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Ride more
Hi,
I've been lurking here for a while, but haven't yet got involved.
Having done a couple of 100kers this year I'm well and truly hooked on mtbing again. Not just races, but long rides at the mountains, wisemans, few laps a the dam etc
Anyway, I want to ride more, get quicker, train better and enjoy my riding. The problem is that this all takes a lot of time. I've been considering a few options.
Road riding
Indoor training
Quit work and hope it will all be OK with no money
Just go riding all weekend and risk divorce
Night/evening rides
Morning rides
I'm thinking the last 2 are what I'm most comfortable with.
How do you guys fit enough riding in and how much use to you make of the evening and morning?
Cheers,
Ian
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I do upwards of 12 + Hours per week on the bike, mainly from riding in the morning before work, using the turbo trainer, riding on the weekend early etc, I do nearly all of my riding on the road.
Ride to work and back a few days a week. Add some extra k's in the morning with some hill repeats. I get about 8hrs in a week this way.
Gives me, say 40-50km a week free of charge so to speak. I could do more though. Hill repeats... Hmm..
Taronga Zoo climb is good. Adds about 10km to my ride if I do it three times from wharf to zoo bus terminus. Doing it Tuesdays and Thursdays gets me a hundred km a week including the ride home. Need to start adding in a lighter Wednesday ride.
Mondays and Fridays are off for recovery.
Ok, more like 80-100km... It's a hot day.
Yes, it definitely is rather warm lol Got a bit of a rude shock riding today.
I did Perimeter and Long this morning after a bit of faffing about first up with video cameras on Duck Holes, and it got a bit uncomfortable on the way back on Perimeter. My mate bonked. My brain was starting to turn to jelly. We elected to come back via the road from the Japanese School.
Time to start scheduling the rides in the early morning to try and beat the heat methinks.
I think I'll have to plan a little better. Early rides are a must as you say. Just need to book em in.
I like the Taronga idea. Would fit my ride to N Sydney in the morning. Might have a go Tuesday.
I'm still tempted by a turbo trainer for its efficiency in both effort and time. Something soulless about the idea also.
And I should say welcome
If you see a bloke at the zoo on a white mountain bike with white helmet and half a fork, say hi .
An Hour of a Power is worth twice or three times a 2 Hour ride imo.
Also FWIW you need to block out how boring it is, personally I don't find it to bad, normally suffering to much from doing 40/20's and alike to get bored.
I ride to work come rain or shine pretty much...thats about 100k a week.
Then I do a crack of dawn Saturday lap or two of the dam and then I ride to Nippers and sometimes back on a Sunday.
All up over 130kays a week and maybe 150 some weeks....stuff the turbo trainer, ride to work.
I was in a similar position a few years ago. First came the road bike which I have grown to really enjoy - it complements the mountain biking plus means you can still get out if the trails are saturated. Next came the mid-week morning rides involving as many hills as possible - these are the least enjoyable especially the 5am winter starts but much more practical than an evening ride when you have a family. And finally came the commuter bike to guarantee 100km per week of riding come rain or shine.
And I will always try and get one long weekend ride in preferably on the mountain bike. Another early start but I can often be back indoors before the other-half as finished her first coffee of the day.
That seems to be my limit for training as any more and I start to stop enjoying it. I did ponder getting a trainer but I can't see that one sticking so haven't gone for it (yet).
If you were gonna do one thing - out of your list - then it would be turbo training.
If you got one that was worth a bit of money - and gave you at least some information, or set your bike up to show things like cadence, speed, heart-rate - it wouldnt be too boring.
It allows you to ride when it rains, when its dark, when you only have 30mins to spare, when your kit is in the wash and you only have a pair of shorts, when its a loved ones event in a few hours etc.
You obviously have a laptop or tablet (by using this forum) so you could get some movies to watch or something. they help to stave off the boredom.
A little bit of work on the turbo and your other rides would be much improved.
Firstly thanks guys for your suggestions and insights.
I think its going to be a bit of everything.
- I went bout on a limb last night and got some dodgy cree based lighting, so there will be a few post work dam laps coming up.
- I'll be getting an indoor trainer. I already use a hrm, so its a natural progression.
- longer commutes with more hills
Goals for next year? Sub 6:30 at the fling, close to 6:00 for another 100ker.
Training starts as soon as I get rid of this man flu.
Cheers again.
Kurt Kinetic Road Machine for the win re: trainers.
Mine came from here:
http://www.pro-liteoz.com/store/index.php?act=vi...