I want to ride long, like ultra-distances long.
I really want to get out and just ride for hours …. and then days!
But……. I’m stuck. Right now I’m stuck with about 3.5 hours at my top end. Ok to come completely clean, it’s 3.5 hours on a bike that weighs 29lbs. before I put on bottles and my gear bag. It’s a tank – but it’s pretty comfortable. I guess dragging the tank up and down the hills, even the small ones takes a toll. See, this is why we talk/type it out sometimes. I never really understood why I was getting burned by the end of a ride of the tank until just now. Soon I’m going to get back on my 16lbs. aero road bike and see how easy this same mileage feels – or maybe I’ll just go out for 3.5+ hours and see how far I go. That sounds like fun.
So training overall has been going well – I have gotten in 35 hours of riding in over the last 4 weeks. That beats all of my 4 week blocks from last year. So what’s the difference – more time spent in the lower zones compared to previous years. It used to be that I would go out and hammer away then I would get super tired and not ride long or hard for a few days. This year the goal is to increase my mileage and thus my fitness before my first big event Deathridetour.com – 235 miles w/ 16,500 ft of climbing in 3 days. So 4 times or so a week I get 1.5hrs in at a lower zone than I previously would.
So what are you getting from training like that?? I am seeing my times on strava.com segment decrease while seeing my mileage increase. my highest yearly mileage was 5200 miles in 2015. If I keep up at just the same pace I am on so far in 2017 I’ll be looking at clocking over 7100 miles in 2017 – But are you getting faster? So far the answer to that is close – but it is only February. Again strava.com is a great place to track progress. How fast was I last year when I felt like I was in shape compared to this year so far on those same segments? So far my times are close to my best times from the middle of summer last year – since it is February, I’ll take that as a win. Plus I have yet to start doing any real speed work at all except a few small sections 1-2 times per week. Mostly just endurance riding.
I can’t say if it’s right for you – but so far, it feels right to me – stay tuned!!
Cycling Better 