concentrate on speed or distance?

thefonz78
thefonz78 Posts: 148
edited July 2010 in Road beginners
I have had my bike for 3 weeks now. I went on a 25 mile ride Monday averge speed 11mph which is pretty slow. Should i try smaller 10 mile rides and build my speed up, or keep pushing for distance?

Comments

  • rich164h
    rich164h Posts: 433
    Depends on what you're trying to achieve doesn't it? do you aspire to do 100 mile Sportives or long distance touring? or perhaps take part in a few TTs? or is this just for general fitness?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,666
    thefonz78 wrote:
    I have had my bike for 3 weeks now. I went on a 25 mile ride Monday averge speed 11mph which is pretty slow. Should i try smaller 10 mile rides and build my speed up, or keep pushing for distance?

    You appear to be at the level where you'll get huge gains just from riding your bike.

    Therefore, just ride your bike for whatever distance/speed you like and really enjoy it!
  • Rich Hcp
    Rich Hcp Posts: 1,355
    Just ride, sopeed and distance will come to you.

    As long as you improve your speed and distance to what you want then that's it.
    Richard

    Giving it Large
  • thefonz78
    thefonz78 Posts: 148
    I want to lose weight get fit mainly. However maybe join a club and do the odd sportive.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    If you want to get fit and lose weight then I would concentrate on distance.

    Everything else will follow :P
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • fastercyclist
    fastercyclist Posts: 396
    thefonz78 wrote:
    I want to lose weight get fit mainly. However maybe join a club and do the odd sportive.

    At 11mph?

    OP: Just ride. For distances I'd simply go with distances you can recover from in time for your next ride. Better for someone in your condition to do 4 x 10 mile rides then 2 x 20 mile rides.
    The British Empire never died, it just moved to the Velodrome
  • Gav888
    Gav888 Posts: 946
    At your experience level I would just ride more and enjoy covering the miles, just by riding more it will help build your speed fairly quickly.

    After a good few months of regular riding and a careful diet you should have lost some weight and built up some good endurance. Try increasing your distance by 10% ever week.

    Alot of sportives are generally 50mile plus. If you want to ride one of these just covering 50 miles is good enough, you have all day so speed isnt a priority.

    If your looking to join a club, have a chat with your local clubs and see if they do slower group rides, some ride at 15mph average for 40 miles for example, other are faster and you need to be averaging 18mph over 60 miles, but your clubs will give you more details.

    Most important thing, just enjoying riding and speed / distance will come, dont get hung up on specific training just yet :)
    Cycling never gets any easier, you just go faster - Greg LeMond
  • rbleightonbuzzard
    rbleightonbuzzard Posts: 116
    Set yourself small challenges, I.e Conqer a hill you normally steer clear of or make a return trip somewhere you'd normally drive to, a lap time, time on the bike, distance covered.

    Keep it varied and enjoyable.
    http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/2829 ... achine.jpg
  • thefonz78
    thefonz78 Posts: 148
    No not at 11mph :lol:

    In the future I might join a club and enter a sportives.

    Do you have to be at a good level to join a club? Or do they have all levels of ability? I know they all say they do, but if i turned up in my condition would i feel a plonker!
  • Rich Hcp
    Rich Hcp Posts: 1,355
    Train a bit more first.

    Most clubs accomodate all abilities, best checjk the websites and maybe make a few calls
    Richard

    Giving it Large
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313
    I'd be surprised if any club objected to you turning up at a Sunday ride to check out the pace before you join. When I joined mine nobody even mentioned subs to me for about 3 months!
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    It's not an either / or - aim to do more miles at a faster pace. You'll see rapid improvements from your current low base.

    My initial response to your post was just going to be 'Yes'.
  • tigerben
    tigerben Posts: 233
    I would not get too hung up on distance vs speed as long as at the end of each ride you feel as if you have had a good work out then you will be moving in the right direction.

    Currently I do not have the time to do longer rides so I am trying to take each ride as a mini TT and go flat out for the entire ride. So whilst I may only ride for 1 hr or so I certainly feel a healthy burn from the exercise.
  • bigpikle
    bigpikle Posts: 1,690
    as said already - just ride whenever and wherever you can. If its only a few miles sometimes and longer rides at other times then its fine, as at the outset every mile will benefit you.

    I've ridden 2000 miles of general riding since the start of the year and today rode with a friend I hadnt rode with for about 4 months. Last time he ripped my legs off but today I was able to leave him behind without breaking a sweat :D
    Your Past is Not Your Potential...

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