How do I go from a 3x/week commuter to 5x/week?

[Geoff]

@PotomacCyclist 88625 wrote:

Strength training is good, but it doesn’t need to be done year-round.

I agree with most of what you said, but not this particular thought. Weight training helps maintain bone density and slows the loss of muscle mass that comes with age. As someone with a full head of gray hair, these are worthwhile considerations. No one is going to take me for a bodybuilder but weights are an important part of my routine. I do less of it in the summer, when I am biking more, but there is no reason to stop doing it at any point during the year.

On this subject I recommend the book “Younger Next Year” which argues that a key to maintaining quality of life as you age is regular excercise, mostly aerobic but also weights.

[Drewdane]

I found that riding daily (Falls Church to Foggy Bottom/GWU) burns me out on cycling in general, so I stick with M/W/F to preserve the fun factor.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Geoff 88633 wrote:

I agree with most of what you said, but not this particular thought. Weight training helps maintain bone density and slows the loss of muscle mass that comes with age. As someone with a full head of gray hair, these are worthwhile considerations. No one is going to take me for a bodybuilder but weights are an important part of my routine. I do less of it in the summer, when I am biking more, but there is no reason to stop doing it at any point during the year.

On this subject I recommend the book “Younger Next Year” which argues that a key to maintaining quality of life as you age is regular exercise, mostly aerobic but also weights.

I should mention that I do more sport-specific strength work in the spring and summer: hills on the bike and run, paddles and sprints on the swim. Plus some shorter, maintenance strength workouts. I do that because it becomes too difficult to do serious strength workouts in the spring and summer as I ramp up the swim/bike/run training. So I agree that year-round activity is recommended, and that some type of strength component be included. But formal strength training is tougher to fit in for those who do heavier training for races and long events. Even though we’re all amateurs on the forum, many (most?) end up training for some type of event, whether it’s a century ride or a race.

Increasing the sport-specific “strength” workouts, while maintaining heavier strength training sessions, can overload someone pretty easily. It’s important to manage overall stress loads and total intensity in the weekly and monthly program.

[kcb203]

Had a great ride in today. Yesterday, I drove and left clothes for the week in my locker, so today I only had to bring wallet, phone and keys. I tucked in in my jersey pocket, put the race wheels on the tri bike, and beat my previous commuting PR by 4 minutes. That’s one way to keep the same ol’ 14 miles interesting. I’ll have to ride my cross bike or mountain bike some days and ride on the gravel trail that parallels the W&OD from Vienna to Reston. Another way to change it up a bit.

To answer another question, I’ve got mixed reasons for bike commuting. I enjoy saving a few bucks, but am well-enough situated that it’s not a big deal one way or another. Going to DC, it’s faster. I do like to get exercise every day (usually 13 out of 14 over two weeks), and being on my bike kills two birds. I do generally feel better once I’m on my bike. I think getting stuff ready the night before will be the key to keeping me doing this. I think I’ll try to shoot for four days a week, allowing me to bail once a week due to weather, out-of-the-office meetings, etc.

[kcb203]

One other thing, and I probably shouldn’t admit it on this board, but I think that at heart, I’m more of a runner than a cyclist. When training for triathlons, I look forward to the hard runs more than the hard bike rides. But I’ve been dealing with knee and foot injuries for a year now and have had to cut way back on the running. What I’m missing most are frequent trail runs with my dogs. (Since I hurt my knee, one of my dogs has gained three pounds.)

I love cycling, particularly someplace new or beautiful, but I don’t get huge amounts of joy riding from the TR Bridge to Chinatown on DC days or doing the 22 dangerous trail crossings on the W&OD between my house and the Reston office. Somewhere in the back of my mind is the fear that if I bike commute for the next 20 years, I’m bound to get whacked by a car at least once.

But I can’t wait to bike up Mt. Washington. 7.6 miles at 12%.

[hozn]

The W&OD does get a bit boring, but I like having the luxury of not riding in traffic. That said, I almost always ride up Hunter Station and down Glade in order to skip all the crossings in Reston. That is a peaceful route. And every so often I ride up Great Falls over to Lewinsville, Brook, Old Dominion, Towler, down Clarks Crossing. That cuts out almost all of the trail — but doesn’t feel safer

But you should consider the Lake Fairfax detour. That’s what I’m doing tomorrow AM. Or maybe just driving out and mountain biking. Hmmm, tough choices.

[vern]

@kcb203 88589 wrote:

Thanks for all the advice. A little more detail. In addition to biking, I also swim 3x a week, lift weights once a week, and run a couple times a week. The days I’m least eager to ride in are those where I already swam or lifted in the morning. Today, for example, I went to the gym at 6, and when I got ready to leave home at 7:30, my legs were tired already. I get plenty of sleep–in bed by 10 every night.

Perhaps I do think of my commute as Cat6 racing. Not so much on the days into DC, where I JRA due to the inherent slowness of the Custis and my 15 blocks on city streets (except for hammering the uphills on the way home). But on the days to Reston, I do think of it as my bike training most days, so unless I’m ready to go hard, I feel like I’m wasting energy that should be saved for a real training session. (I’m riding up Mt. Washington this summer and really need to get bike fitness like I’ve never had before.)

Logistically, the bike commute works for me. On the 3-4 days a week I’m in Reston, I’ve got a gym with towel service and a permanent locker to store toiletries, shoes, belt, pants, etc. In DC, I have to bring everything every day, but it all fits into my backpack.

It’s not an issue of my waking time. I’m up naturally between 5:30 and 6 without an alarm. I usually don’t leave for work until 7:50 on the DC days and 7:40 on the Reston days to be showered at my desk at 9. Four days out of five during the week, I’m doing another workout before even heading out the door. When I’m late, it’s not for oversleeping but just spending too much time at the pool or gym.

I swim 3 days a week. What I’ve done to give my legs a break is that when I swim, I kick very little so that swimming becomes primarily an upper body exercise. And my legs always feel better after being in the water.

[Terpfan]

All I have to do is periodically not bike into work to be reminded why I prefer riding in 5 days a week. For example, yesterday. My drive both ways took almost an hour and 45 minutes (stupid storm damage). Meanwhile, my ride this morning was 1hr 12 minutes without the hassles of people cutting me off. And last time I took Metro I spent 35 minutes just waiting to catch a stupid Red Line train because of some single tracking nonsense during rush hour. If it were runnable, I would even consider running a few days in, but I can’t really do 35 miles a day. Shoot, i could barely do 5. So yahhh.

[americancyclo]

Rule #5
we were talking about this on the convoy this morning and I was reminded of a photo i took once of someone’s bike:

[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-pfleHzqb8U8/UgjbHvhZF5I/AAAAAAAAPrk/KWp34hRPDrI/w958-h539-no/103_0941.JPG[/IMG]
and I mean that in the nicest way possible

[mcfarton]

Lol I love it

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