superslomo

I got on the bike again after a few years off, and some weight loss earlier this year, trying to keep off what I can. I'm trying to build distance and get used to the much greater elevation change where we live now, and I'm trying to figure out how fast I can increase distances while we still have some decent weather. Big picture: there is a particular stretch I'd like to ride that I had set out for myself as a sort of big goal... around 60 miles round trip, on the order of 4,500 feet of climbing.

I've been increasing distance and time over the past month and change, and while I don't have loads of time to work with on a day to day basis, I've been carving out the time evenings and weekends to try and build something like a procrastinator's base and approach the ride I wanted to do before winter buries us. I'm up to around 40 miles without too much misery, though that's the long end of what I've done... that, with around 2600 feet of climbing was what I did on Friday afternoon on a day off.

So, given the old runner's rule of 10% increase per week, how do I structure the rest of my fall, and how much can I push the distances without being so aggressive that I burn out or hurt something?

chasm54

I've been there, ten years ago I came back to cycling after a lot of years off. I was overweight (more overweight than I am now) and embarrassingly unfit.

In my experience the 10% per week increase isn't a reliable guide, as far as distance is concerned. Further is much, much easier than faster, if you're worried about overreaching it's the intensity rather than the distance that will test you.

If you can ride 40 miles you aren't far from being able to ride 60. The bigger challenge will be the increased amount of climbing, which apart from being challenging in itself will mean that the 60 mile ride will take more than 50% longer than the 40 miler you have just done. So I'd focus on making sure you do a decent amount of climbing, rather than worry too much about the distance. I'd also think more about time on the bike, rather than just how far you're riding. Apply the 10% rule to the amount of time you ride each week between now and mid-October and I'd be surprised if you weren't able to tackle your desired route.

superslomo

I feel pretty certain that I COULD do it now, just a question of whether my knee would rebel and put me in some hurt for a few days afterwards.

I was off the bike, gained another 25 pounds (3 years of having a young kid, a far longer commute, and a house that constantly requires attention/care/feeding), and then took off 45 earlier this year NOT riding, just change in what and how much I was eating. When I ramped the calories back up again, I needed something to get me fitter, and got myself out on the road again after this hiatus. I'm down this year from 245 to 195, and the bike will hopefully keep that from coming back now that I'm eating more meaningfully again.

Living in NYC as we did, there just wasn't much verticality to any riding I did, now that we're in the northern exurbs in the Hudson Valley, I not only get steeper stuff, and longer stuff, but it's climbing that covers usually around 1-3 miles at a stretch, and it's an adjustment, even on a road triple I find I'm well winded by the end. What I'm finding on those longer/steeper sections is that I feel at the end that I've not run out of aerobic capacity, or endurance, but that my power is just completely evaporated. 1.5 miles steeply uphill, and at the end I just have no capacity to accelerate back to speed, and I'm just kind of crawling for a while afterwards.

I've been trying to give myself enough rest to let myself recover, but I think what might be required is more frequent middle-distance stuff... 16-20 hard miles a day with little rest instead of 30-40 with a few days off afterwards... I feel kind of gassed, and my muscles seem like they are just staying sore, but my time over repeated iterations on distance and hill climbing is getting better each time, within the realm of equivalent effort.

Honestly, having cut out booze and nasty foods (other than cheating with ice cream, I'm mostly primal/paleo/whatever-non-dogmatic-version-you-might-prefer-to-refer-to-it-as-that-makes-it-not-sound-like-an-obsessive-cult), I feel about as healthy and fit as I have in my life, as I push toward 40 years old this coming summer... perhaps it's just a matter of an increased capacity for suffering?

chasm54

Push towards 40? You're a mere child, I was 49 when I got back on the bike.

I certainly wouldn't be taking "a few days off" between rides. But if your muscles are staying sore, the inference is that they aren't getting enough time to recover. Your progress might be faster if you backed off the intensity a bit and spent more hours on the bike but less of it going hard. I know that's inconvenient, but it takes time to rebuild the aerobic capacity.

1.5 miles steeply uphill is a long way, it's unsurprising that you are wrung out at the top. I'd really recommend just taking that slowly. Depends what you mean by steep, of course, but even at 5% a 1.5 mile hill is going to contain 400 ' of climbing, which is almost one tenth of what you're planning in the whole of your 60 mile ride: so look on the bright side, and don't hurry up that hill.

superslomo

I'd say the stretch on the loop I did on Friday is 450ish feet up per the gps/strava info, and is 1.4 miles, with a flatter quarter mile toward the end. Steep enough for me, but feels good to get up the hills and push the limits slightly.

Again, I'd say I think I can manage the longer distances, and I don't mind grinding and crawling home slowly at the end if that's what it takes. I'm at a pretty comfortable position on the bike, though my neck and shoulders stiffen up if I stay in the drops or even on the hoods after a few hours and can become uncomfortable enough that I alternate with sitting up, hands on the tops to loosen up those muscles.

I'm not averse to having some soreness, but I'm trying to avoid actually hurting something or bringing on tendinitis from overuse/exertion for the knees or otherwise. I've also got a neuroma in one foot, which is painful on the bike on occasion, but nothing that I can't sort of muddle through. I think I'm going to try and get more consistent riding on weekdays, though it's tough. I put my daughter to bed just about 9pm, and have to be home in time to get some sleep and get up at 5:30 to get to work. Not as much time as I'd like, and it's why when I get out it's been at more elevated (for me, at least) intensity, or on weekends for longer (again, for me) distances.

berner

Yo slomo. I consider you a near neighbor as I grew up about half way between Newburgh and New Paltz. I live in Rhode Island now but still have family in the area and get back home once a year or so. It is amazing how muscles adapt to a particular type of exercise and then are loath to deliver power in any other type of exercise. Some years ago I played quite a bit of tennis and got very fast on the court and could play for hours. Some time later I began hiking on a regular basis. Although I was in good physical condition, the slightest uphill caused excruciating knee pain. Tennis ended up being hard on the body but I continued hiking and backpacking up to 15 to 20 miles per day on week-ends.

I bring this up to point out how specific adaptation can be. I began cycling about 4 years and 15,000 miles ago. It was very difficult for me in the beginning because the muscles were not used to the type of work load and because I'd become asthmatic in the interim. A good allergist MD and continued cycling has me riding 50 or 60 miles and perhaps several thousand feet of hill climbing. I'm now 75 y.o. and can tell you your body will continue to adapt to a work load if you don't overdo it. I continue to get slightly faster and stronger each year. It has not always been easy or a steady improvement but you will see changes over time. It can take a while for some of us. Get plenty of rest, eat right, and spin those pedals and bliss is sure to follow.

superslomo

I signed up for the strava merckx challenge (700km in 20 days) and had been doing the average amount, relatively hard, for all four thus far. Pushing to a point, 22 miles per evening, this kind of consistency isn't what I'm used to at the moment. How much, how often, and how thoroughly should I rest in between? Three days in a row felt reasonable, but last night I just felt like I was pedaling in mud (didn't help that at 10pm in the middle of nowhere I flatted on a steep hill, making the ride that much longer before getting home... I fixed it, but was shelled by the time I got in.)

I didn't know whether to make this a new thread, but I'm trying to keep up with my 35km per day requirement, as falling behind a bit is going to make it harder to catch up pretty quickly, but I'm hoping for 60 miles this weekend at least on one occasion. I had been doing two days a week (ish) maybe 3, with days of downtime in between, this was an effort to get some consistency into the process, but while I felt great, really really strong on Monday, yesterday I was cooked before I even left the house. I feel like I've got the ability to move, nothing hurts beyond just soreness, but yesterday the soreness gave way a bit, but I just felt like I had no power in reserve... just surviving, pushing a lower gear with less vigor, no gas in the tank to get out of the saddle and change the pace.

Is 3 on, one off wise, 4 on, one off? How beat do you get before you take a day to recover, everyone?