SerialLadyKillr

How long do you guys typically ride base miles? Miles wise I guess would be the best explanation. Thanks. Oh also, maybe describe a typical base mile ride. Thanks.

gcasillo

Depends on your fitness level and when you start. Say you start riding 20-mile rides one week. Increase your mileage by 10% each week. So, for week two, you're riding 22 miles a day. By week 8, you're basically riding 40 miles a day (time willing). Some start with higher mileage, others lower. Find the a mileage and route that you can manage for as long as possible. Stay aerobic. Keep your HR in a zone that is in the neighborhood of 60-70% of your max HR.

gcasillo

Yeah, seek a flat route unless you're uber-fit. Even modest slopes will set off your HRM alarm or blow you up unless your fitness level is tip-top. Resist the urge to hammer or pick up the pace (e.g. use a tailwind ) except to save your a$$ in traffic. Freewheel if necessary.

pinky

Well when I'm on the road (and I'm stuck indoors right now) its usually somewhere between 3 and 4 hours which works out to somewhere between 50 and 80 miles depending on where I ride. Those are the long days, I was doing about 3 a week with the off days being somewhere between an hour or two. Indoors I'm doing 1 or 2 hour sessions, depending on my sanity.
Effort wise its all pretty relaxed, while I keep my HR in mind (staying aerobic) I find I keep a pace and HR that just feels comfortable and that ranges alot, the only common point is that I never ever stand. I also try to include some kinda drill every time I ride, strength, speed, efficiency, anything.

Chucklehead

i have a 30 mile loop that starts friom my front door. i ride down the coast about 5 miles, head inland to the hills, then somehow end-up coming down the coast back to my house. there's alot of climbing, but i figure that's more fun than droning down the coast, turning around and droning back up the coast. i don't know how so many people can do that. anyway, yeah -- 30 miles a day at a little less than 2 hours a shot. if i'm feeling really frisky, i'll put the bike in the car and drive to the mountains.
for myself, i've found that it's more beneficial to put 50 miles of effort into those thirty miles than it is to just ride miles for the sake of being able to say you ride the miles.
having said that, i probably would have been better-off putting in the seat time than maxing out the way i did. it was HOT here today.

LordOpie

What are "base miles"? Is it just riding in aerobic range without special focus (like hammering up hills or speed work)?

my58vw

Miles that prepare you for the specilized training to come. I do my training at 60 - 80 percent, I guess you could call it endurance but not to that extreme. For me my HR stays between 136 and 158 which is the 60 - 80 range. Like they said you do not need to hammer all the time when doing base. I only average 18 mph max while doing base to avoid the urges to race along at 23 +.

When I get over about 80 percent I really start working the muscular endurance range which is close to my lactic acid threshold.

R600DuraAce

Don't worry about working too hard. Just go out and ride. If you ride at a very easy pace, you do nothing for your body. Do some hard effort but with shorter duration. Try to ride everyday. I intend to keep on riding at a moderate pace until the weather is warm enough. I can get 150 miles a week with commuting. I have over 1500 miles already since the end of Oct. If you intend to ride lots of miles, don't do weight training on your lower body. Your legs will end up too tire to ride for couple of days.

hair07

so maybe i'm just realizing it now, but it seems like a lot of folks are very focused on doing 'base miles', which basically sounds like kind of long, easy rides w/o putting too much effort into it. as in: keep the HR below 75% of max type of thing. so it would be bad to put in a little effort to get up a hill more quickly or have a little sprint out to the countyline sign. etc. i picture a bunch of really fit people riding around slowly. does it get boring?

so is this a relatively new phenomena? at least for the general public?

i agree that getting the legs and lungs into a general shape is a good thing at this time of the year so you can put in more intense efforts as summer approaches, and that it would be bad to overdo it so early in the year, but the idea of restricting oneself to 65-75% of HRmax is just very strange. how does it really hurt you if every once in a while you try to get uphill quickly or play around w/ a sprint or wind it up to 30 on the flat etc?

thanks. dan

R600DuraAce

A period in which you are building endurance and aerobic efficiency without the pressure of reaching certain performance goal such as doing interval at LT for so and so minutes. Any one who is either train to race or to do any special event should enjoy the base miles period. This is the time you can really enjoy riding your bike without worrying about HR, wattage, and winning races. The key with base miles is to log on lots of miles without pushing yourself too hard. I would say 2000 miles or more is ideal range to prepare for more intensive interval work and races later in the season.

RiPHRaPH

base miles for me is always being 70% of max for as many miles as possible, during a 6-8 week stretch. that usually means all of january and most all of february before getting up and after it.

you've got to learn how to go slow before you can learn to go fast.

light gears, to the point where you think there's no point.

mentally and physically you'll thank yourself come the high point of the season.

surfncycling

My typical base ride is at least 80 miles, up to 105, spinning at around 18-20mph if there's no wind, slowing waaay down on hills, usually to about 8-10mph. I think the longest I've been in the saddle was a ride out to some inland hilly country, I was in actually riding for 6:15, sore butt the next day. After a certain point on the bike you kind of forget your biking and just start to think about whatever, enjoy the scenary, etc.

recneps345

What in the world job do have that you can ride 4-6 hours. Im definitely jealous.

surfncycling

I work in a restaurant at night, classes right before work. Time in between if I balance/plan ahead.

oldspark

Not new at all been around for a long time (LSD-long steady ride), I have books that are 20 years old and it is covered in there and I'm sure it was not new then.

my58vw

18 - 20 MPH is actually a little fast it seems, of course it depends if the roads are truely flat. I can do 24 - 25 MPH for quite some time (20 - 30 miles) on flat roads. I care about my HR more than the speed. I try to keep over 15 - 16 MPH though.

I am not a climber and I am working on that. I have to take it slow on the hills (i.e. 8 - 10 MPH like the previous poster) to not blow up. It is a personal thing.

BTW I do not see I bunch of lazy cyclists moving slowely along, I see cyclists that have taken the incentive to not sit onthe couch and do something good for themselves. Better than the person who sits of the couch all day eating icecream and wondering why they are fat...