how many hours a week on the bike

ocd · 01-24-2009

are the experienced 24 solo people putting in?

Average Joes, not podium guys?

MichaelW · 01-25-2009

I am putting in 9-12 hours of riding a week. I am out to finish, and beat my personal best not win. This was worked well for me so far.

z rocks · 01-25-2009

Lately 12-16hrs a week. Alot of roady ridin though. And i'm just training for a duo right now. Its about the same volume as i do training for a solo. Any more hrs than that and the chores REALLY pile up.

sdcadbiker · 01-25-2009

For me, it's more about weekly milage than saddle time; I try to ride at least 200 miles per week in training, a combo of MTB, road and spin.

I agree that road riding is a great way to increase endurance while MTB is good for "fast twitch", explosive muscle action. Both disciplines complement each other.

Matt 24 solo · 01-25-2009

Structured bike time is 12-14 hours for the next 3 weeks then increasing. Add on a 4-6 hours a week of skiing and snowshoeing and a little time in the gym. It sucks right now though because almost all bike time is on the trainer. I really miss singletrack and dirt right now

OilcanRacer · 01-25-2009

12-15 on the bike and another 12-15 in core/back/arms in the off season.

but i am still in a slow build stage. it should go up to 15-20 hours on the bike by fall

dmccune · 01-25-2009

Not to hijack the thread, but what about shorter endurance events? I'm looking at 100km to 100 miles for my main races this year, I've been getting in about 10 hours now, and when it gets nicer probably 13-15, based on the hours for folks racing 24's I'm thinking that should cover me.

MichaelW · 01-26-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmccune

Not to hijack the thread, but what about shorter endurance events? I'm looking at 100km to 100 miles for my main races this year, I've been getting in about 10 hours now, and when it gets nicer probably 13-15, based on the hours for folks racing 24's I'm thinking that should cover me.

I have done 50-100 milers with the same amount of time on the bike with some different workouts. 13-15 would be nice, but work and family does not allow for more time on the bike. I am about maxed out on training time with 12 hours on the bike.

Dirthound · 01-26-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmccune

Not to hijack the thread, but what about shorter endurance events? I'm looking at 100km to 100 miles for my main races this year, I've been getting in about 10 hours now, and when it gets nicer probably 13-15, based on the hours for folks racing 24's I'm thinking that should cover me.

About 2 hr / week now, which is divided up between riding on some rollers and the exercise bikes at the gym. You guys are dedicated to be riding that many hours now. If I'm going to be motivated to still look at a bicycle in July when it's 100 degrees, the only way for me to get there is to do other things right now that are still aerobic based.

I stick to XC, marathon distance and several 100's and 12hrs. Maybe this I why I don't podium.

jimmy · 01-29-2009

Any of you have jobs? 12-15 hrs a week in the winter? Is this on a trainer or outside in the dark? Or maybe you are all night security guards or gigilos (SP?)?

Wild74 · 01-30-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmy

Any of you have jobs? 12-15 hrs a week in the winter? Is this on a trainer or outside in the dark? Or maybe you are all night security guards or gigilos (SP?)?

That's what I was thinking when reading through the thread. A have a daytime job and family, I'm lucky to be putting in 3-4 hrs a week on the trainer and about 3-4 lunch hrs a week in the gym (core) or out snowshoeing (cardio) right now. The trainer workouts are typically 1x 2+hrs on the weekend plus 1x-2x 1-hr during the week; I'm using Spinervals videos (9.0, 12.0, 20.0) or doing my own intervals/sessions with DVD movies - they're fairly good workouts. It will probably increase when riding season kicks in over here (road: April, mtb: May), but I doubt ever reaching the double digits of riding / week.

I have never done anything longer than 5-hr endurance events (about 65 km or 40 miles) - four of them last year. I'm currently training for a Solo 24-hr race in NH in August, I'm only planning on riding 12-14 hrs of it though, or still hoping to pick-up a partner and go in as a pair.

I'm in the Master Sport 30-39 category and ride for the competitive spirit of pushing myself, not about podiums if that helps any.

sdcadbiker · 01-30-2009

Hey, it's not my fault if you guys live in the wrong place! It's 75 degrees in San Diego...

Here's my weekly schedule:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: Commute twelve miles each way through a canyon.
Saturday: Club road ride, usually 65-80 miles, 4-5 hours.
Sunday: MTB, 2+ hours.

That gets me ~200 miles per week without impacting my family schedule too much.

dskunk · 01-30-2009

I guess I'm at 10-11 hours on the bike and 2+ on the trainer plus some core stuff thrown in at random through the week (it's supposed to be structured but ya know). And the only thing that gets me that amount of time is commuting, 4-5 days a week 44km round trip.

I personally don't believe you need big hours right now. I'd be happy to cut back on the road miles and increase the time on the trainer a bit (build up some strength now and then ease into longer rides closer to spring) but the road gets me to work and I'm not willing to give that up

ChrisJ · 01-30-2009

I'm getting about 6-8 per week. Working 40 hour work weeks. Single, young and loving it.

KERKOVEJ · 01-31-2009

I average about 15-17 hrs a week for the entire year.

bikesinmud · 01-31-2009

Typically I do no less than 10hrs a week since the first of November. I've had 3 weeks of 20+hours this winter. Now I'm not riding every day but doing some 5-6hr rides 2x/week and the rest of my time is snowshoeing and a few sessions on the treadmill. Then some interval trainer or roller workouts. I also get bored in a really big way so I've gotta change it up a lot until the weather is warm enough for a outside ride. I use different types of power meters so I know where I'm at at all times.

0gre · 02-01-2009

I am between jobs so I'm putting in 15-20+ hours per week. I might ramp it up a little more yet until I find a job, we've had good weather and I have about 10 pounds of winter weight to burn off.

Even while I was working I was usually able to squeeze in 10-15 hours because I commuted to work on the bike. Having 5 hours/ week as a base is a great way to keep your edge.

The bulk of my riding is on road bike but I usually manage 5-10 hours on the MTB on weekends or evenings. I'm not training for anything in particular but I would like to best my 11 hour Tahoe ride and defend our 2 man 24 hours at Cool title.

Pizzaz · 02-12-2009

Depending on programme... about 12-18 hours a week - with full time job. It just involves getting up stoopid early. Programme is along the lines of
* commute monday - 1hr there, 40mins back
* Endurance tues and wed - 3hrs AM, 2hrs PM,
* Speed / intensity Thursday - about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs
* Rest friday
* Saturday - Endurance / hills (road), 4-5 hours+
* Sunday - MTB, 4-6hrs

Roughly 500kms, 15 - 20 hours or so. My wife is extremely tolerant and copes with not having me around 'till lunchtime or so on weekends... besides she likes to sleep in anyway, on a short weekend I've already done 3-4hrs before shes getting out of bed

ErieRider · 02-13-2009

On average an hour a day keeps me competitive in our local area on the road and in smaller endurance races. If you have a wife+kids consider yourself lucky if you can find that hour.

More important that training time is training quality - make those workouts count. Do yourself a favor and pick up Joe Friel's Cyclist training bible, set some season goals, make a training plan, ride like hell, and enjoy the journey.

dmccune · 02-14-2009

For me to get in the 10 hours takes planning and dedication. Weather is usually not a big issue living in Denver, yea it may be a little cold, but snow tends to melt quick. The bigger issue is work, and yes I work full-time (wish it was 40 hours a week but realistically more like 50-55). To get in the time I commute to work four days a week (Monday is a rest day). If it is nice I put in an hour on the way in 30 minutes home. Weekends seem to be a 2 hour fast mountain or road ride and a long 4 hour road ride. With work and familly this means leaving early to get home at a reasonable time. For a long ride I'm usually out the door by 6:30, home by 10:30.