BCAC

I’m 67, pretty fit and started riding more seriously the past 4 months. I’ve worked my way up to where I normally ride between 35 and 50 miles (with a group) at a pace of 20mph +/-, 4 times a week. This week I upped it and rode 3 consecutive days, including this morning, and found I was pretty tired afterwards. Went for a nap. Going to ride again tomorrow and then I’m thinking I’ll go back to my 4 times a week.

Does a man need to know his limitations or just keep at it? How many times a week do you go riding?

10 Wheels

Stay with it. I worked up to 2,000 miles a month when 66 y/o.

Barrettscv 

My general rule: One day a week, not sufficiently beneficial no matter how long or intense. Two intense or long days a week doesn't improve fitness but can maintain existing fitness. Three or four intense or long days a week supports improved fitness. Five or six days a week could be perfect or it could be overtraining if every ride is long or intense. Seven days a week is not for me.

downtube42

Generally speaking, higher intensity workouts demand more rest days.

You can probably ride seven days a week at low and occasionally moderate intensity, if that's want you want. If you're riding for the joy of riding, or for transportation, that's fine.

The other end of the spectrum is a structured training program designed to maximize fitness, with no goals of enjoyment. Then we're talking fewer days of high intensity with rest days in-between. That's likely four days per week, with longer rests every so many weeks.

Somewhere in between those extremes is going out and riding hard-ish a few days per week, which sounds like what you're doing. That's a very common pattern among recreational cyclists; maybe even the most common pattern. Typically this leads to a fitness plateau and a state of constant mild fatigue. Even that's okay, depending on goals. A lot of people like going out hard-ish with buddies five days a week.

The answer to your question depends on where your goals are on this spectrum. Age does matter, individual variation is more significant.

Ed Wiser

Ride 7 days a week indoors and out doors depending on the weather. Some days of my wife has a doctors appointment I may miss the day.

caloso

I ride 6 or 7 days a week. I am actually on a structured training program, with recovery days built in, but recovery doesn’t necessarily mean off the bike entirely. Pre-CV19, I would bike commute most days and those rides made for good recovery. Now that I’m working from home, I will just go on a mellow ride around the neighborhood with my wife.

There are programs like Training Peaks and Garmin Connect that will quantify your training stress and fatigue, but you can also just listen to your body. Which it seems like you’re doing.

canklecat

63 y/o here. Some health issues and injuries that occasionally interfere but nothing special.

No particular schedule, just whenever I feel like it and have time. However I usually feel like crap in the morning, so if I only worked out when I really felt good, I might work out once or twice a month. I make an insincere deal with myself to motivate myself: Whether I feel like it or not, I either put in 15-30 minutes on the indoor trainer, or just go for a ride, walk or jog and give myself permission to quit and go home if I don't feel better after 15 minutes. I might have given up and turned around twice in five years. Once I get going and warm up, usually I keep going. If I'm still feeling spent after an hour I'll cut it short and head home. If I'm not warmed up after an hour it ain't gonna happen at all that day.

But I never know how I'm going to work out until I'm warmed up. I use an HRV app to give me some guidelines but it's mostly voodoo. My meds can interfere with the HRV readings. Ditto caffeine, etc. So I don't make firm plans to do intervals on a specific day, long easy ride another day, polarized training another, etc. I just go, warm up gradually, wait 15-30 minutes, and then decide what to do.

Despite the many training plans I've read and tried, I tend to revert to what I've always done since I was in my teens. The Swedes called it fartlek -- roughly, "speed/play" -- and at least for awhile that was the same approach used by some Kenyan marathoners. I didn't know there was a name for it in the 1970s when I started doing that. It just sort of developed from semi-competitive roadwork and gym sessions, sparring, etc., with other boxers, and in service with other guys I was stationed with during PT sessions.

It's just an informal variation of polarized training. It's pretty much what most spirited amateur club rides turn into, with mostly steady riding and occasional sprints during some Strava segments, or informal sprints if the ride leader or someone else initiates it. Some club rides emphasize steady tempo or sweet spot riding, but some recent training research indicates that may tend to make some athletes stale. For me, a tempo ride for guys in their 20s-40s is my Zone 4, so it's not really compatible. Whatever, I just vary it and do what I feel like doing on any given day.

95% cycling until this year I added more walking and jogging. By October I'd cut my cycling 50% and switched to more walking/jogging, to work on some fitness issues and improve my overall fitness.

According to Strava and my other activity apps, usually 5 days a week. Around 40-50 hours a month. Until autumn, 500-600 miles a month. After October, around 300 miles a month. The rest was walking/jogging, usually about 5 miles, three or four times a week. Same overall time per week/month, but fewer miles. Same perceived effort, backed up by heart rate data.

Occasionally when I feel wiped out and my performance is noticeably declined I'll rest for a couple of days. I seldom go more than three days without at least walking a mile or so.

By October 2020 I was feeling stale on the bike. I'd been pushing hard for months and hit some goals including my fastest times on the same hilly roller coaster routes. But I suddenly felt sluggish, achy and tired all the time. And my neck was aching constantly (old injuries from being hit by cars, twice). So I cut back on the bike rides to a couple of times a week, usually 20 miles or less, and did more walking, then intermittent jogging, then more jogging than walking.

But now I can tell from some new muscle strains that I'm overdoing it with jogging. Kind of a lifelong pattern, pushing too hard for results rather than being patient and giving the body time to catch up with my ambitions. I've also been jogging backward for about 1/4 to 1/2 mile per outing and can feel the strain around the knee -- just muscle strain, my knees are fine. Hey, I grew up as a huge fan of Muhammad Ali, including his jogging style, so when I got into amateur boxing in the 1970s I jogged like Ali -- wearing heavy boots, alternating between jogging forward and backward. But I ain't that young and need to take it a bit easier and give the body time to catch up. And now I wear running shoes, not hiking or combat boots.

locolobo13 

Commute 5 days/wk. 1 day rec ride. 1 day off the bike. None of the rides particularly hard.

skidder

I used to ride/run 5 days per week, but the last few years I've changed it to two days of riding followed by a day off the bicycle (or 14-out-of-21 days, if you prefer a 'weekly' reference). Sometimes I'll ride through a 3-day weekend ( Fri-Sat-Sun) but mostly just try to stick to the 2 out of 3 day cycle.

257 roberts

I'm 65 and according to Strava I rode 131 days in 2020, I am also involved in various shooting sports such as IDPA,sporting clays and traditional archery, very happy to have the health to enjoy the outdoors

Random11

I ride more than six days a week. I ride every day unless something prevents me from going. (It's raining today, and I try not to ride in the rain, so today is a rare day I will "rest.") Most weeks it's seven days of riding, but typically 15-20 miles. I'm riding for fitness and try to push it, but I'm not obsessive about "training" and just enjoy riding and breathing hard. I'm 70 and have been riding for three years. When I started I was taking days off and found that even though I was fit before I started riding (I used to run), my riding fitness showed definite improvement for at least my first two years riding. The thing that keeps me from riding longer distances is the time involved. I can do 15 miles in slightly under an hour, and most days don't feel that I can devote more time to riding. Even though I'm riding shorter distances, because I'm riding (almost) every day, I've gone more than 100 miles a week every week except one since mid-March, when my schedule was altered because of COVID. I'm taking today off because of the rain, but I've already gone more than 100 miles this week.

rando_couche

After 40+ years of avid cycling, I aim for 5-7 days a week, alternating hard (or long) and easy. One lesson from my racing days: "Always enough, but never too much" (ie, it's better to under-train than to over-train).

rydabent

Being retired and 82 I have found I feel better if I ride ever other day weather permitting. Depending on the route I take I ride from 20 to 35 miles. This past year was different. With all the park restrooms closed, I rode just 20 miles on the days I biked.

BCAC

Some great information in all your replies. Thanks!

Cougrrcj

My riding is weather dependent. My last ride for the season was mid-November. Once the road salt goes down, no more riding for me. In the Spring, we'll normally have snows that require road salt until mid April or so This year was unusual in that we had TWO snowfalls in May (May 9 and 12). During the Winter months, I have my old-school rollers set up in the living room that I try to use at least three times/week for an hour or so...

After that, it is still weather dependent. I don't like riding below ~50° or so, and I won't intentionally ride in the rain. I also won't ride in the dark due to distracted drivers these days, so my 'commuting-by-bike' season is generally from the first of May until mid August. The sun must be above the horizon at the start of my commute (6:30-6:45am) That said, I try to commute by bike 2-3 times/week (25 miles r/t) and I can only occasionally take a two hour ride on the weekends due to housework and honey-dos.

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Bigbus

At 71 I try to get out 6 days/wk doing 20-25 miles pushing it hard. When the weather is just too bad I put the miles on the trainer in the gym, Fortunately, the guy that owns the gym hasn't shut the doors despite the dictators in charge, There's never more than 2 or 3 of us over there at one time even in the best of times so it's not like a big deal . Any time in the saddle is good time out in the fresh air

rsbob 

About four or five days a week because I enjoy hiking too. On the days I really push hard and exhaust my legs (going anaerobic several times) I have to take a recovery day. Age 66, but only back into road cycling since May, so have a lot of conditioning to go.

alloo

I try to ride 4x per week commuting 24 miles round trip. I don't ride in ice/snow. I'm 55 and weigh about 210 lbs.

OldsCOOL

Here where we have 4 seasons, it depends. I may ride everyday in a nice summer. But since we are in snow season, 3 times a week and no casual rides.

5 mph

Seven days a week.
I live in the forever dark grey rainy Pacific Northwest, and I have to get out of the house, especially with telecommuting, or I will get cabin fever.
I try to take it easy and enjoy the scenery and just ride for fun.

JanMM

Soon to be 71.......2019 was first year of retirement and I rode about 5,000 miles on about 250 days. PR for total annual miles.
In 2020, the first year of Covid19, I rode about 4,100 miles on about 305 days----------> more frequent shorter rides. Averaged about 5-6 days per week. Missed riding a bunch of days in Jan., Feb., Mar. and December. Rode daily in April, all but 3 days in May and all but 1 or 2 days in June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct. and Nov.
Have ridden 6 of the first 8 days of 2021 thanks to relatively mild winter weather. (Won't ride in rain or snow or if ice/snow on the roads. Or if temp is below the 30's)

Pridedog

I try to ride everyday. At 71 training is a distant memory. I ride simply for the joy of it. I try to ride 20 to 30 miles a day. I ride year around outside. Winters in Central Indiana are not as challenging as northern areas I have lived, but at times it can be difficult. So on those days I only do 20, but once it warms up my goal is 30 miles of enjoyable riding each day. Sometimes life, all day rain or snow, ice, etc makes me take a day off. Enjoy whenever you can get out.

Biker395 

5-6

flan48

Hi All,
I am 74, turning 75 in a couple of months. I ride 4-5 days per week. Last year I averaged 15.2 miles per ride.

Love it!
Best regards

fooferdoggie 

7 days a week usually if there is no snow or ice. I can ride uptown 6 times in a day 2 commute rides of 9.5 miles each some errands then hop on the tandem for a ride after I get home. I was getting up to 250 miles week.