are these junk miles

gubber12345

usually when i'm out on the bike i try and push myself a bit and try to get a decent avg speed for my 2-3 hr ride.i'm by no means anyway fast but can be anything between 15-17 mph.

sometimes then i go out with my bro who is only getting into cycling and as he's not that fit yet he can manage about 15-20 miles at around 13 mph.

now i know avg speed shouldn't be worried about,just get out and cycle is the main thing,so was just wondering could these miles be classed as junk miles to me or is it still training just at a lower pace....

i've read on here on a few threads that if your not pushing its junk miles.....question is....which is it?...junk or not?

mpatts

If you are enjoying it, then all is good.

jscl

No such thing as junk miles really. Those who push on ALL their rides are the junkies. Do you think our best riders hammer it every training ride?

You need to build in a "recovery ride" every week. Not being sat on your rear, but not pushing it too hard, keeping the legs moving. It's far from junk miles, it's training properly.

pride4ever

There is no such thing as JUNK miles. 35 years of weight loss, improvement in fitness and an high VoMax HR tell me that.
Whether your killing yourself for 3 hrs or gently putting the miles in the benefits are obvious. Only the Pro,s need to worry about consistent red zone training routines.

gubber12345

mpatts wrote:

If you are enjoying it, then all is good.

yeah absolutely loving it mate....sometimes its really relaxing just out for a nice easy ride.

mpatts

gubber12345 wrote:

mpatts wrote:

If you are enjoying it, then all is good.

yeah absolutely loving it mate....sometimes its really relaxing just out for a nice easy ride.

Good to hear it! I generally go out for a weekend ride with mates, riding and chatting, probs at 14-15mph, and most days I get out for an hour or so. If I feel like it I give it a good crank round. It's just good to be out!

amaferanga

pride4ever wrote:

There is no such thing as JUNK miles. 35 years of weight loss, improvement in fitness and an high VoMax HR tell me that.
Whether your killing yourself for 3 hrs or gently putting the miles in the benefits are obvious. Only the Pro,s need to worry about consistent red zone training routines.

You must weigh almost nothing if you've been losing weight for 35 years.

And your VO2max has little to do with how many miles you've ridden.

Junk miles to me are miles that contribute little to your training benefit while causing unnecessary fatigue. So they most certainly do exist. But what the OP is doing would count as a recovery ride.

xchudy_1325

i really struggle to do a recovery ride, twice now ive gone to do one, and pretty soon, im at 170bpm cruising away quite happily,

i find it hard to slow myself down its just seems natural to go that pace for me

any tips?

Paul 8v

I normally aim for about 17/18mph averages, just went out with the missus for a ride where the average was probably about 6 but had a nice time! It's nice you get to ride with your brother and when he gets fitter you can both do faster speeds together :-)

sloppyschleckonds

xchudy_1325 wrote:

i really struggle to do a recovery ride, twice now ive gone to do one, and pretty soon, im at 170bpm cruising away quite happily,

i find it hard to slow myself down its just seems natural to go that pace for me

any tips?

Try an hour at 170bpm

Bobbinogs

xchudy_1325 wrote:

i really struggle to do a recovery ride, twice now ive gone to do one, and pretty soon, im at 170bpm cruising away quite happily,

i find it hard to slow myself down its just seems natural to go that pace for me

any tips?

Speed has nothing to do with it. Work out what zone you want to do, say zone 1, and then keep your normal cadence and shift down the gears to keep your HR within the zone. Works best on a turbo (watching cycling dvds) but can be done on the road. It just takes a little discipline and a reasonably flat route that gets you out for no more than an hour.

meesterbond

Unless you're earning a living from it, then I wouldn't worry about 'junk miles' in the slightest... not every ride has to have a purpose or be part of a training schedule - seems to be a bit of a roadie thing.

If you're on a bike and enjoying it, then that's absolutely perfect. Riding for the sake of riding.

Jim C

All riding is good, as stated above.

However, if U want to get faster, then a bit more structure is needed. Trying to maintain a good average over 2 or 3 hours.....that isn't structure. It will have some benefit, short term. But that's about it

having an hour riding with family sounds excellent recovery,as above

BelgianBeerGeek

Ask yourself "am I wasting my time?"

If you're enjoying being out riding with your bro then that's quality time IMO.
And you say he's only getting into it. Betcha he's soon giving you a real run for your money. Make the most of it!

DavidJB

xchudy_1325 wrote:

i really struggle to do a recovery ride, twice now ive gone to do one, and pretty soon, im at 170bpm cruising away quite happily,

i find it hard to slow myself down its just seems natural to go that pace for me

any tips?

Just cruising at 170BPM

foggymike

Good lord! I average less than that doing a 10 mile TT giving it the beans :shock:

TakeTurns

amaferanga wrote:

Junk miles to me are miles that contribute little to your training benefit while causing unnecessary fatigue.

If you want to go just go out, have fun and get fit at the same time. Stick to what you're doing. Otherwise, if you have a goal to reach, you need to be more efficient in your training. Being efficient may sound a bit ambiguous, but what it means is; you need to structure your training.

bondurant

Entirely possible to be just cruising at 170bpm. Peoples' heart rates differ greatly. There's no point applying what you read from others to your own heart rate / effort.

gubber12345

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Ask yourself "am I wasting my time?"

If you're enjoying being out riding with your bro then that's quality time IMO.
And you say he's only getting into it. Betcha he's soon giving you a real run for your money. Make the most of it!

will do mate and he's about 2 stone lighter than me so i dont stand a chance

IrishMac

Know what you mean mate I spend most of my time out with two far slower members of the cycling world, take it easy with them and enjoy it
If you want to get more out of those rides then take it easy with your bro and then when ye start to climb wherever , try and stay seated in a hard gear the whole way up the climbs, this is essentially weight training on a bike and will increase your ability to cycle into a head wind and with enough practice, will up your average speed when out on your own by giving you more power to put through the pedals. I did this for the majority of last summer with my mates and saw it pay dividends, I went from hanging on at the back of a faster group out on windy days to being able to give my own steadily increasing stunts out at the front setting the pace, whilst still enjoying every minute on the bike
Alternatively if you use Strava you can use the spins to be fresh for all the segments you want, providing you're prepared to wait for your brother at the top

gubber12345

IrishMac wrote:

Know what you mean mate I spend most of my time out with two far slower members of the cycling world, take it easy with them and enjoy it
If you want to get more out of those rides then take it easy with your bro and then when ye start to climb wherever , try and stay seated in a hard gear the whole way up the climbs, this is essentially weight training on a bike and will increase your ability to cycle into a head wind and with enough practice, will up your average speed when out on your own by giving you more power to put through the pedals. I did this for the majority of last summer with my mates and saw it pay dividends, I went from hanging on at the back of a faster group out on windy days to being able to give my own steadily increasing stunts out at the front setting the pace, whilst still enjoying every minute on the bike
Alternatively if you use Strava you can use the spins to be fresh for all the segments you want, providing you're prepared to wait for your brother at the top

thanks mac for the tip on the climbing in a hard gear,def gonna have to give that a go.