Sarah_42

Hello,

I am new here and just bought my first road bike last week (Cervelo S2) and am looking at doing some century rides next year. I want to spend the rest of this year building a good base for next year and am wondering how commuter miles fit in to a training plan.

The commute is not long, but there are some good hills. The most distance I would ever do in a day would be 20km on my commuting bike, which is a Specialized Hardrock mountain bike.

Do you subtract your commuter miles from a training plan, or not worry about them? I have been competing in triathlons for about three years now, and suffered multiple injuries within those three years. I am hoping to have an injury free streak if I train smart, and allow the time for a strong base to be built.

Any and all advice is appreciated! Thank you!

LesterOfPuppets

I'd probably only count your commute trips towards century training if you take the long way to or from work. A six mile ride on its own doesn't really mean much.

gregf83 

I'd count them. You're going to need a lot more miles in any case but there's no reason not to count them.

fstshrk

Is there a long way to get to work?

You can use commute miles to do the intervals, but 6 miles is too short. If you can add another 6-8 miles, you can warm up for 3 miles, do intervals for 6-8 miles and then cool down for the rest of the way.

I have an 11-16 mile commute each way and put the commute to good use for training.

Homebrew01

Take the long way home from work.
And count time & effort, not distance.

mkadam68

Yeah, count the hours, not the miles. On a MTB, you'll be working harder and/or longer than a road bike.

Also, yes, you need more time in the saddle. Base it off what you think you'll do the century in, 5? 6? hours. More? Less? Then do 2-3x that per week. How much is right only you can say, and you won't get that info online. You need to know & understand your own body and how it's performing.

Also, any particular reason you don't use your Cervelo to commute on? Oranges to oranges, mate.

LesterOfPuppets

I have a feeling it's a metric century. Hopefully under 5 hrs.