[Leviathan]

Since I’ve been tracking it I’ve ridden over 5000km in 2012, 6kk in 2013, 7kk in 2014… and now I am trying to get to 8000km this year. Last year I was particularly driven and did 1200km in November and December, which I have never done the likes of before. It did involve some long dark evenings with very wet cold painful tootsies. I realised I need a plan to cover the distance during the summer so I don’t need to push so much in the winter. Whilst I was doing this I started to think about next year… why not skip 9000 and go straight to 10000km, it is an olympic year after all.

I realised it is possible by extending my commute by an average 5km and doing one metric a month and 50km other weekends. This seems like a lot of cycling, literally every weekend no matter the weather. I might have a bit of wiggle room in the summer but not much. It is going to take a bit of graft. I can only go a little bit faster, it will mainly just be more time in the saddle.

It makes me think, how far do other people go? Do you see any need to go past 10000km if you are not being paid to do it, quality not quantity. Feel free to dismiss my efforts as piffling mewlings.

Topic

[dee4life2005]

~10,000 miles a year, give or
~10,000 miles a year, give or take a few hundred.

[2 Wheeled Idiot]

fenix wrote:A mileage target

fenix wrote:

A mileage target seems a bit random. Train smartly and ride quality miles rather than junk.

This is very true, just I want to do 8000km of quality riding….I wont be bothered if I dont reach it, I wont be bothered if I do.
It’s just a nice number to motivate on those days when a film and some cake sounds more appealing.

[fenix]

A mileage target seems a bit
A mileage target seems a bit random. Train smartly and ride quality miles rather than junk.

[Beatnik69]

I’ve done about 2.5k in the
I’ve done about 2.5k in the last 12 months but don’t want to set a target in case it becomes a chore. I don’t want to be cycling because I have to; rather because I want to.

[DanTe]

I reckon it’s good to set a
I reckon it’s good to set a goal. I struggle a bit sometimes because I generally don’t have one.
I average about 6,000 miles a year with no commuting as I don’t have one to do. This generally involves upto a week or 10 days without riding due to work or wotnot followed by intermittent 250-300 mile weekend blitzs.
It’s not the best way of doing it but living in north London I just can’t find the motivation to turn out on a Wednesday Eve for a quick 30 post work In the north circular traffic.
You end up riding for 2-3 hours with only a 1/3 of it being nice countryside riding..
Regents Park is not something that appeals to me at all.
So I end up doing lots of century rides to escape town..

[arckuk]

I managed to get to the 8,000
I managed to get to the 8,000 km I set myself last year by keeping going through Nov and Dec, which was a bit of a grind. Like you, this was done through commuting during the week, and usually one 50-100 km ride at the weekend.

I’m doing reasonably well on my target for 2015, which I’ve upped to 10,000 km. I’m at 4,400 km at the end of May, and will try to push on at over 1000 km per month during the summer months. Since the evenings are lighter, I’ve lengthened my commute to 40 km per day, including a nice lap of Richmond Park (my commute is only 12 km door to door!) which gives me 200 km per week commuting, plus some longer rides and a monthly Strava ~100km ride challenge… should be good for my target! Like Daveyraveygravey, I’ve been chalking off the 100 (and 100 more) climbs in the South East this year, I’d love to spend some more time in better climbing territory.

The biggest difficulty is finding time, with 2 kids to look after, and making up for lost days from needing to be elsewhere for work, holidays etc. That said, it does motivate me to have this target, but I think next year I’ll be trying to do more varied, better miles rather than just chalking up the total.

[Anonymous]

Get yourself into the
Get yourself into the commuting habit, decent distance, day in, day out, ignore the weather, that’ll rack up the miles. And a club run on Sunday. Did that last year, 10000km will be easy.

[whars1]

Between 5 and 6000km per
Between 5 and 6000km per year; nearly all of which is transport around London; my direct route to work is only 7km so having a target helps motivate me to take the long way (22km this morning).

As with some others I set myself a yearly target and break that down into months so I can track as I go along and cope with the fact that I’ll have times (holidays, business trips) when I won’t cycle at all.

[Martyn_K]

I had a great year last year
I had a great year last year and covered just over 13,000km. None of that was commuting, all club rides, training rides and events or holidays. I am an analyst by profession, so i really like to get stuck in with the numbers, which helps to focus on the targets.

At the start of the year i give myself a target. So for you this year is 8000km, or 667km per month. It is obvious that during the winter there will be some days where cycling is either not appealing or safe so you may not hit that monthly target. Just carry over the difference to the next month. Garmin Connect is good for this as you can create goals and it will track them for you.

Doing a monthly target is also good as it keeps things within reach throughout the year and if you hit/pass each one there is not that December rush.

Just looked at my stats and i have covered over 35,000km in three years. Blimey i need to do something else with my life!!

[Daveyraveygravey]

I’ve done over 5,000 miles a
I’ve done over 5,000 miles a year for two years running, although the first year it only became a goal on 1st December when I realised I had done 4,500 miles, so I know what you mean by having to push yourself at the end!
I’m lucky in that I can extend my commute, I sometimes do 30 miles each way (it’s only 7 miles on the shortest route, but the road is horrible). If you do that 2 or 3 times a week, it takes the pressure off having to be out for 4-5 hours on a Saturday or Sunday.
I wouldn’t let the target of distance become too much of a reason to ride though, you need to enjoy it too. Maybe look for other challenges to keep you motivated? I got obsessed by the 100 Climbs last year, or at least the 14 in the SE. Quite a good way of racking up hilly miles.

[2 Wheeled Idiot]

I’m trying to do around
I’m trying to do around 8,000km this year, I’ve got crohns so stick to short, high intensity frequently rather than long slow rides….also being at school and exams limits time to train.

[ianrobo]

Currently averaging about
Currently averaging about 220KM a week but suspect that will ease a bit and end up around about 10K for year.

[mrmo]

last year 16k km, the year
last year 16k km, the year before 15k this year so far 7k ish. Mostly down to commuting.

[StraelGuy]

I have a blog called cycling
I have a blog called cycling 200 miles a month to motivate me so generally hit about 2,500 miles a year.

[sergius]

I only get to ride on the
I only get to ride on the weekends, so anything over 2000 miles/~3300 km is good going for me.

[Author]

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