Originally Posted by
carpediemracing
You'll learn real quick if you need to eat more (if it were me, I'd need more food).
Doing 50 miles day in day out will result in a phenomenal base. Combined with some faster riding on the weekends, some judicious days off, and you'll be flying in a few months.
A local guy's car broke down a few years ago. He decided to ride to/from work instead of fixing the car. 40 miles each way. It was October (in CT). He invested in lights, a lot of cold weather gear, and commuted through the winter, even riding to/from a team meeting that ended at 9 PM (and was an hour+ ride from home). He was untouchable in the March races, upgraded to Cat 2 in a few weeks.
+1
I've noticed a huge difference in my endurance, strength, and speed since I started riding longer and mixing my commute by incorporating different work outs through the week. I used to ride about 30 miles to and from work but last spring I started leaving the house earlier and extending the commute so at the end of the day I'd have 40-45 miles in. The hard part is NOT riding in to work because I enjoy it so much and dread taking the bus, so I make sure to incorporate a good amount of recovery rides in.