How much mileage to start?

How old are you, and what sort of fitness level are you starting from? As a twentysomething male starting from below average fitness, I did around 30 miles per week, pushing myself fairly hard over mildly hilly terrain, and that got me into shape pretty quickly - after a month or so I was ready for 50 or 60 miles per week. Total mileage is only one factor though - giving yourself adequate nutrition and rest between hard sessions is extremely important. Also, don't underestimate the importance of sleep! These things can make the difference between a fitness plan that leaves you permanently exhausted and getting nowhere, and one that whips you into shape really fast.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mjw_byrne
How old are you, and what sort of fitness level are you starting from?

I'm 37 years old, and I'm slim (and I sure want to stay that way!) but lacking in endurance. In the past few months, I've done some short to very long (20+ mile) rides maybe once a week, each ride including at least one very steep hill. Unfortunately, I lost my runner partner whom I used to ride with, and I'm struggling to keep up my motivation. I'm hoping mileage goals will help accomplish that. Thirty miles a week might be too much for me, unless I ride every day. Would seven or eight miles three times a week be too little?

Hi Whizard...do you have a bike computer that measures mileage or just going off the general mileage of your routes?

Last year for Father's Day, I bought hubby a bike computer and he found it a real bonus for motivating himself to get out and get going. He has a little book where he keeps data on his rides with a few brief comments and he gets a real charge out of being able to look back and see how things have changed over the past year.

It's also nice to be able to quantify goals and tick them off. It worked so well for him that I started dropping hints this spring that Momma could use one which arrived on Mother's Day. My goal, right now, is 500 km a month which I've surpassed, so I think I'll have to start stepping up my goals.

The point is that a lot of people find it very useful to have a means of defining goals and a bike computer is a good tool, I find. You can "race" yourself or set mileage/endurance goals. And I think it's really important for any goal setting program, in order for it to be successful, is that YOU set the goals.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Whizard
I'm 37 years old, and I'm slim (and I sure want to stay that way!) but lacking in endurance. In the past few months, I've done some short to very long (20+ mile) rides maybe once a week, each ride including at least one very steep hill. Unfortunately, I lost my runner partner whom I used to ride with, and I'm struggling to keep up my motivation. I'm hoping mileage goals will help accomplish that. Thirty miles a week might be too much for me, unless I ride every day. Would seven or eight miles three times a week be too little?

Seven or eight miles three times a week would be fine to start with, and you will probably find your fitness levels will climb faster than you expect them to, so before long you may be up to oing rides of that length every weekday, possibly with some even longer ones thrown in at the weekend. And I'd second the recommendation about getting a bike computer. Judging distance, time and speed are really hard - a decent bike computer is a really worthwhile investment.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Whizard
Hi, I'm new to this site and relatively new to bicycling. I'm hoping some of you more experienced cyclists can tell me how much mileage I should do in a week. I am a little afraid of doing too much and injuring myself, or doing too little and not accomplishing my fitness goals.

Thanks,
Whizard

Do what you feel good about .If you feel like [censored] after a ride and can't recover in a short time ,it's probably too much. Unless you are training for race take it slow and have fun. It can take a while to get where you want to be. I been at over 20 year and I'm still not there but I have fun. Do more steep hills.They will make you perform whereas on the flat you must make yourself perform. It is good to have a training partner for motivation

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Originally posted by Brunswick_kate
Hi Whizard...do you have a bike computer that measures mileage or just going off the general mileage of your routes?

Actually, I don't. I've been guessing my mileage from landmarks that others have told me about. When I get a chance, I'll definitely get one of those and also begin logging my rides.

Thanks for the advice! It really does help me get more motivated.

I just started cycling as well and have been doing 10 miles a day for the past 2 weeks. I could do 15-20 miles a day if I push myself.
Should I be pushing myself to exhaustion??

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Originally posted by g8000
Should I be pushing myself to exhaustion??

Absolutely not. After exercise, your body needs time to recover and repair itself. The time spent exercising is actually detrimental to your body, in the short term - it's the time spent resting afterwards that actually adds the fitness and muscle mass. To demonstrate this, just stop training for two or three days - keep eating healthily but for those two or three days, sit on your ass and do nothing (or as close as you can get to that, realistically), then get back on the bike. You'll feel like superman. Training every other day might be a better option.

Isnt fitness like body building? The heavier the weight you try to lift, the quicker your muscles grow.
If I'm doing fine with the 10 mile ride, shouldnt I push myself a little more each time? Or do I become more fit by riding the same distance/speed all the time?
Maybe I shouldnt have said 'exhaustion'

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Originally posted by g8000
The heavier the weight you try to lift, the quicker your muscles grow.

This is only true up to a point. If you are lifting 2kg weights five times per day, two days per week, then yes, you won't put any muscle on. But if you were to work out as hard as you possibly can for twelve hours per day, seven days per week, you would just be injuring yourself, and you wouldn't put on muscle at an optimum rate. There is a happy medium, and when you are just starting, that happy medium is often quite tame - you might feel like you are not pushing yourself hard enough, but you are in fact getting the optimum amount of exercise. As I said before, the rest in between workouts is the bit that actually does you good. For a top pro athlete with a wicked metabolism, one night's sleep may be enough to recover from six hours training the day before; but for someone just starting, a day of rest after each exercise session is probably a good idea. So don't be fooled into thinking that exercising yourself into the ground will produce the best improvement - it almost certainly won't.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by g8000
Isnt fitness like body building? The heavier the weight you try to lift, the quicker your muscles grow.
If I'm doing fine with the 10 mile ride, shouldnt I push myself a little more each time? Or do I become more fit by riding the same distance/speed all the time?
Maybe I shouldnt have said 'exhaustion'

Two different types of exercise. Cycling is mostly cardiovascular.
If you can build a house in 10,000 man hours can 10,000 men build a house in one hour? Of course not. Pace yourself excercise tears down muscle to an extent. The body will buid it back stonger in a normal individual. It just takes time.

What is the next step I should take to improve fitness?
-Increase distance
-Increase speed but same distance
-Use a higher gear and try to maintain same speed