Originally Posted by
Anitza
Hello all!
I regularly commute 28 km round trip towork on a mid-grade hybrid bike, and although I'm reasonably fit, most people seem to smoke past me on the bike trails. But I'm getting mixed signals on what I can really do about this…
Option C: Something I'm not thinking of…
Many thanks!
If I can shave even 5-10 minutes off my commute this would matter a lot.
Originally Posted by
noglider
You will be able to answer your question better if you first do a bit of athletic training. Measure your accomplishments over time as you execute a plan of strengthening yourself. I recommend some sort of high intensity interval training. Basically, it's where you take a minute at a time, a few times through your ride, to ride as hard as possible, to the point of exhaustion, where you can't maintain the level of exertion after the one minute…
I wasn't improving my overall time until I pushed myself over my 13 mph limit. I was spending all of my time at or below 13 mph and hardly any over that speed. I pushed myself to keep the speed readout high, and now I spend a lot more time above13 mph. But this is what has worked for me and not necessarily the approach that would serve you best.
How much faster do you want to be? In real world time, a very fast rider doesn't get to work much sooner than a slow rider, but I don't blame you for wanting to improve anyway.
I have posted this riding strategy if anyone is in the same position with similar goals as myself. It works for me to keep getting faster (until I hit a hiatus and have to begin again).
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I’m a 40+ year cyclist and I ride mainly for fitness. During nearly all of my 40 cycling years, my training has been by mileage....
Last year I developed for myself my"
Time-restricted, Personally Ambitious, but Non-competitive Cyclist Training Routine"(link)…based on
”Relative Perceived Exertion (RPE).” My basic premise was that I wanted to get significantly fit, within a busy work/family time-crunched life, but not suffer so much that I would abandon the program.
I do have the advantages of a very nice minimum 14 mile one way commute that is easily extended; and a high end, very comfortable carbon fiber road bike that encourages riding.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
...
I decided to go for speed (intensity), and I use the semi-quantitative, standardized, but personally relevant system of (Borg’s) Relative Perceived Exertion (RPE) (link), with my own particular adaptation…. I use cadence to chose gears to maintain my desired exertion.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
The RPE scale ranges from 6 to 17, with verbal descriptions of the intensity. Multiply the RPE by 10 is the approximate heart rate. Jim's scale is the equivalent on a 0 to 100 scale, easier to think about:
RPE = 6, resting... Jim's scale = 10 to 20
RPE = 7, very, very light... Jim's scale = 20 to 30
RPE = 9, very light... Jim's scale = 30 to 40
11, fairly light...50 (my usual happy-go-lucky pace without thinking about it)
13, somewhat hard...60 (I have to focus to maintain)
15, hard...70 (I start breathing hard at about 30 seconds)
17, very hard (lactate threshold; breakpoint between hard but steady
breathing and labored with gasping)...80 (my predicted max HR)
19, very, very hard...90 to 100.
My basic training is to ride at my RPE of 50% for six miles to warm up, then cruise at an RPE of 60%, and do intervals (on hills) at 70%. I try to change gears to maintain a cadence of about 85-90 rpm on flats and rolling hills, and about 60 to 80 rpm on harder hills, to maintain my RPE. Shift up to higher gears as the cadence rises, and shift down as the RPE increases.
Last edited by Jim from Boston; 06-20-17 at 07:47 PM.