im i getting it all wrong

radiation man

ive been cycling since oct 2007 and each year done more miles, last year i did 3200 oct to sept this year ive done 2800 so i wont beat last yrs target in the next 4 weeks. i also do about 4 sportives a year and my fastest times are as follows
60mls- 4.25
54mls- 3.59
45mls- 3.27
35mls- 2.12
each year i try to beat my times but it now seems to be taking the fun out of them, should i just take my time in future,
how many miles a week do i need to do to keep my fitness up, im now 50 and i use to cycle to work about twice a week 6 miles each way and usually a 50 miles ride at weekend, now ive been cycling to work 5 days a week and find it very tiring could i be doing to much i weigh 74 kilos

balthazar

I'm not quite clear what you're asking, however I think maybe nor are you: but you're obviously a bit dissatisfied with your cycling.

For me, my interest in the statistics of my bike rides has dwindled to zero: I've never been much keen on competition and my racing times were brief and long gone, lost to my adolescence, when I believed that cycling must be a "sport" and not simply an activity (or transport). It has taken me years to unlearn that lie.

I now ride for sheer joy, and to actually see and explore the places it takes me: it is efficient transport, after all. I'll stop and explore where I used to continue pounding the road, afraid of losing impetus; I have a perverse keenness for off-road deviations which infuriate my friends with their pristine bikes; but I still love to feel in shape, light and quick, as I ever did. I enjoy my bike rides more than ever, since I lost the numbers and the aspirations, yet I don't go any slower.

I don't know if this report helps you - you may have very different feelings on this stuff than me - but if you're riding your bike, you're always getting fitter. Just find a way to ride it that you enjoy (I don't mean sidesaddle).

afcbian

I'd concentrate on quality not quantity.
It's better to look at cycling as an enjoyable pursuit that happens to improve your fitness rather than a fitness regime that happens to be enjoyable.

It also probably depends heavily on what type of riding you do. Are your routes hilly for example ? A sure way to improve your times is to work hard cycling up hills.

amaferanga

Sounds to me like you're just riding your bike, probably at around the same speed/intensity most of the time and somehow expecting to just get faster and faster year on year. It doesn't work like that unfortunately. If you want to get faster you will need to train your body to ride faster. Doing intervals of varying lengths and intensity is probably the most effective way of doing that, but it's not for everyone as your rides become focused training rides as opposed to just bike rides. Depends what you want I guess, but it sounds like you want to improve as a cyclist and if so you'll need to train smart.

cougie

Sportif times are almost pointless unless it's the sane route and the same weather anyway.