hambertloot

Anything wrong with training twice a day? My days are so wide open now due to college letting out and after my morning ride, by 6-7 hours afterwards I feel well recovered and want to ride again.

Would it be bad at all to take my second ride an easy 1-2 hours? This morning was 3 hours just zone 2 easy

GeorgeBMac

There's gotta be a law against that -- somewhere...

... So why are you riding? Do you have some goal that you're trying to accomplish -- or is it just for the enjoyment (which itself is a goal!). I think that will help answer when 'enough is enough'...

On the other hand, most of the really serious long term cyclists on this forum tend to agree that cross training is valuable to cyclists in many different ways. Perhaps some cross training instead of just cycling with your extra time?
... I think of only cycling as equivalent to going to the gym and only using one machine... Some things get a really good workout. Other parts get little or nothing. It can create subtle imbalances that can ultimately result in injury.

hambertloot

I just am such a fanatic of the sport. I LOVE riding my bike, its like the only thing that helps me really connect within myself and its so fun exploring and breathing hard up hills etcetera etcetera!

I am attempting to build a base before adding in speed work so I guess my goal here is to develop a huge aerobic system. 3 hours in the morning with an easy 1-2 hour recovery ride in the afternoon outta be outstanding for my aerobic system as long as I am not overtraining and pushing through symtpoms that appear to be overtraining? My performance has not been going down, but UP! It is really cool to watch and experience first hand

Carbonfiberboy 

Science of Running: Evidence for Doubling, training in glycogen depleted state
Sports nutrition: the latest research into low glycogen training
https://media.powerbar.com/snn/pdf/2T...ompeteHigh.pdf

hambertloot

I'll check those out! Thank you man

achoo

I'd think it also depends on what you're trying to do. If you're going for long-term endurance, one 60-mile ride is probably better than two 30-mile rides, assuming all the miles are done at the same effort/power level. I seem to remember reading that shorter, higher-intensity workouts are more suited to two-a-day workouts.

And note that some of Carbonfiberboy's links talk about two-a-day workouts on an every-other-day schedule and compare the results from those to the results from one-a-day workouts every day.

I'd be careful, though, lest you burn yourself out.

beatlebee 

Yeah, include rest days/weeks and watchout for burn out. One thing that surprised me to learn about burnout is that when you hit a PR, say on a long hill climb, be wary and rest. You might be right on the edge. Don't ask me how I know.

hambertloot

Ok, you seem pretty knowledgable. Would that rest be a 2 hour easy zone 1 spin or completely off the bike?

ThermionicScott 

Most bike-commuters ride twice a day. What's the big deal?

wolfchild

I ride twice a day every day because I commute to/from work. On top of all that I also follow a strength training routine 4 times per week, and work a a physically demanding job...Yes human body can handle a lot.
The mind usually gives up before the body does, it's all mental.

sprince

Twice a day should be much better than once a day. I find it's a good strategy when you have limited time. But if you really have that much time on your hands, you might be better off to work hard in the morning and then do a recovery ride in the evening.

bmontgomery87

me too!


There are definitely some days when I mentally don't want to do the training or riding. And there are times when I'm not eating enough to physically be ready to handle it.

If you're in college, and have a meal plan where you can eat a lot, I think riding 2x per day should be totally doable.

RISKDR1

if you are getting base miles only and not doing any speed or interval work it is ok for a while. Basically it will deteriorate to junk miles and you will not get faster. Once you start adding intensity I don't think riding twice a day is very beneficial. Instead i would get into the gym and do some upper body resistance training and some core work.

On the other hand if you are not going to race and just love riding then I guess it is ok.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

Most commutes aren't 2-3 hours each way.

To the OP I'd say only time will tell if your body can handle it. I'd suggest only doing low intensity rides on the days you double up and if you can take a nap in between.

TBH though one 5 hour ride will be more beneficial for building an aerobic base than two shorter ones.

ThermionicScott 

Probably true, but so what? Time and distance are only two factors, intensity is another big one. It's possible to obliterate yourself in a half hour if you want to, or ride all 24 hours of the day at a sustainable pace. (For an in-between example, I ride RAGBRAI every year, which is a full week of ~60 mile rides. Many people participate without really training and do just fine.)

It's not even clear what the OP is "training" for, apart from wanting to spend time on his bike, so I'll again submit that he (like many) is overthinking it.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

So it's not an apt comparison and could confuse or mislead someone who's looking for advice.

achoo

Yes.

Not sure you were responding to me (me knowledgeable?!?!!? Scary thought...), though I'd limit recovery rides to an hour or so. It's not like you'll need more time on the bike at if you have time for two rides a day.

And what are you goals? How much time per week do you/can you train? Those matter, also. If you're only riding 4 hours/week, doing two 2-hour rides on one day probably isn't the best use of your training time. Conversely, if you're riding 25 hr/week, too many two-a-days at high intensity is going to fry you.

ThermionicScott 

Our OP is a healthy college-age guy who wants to throw in an easy ride in the afternoons. Anyone without physical impairments can ride 6-7 hours a day if they wanted to. There is no misleading here.

wphamilton

So doing the long second ride, especially if it's un-fueled is stimulating the gene-markers to increase the mitochondria. Ultimately better glycogen production and storage. There could also be a mitochondria migration thing going on (no cite, general knowledge).

What happens after you've tuned up the mytochondria/glycogen motor this way? On the other end it's known that short-term disuse can impact the glycogen volume (intramyofibrillar). Would there be a similar impact after the training stops, ratcheting down to a different equilibrium? Or do you expect to keep those kinds of gains for awhile?

Carbonfiberboy 

You got me. All training is use-it-or-lose-it, though some training adaptations go quicker than others. It does occur to me to ask what is the difference between twice-a-day and just going long? If I ride a hard century, I'm certainly glycogen depleted by the end, yet I'm still trying to go hard. Seems possible that the traditional 4-6 hour ride to exhaustion accomplishes the same thing. I know I get quite a performance bump out of a very long hard ride.

Note what this glycogen-depleted training is not: a hard ride in the morning, then a recovery ride. This training is a moderate ride in the morning, going hard enough to deplete glycogen to some extent, then nothing to eat before a very hard ride 1-3 hours later. Not the most pleasant thing in the world, but then a lot of training is not particularly pleasant.

sprince

With twice a day you get some recovery in between, so you can work a lot harder. The traditional 4-6 hr ride to exhaustion might be better for training to ride 6+ hours, but then it does limit how hard you can work.

rumrunn6

if I had wide open days I'd be mixing in weight training, running, swimming, sun bathing, girl chasing, etc

ffrroger

I didn't read all the other posts so if im repeating things that have already been said sorry.

Do your morning ride and for the second go run, swim,or some type of inter-mural sport.

Use the muscles in a different way will help improve your biking and reduce the risk of overuse.

I think a lot of cyclest lose out on total fitness by not lifting weights. You can change the way you lift weights to target sprinting or endurance and either way you go will improve your cycling.

And probably the most important would be rest and recovery.

let your body rest so it can rebuild your muscle that you broke down during any form of exercise.

Your diet is probably the most important even over the training no matter how well you train it wont mean to much without without putting decent to good food into you allowing to to truly recover.

GravelMN

IMHO, ride as many times as you want to. One 60-mile ride or three 20-mile ones, its all good. I ride two or more times in a day fairly often but you have to consider the cumulative amount of exercise and plan your nutrition and rest accordingly.

TexMac

Right?. I commute to work 4 days/wee and ussually 15/18miles one way. I take morning rides easy 18-20mphr and evening rides harder some intervals. I do take off friday, saturday long rides (50-60miles), off sunday.
Most important, listen to your body.