Rules of Thumb

Gary,

I don't think that miles are the problem. You can modify your approach to those miles so that you
minimize knee stress. Out of a 4 or 5 day riding week I use one for "pace" (steady without strain,
cadence 85-95 for cruise), one for intervals (pace with a couple of all out sprints, cadence above
105 sustained for sprint), one for major miles at slightly less than pace, cadence 80-90) and one
for easy recovery. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that you can do the miles in such a way as to
minimize the trauma and still gain the advantages of time on the bike. Increasing miles at 10% a
month seems a little slow to me. How 'bout 10% a week?

I have 50 yr old ligaments in my knees and they tell me to stay off the big ring 'till they're well
lubed (7-10 miles or so).

Bottom line: you don't have to push hard all the time to make progress. Spin 'till you're greased,
then kick hard for awhile and then spin to recover.

Just what works (so far) for me.

Lon HepCat Sacramento

Gary Mc said:

When I was a runner there were rules of thumb about training. Example: never increase your mileage
more than 10% in one month. Another: Your long run of the week should not exceed 40 % of your
weekly total. The older that I got, the more ironclad these rules became.

Last year as a biker, my 3rd on a recumbent, I injured my knee in the spring, probably by trying
too much too soon. The injury nagged my somewhat arthritic knees for the whole season. My mileage
dropped to 2500 miles from 3500 miles the year before.

This season I tried to keep my riding up over the winter and progressing more slowly. Anyone read
any rules of thumb about the pace of coming into full shape on a bike. Any guidelines on how much
of your weekly total miles should be in your weekly long ride.

I am in my 59th year and beyond the "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" age.

Gary McCarty, Greenspeed GTO, Salt Lake City

Lon,

Thanks for your input. I was thinking more of 10% increase per week with an easy week every 3rd
or 4th week.

I do concentrate on spinning. I came to biking from running, and spinning has always been easier
than trying to hammer. My "intervals" are climbs and I have learned to warm up first.

I will just give it a little more time and patience this year.

I still wonder about how many weekly miles it should take to support long rides. I was thinking that
probably my weekly long rides should not exceed about 50% of my average weekly total. Any thoughts
from anyone?

Gary McCarty, Greenspeed GTO, Salt Lake City

"L.A." <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Gary,

I don't think that miles are the problem. You can modify your approach to those miles so that you
minimize knee stress. Out of a 4 or 5 day riding week I use one for "pace" (steady without strain,
cadence 85-95 for cruise), one for intervals (pace with a couple of all out sprints, cadence above
105 sustained for sprint), one for major miles at slightly less than pace, cadence 80-90) and one
for easy recovery. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that you can do the miles in such a way as to
minimize the trauma and still gain the advantages of time on the bike. Increasing miles at 10% a
month seems a little slow to me. How 'bout 10% a week?

I have 50 yr old ligaments in my knees and they tell me to stay off the big ring 'till they're
well lubed (7-10 miles or so).

Bottom line: you don't have to push hard all the time to make progress. Spin 'till you're greased,
then kick hard for awhile and then spin to recover.

Just what works (so far) for me.

Lon HepCat Sacramento

"Gary Mc" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I still wonder about how many weekly miles it should take to support long rides. I was thinking
that probably my weekly long rides should not exceed about 50% of my average weekly total. Any
thoughts from anyone?

In my summer mode, Saturday long rides do seem to constitute about 50% of my weekly total... In
cooler, darker-sooner winter months Saturday rides can be more than 50% of my total.

I recently asked about training for bike touring and how to predict daily tour mileage for planning
purposes. Several people suggest using one half of average weekly total as a guide for average daily
distances on tour. So the 50% rule of thumb you suggest may be very reasonable.

Jon Meinecke