mkadam68

183.17 miles
10hrs 45mins

donhaller 

July 7 - July 14

Not as good as last week, but ....

Mileage = 106.5 miles

Time in seat = 6hrs 10min

bdinger

Pencil in my 48 miles last week please

keithm0

Week ending Saturday 07/14:

259.64 miles, 19:50 saddle time.

solveg

I REALLY* don't understand how you guys can go so fast. It actually makes me mad! I cannot even concieve* of the day I'll go faster than 15 unless it's downhill, and to MAINTAIN it for the entire week**********? Shoot. It takes me the first 10 minutes every ride to break 10 mph because my legs feel so heavy when I start out!!!!

Shoot you guys. I am SOOOOO* envious.

kensuf

In the immortal words of Eddy Merckx, "Ride lots."

mkadam68

+1

When I first got back on the bike (last August), I struggled to do rides more than 30-mins long. I was definitely out of shape. But, you can do it. The human body is capable of many awesome things.

Tom Stormcrowe

It's just time in the saddle, Solveg! That and a redefinition of what you are capable of, in your own mind! Most people grossly underestimate their own abilities, based on what others see them as being capable of, or an overcritical image of themselves!

One of these rides, you are going to be feeling really good, glance down at the computer and see that you are rolling along at or around 20!

Bear one more thing in mind, you are riding a touring bike and it's geared for an optimum pace of around 16-18 MPH or even a bit slower, but able to haul a gear load all day. You aren't riding a racehorse, you're riding a hauler!

neilfein

55.9 miles, week of 8 - 14 July.

solveg

Well, I'm trusting you on that one... doesn't seem likely, though!

I guess my bike is a Clydesdale, too, then!

Tom Stormcrowe

As is mine! Remember, I also ride a lower geared touring bike!

Halthane

I know I'm late tom but here's the miles for the week of july 9th through 15th

94.73 miles in 6hrs 20min

and if anybody wants to know there was an 1hr 30mins in the pool for 3100 yards... man the pool feels weirdly normal, kinda like a slow motion dream. I was distance swimmer in high school, i used to average 4 miles a day in about 100 minutes, so man the slow pace feels weird.

donhaller 

I started riding in earnest last November and could bairly keep a 10mph avg on my MTB, then I fixed up an old road bike and in time moved up to 13-15mph avg. I'm now on a different bike and over the past couple of months seen my average come up to around 17-18. I can now paceline for a good bit at 20-22 with my riding buds on the flats. After training for the Tahoe century and completing that ride, I noticed a significant gain in my ability to ride faster and harder shortly after the century. I'm now back into getting ready for some other summer centuries and seeing improvements each week.

Keep riding, are you doing any hill work? or interval type training rides?
You will get it!!

Cheers

jaxgtr

I feel your pain. Read back a few months and you will see me complaining about the same thing. I was averaging 11-13 and hating it cause it was taking me 2 to 3 hours to ride 25 miles some nights. I kept riding, started doing intervals and as I got stronger and in better shape, my avg speed started to go up. Just before I was injured, I was doing 35 and 45 miles at 16-17 mph avg and on occasions, I would put in 10 mile loops in the 18 ot 19 mph range. It just time in the seat and before you know it, you'll be riding with the B group and training hard to make it to a A group ride.

kensuf

And I think now is the time to mention that average speed and distance ridden doesn't really matter as much as the fact that you were spending 2-3 hours in the saddle riding. Time spent doing exercise at the appropriate intensity for the desired results is what matters.

UtRacerDad

I totally agree with this, last year I was having problems keeping my average speed above 14, since the first of this year I have spent almost as much time in the saddle as I did all of last year and my average as went up quite a bit. I can go out for a ride and be moving along and I'll be doing 18-20 mph and it seems like almost no effort, but also the length of time that I spend on rides has went up as well, last year it was really hard for me to be in the saddle for more than about 50 min to an hour, now I commonly will ride for an hour and a half to two hours.

Like tom said, it's just time in the saddle and conditioning.

crymfytr

This is encouraging. I just started riding on Monday 16Jul07 and my three rides so far have been 30 min-45min with total mileage 15 miles so far. I haven't been on a bike in a loooong time, but have really enjoyed it so far and can't wait to get more comfortable on the bike.

crymfytr

Tom,

I know I'm new to this, but was wondering if I can start contributing miles and what I need to do, if so. I think this will be a good way for me to track my progress and also give me the perception of having some accountability.

solveg

Well, I decided a lot of it has to do with traffic, too! I live in the Twin Cities, and we have some horrible traffic. Today on my ride, for instance, some guy stopped in a right turn and then got fixated on a police car next to him. I was afraid to go straight, because this guy either stopped because he saw me, or he was stoned out of his mind. Then this girl came the wrong way on a busy thouroghfare and she bumped me into the street because she was hogging the curb... and she could see* the traffic.

The traffic was so bad, I couldn't get into the center lane at a freeway overpass because there was so much right-turning traffic. I ended up walking across.

All this time, my average speed was 10-11 on my Klein*, which is a pretty fast bike.

But then I hit a lake, empty of people in midday, and I started cruising on the fine, smooth path. I looked down and I was going 15 without even pushing it!

I think, also, it involves "getting up to speed", because I found myself shifting up as I gained momentum. And that, in turn, made me faster.... the stop/start of my normal riding didn't let me do that.

solveg

Cool!

Tom Stormcrowe

I can add you, no problem! Every Saturday report at least your miles and can also count saddle time as well, if you'd like!

On another note, sorry, everyone! I lost internet access yesterday, so I didn't get the graphs up! They'll be up in a bit! One of my wonderful neighbors tried to hack into the cable system and burned out the main junction box for this entire sector, and lost me access until this morning!

Tom Stormcrowe

And here are the charts!

Tom Stormcrowe

Getting ready to move the spinner Saturday Database on line! It's viewable now, at https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...41DPw&hl=en_US

If I don't already have your email, PM it to me so I can send you an invitation to participate in the online version! It's getting toward School time and I'm going to be carrying a heavy load! This is a necessity!

keithm0

Week ending 07/21: 74.17 miles, 5:22 saddle time.

genejockey 

7/14 - 7/21:

124 Miles

7:30 saddle time.