How am I doing?

♠ChumBucket♠

Hi

I've been cycling a little over 3 months now & enjoying it massively! I bought a little wireless computer thingy two weeks ago & so now have some stats!

Today I've done my longest continuous solo ride (without stopping) of 31.3 miles.

I'm riding a £400 hard tail mountain bike with front forks locked out & semi slick road tyres (Ridgeback MX6 2011)

Here are today's figures (I'm a newbie don't forget & 40 in two weeks time)

31.3 miles (all road)
Average speed 16mph
Max speed 31mph
Total time 1 hour 57 minutes

Does this seem OK? I do feel much fitter now than when I started 3 months back.

Regards
Tony

lc1981

Depends on whether you were going uphill, downhill or a bit of both! But generally that sounds reasonably rapid, especially given that you're not on a road bike.

♠ChumBucket♠

Hi

Thanks

Yeah, kind of flat-ish, lots of "gradual" ups along with "gradual" downs & general steep, short ups & downs.

simon_masterson

That's really not bad at all; in fact it's very good. Keep up the good work.

I should warn you however that the illness is terminal; soon you will be sporting lycra, sitting astride a fancy racing bike and obsessing over each 1 MPH faster you can go.

♠ChumBucket♠

Simon Masterson wrote:

That's really not bad at all; in fact it's very good. Keep up the good work.

I should warn you however that the illness is terminal; soon you will be sporting lycra, sitting astride a fancy racing bike and obsessing over each 1 MPH faster you can go.

I can feel it already I never thought I'd even get a computer (or whatever they are called?).

Will have a little break now & do my usual 17.5 mile route monday or tuesday evening.

I'm also surprised how far I can cycle without food or hydration. That 31 miles this morning I took a banana, kitkat & a full bottle of water but didn't use any until I got back home. :?

CrouchingPig

Sounds fairly quick to me.

Mikey23

Sounds excellent to me. The food and hydration thing should become part of your routine. You can probably wing it but it will find you out one day

simon_masterson

♠ChumBucket♠ wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

That's really not bad at all; in fact it's very good. Keep up the good work.

I should warn you however that the illness is terminal; soon you will be sporting lycra, sitting astride a fancy racing bike and obsessing over each 1 MPH faster you can go.

I can feel it already I never thought I'd even get a computer (or whatever they are called?).

Will have a little break now & do my usual 17.5 mile route monday or tuesday evening.

I'm also surprised how far I can cycle without food or hydration. That 31 miles this morning I took a banana, kitkat & a full bottle of water but didn't use any until I got back home. :?

Great!

I agree with Mikey23 on this. Much as you might be able to get away with it, it won't help your progress if nothing else. I'm not a sports scientist so I can't quote the figures, but I know that dehydration saps performance (and obviously can have much worse effects as well!). It's just a matter of routine, and part of it is to drink before you're 'thirsty' and eat before you're 'hungry', but it'll become natural.

As for energy/food, that more depends in my experience on how far you're going and how intensely, really. I myself seldom eat very much during as I just don't need to. It's not that often that I'll find myself riding more than 40 miles at the moment, so some flapjack or a snickers bar here and there, combined with energy drink (usually dextrose in water), is fine for my needs. It's far more important to me to be properly fuelled beforehand; porridge or oats in milk in the morning, and preferably a dose of dextrose in water about 15-30 mins prior... Etc.

♠ChumBucket♠

Thanks for the info guys, I'm taking it all on board.

I've been doing a regular 17.5 mile circuit for a while. I did 25 miles last weekend then 31 miles yesterday (with two 17.5 ones mid week). So each time I go a little further it's totally new territory for me. I had a boiled egg + 2 toast + coffee before I set off yesterday morning though My plan was to stop at the half way point, eat the banana & have a drink but to be honest when I got there I felt great & didn't want to stop. I was thirsty when I got back home but not hungry. I think I will have a drink next time regardless.

Another point- at what kind of distance do you have a break (stop riding)? I suppose that might depend on the type of ride you're doing though. I've not felt the need to stop so far (31 miles max ride) & my gut feeling has been that at these short distances, a break might do more harm than good :?

Thanks again

unixnerd

Another point- at what kind of distance do you have a break (stop riding)? I suppose that might depend on the type of ride you're doing though. I've not felt the need to stop so far (31 miles max ride) & my gut feeling has been that at these short distances, a break might do more harm than good

Unless I'm taking it easy I have a few handfuls of peanuts or a bananna every 20 miles on long runs and I'll stop for a few mins. Keeps the Bonk at bay. I read an article explaining that longer stops, for say 15 mins or more, allow your body chemistry to go into recovery mode and it's then harder to start again.

As for water a sip every few miles is a good thing. There's an excellent Panorama programme on BBC iPlayer about this sort of thing.

Mikey23

Did a tough ish 66 mile sportive today in very hot conditions. There was a feeding station at 20 and 40 supplying flapjacks, bananas, drinks etc. stopped for about 5 mins each time and made sure I topped up. Even so, I felt dehydrated at the finish and still have lost a couple of pounds in weight due to fluid loss at the end of the day. I'm thinking about every 20 miles is about right

♠ChumBucket♠

I've done my regular 17.5 miler tonight, mixture of half main road & half bumpy country back lanes.

I averaged 16.7 mph & did it in 1h 2mins. It takes me 6 miles to warm up though!

Anyhow, it got me thinking :idea: Given what I'm riding, if I were to put the same effort in but on a 1k road bike what would the outcome be with the stats above? What do you think those above figures would be?

Regards

Chum B.

♠ChumBucket♠

Well, a wee update 3 weeks after my original post.

Been out this morning, here are the stats-

Distance - 41.5 miles
Average - 16.2 mph
Max - 32 mph
Time - 2 hours 33 minutes

600ml of fluid consumed + 1 x two finger kitkat in-situ.

I'm very pleased with this considering what I'm riding. I feel great, no puffing & panting although knees & thighs can feel it! Proper padded bib-shorts have been a god-send & I've also now got myself a "proper" cycling jersey. Still on normal/free pedals though.

Roll on the day I get a proper road bike!!!

boh67

just get yourself a 2nd hand road bike mate. there are loads to be had. I got mines for £50 granted its nothing magical but as a fellow newbie who did a few runs on MTB the road bikes are far superior and far enjoyable imo

♠ChumBucket♠

boh67 wrote:

just get yourself a 2nd hand road bike mate. there are loads to be had. I got mines for £50 granted its nothing magical but as a fellow newbie who did a few runs on MTB the road bikes are far superior and far enjoyable imo

Yeah, I'm undecided on what to do. I have some questions so might start a new thread.

Cuddywifter

I bought my first reasonable bike through the cycle to work scheme and I hardly noticed the payments going out. I recommend it if you want to spend up to £1000.

♠ChumBucket♠

Cuddywifter wrote:

I bought my first reasonable bike through the cycle to work scheme and I hardly noticed the payments going out. I recommend it if you want to spend up to £1000.

I'm self employed!

ben@31

unixnerd wrote:

Unless I'm taking it easy I have a few handfuls of peanuts or a bananna every 20 miles on long runs and I'll stop for a few mins. Keeps the Bonk at bay. I read an article explaining that longer stops, for say 15 mins or more, allow your body chemistry to go into recovery mode and it's then harder to start again.

I like your saying "handfuls of bananas keeps the bonk at bay". The poetry made me smile.

karlth

Returning to the OP - the question is always "how much have I improved/how happy am I with how I'm doing". You don't have to compete with every other bugger out there. The figures you'll see quoted on here for averages and stuff are distorted by:

1. Lying liars - you know the ones - claim they cruise at 23mph, you go out with them and your computer says 17.
2. Natural athletes - there are some (you know, the ones the PE teachers at school actually liked) who are naturally good at this sort of thing. If you're not one, comparing yourself with them ("I started cycling three weeks ago and am now averaging 21mph over a hilly 50 mile run..." - may cross over with 1) is a dooming yourself to disappointment.
3. People who've been doing this since they were 15, every other day, without fail. Again, may cross over with 1 and 2 above as well.
4. People who live on the fens and think they're doing a hilly run because it has two bridges and a couple of speed bumps on it.

The thing about cycling, the reason it appeals to quite a few people who don't consider themselves sportsmen, is that you don't need to compete with anyone. Just improve your personal best, if you want to, and enjoy it.

♠ChumBucket♠

karlth wrote:

Returning to the OP - the question is always "how much have I improved/how happy am I with how I'm doing". You don't have to compete with every other bugger out there. The figures you'll see quoted on here for averages and stuff are distorted by:

1. Lying liars - you know the ones - claim they cruise at 23mph, you go out with them and your computer says 17.
2. Natural athletes - there are some (you know, the ones the PE teachers at school actually liked) who are naturally good at this sort of thing. If you're not one, comparing yourself with them ("I started cycling three weeks ago and am now averaging 21mph over a hilly 50 mile run..." - may cross over with 1) is a dooming yourself to disappointment.
3. People who've been doing this since they were 15, every other day, without fail. Again, may cross over with 1 and 2 above as well.
4. People who live on the fens and think they're doing a hilly run because it has two bridges and a couple of speed bumps on it.

The thing about cycling, the reason it appeals to quite a few people who don't consider themselves sportsmen, is that you don't need to compete with anyone. Just improve your personal best, if you want to, and enjoy it.

Good post quite funny yet true.

I can confirm though that my queries & any info I give are genuine. When I made the original post I really had no idea what would be deemed as a good, bad, normal average speed etc. Having been reading the forum regular for 3 weeks or so now I am beginning to get a better idea of things.

Snailpace-Bob

Much like Chum Bucket I used to push myself on my old Scott mountain bike with similar stats. I took the plunge into proper road biking in June and bought a specialized allez sport. The difference is amazing. For the same effort I find myself cruising at around 20 mph and can cover 30 miles in less than 1hr 30 mins. The roads around me are mainly flat but it just means you dont get a rest on the downhills.

karlth

Snailpace-Bob wrote:

Much like Chum Bucket I used to push myself on my old Scott mountain bike with similar stats. I took the plunge into proper road biking in June and bought a specialized allez sport. The difference is amazing. For the same effort I find myself cruising at around 20 mph and can cover 30 miles in less than 1hr 30 mins. The roads around me are mainly flat but it just means you dont get a rest on the downhills.

Nevertheless, I can cruise at 20mph as well, but around here your 30 miles would take a couple of hours at that sort of effort level. The rests on the downhills never make up for the slow climb up.

♠ChumBucket♠

Longest ride to date so far this morning.

Distance 52.6 miles
Average 15.6 mph
Max 42.7 mph
Time 3:22

Drank approx 1ltr of fluid, had 1 banana & 1 small KitKat. Stopped for 5 mins to consume the food at 30 odd miles.

To be honest, I could really feel it on the last 8 miles! Legs aching more than before. I could feel a considerable difference in my legs on those last 8 miles. :P

I was secretly (probably unrealistically) hoping for a 16 mph average. However, given the bike & some huge climbs on this route, I am more than happy! 8)