After how many miles a day do we get diminished returns with our fitness?
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"fitness" -- not "diet" or "weight loss".
Is the OP seeking advice on how to lose weight? I may have missed that.
If so, is your advice then: "Better not ride hard or long, or you might get hungry and eat too much"?
Last edited by terrymorse; 06-14-21 at 05:34 PM.
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That's actually my point-- "training for a ride" seems to confuse an approach to one kind of goal (competitive racing) with a different kind (non-competitive distance riding).
You don't train to take a long walk or jog 10 miles.
It just seems obvious to me that the way you get ready to do a 100 mile ride isn't by "training" per se, but rather by increasing the distance you ride. So doing a bunch of 50 mile rides to "train" for a100 seems dubious on its face. On the other hand, incrementally working up to 100 miles over a series of rides would make sense to me, but each one of those shorter than 100 mile rides is also a ride, so I think it's kind of silly to call them training sessions.
You don't train to take a long walk or jog 10 miles.
It just seems obvious to me that the way you get ready to do a 100 mile ride isn't by "training" per se, but rather by increasing the distance you ride. So doing a bunch of 50 mile rides to "train" for a100 seems dubious on its face. On the other hand, incrementally working up to 100 miles over a series of rides would make sense to me, but each one of those shorter than 100 mile rides is also a ride, so I think it's kind of silly to call them training sessions.
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once you've exhausted all your tubes & spent all your water for the ride, it's no longer fit to ride.
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How do you get the idea I'm talking about training effect from that? I'm not taking training effect into consideration at all.
I was just giving the OP a possible reason why they feel they eat more on long rides. On my long rides, I've never felt overly hungry afterwards. It is my short very hard rides that I tend to eat large amounts of food for a time afterward.
I was just giving the OP a possible reason why they feel they eat more on long rides. On my long rides, I've never felt overly hungry afterwards. It is my short very hard rides that I tend to eat large amounts of food for a time afterward.
I think you're assuming you are the norm here. This is a classic ymmv situation.
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Well, the more 50 mile rides you do, the easier they become, the faster you go, etc. And the routes you ride can be chosen to build up, for example, your climbing ability. When I was building up for the one Century I've ridden, yeah, I rode longer and longer distances, but I also threw in more climbs on Sunday long rides and hill intervals on weekday rides. It seems to me one can train for any athletic event, not just competitive events.
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Bicycling on-line suggests the training plan I successfully used for my first century many moons ago, https://www.bicycling.com/training/a...ide-a-century/
OP, it depends on so many different variables it would be hard to quantify. Age, aerobic capacity, starting level of fitness, do other endurance sports (like running), ratio of fast to slow twitch muscles, internal drive, ability to endure discomfort, and on and on. Grand Tour riders supposedly get stronger the further they get into the event but don’t know how that can be quantified. Physiology, mental toughness and training are keys in endurance sports. There must be an article somewhere on the maximum stress an average body can endure on a reoccurring basis before going downhill.
OP, it depends on so many different variables it would be hard to quantify. Age, aerobic capacity, starting level of fitness, do other endurance sports (like running), ratio of fast to slow twitch muscles, internal drive, ability to endure discomfort, and on and on. Grand Tour riders supposedly get stronger the further they get into the event but don’t know how that can be quantified. Physiology, mental toughness and training are keys in endurance sports. There must be an article somewhere on the maximum stress an average body can endure on a reoccurring basis before going downhill.
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Oh crap now you tell me! Can I do it virtually now like through google's map? This is how you run right?
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I only mentioned 50+ mile rides because that's about the minimum distance you should be able to comfortably achieve before attempting your first 100 mile ride. If say you were training for your first 100 mile event (race, joyride, whatever) it would be advisable to complete at least one 75 mile ride beforehand. But you don't have to do countless high mileage rides - that would be inefficient. For example I do maybe half a dozen 100 mile events per season and will do maybe half a dozen 50 mile training rides and a few 75 mile rides and maybe one 100 mile training ride in the lead up to my first event.
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I'm not sure what "training" for a ride means. I understand what training for a race means, but I would think the best way to prepare for a ride of 100 miles is to ride 100 miles. I find the more long rides I do, the easier they get, but I'm not sure that if I wasn't largely limited to 25 mile rides during the work week, that I'd be as able to recover from my Saturday century as well as I do.
There's definitely a point of distance and frequency where the damage you're doing to the muscles day to day by the overuse overwhelms your body's ability to repair the damage--in other words, overtraining is a real thing.
There's definitely a point of distance and frequency where the damage you're doing to the muscles day to day by the overuse overwhelms your body's ability to repair the damage--in other words, overtraining is a real thing.
So the best way to prepare for a 100 mile ride is just go out and ride 100 miles is it? Well that implies that you have already completed the necessary training to ride 100 miles. Nobody just gets on a bike and rides 100 miles without "training" for it in some form. The more accepted method is to gradually build up the length of your training rides to at least 70% of your target distance before attempting your final distance goal. (presuming that's what your goal actually is)
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A marathon is a race. I don't "train" for a ride. I think it's the wrong word.
Also, there's no comparison between the amount of recovery needed after a marathon and that after a century. Even in racing, there's no runner's equivalent to a grand tour race, where they ride several centuries plus per week.
I've never run a marathon, but I ride a century once a week at the age of 60, weather permitting. I don't know anyone who runs a 26.2 mile course every week. They're not equivalents.
I won't go all Grant Peterson here and assert that calling this stuff training is ruining bicycling because, hey if it motivates you to ride more, call it whatever you like. Treating distance riding like it's a discipline would demotivate me,
Also, there's no comparison between the amount of recovery needed after a marathon and that after a century. Even in racing, there's no runner's equivalent to a grand tour race, where they ride several centuries plus per week.
I've never run a marathon, but I ride a century once a week at the age of 60, weather permitting. I don't know anyone who runs a 26.2 mile course every week. They're not equivalents.
I won't go all Grant Peterson here and assert that calling this stuff training is ruining bicycling because, hey if it motivates you to ride more, call it whatever you like. Treating distance riding like it's a discipline would demotivate me,
Last edited by livedarklions; 06-15-21 at 05:06 AM.
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What's your opinion? Is it 40? 50? 70? 100? I have done 60 miles recently and 70, but I don't feel like there are many other benefits once you get past 40 or 50. I could be wrong. Maybe it's different for everybody? With cycling, you can't really customize the intensity of your whole ride as easily due to stop signs, different road conditions, hills, downhills, etc... The benefit of cycling is that it's more fun so you do it more. But minute per minute, hour per hour, there are more challenging workouts. Now going up a big hill is really a tough workout, but not all routes are going to be the same.
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How far is up?
How long is a piece of string?
How much do "we" weigh?
How tall are "we"?
What bike do "we" ride?
What is "our" average speed?
When are "we" supposed to wave?
(I'd like unanswerable questions for $600 please, Alex.)
How long is a piece of string?
How much do "we" weigh?
How tall are "we"?
What bike do "we" ride?
What is "our" average speed?
When are "we" supposed to wave?
(I'd like unanswerable questions for $600 please, Alex.)
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I have noticed a positive training effect from rides up to 300 km/day. At 400 km, it seems like I need a lot more recovery. Although I have to say I have felt better after a couple of 400km days when I'm riding a 1200km ride.
Having said that, it's easy to overdo it with longer rides and 100km seems like the longest distance that makes sense to me on a regular basis.
As always, ymmv and working up to numbers like that may take some time.
Having said that, it's easy to overdo it with longer rides and 100km seems like the longest distance that makes sense to me on a regular basis.
As always, ymmv and working up to numbers like that may take some time.
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I have noticed a positive training effect from rides up to 300 km/day. At 400 km, it seems like I need a lot more recovery. Although I have to say I have felt better after a couple of 400km days when I'm riding a 1200km ride.
Having said that, it's easy to overdo it with longer rides and 100km seems like the longest distance that makes sense to me on a regular basis.
As always, ymmv and working up to numbers like that may take some time.
Having said that, it's easy to overdo it with longer rides and 100km seems like the longest distance that makes sense to me on a regular basis.
As always, ymmv and working up to numbers like that may take some time.