increasing the number of days I commute in

samsbike
samsbike Posts: 942
edited February 2014 in Commuting general
My commute is about 30miles RT and I can just about manage it twice a week and I have been doing this twice a week thing for about 2 years. On the odd occassion its gone up to 3 days, but that has been rare.

I really want to get more miles in, but my average speed currently is around 13mph, so its a fair old journey in terms of time, if not distance.

How have others managed to ramp it up without getting exhausted? I also really struggle especially if I have not ridden in for a week or so.

I currently ride in on mtb with slicks and have a road bike for the summer.

thanks

Comments

  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    Mon / Weds / Fri if I do 3 days (24 mile RT) but I did the same for the 28 mile one.

    Mon / Tue / Thur / Fri if I do 4 days

    Make it easy to get on the bike in the morning by having everything prepped the night before. Leave a little earlier so there is no pressure on time to get to work and enjoy it.

    The key is: don't stress about it, the speed will come but don't go looking for it.
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
    2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
    2011 Trek Madone 4.5
    2012 Felt F65X
    Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter
  • raymondo60
    raymondo60 Posts: 735
    I'm a Mon/Wed/Fri commuter, 34 miles RT, longer in the spring/summer. All the "prep the night before" stuff is second nature now, but eating enough was the key for me. Lots of healthy snacks during the day - dried fruit, fruit, yoghurt bars, the occassional vegetarian rhinocerous - seriously, by commuting that much, and working hard, you need to upgrade your calorific input sufficiently, especially in the winter..............
    Raymondo

    "Let's just all be really careful out there folks!"
  • e999sam
    e999sam Posts: 426
    After a lay off because of an injury I started by doing half my commute by car and half by bike. Having a safe place to park and leave my bike so I didn't have to get it into the back of my car every day did help.
  • daxplusplus
    daxplusplus Posts: 631
    Why do you want to get more miles in?

    But anyway to answer your question:

    Eat as soon as you finish your ride (within 30-45minutes) to replenish your body .. it's able to do this much more effectively immediately after exercise, less so later.

    Make sure you get enough sleep - that's one of the main reasons I feel tired at the end of the week.

    Just keep working at it - your body will get used to it. How quickly that happens will, I guess, depend on a whole host of things. Go off on long rides (100+ miles), do group rides, do intervals, do hard hill climbs, try and get PRs on Strava .. any of these things will help your body get used to doing more and therefore make it easier, in the long run, to do more frequent commutes.

    Works for me.
    Sometimes you're the hammer, sometimes you're the nail

    strava profile
  • JayKosta
    JayKosta Posts: 635
    Do (or can) you do additional riding on non-work days?

    The commute probably takes a large portion of your 'discretionary time', so trying to increase the number of days that you commute might be overly stressful.

    The amount of riding that you do on the 2x weekly commute is plenty to maintain general fitness. Doing more riding would have fit into your other activities and responsibilities.

    Jay Kosta
    Endwell NY USA
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,218
    Could you do a short ride before/after work on one of the days you don't commute by bike to get somewhat used to the extra riding, before trying 3 days a week?

    I'm struggling with work/weather related motivation so I've been taking my bike to work and doing 15 miles or so at lunchtime if I've not ridden in and the weather is good. Riding in the light when the roads are quieter is much nicer!
  • samsbike
    samsbike Posts: 942
    Thanks for the replies. Commuting is the only time I get to ride. I can probably do evenings when it gets lighter and warmer.

    Once I am in work its hard to get a break to get a good cycle in, even though I am not that far from Regents Park
  • meth_tical
    meth_tical Posts: 67
    I commute Mon-Friday and also do a 30 mile round trip. As others have said I wouldnt worry about speed. Some days I will be getting to work averaging 21mph others (usually late in the week) ill be down to 13/14 but I wont push myself to breaking point to try and increase it.
    Getting your stuff ready the night before is a great motivator as I get up and put my kit straight on.
    People are different when it comes to the weather, I used to check it constantly thinking if I should ride or not.. now I don't bother and just ride.
    I plan to eat every 3 hours whilst im at work especially as soon as I arrive. This should give plenty of energy for the ride home and then eat my tea after I've showered so my energy levels will be high and ready for the next day.

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