Any strength left for weekend rides?
 

If you commute to work/school by bike longer distances (say over 30 km - 18 mi - round trip), do you have any strength/mood left for weekend rides? If so, how long
are the weekend rides? On a good week I bike between 200 - 240 km just commuting,
and I'm not sure my legs would like going for a country ride during the weekend. I really enjoy the country rides. Possibly, I could take it more easy biking to work, but I enjoy that, as well. Ahhh, decisions, decisions. Hamlet had it easy.

Yes, it does make a difference. My commute is about 22 miles (35 km) roundtrip, 3-5 days/week depending on weather and my work schedule. On the weekends, I usually ride 50-60 miles (80-100 km) with my friends. I used to ride just as often on Saturdays, but generally shoot for Sundays since I started bike commuting. I need Saturdays off so my legs can recover from commuting. Occasionally I do my long ride on Saturday if the weather forecast is bad for Sunday, and I suffer on those days. Another trick I've learned is to ride at a really easy, recovery pace on Friday.

tarwheel has the right idea. If you're planning a long weekend ride, take extra care to make the commute the day before (or more, depending on how quick you recover) easier. And try to get enough sleep.

I started a similar situation a month ago - daily commute increased from 5 mi (8 km) to about 12 miles (20 km) each way. Once I got past jokes about the things a dedicated rider will do just to increase their mileage, yeah, it takes more out of you. How much depends on the base you're starting from, how quickly you recover, and how hard you're going on the commute. What works for me is I limit the "hard" commute days to 2/week (I treat them as if they were intervals training rides - typical programs for average joes limit hard/interval days to 2/week) and really try to take it easy on the off days. If you feel like you need a day off, you do - take it, or really ride easy that day if you have to ride. As your body adapts to the increased load, you may find you do not need as many super-easy days or days off as you did starting out.

I'm a data nut, which my wife sometimes thinks is obssessive-compulsive (she married an engineer, it's a feature, not a bug), so I see how hard or easy the commutes are and correlate it with how I feel the next day. And that traffic lights can have as much an impact on my door-to-door time as how hard I ride.

I've found that gear that was fine for a short ride may be inadequate when you are on the bike for a couple of hours day after day. I am really appreciating my quality bib shorts over the cheaper ones I was using for commuting, and watching for sales to grab a few more. I've tweaked saddle height and position and cleats a few times. I'm also paring down the amount of junk I carry back and forth and appreciating panniers over a backapck. I'm happy to discover that my old commute was exactly long enough to hit my maximum chill point before I started to warm up. We've had sufficient cold (for this area) days to figure out I don't need as much gear as I used to.

My commute is 20mi r/t and on the weekends I'll go for a couple of 30-40 milers with friends if I ride both days. I might do a 100k if I'm just riding 1 day.

When I was at peak form last year, I'd ride 150 miles of commuting during the week (30mi/day, 5 days) and then go and do a 200k or 300k on every other (or third) weekend for about 4 months. But I burned out pretty quick on that schedule and ended up injuring myself by the end of the season.

I almost never go anywhere if I don't have to work. It was the same way when I rode my motorcycle all the time. I can't seem to just go for a ride, I have to be doing something. And I always have plenty to do at home. It's nice that my commute is all in the country.

Plenty of strength, not that much time or inclination.

I do 100 miles of commuting a week, so about 20mi a day round trip. When i started I'd feel dead by the end of the week. In the beginning I'd take friday off and have a good ride saturday of 40-50 mi. I got used to it though and went 5 days commuting with 50-65 weekends and now I'm fine with it. Sometimes I take it easier on friday just to enjoy and wind down, finish the week off with a smile, etc.

I'm switching things up now and will be commuting 5 days a week but will add weight room work and then MTB on the weekends.

Your fitness will change and you'll get better at it all.

I ride ~20 rt per day and don't find myself just up and out for a workout on the bike on the weekends (however I will use the bike more for neighborhood trips more as the weather improves; turns out I am an all weather commuter but a fair weather pleasure rider). I usually focus on yoga or yardwork to shake up the physical output on the weekends. If I do go on a weekend ride, I either don't ride in on Friday or I ride really, really easy. My home commute involves a lot of very steep hills no matter which direction I go so that exacerbates the leg fatigue.

now that it's getting a bit warmer out now, i'll be doing A LOT of kayaking on the weekends, so my weekend riding will be less now (though not gone entirely). but as a general rule, i don't find my 150 miles/week of bike commuting wears me out too much for weekend rides. but sometimes, after a longer 50+ mile ride on sunday, my legs feel more tender on monday morning than when i don't do a longer sunday ride.

My daily commute is 32 km round trip, 5 days per week. I don't have a problem doing long distance rides on the weekend...in fact I am looking forward to a weekend so I can hop on my bike and go ride along rural roads.
I think that good nutrition is very important, as long as you eat good , then your body should have no problem with recovery.

I think you'll find that as you grow accustomed you'll be able to add weekend rides if you are so inclined. You have the right idea about taking it easy during commutes, especially if you have a big ride coming on the weekend.

Just don't force it. Let your body adapt and you will feel when you are ready.

My commute is a little less than 25 miles, round trip. On top of that, I'm an old f*rt (will be 60 tomorrow). I enjoy a century or 200k ride on the weekend, but a ride of that length after 125 miles during the week seems to be a bit much.

If I'm planning a century or more on the weekend, I'll usually skip one commute ride that week. If it's a century or more where I'll really put out a hard effort, like the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred, I usually just commute three times that week. I take an unplanned day off the bike here and there when my body tells me it needs it, too.

Fortunately, my commute to school and work was planned out when I moved to my condo. I have a 6 mile round trip (between all 3) daily. So I can still accommodate my pleasure/training rides without worrying about going deep into mileage debt (how I define it. Probably not the right terminology) by just pedaling to work and the university.

Mind you, I'm still intentionally adding anywhere from 20-50 miles in the mornings that could be considered my "commuting" mileage, I suppose.

I've been daily bike commuting for the past three and a half years. I started out with 10 - 12 miles a day, but kept modifying my route to increase the milage. I'm up to riding 25 - 30 miles a day, five days a week, commuting for the past two years. Most weekends I'll get out for at least one 50 mile ride (and am shooting for a 100 mile ride a month), and find that I'm more inclined when I've commited to a group ride or an event.

I have a weekly commute of about 90 mi, and usually hope for a ride with the brother who is not in shape yet, maybe half dozen or slightly more with him on the weekends

In the summer I take days off commuting specifically to recover from recreational riding.

I just signed up for a charity ride; a team-mate sent me a 'training program' for 12 hrs a week of riding, commuting is only ~5-6 hrs/wk for me, I guess I am about to find out how much energy I have for a few more hrs per week

100mi/week and I have more strength for weekend rides now than before I started commuting just because I am in better shape. I don't get to do as many rides as I would like due to family responsibilities, but I did a 200km rando ride a few weeks ago. If I can figure out how to keep my knee from hurting, I'll make it a 300k next time.

The hardest part is not having energy for long rides after commuting, but have energy to commute Monday after a long weekend ride. ;)

My RT commute is 70km but it's only 4 days/week. On the weekends, I try to get one or two recreational rides in, about 50km each. Time and weather are my limiting factors. I can't say I ever feel "too tired" to ride.

Even though I have a pretty short commute (8 miles r/t), I get much more riding done during the week than on the weekend due to family commitments. Kids have baseball and swimming most weekends. I'll extend my commute by taking a long detour in the morning. Plus it's actually easier to get the spousal hall pass for a weeknight group ride than the Saturday morning ride.

Also, a mellow Monday morning commute ride can be an ideal recovery ride after a hard weekend of racing, randoneuring, touring, etc. Just turning the pedals and getting the blood flowing.

mine's about a marathon-length ride each day, and I don't mind doing that or even a half-century on Saturday. beyond that and I'll take Friday off and carb-load the night before.

I always take Sundays off

I commute 32rt a day so ~160mi during the week and I try to ride at least one day during the weekend but it matters for how long/what day on the schedule. I think its less of the actual mileage than it is how hard you ride during your commute. If you treat your commute as training (ie intervals/fast pace) then yeah, your legs are going to feel it. either way if your sore Monday morning just spin the legs out and leave a bit earlier. Eating right and proper sleep are the best way to recover faster. And anyways its good to ride on fatigued legs, itll harden you up they tell me :)