How Many Hours?

[Roadie_scum]

Macca - I think it's not so much a case of having fun every time you hop on a bike, as it is overall enjoying what you are doing (that is, making sure it doesn't get to a stage where you really don't like it each time you hop on the bike).
I think Roadie Scum is right in that, what you do as a 14 year old won't have a huge amount to do with how you ride as an adult other than that you will have picked up some bike-handling skills and you will know how to race. That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it (both of those plusses are important), but I'm not so sure that the body you build at 14 is too closely related to the body you'll have in your mid to late 20's.
As Roadie Scum pointed out, there are a lot of mighty fine Senior riders who never raced as Juniors. There are also a lot of mighty fine Junior riders who have given it away before they got to become mighty fine Senior riders. As long as you can maintain a degree of enjoying doing what you are doing, you should be OK. You are exhibiting a lot of dedication and self-discipline for your age, which is a definite advantage in road racing. In some ways these are more important than physical prowess.
Keep it spinning, Macca, but keep an eye on yourself to see whether there are moments of pleasure in there - it certainly helps.

You will pick up valuable tactics and bike handling skills at a volume much less than 450km a week. Note that I still think it's fine to race and ride, just not to pretend that a 14 year old can handle what a top level adult amateur does in terms of training. Finding a good mentor/coach who knows about juniors will really help with learning about tactics and skills and keeping the volume at a reasonable and enjoyable level.

Definitely keep it spinning, I don't mean to discourage you there.

 

[Roadie_scum]

As an old fart, I wake up on the cold mornings and think; "Naw, its too cold. I'm staying in bed today." Then later in the day I get mad at myself for not riding. I started riding later in life. I wish I had the years back.
Now I know I'll never win a race, but I ride because I like to ride. If you want to ride to win, and not look back in your later years, get up! The cold only lasts until you've warmed up.

Why won't you ever win a race? Sounds like a self-limiting mental strategy to me. I say get up and be disciplined, starting from around the age of 17. Before that it's inappropriate and unhelpful to push too hard. The kid here is only 14.

 

[RapDaddyo]

As the father of five athletes (no cyclists, unfortunately), I've had the opportunity to observe this issue up close and personal and over an extended period of time. I had 1 figure skater, 1 swimmer, 1 soccer player and 2 ice hockey players. They all did their sports very intensively from about age 5 and were on very high level teams in their geography. One of them went to Nationals (AAA hockey) and one of them was on three nationally ranked swim teams. They are in their late teens and 20s now and not one of them is active in his/her sport. But, it wasn't due to burnout. It wasn't the hours on the ice or in the pool or at the soccer field that caused them to quit. Their interests just changed to something else. I think that would have happened regardless of how many or how few hours they did their sport. And, I know for a fact that none of them regrets the time they put into their sport. Whenever we have moved, the first thing they want to unpack is their trophies to put in their bookcase.

 

[mises]

I wish I had paid more attention to the studies I scanned a while back but what I took from it was until after puberty there could be some danger in overspecialization, particularly with decreased bone density and the effects were detectable years later in life.

Triathletes get a lot more female attention and female triathletes are generally better looking than cyclists so I wouldn't be so quick to drop the swimming and running. Chicks don't really dig a cyclist's body, unless it come with a fat wallet attached, and at 14 that is something to think about.

I am so far over the hill that I don't worry about that anymore, so the only cross training I do is an occasional date with my other hand.

 

[EoinC]

...Their interests just changed to something else. I think that would have happened regardless of how many or how few hours they did their sport...

RDY - That's pretty much what I would take as being the reason for most Juniors leaving any sport. In their late teens, their interests do change and, if they supress that too much, they stand the chance of becoming very one-dimensional adults. Macca appears to be doing very well at the moment, but needs to be aware that there is a good chance his focus will change in the next few years. As long as he is able to apply that strong dedication that he exhibits, to other pursuits (including education), he will be in a good position for facing what comes in life. I hope Macca realises that the dedication attribute is transferable.
I think Roadie Scum's suggestion of getting a coach / mentor is a very good one, as long as said person is experienced in training juniors. The only way I know of checking whether a Junior is overtraining, without using science, is to get them to ask themselves whether they still get any enjoyment from being on the bike (but I'm not a coach).

 

[RapDaddyo]

RDY - That's pretty much what I would take as being the reason for most Juniors leaving any sport. In their late teens, their interests do change and, if they supress that too much, they stand the chance of becoming very one-dimensional adults. Macca appears to be doing very well at the moment, but needs to be aware that there is a good chance his focus will change in the next few years. As long as he is able to apply that strong dedication that he exhibits, to other pursuits (including education), he will be in a good position for facing what comes in life. I hope Macca realises that the dedication attribute is transferable.
I think Roadie Scum's suggestion of getting a coach / mentor is a very good one, as long as said person is experienced in training juniors. The only way I know of checking whether a Junior is overtraining, without using science, is to get them to ask themselves whether they still get any enjoyment from being on the bike (but I'm not a coach).

I agree entirely. I think many of us knew exactly what we wanted to do with our lives at 14 and again at 18 and again at 21 and so on. The only difference is that, for most of us, those life goals changed from 14 to 18 to 21 and so on. But, I could have sat down with each of my children when they were 14 and told them that I knew for certain they wouldn't be playing their current sport in 6 years and they would have looked at me with a blank stare. They enjoyed it while they were doing it and when they were done with it they were done with it. It wasn't a gradual taper -- it was over in a heartbeat. One week, several hours a day, the next week, zero. I didn't let on, but the biggest loser was me -- I thoroughly enjoyed going to all those games and tournaments and watching my kids go all out trying to win with their teams. I still miss it. As to overtraining, my theory is that one of the first signs is emotional. I know that's what I monitor most closely for myself.

 

[huhenio]

wow. im 20 and ride 30kms a day, work 6 days a week 9 hrs a day.. how the heck do you guys fit in 450+ kms a week? good on yah, but wow!

Commuting ..