Reset baseline
 

My basic commute is 65 miles a week (13 miles/day, 7 miles in, 6 miles home). As spring began I started taking a 12 mile route home when it was nice. Then I started doing 12 mile route going in as well some days.

Two weeks ago I committed to 24 mile days every day regardless of weather. I have been tiring at the end of the week but have been fired up by Mondays. Don't know if I should pace myself slower on Mondays and Tuesdays to have a bit more energy on Fridays.

This past week, I hoped to do a century on Saturday (day before yesterday) but did not taper during the week, kept that 120 mile schedule, and did just 50 Saturday, was exhausted through the evening. Took Sunday off (except for yardwork), felt great again today.

Anyway, I hope at some point that my 120 week will be the new normal and can get long rides in on the occasional Saturdays. I have a hard time picturing being able to maintain those 120 mile weeks through the winter though, least of all the days of 8 hrs sunlight or less.

Sounds like a good plan, with the only drawback being the crappy Puget Sound clouds, rain and sleet.

Personally, I would take the short way in and back on Fridays at least. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday too, on a week where you have a big Saturday planned.

FYA, this is my desired baseline: However,

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 18582935)

…I have previously posted to this thread, ”Why didn’t I ride”

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 18456163)

My job; either too much to do, so I stay (comfortably) overnight and resume very early in the AM, missing my commute; or have to travel afar for a meeting...and to a lesser extent, family activities. …

Having a mileage-based training schedule however, effectively motivates me to make time to ride…

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I have the opportunity to commute a minimal 14 miles one-way during the week [optional Commuter Rail home], and round-trip on Saturday all year-round, for about 100 miles a week. During the nice weather, I’d like to put in about 150-200 miles to train and do long rides.

In reality though, I probably get in about 20-30 miles per week during the winter, and maybe about 75-100 during the nice weather (to include early evening rides).

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I'd suggest you concentrate on making at least one day in the middle of the week (W-Th?) a recovery ride day. Go really, really slow; gear down and spin; don't push it. Or maybe, depending on your schedule, ride to (or from) work at a recovery pace two days in a row. The miles will still add up, you'll still reset the baseline, but it'll be easier to finish the week and have something left for weekend rides.

There is that...

thanks for the advice, all

If you want to do long weekend rides, start by commuting mostly in zone 2 on three days and adding a long ride on the weekend. 50 would be a good start. Ride the weekend ride hard, hard as you can. Gradually increase the distance until you get to 70. To ride that century, take at least 2 days off before it. Maybe commute Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday off, long ride Saturday. Century week, commute Monday, Tuesday, and maybe Wednesday.

For weekend rides, Cascade posts free group rides every day. Sign up and go. Misery loves company. That's how I've done it for the past 20 years or so, riding year-round in the PNW. On bad weather weekdays, I hit my resistance rollers for an hour instead of going out. Works great.

To give yourself more weather windows in winter, maintain a 40-50 mile weekend ride and commute enough to make 100 mile weeks. It's not necessary to do more over the winter.

I would add a weekly rest day during the work week. On the weekends I would make one day demanding and the other easy. Many committed athletes give the body a complete day for rest and another day for low intensity.

You realize your are in the 50+ forum don't you? :)

I've discovered that this recovery time thing is real especially at our age. I feel great doing 30 miles each time I go out for a ride every once in a while but I don't think I can do it more that a couple of days back to back. It could be me but I just rode in to work twice last week (30 miles round trip) and even with one day rest in between, I couldn't push as hard as I usually do. So I took it easy and just rode at a comfortable pace. But your mileage may vary just like anything else...

Agreed. I was about to post the same idea.

Before an injury a couple of weeks ago I'd worked up to 100-120 miles a week, mostly exercising rather than utility and commuting. If I rode consecutive days I'd need a lower effort recovery ride to avoid burnout.

Often these were only a little slower: on a familiar 20-30 mile roller coaster route, I'd cut back to average 15 mph rather than 17 mph. If I rode farther, I might need a longer warm up before I could tackle a few sprints or climbs. Not a huge difference in overall speed, but a big difference in felt effort.

And if I still felt exhausted during a recovery ride, I'd take off for a full day or two. But, again, this was mostly recreational/exercise riding, not commuting.

In fact, my commutes tend to be very short distance, only one or two miles. As my fitness on the bike improved, I tended to walk those shorter distances rather than ride. I'm very slow to warm up and my short commutes have significant climbs. I never really get time to warm up. And by the time I fumbled with locking the bike, unpacking and repacking all the junk, it wasn't much slower to just walk.