Best use of available time

littledove44

After many years of no bike, I have taken the plunge, bought a good road bike and have been hitting the roads near me.

I have been covering 20 miles or so, several times a week, and I seem to average about 13mph, so not very quick at all but I am enjoying it, so what the heck.

I would like to improve my fitness and times over that sort of distance. The question is how?

Should I ride more often?
Should I do interval training, whatever that is?
Should I just go up and down hills?
Should I ride every day, or do I need rest days?

Being retired I have the time. How do I best use it.

dannyharris

Slowly increase your distance on each ride.
Rest days are important too.
Your fitness will improve over time.


I tend to just ride when I feel like it. Saying that I commute 120 mile a week on top of my leisure rides.

davidefernandes

don't worry about speed, that will come with time, as your fitness gets better and your legs get more accustomed to cycling.

As the other poster says, increase your distance slowly, I did mine in 10 mile increments but stayed at each level for say 5/6 rides, then move on ten more for another 5/6 rides.

Rest days, for me, when I need a rest day I take the short journey to work, only 5 miles instead of going on the longer routes before work. I always sluggish the day after I don't ride at all.

markhewitt1978

littledove44 wrote:

After many years of no bike, I have taken the plunge, bought a good road bike and have been hitting the roads near me.

I have been covering 20 miles or so, several times a week, and I seem to average about 13mph, so not very quick at all but I am enjoying it, so what the heck.

I would like to improve my fitness and times over that sort of distance. The question is how?

Should I ride more often?
Should I do interval training, whatever that is?
Should I just go up and down hills?
Should I ride every day, or do I need rest days?

Being retired I have the time. How do I best use it.

The best thing is not to worry about it too much. But it depends what you want to achieve, are you planning to do a sportive/ charity ride sometime in the future, how does the course look on that? I ask because if you want to start tackling hills, then ride hills, if you want to tackle long distances, ride long distances.

I wouldn't be too concerned with interval training unless you want to do racing, most cycling involves sustained effort then rest anyway (at least it does on the terrain I ride on!)

I don't get to ride every day but someone on my Strava feed did ride every single day and they said that they benefited greatly from having a couple of days of rest a week, which makes sense.

littledove44

markhewitt1978 wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

After many years of no bike, I have taken the plunge, bought a good road bike and have been hitting the roads near me.

I have been covering 20 miles or so, several times a week, and I seem to average about 13mph, so not very quick at all but I am enjoying it, so what the heck.

I would like to improve my fitness and times over that sort of distance. The question is how?

Should I ride more often?
Should I do interval training, whatever that is?
Should I just go up and down hills?
Should I ride every day, or do I need rest days?

Being retired I have the time. How do I best use it.

The best thing is not to worry about it too much. But it depends what you want to achieve, are you planning to do a sportive/ charity ride sometime in the future, how does the course look on that? I ask because if you want to start tackling hills, then ride hills, if you want to tackle long distances, ride long distances.

I wouldn't be too concerned with interval training unless you want to do racing, most cycling involves sustained effort then rest anyway (at least it does on the terrain I ride on!)

I don't get to ride every day but someone on my Strava feed did ride every single day and they said that they benefited greatly from having a couple of days of rest a week, which makes sense.

I do have a charity ride planned, but its local, so cycling local seems the right approach. About 25 miles, some 10% hills, but they are only 1/2 a mile or so.

markhewitt1978

littledove44 wrote:

I do have a charity ride planned, but its local, so cycling local seems the right approach. About 25 miles, some 10% hills, but they are only 1/2 a mile or so.

Yep, all the better when you know the course too. Is half of it on off road track perchance?

littledove44

markhewitt1978 wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

I do have a charity ride planned, but its local, so cycling local seems the right approach. About 25 miles, some 10% hills, but they are only 1/2 a mile or so.

Yep, all the better when you know the course too. Is half of it on off road track perchance?

No, it's all on reasonably good Tarmac. I rode it this weekend. 22 miles in 95 minutes, so Wiggo has nothing to worry about for quite some time. My gizmo says its about 1000 ft gain.

markhewitt1978

littledove44 wrote:

Yep, all the better when you know the course too. Is half of it on off road track perchance?

No, it's all on reasonably good Tarmac. I rode it this weekend. 22 miles in 95 minutes, so Wiggo has nothing to worry about for quite some time. My gizmo says its about 1000 ft gain.[/quote]

That's a decent average speed, well done