rvk5150

Hey guys,

So many of you know my history from other posts and I have been increasing my speed/time and such.

The issue I have is distance/endurance....I am averaging over 8 miles per ride now (I have a nice route I am consistent with now) and have steadily increased my speed from 14.5 to 16.5 MPH; I have been in the 16s for over two weeks now.

I am riding 5-7 times per week and sometimes twice in one day (7-8 miles in the morning and another 7-8 miles at night) and loving every minute; my question is how do I increase the distance? I am pretty exhausted by the time I get home...is it just that I have to lower my speed to be able to go longer? Am I better off continuing what I am doing to build endurance?

The route is nice because it is pretty flat for the first 3-4 miles, then about a mile uphill (not super steep but enough to notice) then a nice downhill back to flat for the last couple miles or so.

Thanks as always.

OiS

I assume it is not a closed circuit that you are doing, so it should be a matter of just going that little bit further before you turn around and come back. You should not need to change your speed. Just my opinion, others may have a different view.

StephenH

Just keep riding. If you're exhausted after 8 miles, slow down a bit and you should be able to ride on. 8 miles at 16 mph = 1/2 hour riding time?

topflightpro

Try going slower for longer. Go back to riding 14.5 mph and try to go 10-12 miles.

SlowOlympian

everyone else has the right idea. try going until you csn't anymore. then go home. try a 20 mile ride. then a 30, 40,50.

DaveWC

Choose a direction heading out where the wind is in your face and try to extend your distance. Turn around when you're baked & you'll have a nice tailwind coming home.

teamtrinity

How do you feel after your 8 mile rides at 16mph avg?

What I like to do are fast, higher effort rides that are shorter in length 2-4 times a week. Then a longer ride at a slower pace. So if you're doing 8 miles at 16mph...to dialing it back to like 12-13mph and see how far you can go!

Good luck!

Namji

Like any other exercise the key is to rest... if you are riding 5 to 7 days a week twice a day then I think you are over exerting yourself and hence the exhausted after 8 miles... I'm a newb myself in cycling ( only 2 months into it ) and my first week I've ridden up to 10 miles without issues.. two weeks later I was doing 20 miles and now I ride 25 to 30 miles each time I hit the roads..
I don't consider myself fit ( one of the purpose of me riding is to get fit ). I just think you should slow down to go farther in distance without any fatigue.

JustinNY

What Ive found is that no matter how far I've traveled, when I hit my last 5 miles, I feel the exact same way; Im ready to get home and get off the bike.

The point being that you just have to go farther. If you're averaging 16.5mph, then you definitely have the physical ability to go farther than 7-8 miles, you just have to get over the psychological block.

cvall91

I think focusing on distance first is better than speed. When I started out, I would do a 4 mile loop around a golf course. Each week I would try to do another lap around it. Staying at the same speed but just going farther. Once I was comfortably able to do 20 miles, I then tried to complete them faster. This was all with my mountain bike and once I bought my road bike, I was flying (or so I thought).

Namji

Another thing I am confused about is.. if you are riding 16.5 mph... then you are only riding for approx. 30 min or so? My typical ride lasts up to 2 to 3 hours...

10 Wheels

Eat and drink while you ride and keep going.

rvk5150

I appreciate all the advice and yes; I am only riding about 30m as I am gassed by the end of it. I agree; I believe part of it is in my mind that I do not want to keep going and end up going home....I need to push a little harder.

For those that take longer rides (20 miles +) do you ever stop and rest or are you constantly spinning the pedals until the end?

topflightpro

I do not stop to rest. I stop for bathroom breaks or to fill bottles/acquire more food. That is about the only reason I'll voluntarily stop on a ride.

speedevil 

Except for traffic stops and the midpoint, I'm moving constantly. My average ride is starting to get longer. I left yesterday afternoon on what was intended to be a 50 mile ride. 3 blocks from the midpoint (the bike shop) I broke a spoke accelerating from a stoplight. They were busy and it took a little while to get a new spoke installed and the wheel trued. By the time I got close to home it was getting dark and I was uncomfortable being out without lights, so I had my wife pick me up. I settled for a 45 mile ride.

The longer rides are definitely better for me, I'm doing better at the last climb before home than ever. One of these days I'll wonder why I thought that climb was so difficult. Keep at it.

mrardo

I am riding 5-7 times per week and sometimes twice in one day (7-8 miles in the morning and another 7-8 miles at night) and loving every minute.

Unless you want to turn professional riding should be fun. It's hard for me to understand someone getting tired on an 8 mile ride but as long as it's fun just be happy. Increase speed and distance as your body allows but don't increase more than 10%. Keep riding as persistance is the key.

pallen

If you have weight you can lose, focus on your diet and get the weight off - endurance and speed will follow. The best thing I ever did for performance was to lose weight. I still need to lose another 20-30lbs.

bikerjp

How long have you been riding? When I first started I was only doing 8-10 miles also, but within a couple months I was pushing out to 20 miles. Started on a mtb and bought a road bike when those 10 mile rides weren't really a workout anymore. Give it time and keep riding. If you want to go further then you need to push further. Find new routes.

alexaschwanden

Give it time and keep practicing.

Machka 

For rides under 2 hours ... there's a good chance I'll stay on the bicycle and ride the whole distance with no breaks, unless I'm doing something like an out-and-back, and pause a moment at the turn-around.

For rides over 2 hours ... I take short breaks about every 1-2 hours depending on weather, services, photo-ops, etc. etc.


For example ...

Pick one day each week, and start increasing your distance. You can do 8 miles comfortably now ... this coming Saturday (if that's a good longer distance day for you), ride a little bit slower and do 10 miles. Next Saturday, go for 12 or 15 miles. Next Saturday, go for 15 or 18 miles.

Pick another day each week and increase your distance more gradually. So next Wednesday, do 9 miles. The following Wednesday, do 10 miles. The one after that, do 11 miles.

And for the remaining 3-4 riding days, stick with your 8 miles for now and work on speed. Maybe in 2-3 weeks, up that distance to 9 miles. A couple weeks after that, up it to 10 miles.


A gradual approach is good.

garciawork

I feel the same as well, so aim out one direction for 8 miles, then turn around and do 8 back, you will probably feel the same at that point, and realize that your brain is working against you and wanting to move on to something else as it knows you are close to home.

hhnngg1

You gotta HTFU. If you have to, slow it down so you're not huffing and puffing. In fact, keep it at an 'easy' effort where you can easily converse full sentences with someone. Start adding on the distance at that intensity. 30 minutes is too easy - even a newb can do more than that if they're riding regularly.

Start off with doing a longer ride once per week, and gradually make that ride longer and longer, say, in 15 minute increments every week. In two months you'll be at a 2 hour long ride.

rvk5150

Again I appreciate all the advice...I feel better knowing that I am on the right track!

DGlenday

This could have been posted by me when I started riding last April, as I was in the exact same situation - and I also started by training on a 7-mile loop.

I started cycling in April 2011 and was exhausted after a 5-mile ride. In June 2011 I rode a century, in July I rode RAGBRAI. Now - I've done many centuries and brevets, have ridden over 200 miles in one ride, and plan to do at least 200 miles - possibly 300 - in a 24-hour ride this weekend.

My thoughts may not gel with everyone else here - but this is what worked for me:

1). Don't ride that often. You're better off pushing the distance and the intensity on each ride - then giving your system more time to recover. NOTE: You do NOT get stronger by riding harder / further. You get stronger by recovering from riding faster / further. So give your system that recovery time.

2). Your loop is a good place to start because you're familiar with the route and can monitor your progress fairly well. Don't over think it - just do this: TOMORROW - do the same ride twice, without stopping. Take it easy (14.5 mph) for the first loop, and push it on the second (see what mph you can get).

3). For the next 2 weeks - alternate a single loop and a double loop. Then - surprise your system by doing it 3 times (stop after the second loop if you must, but no more than 3 or 4 minutes).

4). After you've done that, it's time to start getting "real". Alternate rides on your regular loop with rides on different roads. But now - when you do your regular loop - push the speed as much as you can.

5). In a month's time, join a club. Start with the slower group rides, and graduate from there.

6). You might think about doing a few gym sessions / week as well - keep the whole body toned, rather than just your cycling muscles. Many here on BF disagree with the need for exercise outside cycling, but I found that it helped a lot.



Worked for me - might work for you. Keep us posted with your progress.

Namji

This is basically what I think is the OP's problem...