New commute
 

For the past two years I've been very fond of cycling.

Near the end of 2008 I started doing some occasional rides into work, and in January 2009 I bought a newer road bike to follow up on that. I did around 6000km that year.
During 2010 I did even more riding but had to end at about 6500km. This was due to the fact the I have gotten an outside job at the company I work for. They gave me a car to ride and sent me to a company about 50km away from home, and I was only used to 25km rides.

So here I am, 50km away from home, posting about my next step in commuting. During the upcoming weeks I need to get back into shape so I can ride to work again. Next to the commuting I have signed up for the "Ronde van Vlaanderen" this April. So I need to get into shape to ride that as well.

I haven't ridden my bike for 3 months now. Am I safe to hop on and do the 50km ride twice a day?

Any ideas on how to do this? Just get on the bike and do it, or start off slow?

100km round trip would take me a LOT of time every day, even after I got accustomed to it. Probably 4 hours or so. If you can spare the time, or if you're faster than I am, go for it.

If not, how about splitting the round trip between car/bike. First day, put the bike in your car and drive to work. In the evening, leave the car at work, ride your bike home. Next morning, cycle to work. This time leave the bike at work, drive home. 3rd day, drive to work, cycle back home. Etc.

If that's not feasible, do you have public transportation that you could use to cover part of the distance, then cycle the rest?

--J

A lot of the answer to that really depends on your physical conditioning, and that's really an answer that no one can supply definitively. After three months you'll definitely notice that you can't do something as well as you could when you were "in shape", but it may be as simple as 1kph on an average, or you can't climb that hill at 20kph that you could before. Unfortunately in any sport - and cycling is certainly affected there's a certain amount of conditioning that's lost with time away.

I know for me I'd be really fresh at first, but after a couple days it would be a noticeable decrease as my endurance suffers. I took vacation in early December and just went back on Tuesday, and my performance has noticeably decreased. That said, it's also 20 degrees out, and I'm riding a (new) touring frame I built over the vacation. All may be factors. I'm also a 54yo diabetic, so my physical conditioning isn't the same as a younger person as most are undeniably in better shape on a bad day than I am on a good one.

As a counterpoint - my son who is 19 and was fast enough to qualify for USAT Team USA stepped away from the bike for 4 months, and decided to join a fast group ride in the mountains here over the holidays. We had to pick him up with the car at mile 20.. so it's not just me :)

I'd probably try what you are intending, but I'd have a "Plan B" should it not fly as Juha has suggested.

Give it a few test runs on days off to a) get your endurance back up and b) determine if it will be plausible in terms of time.

Others have said it, but definitely consider a 'mixed mode' commute. 100 KM round trip each day sounds like an awful lot of cycling, esp. on top of work each day! Sure, some do it, but most probably can't hold up.

Other idea -- cycle 2 days a week, and drive three (reverse if you have the time and energy to manage it)