway)

noglider 

Yeah, you should try to recognize the winds you are in. It's easy to be unaware of them. A tail wind rarely feels like a tail wind, because you're making wind of your own, and I don't mean out the back. You are likely to feel wind in your face even when you're riding into a tail wind. I'm not sure why headwinds are hard to recognize, but I guess they are, at least for you. So try to pay attention, and reduce your effort when you're in a head wind or a very strong cross wind.

thelazywon

Some days, that's all that gives me forward momentum!

thelazywon

I'm going to try this route today. Thanks.