[Leviathan]

Sounds like a punishment.
I have have been building up for the last few years; over 5000km in 2012, 6, 7 last year. I was planning 8000km this year but the Etape Cymru was cancelled and I lost out in the Ride London ballot, both events I did last year. I know there are plenty of others, but I didn’t have anything planned and I am having problems with a worn drive train that needs rebuilding (more of that later.) So it has been a quiet summer and I’ve gained a few pounds. I though I would get out the spreadsheet and see if I can work out what I need to do per day to get to 8KKm
My heart sank, I need to do 27.25km a day for the rest of the year. This means extending my commute home by 10k every day whatever the weather, and doing one longer ride ever weekend no skipping.
I then thought, well I was planning just skipping 9000 next year and go straight to 10,000 and make that a life target (for the next however many years at least.) So I worked this out: 27.4kms per day [forever.] It seems daunting.
I know other people on this board are used to knocking out two classic centuries every weekend. And though I love cycling, sometimes I can be very tired or, wait its raining right now! Am I just whining because part of me is lazy/too ambitious. Or do I just let too many weekends slip away early in the year? Does anyone have any tips, other than just shut up and ride!

Topic

[sorelegs]

Perhaps if you set up a
Perhaps if you set up a recumbent in your bed so you can cycle in your sleep that might help get the miles in. 😉

[Kapelmuur]

I have no target or goals,
I have no target or goals, but I’ve checked my spreadsheet and I’ve pootled 3260 miles (5210 Km) so far this year. All but 95 miles on my own.

Retirement is just great!

[Leviathan]

Thank you, Tony (no prize for
Thank you, Tony (no prize for the best reply.) I will remember it is supposed to be fun [Is that the Zeroth rule?] I do ride solo almost always, and get that a club would get me out the door. However I know how much they like to ride early on a Sunday morning. Sometimes I have to work on a Saturday or Sunday, and what little social life I have means I also like to sleep then too. 2pm is more my start time, which if often warmer. I do find it fun getting out and bagging up other peoples precious KOMs but this involves a lot of sprinting, and my distance legs have been suffering this summer. I guess this is just down to choosing a style of riding. I am just getting bewildered by too much choice in targets.

From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows:

I guess I am suffering from a mixture Onism and Zenosyne. There is so little time to ride every road in both directions.

[2 Wheeled Idiot]

Much better to do specific
Much better to do specific training instead of just a random number pulled out of thin air. That is if you want to get faster….
Even if I just wanted to enjoy cycling I would prefer to ride when I want and not when I ‘need’ to to hit a target.

[rjfrussell]

Rule 5.
Rule 5.

[CXR94Di2]

My goals have changed this
My goals have changed this year, spending most of it recovering. I then started training on a turbo. I love it, all the data points and variety of training sessions. I don’t ride half as far as I did, but have more fun pushing myself.

I have ridden less than 300 road miles this year, but when I did go out I was as fast as I ever was, probably faster. I don’t do long rides, the furthest 50miles(one and only Sunday club run). 99% of my training is less than an hour in duration.

Try something different

[Simon E]

Goals can be good but if you
Goals can be good but if you set yourself a target that is hard work there is the potential for it to become a chore. Can’t see the fun in that. No point comparing yourself with mile munchers except as a form of motivation.

My ‘answer’ is to ask questions:

What do you want to achieve?

Is annual distance a good metric or have you made a rod for your back?

Where do you see yourself next year, in 2 or 5 years’ time? (i.e. what do you want to say you have done by the end of each period)

Do you have a target weight or fitness level? What happens when you reach it and how do you stay there?

You could think about different goals – events (L’Etape, London-Paris) or one-off routes or distances (C2C, an audax over the Pennines or into Wales, a night ride to the coast…). Localities/areas of the country you to ride in. A surprising number of people have used Simon Warren’s 100 Climbs books as an ‘excuse’ to ride in different places. I’m hoping to catch Anna Hughes talk about her “Eat Sleep Cycle” 4,000 mile tour round the British coast next month. She is in M’cr on 14 September (Facebook event). Can’t see me doing the same ride but it might spark something…

What lights your fire?

[AJ101]

Don’t worry about it, just
Don’t worry about it, just stick to riding for fun and I’m sure you’ve got other things in your life you’d like to be able to put a bit more time on. Biking isn’t the only thing thats good for you or worthwhile.

All the best
Tony.

[vonhelmet]

I’m aiming for 3600 miles
I’m aiming for 3600 miles (outdoor, not counting turbo miles) this year. I’m on course for 2500 by the end of August, so I’m getting there. I’m expecting a decent amount of riding in September, not least as I’m going to be doing an imperial century, give or take, going to watch the Tour of Britain. After that, it’ll get harder as the weather gets worse and work ramps up at the end of the year.

Most of my riding is done solo. I don’t have too much trouble motivating myself – I’m a fairly solitary person most of the time so it doesn’t bother me riding alone! The thing that’s been a real pain this year is the weather – it’s just been dire!

[BrokenBootneck]

I did the same last last
I did the same last last year, although my target was 5000 miles, I don’t like kilometres for some reason. I did probably 90% of it on my own which towards the end got slightly tedious. Up until the end of July I was flying, and was well up on target, I then had bronchitis twice which throughout August, September and October really hurt me. My commute to work is three miles and I would regularly do ten or 12, even popping out for a quick ride in my lunch break. I often did a long ride after work on a Tuesday or Wednesday and a 70 mile ride at the weekend, it soon adds up. You just have to get out and rack up the miles, even if towards the end it gets depressing. I was out on Xmas day and New Year’s Eve too, only a 20 miler and a 12 miler, but they do all add up.

[Martyn_K]

If you are riding solo all
If you are riding solo all the time then finding a reason to get out can be hard. Can you get in to a club? Can you find others to ride with in your locality? Do you ever strike up conversation with others when riding to see if they want to buddy up.

When you know there is a group of others riding or a mate is waiting for you at the car park then it is easier to hit the road. Having company when cycling can be pretty important for morale especially when things get tough during a ride.

I complete about 30% of my distance solo with the other 70% being with the club or a couple of riding buddies. I’m just shy of 10k km for the year so far and enjoy every ride.

[kev-s]

Sorry but the only way to do
Sorry but the only way to do it is to shut up and ride lol

The way the British weather is esp now as summer is almost over means your going to get more wet days than dry so its ride in all weathers or ride much bigger rides when dry to try and compensate

I do 32km a day commuting, 5 days a week in all weathers inc snow (no car=no choice)

Then anywhere between 80 to 120km on the weekend depending on family plans etc…

Been doing that for the past few years

Was hard at first but i just had to man up and get on with it

Main thing to remember is if your not enjoying it then cut back, no point in making yourself not liking spending time on the bike

All comes down to how much you really want to hit that target

[crikey]

Top tip;
You have virtually
Top tip;

You have virtually unlimited amounts of everything except enthusiasm. When that’s gone, it’s really gone and chasing an arbitrary target will seem a bit daft.

[Author]

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