Miles or minutes?
03-02-14, 06:05 PM
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Miles or minutes?
Recently I have started counting minutes ridden instead of miles. At the end of each week I try to reach a certain number of hours on my bike. Are men and women training for the up coming racing season generally counting miles, minutes or a combination of both?
03-02-14, 06:31 PM
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i don't think it makes much difference if riding the same routes at pretty much the same speed, does it?
OTOH, if somebody's on the rollers or at the gym, i'm pretty sure they are counting the minutes, if not the seconds too.
OTOH, if somebody's on the rollers or at the gym, i'm pretty sure they are counting the minutes, if not the seconds too.
03-02-14, 06:57 PM
#3
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For anyone, count what makes you feel accomplished...it will push you to do more.
Friday, I cut out of work early and went for a quick 8 miler to run some errands...the next day it was supposed to snow.
Saturday, I rode a white knuckled .28 miles in the driveway helping my 3 1/2 year old son paddle his strider. We celebrated over juice boxes.
As I write this, given that the weather is so crummy, I count being on the bike twice this weekend a success!
Friday, I cut out of work early and went for a quick 8 miler to run some errands...the next day it was supposed to snow.
Saturday, I rode a white knuckled .28 miles in the driveway helping my 3 1/2 year old son paddle his strider. We celebrated over juice boxes.
As I write this, given that the weather is so crummy, I count being on the bike twice this weekend a success!
03-02-14, 07:27 PM
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Hours/minutes are what you need to get your butt in shape, miles are for your legs.
03-02-14, 07:35 PM
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Most people measure time, not distance if they are training. It is a more useful number to show the amount of effort. All our team & group rides are measured in time. I have no idea how many miles I ride.
Combine that with a powermeter of some kind if you want to go to the next step.
Combine that with a powermeter of some kind if you want to go to the next step.
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03-03-14, 03:50 AM
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https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...-Racer-s-Forum
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03-03-14, 05:42 AM
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There is a difference? BTW I am a 6 minutes per mile man most of the time. 
Aaron
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03-03-14, 07:03 AM
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What difference does it make if I say I ride for 1 hour or I ride for 18 km? Same thing.
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03-03-14, 07:44 AM
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For those training for a race they neither train miles or minutes, they train for an objective. One day they may need to do a certain number of miles in a certain time over certain terrain and another they are doing hills with a certain level of effort over a certain time, etc.
03-04-14, 06:55 AM
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My riding goals are all in miles, which I track on bikejournal.com. I mostly average similar speeds, so it wouldn't make much difference to me. Just seems tracking time would be awkward, as spending more time could be related to riding slower.
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03-04-14, 08:26 AM
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"Steel: nearly a thousand years of metallurgical development
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Which one would you rather have under your butt at 30mph?"_krazygluon
03-04-14, 08:41 AM
#13
~>~
Plootering about on the town bike, riding fixed gear or going out on the CF road bike makes a difference in forward progress & effort but an hour is always an hour.
-Bandera
03-04-14, 08:46 AM
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Actually it might be both. Miles per hour (MPH) assumes both distance and time. Racers probably have coaches who keep a regimen on their riders. That would also include power output ranges.
03-04-14, 09:07 AM
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if doing the same route minutes would be good (since you already know the distance) ...........but over different routes I would say miles going 3 miles in one hour ...VS ... 22 miles in one hour is still one hour but with a trackable number
03-04-14, 09:16 AM
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Minutes at a certain level of effort. I train with a power meter so my efforts are based on a percentage of my functional threshold power, e.g. 2x20' at 90% or 5x5' at 103% See the stickie at the top of the racing subforum.
I really don't track distance.
I really don't track distance.
03-04-14, 10:11 AM
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wow that's a lot of math ........I turn on my music pick a direction and go out 50 miles turn around and come back
03-04-14, 10:29 AM
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~>~
It's a certain amount of physical, mental and lifestyle work.
For everyone else, whatever you feel like doing is just fine.
-Bandera
03-04-14, 10:36 AM
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Miles or minutes?
I previously posted to this Fifty-Plus Forum, ”How much do you "discount" cycling workouts?”
For those training for a race they neither train miles or minutes, they train for an objective…
I’m more a mileage junkie than a speed demon, and I get my fix from a 10-Week Century Training schedule published long ago in Bicycling Magazine totaling 1516 miles in 10 weeks. …
I describe myself as a "destination cyclist"; I don't ride for its own sake, but for a reason, be it a destination (usually as a year round cycling commuter) or a mileage goal. The destination/goal encourages me to ride more, and reap the further benefit.
I describe myself as a "destination cyclist"; I don't ride for its own sake, but for a reason, be it a destination (usually as a year round cycling commuter) or a mileage goal. The destination/goal encourages me to ride more, and reap the further benefit.
Nonetheless, cycling is a joy, and not a chore. To paraphrase a saying* about walking:
"Now shall I walk, or shall I ride? / ‘Ride' Pleasure said; ‘Walk’ Joy replied." to
"Now shall I drive, or shall I ride? / ‘Drive' Pleasure said; ‘Ride’ Joy replied."
(*W.H. Davies, as quoted by Colin Fletcher in "The Complete Walker.":
"...Which of ye two
Will kindest be?
Pleasure laughed sweet,
But Joy kissed me.")
"Now shall I walk, or shall I ride? / ‘Ride' Pleasure said; ‘Walk’ Joy replied." to
"Now shall I drive, or shall I ride? / ‘Drive' Pleasure said; ‘Ride’ Joy replied."
(*W.H. Davies, as quoted by Colin Fletcher in "The Complete Walker.":
"...Which of ye two
Will kindest be?
Pleasure laughed sweet,
But Joy kissed me.")
03-04-14, 10:51 AM
#20
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I do time here and there because that's all I got. In the evening I may think "I've got an hour I can dedicate to a ride". And of course in that hour I'm trying to do as much as possible be it distance (miles) or cal burning (intervals, etc).
03-04-14, 12:53 PM
#21
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Like others, right now I base all my indoor training on minutes, and trying to increase time every week by 5 minutes. This week I'm at 1:15. My idea was to max out at 90 mins for weekday rides. My impression is that starting off you just want to get as much time to get accustomed to being in the saddle for long periods of time and of course train your body to last X amount of time
03-04-14, 01:55 PM
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I do the math ahead of time and work out the target wattage. I could program it into my Garmin but that's a PITA. If I have a particularly complicated workout, I'll write it on a piece of tape and stick it on the top tube.
03-04-14, 08:30 PM
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I combine interval and long distance riding. Two of the standard routes I ride are on a flat MUP and on a road route with a long hill.
The MUP ride is an out-and-back route. It has mileage markers and I do intervals based on those - 'hammer' out one mile, back off for the next, 'hammer' another mile, back off once more, and then one last 'pushed' mile. Then repeat when coming back on the MUP. This is done early in the morning as it gets too crowded after about 9AM.
For the route with the hill I hammer up it, coast down, then repeat the circuit a few times (once I got up to 8 circuits before I felt wiped out). and its 8 miles to get to the hills base.
The MUP ride is an out-and-back route. It has mileage markers and I do intervals based on those - 'hammer' out one mile, back off for the next, 'hammer' another mile, back off once more, and then one last 'pushed' mile. Then repeat when coming back on the MUP. This is done early in the morning as it gets too crowded after about 9AM.
For the route with the hill I hammer up it, coast down, then repeat the circuit a few times (once I got up to 8 circuits before I felt wiped out). and its 8 miles to get to the hills base.
03-05-14, 11:03 AM
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If I were to train for racing the answer is neither. They are both poor measurements of training.
Instead specific goals and specific workouts to work on what needs to be developed. And those would differ greatly depending on strengths involved. Heck if could vary a lot on races one intended to do. If an important race was a circuit with a climb a rider would be wise to focus on being able to do that climb repeatedly. The climber type with the intent of dropping others and a sprinter or TT type with the goal of not getting dropped.
Instead specific goals and specific workouts to work on what needs to be developed. And those would differ greatly depending on strengths involved. Heck if could vary a lot on races one intended to do. If an important race was a circuit with a climb a rider would be wise to focus on being able to do that climb repeatedly. The climber type with the intent of dropping others and a sprinter or TT type with the goal of not getting dropped.
