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Acceptable ride distance for a newbie

Old 08-13-15, 03:37 PM
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I think of cycling in terms of time spent, rather than distance traveled.
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Old 08-13-15, 05:57 PM
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what makes a roadie? kisses sweeter than wine.
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Old 08-13-15, 07:37 PM
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I ride on the road (most of the time) therefore I am a roadie.
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Old 08-14-15, 01:38 AM
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Q-Acceptable ride distance for a newbie

A-How ever far the newbie wants to ride

Everybody starts somewhere. You're doing just fine if you're enjoying yourself during and after the ride. You can add the extra 10% as mentioned or push until you can't pedal another rotation. Riding by yourself means you have the air resistance to overcome at all times whereas riding behind another person or a group, gives you the opportunity of having someone in front of you making a hole in that invisible wall thus reducing your pedaling effort and possibly increasing that comfortable riding distance without extra effort. Do what feels good.

Originally Posted by jdotconnor
I'm new also. My first ride was July 10th doing a very lazy but rolling hills 10 mile ride with another newbie and an experienced rider on an introductory ride. As a stay at home dad I can only get out twice a week and am thinking of a trainer for my 7 month olds nap time. Im currently doing 10-17 mile mid-week solo ride and a 26-30 mile weekend group ride. I use Strava (I'm a huge stats guy and keep all kinds of numbers for my golf game) but only to see how I am improving compared to myself and don't watch numbers while riding. I love seeing how not only am I riding faster but also have more energy when I get home despite the ride and am not sore the next day even if I pushed myself in the moment.
Great day to start since it was my 65th Bday. Keeping tract of those stats can be addictive and rewarding and/or depressing. Just keep it fun!
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Old 08-14-15, 07:30 AM
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It sounds like you're doing ok. My first few years, I had a 'ladder' route which I did 3 times per week. It started short in the spring - 15 miles - and by mid-summer it was 30 miles. When I joined the local club, I started adding longer weekend rides, and replaced my ladder route with evening club rides. Nowadays, evening rides vary based on when the sun goes down, but usually 20-30 miles. Weekend rides can be 40-100 miles. I'm not into ultra-mileages; I believe that when I reach 100 miles in a day, it's time for a beer!
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Old 08-18-15, 06:52 AM
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16 miles x 3 days a week is a great start.
If your schedule allows you the time to add more miles or another day I say go for it.
A good way to ease into it may be to choose routes that allow you to do another loop somewhere in the middle so that on the days that you aren't feeling like extra miles you can just skip the extra loop and stick to your usual miles.
As opposed to there and back routes that are more of a commitment.
Enjoy!
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