mvallejo

Hey All,

Proud owner of a Surly Cross Check thanks to some help here a while back, still somewhat new to road/town cycling, and I'm getting ready to do a 7 day tour in the upcoming months. Just a quick question. I have been riding almost every day (about 5 times a week) for close to a month now. I usually ride about 15-25 miles on most weekdays (usually closer to 15), and about 25-30 on weekends. I am not in bad shape by any means, but also not in great shape. 5'8 about 145 right now.

Would most consider a 15-20 mile ride a good workout? I live in Fort Collins CO, so most of the riding is fairly flat, with a few solid hills. I plan to up my weekend rides from 30 to about 40 miles as I prepare for my tour (in California), but I really just dont have the time to do much longer than 15-20 mile after work rides on weekdays. I feel like I'm getting a decent workout, and am riding much more than I'm used to, but just curious whether or not this routine will help get me into shape. Like I said, havent had time to gauge results as I havent been at it for too long.

mdilthey

At a certain point, it doesn't matter how far you ride. What matters is how fast you ride, and how steep the hills are.

Look for some big hills to climb and push yourself. Even if you only do 10-15 miles, if those 10-15 are all up big hills and you're holding an 18mph pace, you're getting a great workout. Doing intervals of high-intensity training should give you noticeable results in 6-8 weeks.

raybo

How long will your daily rides on tour be? Will the tour be in a hilly area (i.e. Down the coast)? There is no reason to train at 50 miles if you will only be doing 30 miles/day.

mvallejo

Yah I am averaging a pace of about 15 mph right now. I'm doing mostly rides in circles around town, fairly flat. I feel like I get a decent work out, but dont find myself sweating much or stopping for breaths ever. I think interval training may be a good idea. I will likely try to start biking towards the mountains to get some nice climbs.

mvallejo

About 50-60 miles a day. Which I can definitely do, was just wondering for exercise in the short time frames I have on weekdays. I think like Mdil said, finding good hills would be a good idea. Not sure I can manage 18 mph though. I average about 14-15 with my Touring set up.

Number400

Don't just rely on biking for fitness, try to work in push-up, squats, lunges, stretching, running a little, etc...it will help you all around and to offset the imbalances that just cycling a lot will leave you with.

sstorkel

My first tour was a 7-day credit card tour down the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles. 23lb bike, 20lbs of gear and luggage, and 8lbs of water in three bottles (24+24+20oz).

My training consisted of riding 15-16 miles 3-4 times during the work week. Those rides were done on my touring bike with almost all of my gear, on a flat route and took about 50-55 minutes (i.e. fast). On weekends, I did progressively longer rides with more climbing, though a slower pace. I knew I was ready for the tour when I could do back-to-back 60-mile days with 2000-3000 feet of climbing each day and was ready to ride again on the third day. I think I spent about six weeks training on the touring bike, though I already had a good base level of fitness (from riding my road bike) before I started. All of the training also helped me refine my route: since I could maintain a 13-15mph pace even on hillier rides I knew that averaging 10mph on longer days wouldn't be a problem.

Even with all of that training, there were still places where the Pacific Coast route was quite strenuous (think: Big Sur). Part of that was my own doing: because I could only stop where I could find lodging, most of my days involved 70-80 miles of riding and I'll admit that I tend to ride faster than many tourists. Less mileage or a slower pace would have made things a bit easier. Still: long steep hills are long steep hills any way you slice it!

pdlamb

There are two main components to touring fitness. The first is butt toughness, to put it bluntly. You develop this with long (4-8 hour) rides. If you can get two 4-6 hour rides in on weekends, you'll train your butt-brain connection to think this is normal riding, which will be good training for touring.

The second part is the aerobic component. On average, your heart rate will be somewhat elevated from sitting at your computer and reading this post. That averages steep climbs when your heart is rabbiting along with level riding and downhills. The climbing will take a lot longer because you'll go a lot slower going up than coming down.

On your spring weekend rides head to the hills, as that'll get you both climbing experience and long ride experience. Work on intervals during some of your weekday rides; they're painful and productive. Or try to hang on to a group ride that's just a little too fast for you. Remember Lon Haldeman's advice: try to rack up 60 minutes per week where your heart rate is above 90% of max.

10 Wheels

Up your mileage to 60 mile rides.

mvallejo

Thanks for the responses all. I am going to try and up my weekend rides to 50 for now. For weekday rides, I really just dont have the time between work and family to go for much longer than an hour and a half a day. I can definitely throw in some big hills here and there which should help. For those that average 18 mph, I'm definitely just not there yet. Guess I have a lot more work to do.

Intervals seem like a good idea too. Just need to find some good hills around me with solid biking roads. I use MapMyRide to help plan my routes. What is a good total elevation gain to start aiming for? like 1000 ft?

Thanks!

Machka 

Continue doing your shorter rides on weekdays, but do back-to-back 50-60 mile rides on weekends. Also include some regular walking and upper body weightlifting. Some tours can contain a surprising amount of walking and lifting/carrying.

And if you're averaging 14-15 mph with a loaded touring bicycle, you're doing really well. Very few people do 18 mph, especially up a hill, and especially with a loaded touring bicycle.

Blue Belly

If you are planning any extremes, consult a doctor first. I'm sure you have, just throwing it out there. If you're just looking for fitness, a good 1-2hrs a day of pace riding should put you in great shape. Beyond that you become an extreme athlete. Loosely labeled, of course. The thing you find when you really get up into some serious mileage is that you recover really quickly from efforts & the efforts are sustainable for much longer. Time is the factor. I put on a lot if weekly miles a few years back. These days, I have trouble getting out on a the bike a couple times a week. Enjoy the trip! Sounds like a blast!

tarwheel 

A 15-20 mile ride provides a good workout, but longer rides will help your fitness for touring more than anything else. Nothing beats saddle time. Your fitness is probably improving more than you realize, but it takes time to show up in average speeds, weight loss, etc. Just keep at it with your daily rides and try to fit in some long rides on the weekends.

sstorkel

During the week, I focus on short, fast rides. If you can throw in some climbs or intervals, that a bonus. I generally didn't and it wasn't a problem for me. Just trying to turn a big gear and keep speed up was more than enough to leave my lungs and legs burning. What more do you need? BTW, don't worry about the 18mph number; that's probably for an unloaded, light-weight road bike not a loaded touring bike.

You know that intervals don't require hills, right? A heart rate monitor or power meter helps, though.

In terms of elevation gain, you should start with whatever you think you can handle and push forward from there. My standard 30-mile training loop includes 1000ft of elevation gain. It's good prep for riding rolling hills, but not for anything that involves big climbs. If I want to be in shape for climbing, I have to add longer climbs to the mix. My favorite climb gains 1300ft over 3.2 miles at an average grade of 7%. Before my tour down the Pacific Coast, I got to the point where I could ride to the top of this climb, down the back side, back to the top (~600ft of gain @ 4-5%), down the front side, and then back to the top again. Total elevation gain on that ride was around 3500-3800ft, as I recall.

mvallejo

You guys are all awesome. Thanks so much for the advice.

I do like the interval idea. One of my routes that is about 24 total miles has about a 10 mile stretch of just straight rolling (tiny ups and downs) open road. Would probably be a perfect place for some interval workout. I was also able to find a hill nearby that is pretty darn steep, about 1300 elevation gain according to mapmyride. Ill probably tackle that on weekends. It is part of a 50 mile ride so I guess I'll see what I got!

Thanks again.

valygrl

Ride the Horsetooth dams for interval training.

GamblerGORD53

All the above is true enough, but for me it takes day rides of 100+ milers once a week to give me hulking leg muscles.
25 mi, lunch, 35 mi supper, 25 mi pie, 15mi + home. If I'm not half past tired, then it was just a ride.
Then it takes the rest of the week for my muscles to catch up and grow, while I putter around as wanted. And I do this on heavy bikes. It takes me a couple days to just get rehydrated.

mdilthey

Don't worry about miles, elevation gain, or time.

Ride on flat ground so fast, your lungs max out. Bike up hills so quick, your legs feel like jelly. Just basically let your body do the talking. There's no magic to it; If you push your body as hard as it can go, your muscular system basically says "We need to prepare to do more of that!" and starts repairing microtears in your muscles, and you bulk up. There's no rushing it. YOur heart's a muscle, too, and your lung capacity takes time as well.

So, push your body to the limit a few times a week, and take some rest days to recover and build. Eat lots of protein and drink TONS of water.

Good luck!

MassiveD

Also, it is completely unnecessary to train for a tour. All this training crap came in around the mid 70. It was the subject of a bunch of movies at the time, and I remember reading this article in Mountain magazine about how the very greatest rock climbers of the day, were doing some routine circuit training, and raising the level of the sport to unheard of levels. Now tons of people are doing workouts that you didn't see in the olympics until the post war.

The key to not training, is basic reasonable health. A few days you can break in on your trip; start somewhere flattish, no pass hunting on the first few days; don't compete with other cyclists, as in going on a tour with some guy who does 100 miles a day in the off season. Not sure whether your route allows all that.

When I got back into cycling in around 05, It was about 20 years since I had cycled much. I had blown my knee off and smashed both ankles in a plane crash, I was over 45, had heart problems, and was 75 pounds overweight. I did no training other than a 20 km ride to see if I could even find a position. On tour, I did a half day the first day, a half day the second, and then did a 95 mile day, and after that I was fine. I slept a lot the first few days. You're not climbing everest, it's riding a bike, you don't even have to stand up. With my various problems, I pretty much have to go on my own, since I have to have 100% control of my pace.

MassiveD

Yeah, when you consider the hour record is 31 miles, set by Mercx, never really broken in a similar style. No bags, track, etc...

sstorkel

Not all of us have the luxury of riding ourselves into shape at the start of a multi-month tour.

Not everyone wants to tour on boring flat roads.

Not every tour allows the ability to setup camp at the drop of a hat when your legs fail.

Despite what you may think, training is not "crap". If your tour has time limits or distance requirements, training makes sense! If you're riding the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles, for example, you'd better be in pretty good shape before the start of the trip... especially if you only have a week to complete the route!

JoeMan

Some excellent advise here. Yep I learned about butt muscle prep the hard way!
Two things, besides riding of course, have made my hill climbing abilities better; keeping my weight low and squats.

digibud

You need long rides to break in your butt and your back so do those on weekends. As to the aerobic part of it, you don't need hills. They are very useful but if you're on the flats you can just do "regular" intervals. That can mean a series of full tilt efforts as short as 30 sec. After warming up well, go FULL tilt for 30 sec, then totally back off for a minute or two. Then FULL tilt again for 30 sec. If you do that 5 times in a row you will know you had a workout. You can do it for a minute with 2-3min rest but most people will find that going full bore for even a minute at a time 5 times in a row is very demanding. If you do a minute followed by 2 rest time 5 you have 15min there. Throw in 15 warmup and you're already at a 30min workout before any cooldown. Do 15min easy on the way down and you'll find that 45min will build better aerobic capacity than two hours of riding even if that riding is "kinda" hard. I try to work in some variation of high intensity work even on a long ride. It's not good to do it in the first part of a ride but in the last 30min of a ride it's good to make a few extremely strenuous efforts. Your body builds fitness in response to stress so an important basic goal for fitness training is stressing your body in some manner similar to what I have described.

sstorkel

This sort of training is great if you want to improve your sprinting performance. If you want to improve power and endurance, I've heard that "6x5x1" intervals are the way to go: ride 5 minutes at 103-108% of your Functional Threshold Power (FTP), then recover for 60 seconds. Repeat that pattern 5 or (ideally) 6 times. Sorry: dunno what that translates to in terms of HR. FTP is, essentially, the highest intensity of riding you can maintain for an entire hour.

digibud

The book "The First 20 Minutes" by Gretchen Reynolds goes into the benefits of this kind of training, as do many other books and articles. There is a LOT of literature about HIIT training online. (high intensity interval training). I'm not entirely sure that sstorkel is describing that, but all these variations revolve around the basic need to stress the body and the bodies adaptation to that stress by the development of muscles and aerobic conditioning. My understanding is vague and I can't pretend to know much more than short hard bursts are more helpful than the kind of long slow riding that was once considered the best "aerobic" conditioning.