Setting Goals

jackbradley

Hi all,

I've been cycling on and off now since 2009 - I'd still class myself as a beginner because each year I dust off the bike, set out for a few rides, then find myself losing motivation or spending more time running / playing hockey or struggling to fit in time for rides between exams!

This year though, will be my year! I've been out for a couple of rides and I've been starting to think about setting myself targets. However, I have no idea what to aim for?! I'm 25 and I would considered myself above average fitness. I play hockey throughout the winter at a decent level and I compliment that with a moderate amount of running.

Now, I look at people cycling 100 miles in a week and I just can't imagine ever being able to achieve this given the constraints of day to day life. My ultimate aim is to be able to call myself a "good" cyclist and to be able to compete on a level with people my own age. I know most will have an advantage over me because they have probably been cycling since they were in their teens, but I am competitive and used to training hard.

My rides so far have been approximately 10 miles and this has felt like enough (I'm also recovering from a broken collar bone, which I did 4 weeks ago). Should I try to do short rides more often? Or try to increase my mileage per ride? If it is of interest to anyone my ride from today is on Strava here http://www.strava.com/activities/127466097

Apologies for the long first post, hopefully I have covered all the necessary background and my aims. I look forward to your responses and being a member of the forum.

OverTheHillAt21

The problem is that defining a 'good' cyclist is totally arbitrary. If you take time trialling for example, some will say breaking 'evens' ie 20mph in a 10 at the first attempt is a benchmark to aim for, another guy just the other day was claiming that 'anyone' if they train for it could break the hour for 25 etc.
Do you have an idea whether you are going to time-trial or attempt road racing? I've only ever tried TTs and that was a long time ago. I was in between the two performance benchmarks mentioned above ;-)

jackbradley

Therein lies the problem!

I'd like to join up with my local club in the future and take part in club runs, etc. Road racing appeals to me more than TT'ing but I don't know how accessible the sport is for newcomers. At the moment I suppose I am looking at my average speedand distance ttravelled and aspiring to match the training runs of local club members I can see on strava.

Obviously I can't compare at the moment but I would like to have a target that doesn't seem so far off.

Mikey23

Your goals are uniquely your own. Train SMART (look it up). You want to do x by y at z. Then set yourself setting stones along the way to enable you to get to your goal. Stick to it...

(UKA level 2 coach)

ForumNewbie

As you're only 25 and already reasonably fit, you won't have much catching up to do. You just need to get some miles in and include some hills to get bike fit. If you get into cycling 100 miles a week shouldn't be much of a problem to fit in, especially in good weather. As you use Strava, the monthly challenges are good for motivating yourself to do mileage targets. I'm in my mid 50s and not a very fast cyclist, but even I managed 1,000 km one month last year but pushing myself to reach that target.

littledove44

Mikey23 wrote:

Your goals are uniquely your own. Train SMART (look it up). You want to do x by y at z. Then set yourself setting stones along the way to enable you to get to your goal. Stick to it...

(UKA level 2 coach)

I did. Rubbish website IMHO. Read therefore thing and am still not sure what you get for your money.

desweller

Initially set steadily increasing targets, then tell everyone you're going to do some lunatic distance and enter an event in the distant future. The prospect of losing face will aid your focus ;-).

bad_ash

littledove44 wrote:

Mikey23 wrote:

Your goals are uniquely your own. Train SMART (look it up). You want to do x by y at z. Then set yourself setting stones along the way to enable you to get to your goal. Stick to it...

(UKA level 2 coach)

I did. Rubbish website IMHO. Read therefore thing and am still not sure what you get for your money.

Rather than any specific website, I think they were just referring to the acronym SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Time Dependent

This actually applies to all types of goals, not just cycling or physical ones, also business related, etc.

slowbike

for someone who doesn't do much riding or running why are you paying for premium features in strava?!

To get better riding you need to want to get better and enjoy doing it, but also recognise that you're not always going to enjoy all of it at the time - actually, you probably want it to hurt (in a good way)...

Looks like you need to get some base miles in - your CV system should be ok, but your legs won't be set up for riding - so just ride everywhere - it's easier if you've got a regular job that you can commute on bike to - that's what I did - but if not you just need to get a lot more riding in. Preferably with some hills!

Strava is great for comparing your rides to previous ones - leader boards are ok, but don't dwell on them - look at your own times - if you've got a course that takes in a particular climb make sure you hit that climb hard and then next time try and beat that time ... but don't do that all the time - sometimes you just need to bimble along and enjoy the ride - rest days are when you benefit from the hard rides.

Whilst you recover from a broken collar bone I wouldn't push the duration of the rides - it would be ok if you had a turbo, but I guess you don't and I wouldn't suggest getting one at this stage. 10 miles is ok as a start, but you could do with pushing longer rides at least once a week.

jackbradley

Slowbike wrote:

for someone who doesn't do much riding or running why are you paying for premium features in strava?!

Nice opener!

The majority of my training over the winter (and a fair bit in the summer) is specific to hockey, so I'll either be doing fitness work on the pitch or cross-training on the beach, etc. which I don't bother to record.

I'm keen to get into cycling more this summer due to my injury forced extended summer break so I thought I'd fork out a huge $6 to try premium. To be honest, I don't see that there is much benefit over Garmin Connect for my level so I probably won't renew. If I do, then it will be to support the developers. Now that is clear...

I'm going to start hitting some hills and continue to build up the miles over the new few weeks. I'll see how my fitness is improving and judge from there. I'd like to hit a 100km ride by the end of the summer, which should be achievable. (I got the SMART reference, our HR department love that one for our appraisals). If I hit that goal, my next will be 100mi.

Most importantly, I'm just enjoying riding and training at the moment. If my experience from other sports is anything to go by; if you're enjoying it then you're halfway there.

kajjal

I would ride your bike as much as possible so you can confirm it is setup properly for you. Try increasing up to two or more hours. If you do that and stay injury free then you are good to go. It takes time to build technique and fitness so don't worry any find some hills to struggle up

slowbike

jackbradley wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

for someone who doesn't do much riding or running why are you paying for premium features in strava?!

Nice opener!

Sorry - it just smacked a bit of "all the gear and no idea" ...
You see so many ppl buy the best or latest thing for their new hobby only for them to either give up shortly after because they can't be arsed, or to carry on in a mediocre fashion making no use of the advantages their latest and best kit can offer.
I'm not suggesting you're quite like that - but it did seem strange that you'd buy into a service ($6/month or $59/year) that gets you more detailed analysis when there's a perfectly reasonable free service available - and even that isn't mandatory

Goals - 100km isn't that far - honestly ... my wife did more than that in her first sportive a few years ago, on a hybrid, in the rain, and mended several punctures on the way around (not hers, her "friends" - who then didn't ride as a group with her - so basically she did it solo) - she wasn't fit and we're a fair bit older.

60 miles is a reasonable distance - but how about a time constraint to make it a challenge - 60 miles/100km in 4 hours could be a suitable challenge to be completed by the end of the season (why stop cycling?).

After my first 8 months of riding I set myself a yearly distance target - nothing huge, but something that would require consistency - iirc it was 2000 miles in 1 calendar year - then added 1000 miles for the next and so on ... So far I've managed to exceed target each time....

But you need to mostly enjoy it ... otherwise what's the point?

Tjgoodhew

To echo what others have said get out and ride and you will see improvements all the time. My background when i started wasnt a million miles from yours. I was reasonably fit, played a lot of football, im now 29.

Similar to you when i did my first few rides 20 miles was a struggle and i really couldnt see myself ever being able to go much further - 100 miles was a distant dream.

I started riding properly last January, have covered over 2500 miles and am now looking to ride 100 miles on Saturday. I dont have a lot of free time but try and do a long ride every weekend and at least one shorter ride in the week. I ride at night with lights on and really enjoy it - maybe something to look at if spare time is an issue.

I would also look at entering an event which will force you to train - maybe a 50 mile sportive for the end of May.