permanentjaun

I want to begin to get serious in cycling again. I've been bit for the second time. I have a 14 mile commute to work. I ride about 30-40 miles on the weekends right now with typically 2-3 hours of roller time during the week. The one dude who blows me away on the weekends rides to work. Do these little miles during the week really make that big of a difference?

I already know the answer, I just felt like starting a new thread. It's been a while since I have. Troll on.

johnny99

Short slow rides won't help much, except to keep your legs loose. If you can do some intervals during your commute, that will help your overall performance.

Pugsly

Have a hard time going along with that. Slow miles are as important as the hammer miles. It's the ones in between that don't do much.

Psimet2001 

The only thing the commute does for me is add stamina/endurance....and I have a 50 mile round trip commute.

I ride faster when I have not been commuting for a while. I ride centuries better when I have been commuting.

Short rides loaded for commuting at an easy commuting pace are basically junk miles. Some of the best junk miles you will ever do, but junk with regard to riding with speed.

Throw in intervals or something to make you ride the crap out of the route.

That said there are so many reasons to commute that your weekend ride will begin to pale in comparison.

idcruiserman

Hammer to work, and hammer to home.

Slackerprince

Better than sitting in a car!

S.

Machka 

You bet they make a difference!

Back in Winnipeg, my commute was 13.6 kms round trip, and I did it 5 days a week ... plus long rides on the weekends. 3-4 days a week, during the week, I would add extra length to my commute to bring it up to about what your commute is (28 miles rt).

I was in the best shape of my life doing that!! The most fit I've ever been.


BTW - when I had that short commute, I rode it as fast as I could. It was my speed training. My commute now is way too long to hammer.

Spreggy

I'd have to say that what you're really saying is "Will I be faster if I ride more?" Of course, especially if you are training with a plan.

Brian Ratliff

I lost 20 lbs in 3 months doing what you just described. I had a 13 mile route (one way) to work and I did that 4 days a week along with a long group ride on the weekend.

Baying_Hound

I find commuting greatly improves my overall riding ability. My commute is 22 miles RT in a heavy city setting. I have no option but to hit numerous stop lights, so I essentially treat it as interval training. It is in no way planned training, but it has definitely improved my strength and endurance as a rider. The other benefit is my road bike feels light as a feather when I hop on it after commuting all week on my Karate Monkey with a 20 pound messenger bag.

Not to mention that it beats the pants of sitting in a car morning and evening.

daoswald

Riding more will always be better than riding less, unless riding more puts you into the "overtraining" range (which your commute won't do).

Even if you ride along at 10 miles per hour the whole way there and back, you're still doing something non-sedentary. Some exercise is better than no exercise.

It's more hours on your bike, which will help with endurance, bike comfort, confidence, cardiovascular condition, strength, and flexibility. The degree to which it helps is hard to predict, but there will be at least some advantage.

Some people will say, "At fifteen miles I haven't even gotten a workout." Ok, at fifteen they haven't gotten a hard workout, but they've gotten SOME workout.

caloso

Every mile counts.

climbhoser

Exactly. Mine's 17 mi. one way makes for a 34 mi. day if I actually only did that and not the extra I put in every day.

I just stomp it. There are a few other roadie-esque commuters in my area, so I end up trading pulls on a daily basis. Makes for a good, high intensity workout!

schnabler1

I've heard riding easy in the mornings can have a good effect on your metabolism.

And there's always something to gain by riding.

waterrockets 

Commuting is a major part of my training program. It's 6 miles one way, and I hit it hard every day. Sometimes steady tempo, sometimes some sort of intervals. From my power files, I can see that I'm burning around 600kJ each day, just from commuting. My lunch rides are coming in around 800kJ, so the commute is a huge chunk of my volume.

I also just started commuting daily this year. I made some other changes to my training program, but the commute was the only chamois-time addition. The result? Three race wins. Before this season, my last win was 16 years ago. The commute is certainly a part of it. How much, I don't know, but it isn't hurting.

dcbikeguy

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,
And there like,
Its better than yours,
Damn right its beter than yours,
I can teach you,
But i have to charge!

umd

15 miles can be a good workout. Especially in the morning if you subscribe to the half an hour of cardio in the morning before breakfast idea to burn fat. It's also short enough you can do a TT effort, or as others have said use the time for intervals. I commute every day, and although my house is actually very close to my work, I use the opportunity to get a nice morning ride in, usually 15-25 miles. I'll bring enough stuff for the whole week on monday and often ride the rest of the week without a backpack. Route time and intensity depend on what else I have planned for the day, what else I'm doing that week, etc. Mondays are usually an easy recovery ride and I try to throw in at least one max effort high tempo ride. Often my route is very hilly so I use that as my intervals.

Nachoman

Interesting. I also commute about 6 miles one way. But I go pretty easy. Therefore I feel like it's not doing too much to improve any overall power or endurance.

Sixty Fiver

I rode 16,000 km last year... 12,000 of that was commuting and utilitarian riding.

A few friends who ride competitively have suggested that I should seriously think of competing at a master's level and tell me I could compete at a cat 3/4 level.

logdrum

It is all good. Even better if you commute in the cold months. My commute is about 8 miles. It has one tough hill. If i have time, I climb the second hill + loop and I make my commute 10 miles each way. I hammer it out. I do need some slow miles to get the last remaining ugly fat out of me.

permanentjaun

Ok. Next questions. How many of you have an easy route to commute? I, unfortunately, have a very congested route to ride. My biggest problem is finding a safe road to ride. Do most of you say, "f that I'm riding here!" or do you say, "I'm sorry. I'll take the sidewalk."

Regardless, anyone on the tempe/phoenix, az area, be aware of me next spring. It's time to run.

Nick386i

I have both safeish and dangerous on my route, have parkland of about 5 miles high speed of 22-35mph and then I hit the city and have about 2 miles of nightmare, drop down to about 18-20 in order to be able to stop, I go faster if I have bus lanes or cycles lanes. Every commute is a race for me.

markhr

Train smarter and your commuting miles will be a LOT more than just "junk miles"

https://www.powercranks.com/v4pages/videos-list.htm (rob goldfoos interview)
Google blog search for powercranks

umd

Yes, f-that, I'm riding here. You have to be assertive or the drivers will take advantage of you. I mean don't be stupid, but if you need to make a left turn, make a hole and move over, don't "wait" for everyone to pass. It helps if you can match traffic speed, or at least get close.

yobtah

I'd guess it depends on how aggressive drivers are in a given area or how fast the pace is on a specific road... but in my area, it's definitely better to be assertive and "make your own space." I've found that if I do that, drivers will generally back off and let me have the space I need.

As for riding on sidewalks... I don't really want to start a big debate about it, but it's often illegal and I'd never get to work if I did it in my area. The sidewalks are rough, cracked, and not good for riding with any kind of pace. I'd say don't consider it an option, and you'll get more confidence for riding on the streets in traffic sooner.