How far could you ride?

bear baun

When you got your first bike or when you came back to cycling, how far could you ride?

graeme_s-2

I (re)started out riding to work. I was very overweight, but had been doing a bit of swimming so had a little CV fitness. Route to work was about 5.5 miles with a couple of small hills, and I was absolutely wrecked when I got there. Probably could have managed a little further, but I doubt I could have done more than 15 miles or so without being very tired and uncomfortable.

jeannot18

First ride 22km, I go to the gym regularly and do a bit of running. Hope to build that up (last ride was just over 60km) and hopefully do a couple of triathlon in 2010. So far cycling has been the best exercise I have been doing after year of boring gym stuff.
JC

CiB

First ride was 8 miles when I got back in the saddle after a 7 year skive. 8 miles did me. Now do 45-50 on a bottle of dilute squash, and 21 to work a few days a week without any preparation at all. To think that the first few times I did this 21 miles I was full of trepidation about doing that distance, used to pack extra food & 2 bottles etc, now it just happens & I sort out work probs en route to pass the journey.

ride_whenever

i went from pootling round town on a bike to commuting 17 miles each way 5-6 days a week.

Evil Laugh

Did 50 miles yesterday after about 4 weeks of commuting over the last couple of months. 14 mile for 2 weeks and 20 mile for 2 weeks of the 4 in total, both figures for the round trip.

I was ok for distance yesterday but couldn't take too much more in the way of hills.

I did 35 miles a few weeks ago with no hills and was fine so it must have been the climbs that did me yesterday. London cycling doesn't prepare you very well. I have one "hill" on my commute that after yesterday seems like nothing.

I feel I could cruise along around 10-15mph all day but If I'm keeping it above 20mph after 30 mins I'm starting to feel it. You regroup quickly if you back off though.

Managed to do the 10 mile trip home from my current job in 30 mins through london with traffic lights etc last week, keeping in the high 20's and I was shattered after that so it just depends how fast you're going really.

I think if you take it at a steady pace your speed and endurance will naturally pick up. When you're used to how much energy you expend on a route you know how much to pick the pace up for an improvement without killing yourself.

robrauy

Evil Laugh wrote:

Managed to do the 10 mile trip home from my current job in 30 mins through london with traffic lights etc last week, keeping in the high 20's and I was shattered after that so it just depends how fast you're going really.

Impressive !

Evil Laugh

Yeah I thought I was gonna win the tour de france after that or something but got severely humbled going both up and down hills yesterday.

Had a lot less in the legs going up and less in the heart going down than I thought.

35mph scared me, how some guys on here approach 50 I can't fathom at the moment.

macondo01

When I returned to cycling with a hybrid I began a flat daily commute of 10 miles. In the evening I felt ready for bed at 9pm and my legs ached everyday except Sunday.

Yesterday I cycled 50miles on a road bike with a mate who isnt cycling regularly. He was utterly done in. I sprinted the last mile without him at over 20mph and at the finish felt like I could have done another 50miles (but not at 20mph!). In the evening I saw Massive Attack and went to bed at midnight. Perfect day!

Pross

Just returning after a 12 year gap and did 23 fairly hilly miles on Saturday (got beaten by one of the hills :oops: ).

My first bike ride as a kid involved going out a couple of days after getting my bike for Christmas with a couple of friends in normal clothes and riding 20 miles to Llangors Lake. By time we got there it was getting dark and had started snowing and we ended up ringing my mates dad for a lift! Also before cycling 'properly' me and a mate cycled to his Grandparents about 60 miles away in jeans etc. with rucksacks and clothes for a couple of days on our backs. I'm not sure when I started to get common sense!

fnegroni

Returning to cycling after 10 years meant a 5 mile ride would trigger my asthma and I would be exhausted.

Two years on, I can comfortably do 80 miles a day for 4 days in a row and still feel fresh.

The wonders of cycling! :-)

Flasheart

Like fnegroni when I started cycling 12 months ago, 5 miles would set off my astma too.
Not actively cycled since my teens (pushing 44 now) and have only just gotten back into it in the last 12 months.
I cycled the Isle of Wight last weekend (74 miles and lots of hills) and didn't touch my inhaler once.
Average weekend ride is 40 - 45 miles though, 6 months ago 20 would have been my limit on my hybrid.

pdstsp

Took up cycling 7 years ago and the ride home from the bike shop on my shiny new bike nearly killed me - 15 miles, all on the flat. Two years later rode 145 miles, Liverpool to Hull, with one half hour stop, and still managed to drink a few beers and eat a curry that night. Mind you, as I said to the wife as we went to bed, "I think a sh#g might be out of the question".

kfinlay

I've just got back riding after about 12 years since I used to commute 10 mile round trip. Did a 7 mile trip first and I was knackered but not had 5 more rides and did a 16 miler last weekend with no probs in under an hour. I have been working out and cross training for the last year so feel I was relatively fit but certainly not bike fit.
Kinda strange but I also used to hate the wind when cycliing but now I just see it as an extra challenge to my rides now, I'm lovin being back on a bike that much

Matt the Tester

i rode 50 miles first time i ridden on my first road bike, two weeks ago getting my own bike next week