Originally Posted by
mattscq
So my office has a fitness challenge but to be inclusive, it's time based as some people don't have the hardware to track things like heartrate, pace etc. This is fine and well and the more people who take part, the better, but as I would like to do well in the challenge, one strategy is to max out my time on the bike. I've never done a ride every day for weeks before unless you count short moderately paced commutes but I only had to span a mile and they only lasted about 20 minutes with traffic.
If my goal is to spend as many 2-3 hours a day on a bike, maybe with some longer 4-8 hour days on weekends, is there anything I should look out for to prevent injury or fatigue? Should I ramp up to it somehow? I'm relatively fit but I also need to put in more hours than I ever have had. Prior to the challenge, I maybe only do about 10ish hours a week, maybe half of that above tempo.
Preferably I can build up to be able to do some intense 8 hour sessions (though breaks are ok) on the last few days if I need to make up time.
If you’re in reasonable shape, you’ll be fine. I’m an over 50 Clyde and today marked my 227th consecutive day riding. I ride 2-1/2 to 3 hours a day. My lightest day this month was 34 miles. I generally ride half of that time in the early morning and the other half in the afternoon or night.
When I get tired, instead of taking a rest day I do an active recovery ride or two. If I’m really tired, I might do easier rides for 2 or 3 days.
If this is an ongoing thing, consistency helps. Try not to start the month too hot or too light. Catching up isn’t too hard to do, but the added work really messes with your resolve on days when you’re tired.
Longer weekend rides help too, as long as you don’t just hammer it and get too tired for the following week.