Hi!
I am looking to get some input on progress and how to best go about it w/o getting burned out while making good progress with cycling. I started cycling at the beginning of august when I bought my first road bike (last bike I had was a folding bike back around 95). I don't ride to/from work, and my only time for cycling is either after work for an hour or two at most before it gets dark, or pretty much for weekends.
Progress over the last 3 months:
-Started riding 5-10 miles a few times a week first, then after about a week pushed myself into 20-25 mile rides. At the end of August I did my first 30 mile ride and a total of 225 miles for the month over 15 rides total.
-September I rode less frequently with only 10 rides total, did my first 42 mile ride and a total of 226 miles.
-Now we are in October, I've done 4 rides, 42,31,42 and this past weekend did my first 60.5 mile ride in 3:46 hours. I should be able to hit my target of 300 miles this month with a few weekend rides left this month.
All these rides have been on a local bike trail with some elevation, but nothing crazy. For the longer rides I basically make a loop, starting at a specific mile marker and going x miles one way and then come back around etc. I remember when I first started I could barely do 5-10 miles w/o a quick rest, I think I definitely see improvement in that area after 2 months. I can do a 30-40 mile ride with one quick stop for bathroom or snack/water.
Now, what I am wondering is this. In general is it best to keep pushing for more miles every week/month, or do something else like try to increase my pace ? My average running pace has been 16-16.5mph for the longer rides, and I can do 18-19mph sprints for a few miles before having to slow down to 15-16 (I try to keep my average mph above 15mph at minimum basically, but conserve energy for longer trips). Is it okay to have one quick stop on a 40-60 mile ride, or does that show you haven't been cycling enough and need to keep pushing yourself harder?
I am not looking to compete, if anything it's more of a challenge for myself to see if I could do (30, then 40, 50 and now 60 miles). Sorry if I missed a good thread on this topic, really just trying to find out for myself what next steps I should take and if my own pace/distance covered since I've started is ok/avg/good for a newbie?
This weekend my plan is to do another 40-60 miles, and goal for sometime next year is to do a 100 mile ride w/o feeling that you are going to crash
Thanks for any input or suggestions in advance!