As I build up my endurance I notice that a few hours after I get back from a ride I feel the urge to ride again. I am a thorough stretcher before any physical activity to prevent injury.

Yesterday I went on two separate five mile rides; one when I first got up in the morning and one towards the end of the night. Any issue with that?

Five mile rides?
Nope, no problem.

Many people do two rides per day... going to work and coming back. Mine are generally between 60km to 120km roundtrip. I don't think 10 miles is going to do you any harm...

I once rode 80 laps around the block . Ended the day with 50 miles, 10 five mile rides.

Hm. It takes me about 5 miles to start getting warmed up.

This is your Mantra, isn't it? ;D

Just the method I used to start riding.

mantra
1808, "that part of the Vedas which contains hymns," from Skt. mantra-s "sacred message or text, charm, spell, counsel," lit. "instrument of thought," related to manyate "thinks." Sense of "special word used for meditation" is first recorded in Eng. 1956

How fit are you? For me 10 miles isn't worth my pre-ride ritual, let alone five. Just do the ten miles in one ride.

Worked quite well for me starting out also. It was great advice.

No issues, but 5 miles sounds like it's barely a warmup.

Maybe increase your mileage??

Just don't get off the bike. Connect your morning and evening rides by continuing to ride.

Try riding your bike to work. 22mi in the morning, 22mi in the afternoon, unless I want more.

Also, the latest word is that stretching before exercise doesn't do much for you. Simple range of motion movements and a slow warmup will do you best. Do your stretching AFTER your rides to keep your muscles supple and aid recovery.

I don't think you guys should be encouraging this type of reckless behaviour.


Five miles twice a day and before you know it, he will be doing ten miles twice a day! Then overtraining is just around the corner!

Intolerance and berating the new guy trying to get in shape for the lose. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Keep it up, rvk5150! Bump 'em to two seven milers, one 15 miler, then a 20 miler. You can pull this off in less than a month. Have fun and good luck.

I got out of shape my last year as an undergrad, and 5 miles was about all I could handle. It's certainly a good start, and it's possible that 5 miles could be too much, but I think a single 10 mile ride might be better for you.

It takes me about 10 miles to warm up, that's why I don't particularly like riding with other people that have ego deficits requiring them to ride as hard as they can right off the bat. I always joke it takes me 100 miles to warm up, which is true from an eating point of view.

i would say... it depends.

for training purposes, two a days were awful for me, especially on "hard" days. mentally, it is very difficult for me to go all out in the first session knowing that i have another session later in the day. then, the second session craps out because i justify my fatigue on the earlier session. i would frequently end up just scrapping the second session. plus, i had difficulty recovering for the next day because the warmup/cooldown needed to be done twice instead of once. so basically - decreased recovery time, decreased high end training = worst of both worlds.

obviously, when i commute, i ride twice a day, but those are relatively low intensity rides and are done just to add mileage/get me somewhere. i think for recovery, base building, or just beginning to improve fitness, two a days would not be so bad, particularly if the option is to ride once for x miles or ride twice for 2x miles. if possible, it would probably be better to do 2x once instead of x in the morning and x in the afternoon.

transitive property yields:

10 miles one ride > 10 miles two rides > 5 miles one ride

Get off your soap box and chill. The OP asked for our opinions. There were practical responses and fun poke in the ribs. Where's the berating?

Not to nitpick but you may want to rethink and relearn your idea of injury prevention. Stretching cold (prior to activity) is riskier and can inhibit performance as well. Consider doing your 5miles THEN stretch a bit while warm. Then maybe jump back on the bike and ride a few more miles...

The more complex question of two a days is a bit out of context for your personal experience/practice. You will be fine but when you start putting down tough training in the multi hour, 50mile plus range then asking about doing two of these a day is a more critical question (ie and issue of over training).

Oh please give it a rest. There is enough snark in the 41 without you imagining more of it. Projecting?

OP, no one is berating you or intolerant here. They are simply encouraging you to ride more as you can and link those multiples into a longer single rides...

I ride twice at least every day. No problems. Just listen to your body, if you're tired, go slow.

listen to your body. if you want to do 2 hard 5 mile rides, then do so, if you want a hard 10 mile ride, do so. Just make sure you build up about 3% to your distance per week to help build endurance

Just trying to make him feel welcome and integrate easier.

That generally works better when you don't convey the false impression that others are being nasty when they are not.

Keep riding. You're doing great. And mix it up: short rides, long rides, hard rides, easy rides.

Good thing you have long summer days in Canada