dutret

if you ride 150 miles a week you are in shape.

If you want general fitness try doing some off the bike exercise too.
If you want to be a faster cyclist work on a training program focused on making you fast in the way you want.

ScareyH22A

and I ^^ totally agree.

My friends probably ride 40 or 50 miles a week and I ride about 20-30 miles a week due to time constraints. But let me tell you, those fellas are "in shape". The trails we ride are grueling and if not, we push ourselves to ride faster and faster.

maximusvt

Are there any technical trails or singletracks that break off of the trails you usually ride? That's a great way to mix it up.

Portis

What is your definition of "in shape"? I ride virtually every day, and also usually on unpaved roads like yours. This morning for example, i rode 27 miles on gravel roads. I have ridden almost 20,000 miles since Thanksgiving of 2003.

I haven't eaten fast food in 4 years, nor anything else high end fat. I don't eat red meat. So, am i in "good shape?" Beats the hell outa me. I do know that I like the way I look naked a lot more than I did before i started dieting and exercising.

I also know that I feel great, never better in my life and I am 37 years old. But I really don't know if i am in shape. I certainly look like I am, but it might just be a cruel illusion that I am pulling on everyone.

iamthetas

if you get a heart rate monitor you will be better able to judge your physical conditioning than by just the number of miles ridden or weight.
my doctor kept telling me to lose 10 pounds. I started doing things to get in better shape, hoping to lose weight. I went down 4 pant sizes(38-34), 2 shirt sizes(3x-1x)went from a keg to a 1 pack in the belly and went back to the doctor just knowing Id be down to about 180. WRONG, I was 7 pounds heavier but my bp was down, hr was down, colesterol was down, bmi was down.
I am 20 pounds over my doctors advised weight but am in excellent physical shape due to gaining muscle as well as endurace.
the monitor has shown the gains more than anything. I am 42 and can get my hr up to 200 for over 1/2 hour before getting worn out( I found this out last summer at Duncan Hollow trail). I stay in the 170s or higher for my entire rides and ride for 1.5 to 2 hours at a clip without stopping and have ridden for over 6 hours at that rate more than twice in the last year
oh and being over 30 is not the time to give up on the fun. I ride aggresive xc and very technical xc.
good luck on the training and MOST important is to enjoy what you are doing, the results will come with time. if you like the ride you are doing, keep doing it.

Weeks

My question to you guys is, how does the heart monitor work exactly? Does it hook up to your fingers, or just judge your heart rate based on weight/speed or what? How expensive is a decent one, etc etc

LowCel 

Heart rate monitors have a strap that goes around your chest and sends the information to the heart rate monitor. Depending on what options you want you can get one from $29 to $300+. One of mine cost $279, the other cost $1,300. The expensive one has a few extra options (including wattage).

fuserchris

I lost 65lbs in 9 months mountain biking 5 miles every Saturday, but I also visited the gym twice a day 6 times a week.

iamthetas

the higher your heart rate gets before getting winded the better. you look for "zones" .a good upper and a good lower. I use the lower at a point when my heat feels like its beating faster and I can feel my blood flowing. I use the upper at a point when I can barely carry a conversation without normaly, without having to breathe deep then talk or talk between breathes.
my lower is usually in the 140s and my upper is in the lower 170s. these are ranges you try to stay between and the better shape you get into the higher you will have to raise the upper and lower.
I have a Timex that I paid $50 for a few years back. I use it rarely now and if I ever get another one it will not be a watch type but incorporated into my bike computer so I will use it more. I hate looking at my wrist while riding.
hope this helps

magic8ball

I prefer hours on your legs. hills and wind can make 1 mile just as hard as ten

fuserchris

Your Heart rate range is relative to your age and weight...140 sounds like a low -65 %- intensity workout and 170 seems more like high -80-85%- intensity. Again, all relative to age/weight.



Fuser

Weeks

Ride until you puke, dude!

seriously though if you dont feel like you're doing enough, do more - your body is usually a pretty good indicator of how much you can handle

iamthetas

I am 42 and weigh 200#. when I first started I had it set at the 120s for low and 150s for high and have worked my way up. I come out of zone frequently on the high end but its seems to be ok as I can still ride for as long as I want at the pace I want.
I was using my ranges as an example to answer weeks question

CRUM

I'd say you are in shape for flat riding, but I wonder about technical and hills. If you want complete fitness, find a coach. Me, I ride where I want to and screw the fitness worries. I just make sure I vary the terrain. Riding the same trail day after day tends to bore me. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the burn of effort. But I also enjoy the challenge of new obstacles, drops, etc. Bottom line - if your style of riding is enjoyable to you then I think that is more important than being "fit". Fitness comes all by itself sometimes.

scr1be

depends on your diet.

mlh122

i have the wrist watch style HR monitor and it came with a handlebar mount, the "mount" just makes the handlebar thick enough to fasten the watch around. though even if i ride a different bike i can wrap it around the handlebar and brake cable to still see it and not have to look at my wrist, it cost me $12 and works great for the most part, it has a calorie counter to estimate how many calories you've burned based on your heart rate, age, weight, and speed (speed is estimated by category, it has no speedometer in it) my wife has a garmin forerunner that has a speedometer and hr monitor as well as gps and mapping. Also keep in mind if you have a wireless speedometer it could interfere with your hr monitor.

Stateguy

I have not read all the comments. So I don’t know if anyone said that dieting is a big thing too. Not sure how old you are either. I can only speak for myself and I do some jogging only about 1-1.5 miles 2-3 week and I don’t lose anything. I know it not much but I think a lot has to do with my age 50+ and not dieting

JayKay3000

Shame you didn't read the thread dates as the last post was from 2006 and the OP hasn't logged into the forums since 2015.

roskobosko

Nutrition plays a major part in your fitness, in general, 80/20. "Get in shape" is too vague and subjective, put together very specific (measurable) short and long term goals and you will achieve them. Mindlessly increasing miles may work for you but there are more efficient workout routines that will yield faster results with lower risk of injury. Do a little on line research on fitness and goal setting. I would also recommend a HRM to track your workout level. Add weight or resistance training to your weekly routine, as well as daily stretching or yoga. Pay attention to what you eat.