How to ride longer distances

peterthedrummer

Is there any fitness I could be doing to ride long distances at the minute I can ride on flat about 20 miles comfortably and even less if there is hills I want to be able to ride alot further

teulk

Just keep riding, when your first started riding how far did you manage ? I would take total guess and say it wasn't 20miles - keep doing what your doing.

Dave_P1

You need to build the mileage up over time. If you can ride 20 miles at the moment then try adding another 5 miles on at the end of the ride and slowly increase.

matisko

I find riding in a place you are new to, or really love, helps loads as you forget about the effort and just keep going.
I've done 56 miles in the Highlands by accident a couple of years ago just because i couldn't resist the downhill that took me the wrong side of cairns and lochs. When i finally emerged onto roads , I had no choice but to ride the 16 miles back on tarmac.

Get someone to drop you and your bike off 30 miles from home, and I bet you can ride 30 miles!!

Main thing is, enjoy it.

jonifen

I second everything already said. I started riding again a month ago (after buying my bike from on here) and my first ride was 0.7mi and my legs ached. I've built it up bit by bit over the weeks and yesterday (Sunday) I rode 12.6mi on a new route I planned out and it was a little tough at times (mainly because I live in the damn hills north of Manchester!) but overall I felt great afterwards.

Next I think I'll have to ask the missus to drop me off somewhere with the bike as I'm running out of long distance "loops" to start/finish at home without having to tackle a monster hill :-/

And as matisko said, enjoy it :-)

njee20

Or, MTFU and tackle the 'monster hills' otherwise you don't get better at climbing!

mcnultycop

jonifen wrote:

I second everything already said. I started riding again a month ago (after buying my bike from on here) and my first ride was 0.7mi and my legs ached. I've built it up bit by bit over the weeks and yesterday (Sunday) I rode 12.6mi on a new route I planned out and it was a little tough at times (mainly because I live in the damn hills north of Manchester!) but overall I felt great afterwards.

Next I think I'll have to ask the missus to drop me off somewhere with the bike as I'm running out of long distance "loops" to start/finish at home without having to tackle a monster hill :-/

And as matisko said, enjoy it :-)

I find avoiding local loops and getting dropped off miles away is a good idea (and I too live in the hills North of Manchester). If I go out for a quick thrash I'll end up doing the same 11 mile loop near me, if I get dropped off somewhere in Yorkshire I've got to get home.

composite

Like they said just keep adding to it and you will get the miles in your legs. I have been building up the distances over the last few months as I would like to do some off road bike packing this summer. I got to 40 miles and found that a barrier to brake through. I did a few rides round that distance until it felt comfortable then moved on to 50 mile rides which felt fine. Moved on from 50 much quicker but now I'm up to round the 65 miles distance and its tough again. Once I'm comfortable at that distance I'll move on to 75-80 miles, etc etc etc.

Once I hit that sort of distance I'll start doing some 60-70 mile rides 2 days in row. Once that is done I think I will be good to get into the hills and brake out the bivy.

smiley_boy2501

Find a purpose. I often ride home from (Manc to Leeds) to see my girlfriend or family or visit mates in Liverpool etc. Finding a well recommended stop (pub, cafe etc.) and cycling to and fro can be nice as well.

2wheelsonit

I would think nutrition and hydration would have a big influence once you start doing this mileage check out 'my protein' website for some good value stuff i've been using it for years - you can shop by say 'goal' if you aren't sure what you need and the froum is very imformative

JackGibson

One word. MOUNTAINS!

I used to live in Wales and found that cycling up mountains is the best way - because the resistance is so much more, cycling on a level surface feels much easier...

I would also say cycle a defined route every day (or other day) and time it. Stick to the same route and just keep trying to improve the speed over the months

thnx!!!

J.