how many hours?

john74
john74 Posts: 254
edited January 2010 in MTB beginners
i know people have done these sort of threads before. but im wondering how many hours a week do you spend actually riding. this particulaly applies to the members who regard themselves as pretty fit.
the reason i ask is that i want to get to a fitness level so i can enter charity events and the likes of. but im pretty stuck for time recently especially during winter months.
2010 Forme Reve
2010 Giant Talon 1

Comments

  • Perhaps a better question would be to tell us how much time you have and we can suggest what would be beneficial. If you've got less than say 8 hours a week, you're best off going out and riding as hard as you can every session. I've you've got more than that you'll find that you get symptoms of over-training pretty soon and a more structured training plan is necessary.

    Commuting is a great way to up the number of miles you do.

    Mileage make champions - Steve Fairbairn
  • robertpb
    robertpb Posts: 1,866
    It's quality not quantity you need in training plus diversity.

    As you build up the fitness you add the quantity.

    If you look at the training regime of the top XC riders you will find that they do not go out every day blasting around trails for hours on end.
    Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"
  • Because of over-training. If you are only doing a few sessions a week then you can just go flat out all the time, and you will get faster. I have some practical experience of this in another, similar sport.

    It's a case of working with the time you have rather than the ideal of a vast number of hours. If i was seriously training for cycling i'd be doing a ride in the morning at various intensities, between 3 hours and 2*30 mins 4 days a week, Cross training, wieghts, circuits and core 4 evenings, then 4 long rides over very varied terrain at the weekend.
  • If you want to enter a charity ride or a race of some kind, the best thing to do is enter it, this will then give you the motivation to train for it. How much training is up to you, like the others have said, you need time to rest, so not a marathon every day. Do what you can.

    I've done this a couple of times now, and I'll warn you, even if you did marathons every day up until the race, you're going to be awe struck by the speed of some people, yet you'll be gobsmacked as to how little some people have done in terms of training. You'll find that you'll have an amazing time, with some great people, each encouraging the other on.

    Enter one, and have fun!
    It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded.
    Join us on UK-MTB we won't bite, but bring cake!
    Blender Cube AMS Pro
  • diy
    diy Posts: 6,473
    In the summer I do about 8 hours a week normally in 3 rides. I do a couple of 10-15 milers and then a 25 miler. In the winter its down to 4-6.

    For a training ride I will be doing about 1Kcal per hour mostly speny climbing. My longer ride is about 500 cal per hour. I would suggest getting either a HR monitor or if budget will stretch a HR/GPS and perhaps even cadence. The garmin Edge 305 is pretty good at helping you train.

    I started riding seriously about this time last year and dropped from 13 stone 3 to 11 stone 12. I did the brighton to london to brighton (120m aprx) and the southdowns randonee 30miles - the latter was tougher because of the climb (+ wind and rain).

    I'm going for the 66miler this year

    What kind of charity rides do you want to do.

    I don't see myself as fit, but have certainly benefited from this
  • Barteos
    Barteos Posts: 657
    8-13h depending on the time of the year and commitments.
    8h is plenty to get seriously fit but extra time spend on longer (winter) rides will give you an edge especially in longer run.
  • tlw1
    tlw1 Posts: 21,831
    average week 5 hours
    good week 15 hours
  • richg1979
    richg1979 Posts: 1,087
    winter 6-8 hours and summer 10-14 hours.
  • rhyko7
    rhyko7 Posts: 781
    3-8 hours, i aim to get 6 hours a week in (including gym cardio) but is not always possible, then have an easy week every 4 weeks, i am trying to build endurance efficiency at the mo, so most my workload is at lower intensities
    Dont look at it-ride it! they are tools not f*cking ornaments

    my riding:
    http://www.youtube.com/user/rhyspect

    Some of my Rides Data/maps:
    http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/Users/527337
  • As diy said, bike comps are a great tool to help you train especially programmes such as the 'ghost' one on the Garmin edge, so you can see yourself getting faster.
    Giant XTC SE 2006
    Cube LTD Race 2009
    Trek Fuel EX 9