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15/03/2009 10:55:04 AM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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how many kms do people do per week & how do they manage to fit them in?
do you do 2 sessions a day?
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15/03/2009 3:26:35 PM
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Jason Daniels
Posts 73
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Troy, this won't suit everyone, but this is how I rode 25,000k in one year in Adelaide.
I Rode to work and back every day and lived at least 17kms from work, that's 30 - 40minutes on my MTB. Min 35ks, but on my ride home, I extended my ride until I was at least 10 minutes away from the sunset and 10 minutes away from home. During daylight savings, I was able to extend my ride from 35kms to around 70kms.
During daylight savings, on Tues and Thurs, I would do a 32km time trial up Norton and down Monty, and in reverse alternatively on my road bike, this would give me a min of 67kms for these days and would only take one hour.
So just by that, I'm looking at 175kms min Mon - Fri in the Winter and nearly 350kms Mon - Fri in Summer.
Saturday would be Mega Bike (75k return from my place) and then a ride after coffee. (another 50 - 100), be home 12pm to 2:30pm.
Sunday would be anywhere from 100 - 160 but generally closer to 160. Sometimes up to 200 and coast to coast and back and tdu rides and back were between 225 and 300.
So an average Winter week could be 350 - 400 and an average summer week would be 450 - 550.
Some helpful tips, if your family is going out for an afternoon picnic/family gathering, ride your bike there and meet everyone at site. This also gives you an excuse to arrive 1 hour late and leave early. 
And instead of driving to the shops, get an old dunga bike, a big fat arse backpack, and ride there and back. I was often seen carrying a carton of beer, a bottle of wine, and few groceries all on my dunga MTB. This can get you 5kms easily, and the extra weight makes it feel way solid. Also, on days of rain, get a MTB and hit a pine forest, you may only cover 30kms in 4 hours, but it is great fun, and good for your skills. Also, on days when you are short on time, get a MTB, fill up your backpack with something heavy and climb the nearest mountain. I used to ride home with 10kgs of firewood up Sheoak on my MTB some nights during the winter, and then do a flyer down Norton weighing 10kgs more than normal.
And reward yourself, enjoy a beer with mates at the Summit Hotel, the Port Dock Brewery, the Austral before cruising home on a late Saturday arvo, especially after riding back from Victor and clocking up 225ks.... you deserve it!
The year I clocked the 25,000, I spent I think about 28 days of the whole year not on the bike... That's a February wasted. And take your holidays in January, and ride every part of the tdu.
But most importantly, stay rubber side down.
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15/03/2009 3:28:18 PM
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Jason Daniels
Posts 73
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And Troy, apart from a few mornings in the dark of winter, that 25,000ks was completed in daylight.
No-one should get up at 5am to go riding. There's a time for sleeping and a time for cycling.
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15/03/2009 3:58:23 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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I guess A lot of people get up early to beat the traffic etc or coz of work etc
I`ve just started doing specific work on my indoor trainer
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15/03/2009 7:04:01 PM
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harley j
Posts 91
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i enjoy living a spartan lifestyle. no car, no house, no debt, no license, no phone. all my material possessions weigh less than my bodyweight.
for the last 10 years, ive pedalled more km each year than dollars received.
i used to think income was all about how much money you got, now i know its about how much time you got doing what your passionate about.
a banker buddy of mine asked me how i can ride so much? i told him that its my preference to live this way and i let nothing stand in my way of living fit n healthy.
once i was in melbourne and needed to get back to adelaide. i only had 27$ and my trek with aerobars.i had 2 options.
i could have gotten a bus but that meant no food for 2 days.
or i could ride back to adelaide in 48hours and eat as well.
i was hungry so i started riding and got back to mt lofty in 48.5hours. i would have forgotten the bus ride, but that 48hrs i will remember for ever!
the unexamined life aint worth living. so lets make today worth remembering...
edited by harley j on 15/03/2009
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15/03/2009 7:33:42 PM
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Robert Rau
Posts 150
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Hi Harley,
Very inspirational story. Terrific to hear you get so much enjoyment riding the bike. I started riding to work when petrol hit $1 a litre a few years back. Sold the four wheel drive which would have delighted many cyclists. At the time my wife bought me a gym membership and I was building up the kms on the static bike in RPM sessions. As with most gym programmes you eventually need to change the routine as weight loss gradually tapered off. Hit the road (literally at times) and rode a few hills around Adelaide as part of my workout. Gradually over time 115 kg became 86 kg (Im 6 foot 3). As the weight came down, the ability to climb hills improved. May last year gradually got involved in regular group rides. Met some terrific people along the way. Even built up my own bikes from parts I either purchased on ebay or friends I ride with (built up 4 bikes last year as I wore out or crashed the old ones.) My wife said I only have one bottom to ride one bike at a time which is a good point. However I keep one nice Giant TCR for group hills rides, and I ride a Vitus 992 to work and town as it is a nice comfortable bike to ride and was a cheap bike to build up - a real old classic in original condition from the era of Greg Lemond and Sean Kelly who raced on them (I grew up in this era and always wanted one of these mega $ bikes but couldnt afford to buy one during my student days). When I ride the Vitus I feel like the luckiest guy in Adelaide riding a very distinctive bike which stands out in any peleton. We are so lucky here in Adelaide having the hills literally having the hills a few feet away and an easy way to escape the big smoke and choking petrol fumes. Its all about the bike!
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15/03/2009 9:33:53 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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yeah i guess in the days before cars people either had to walk or ride everywhere
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15/03/2009 10:05:30 PM
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Jeffrey Schulz
Posts 56
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I love cycling but cars hurt me to much. Why me, please leave me alone. Saturday I got sideswiped by a semi trailer with rego R54 988. The front of the truck past me fine but he pulled in so early the back trailer hit my elboy. I thought I was f--ked but somehow managed to avoid coming off. The worst bit was I was doing over 50km/hr down a hill at the time.
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15/03/2009 10:11:25 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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sounds like a very close call there mate.I`ve had a couple of close calls & it always seems to take a couple of mins to get your composure back
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16/03/2009 2:31:03 PM
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Redlad
Posts 31
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That's some close call Jeff! Very lucky to escape that one!
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16/03/2009 6:14:40 PM
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Robert Walker
Posts 1
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I hate it when trucks do that. It happened to me once but luckily there was gravel run off on the side of the road, i always get edgy when being passed by merging trucks now 
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16/03/2009 10:11:51 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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Im just wondering how the A grade guys cram in so many kms in a week (500-600kms+)
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16/03/2009 10:28:53 PM
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Robert Rau
Posts 150
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Hi Troy,
Those A graders pedal faster than we do so they cover more distance faster. My wife would divorce me if I did 500-600 km per week as I dont think I would ever arrive back home. Perhaps spinning up hills will improve your speed on the flats, but the flats for me are boring - need hills even though Im pretty crap at climbing (just ask anyone of the Blackwood Mega Bike riders - they seem to cruise past me all the time - maybe I should just sit at the back of the group and wheel suck all day - but theres nothing like a good surge up a hill then blowing up Getting better as a few times I have managed to maintain an insane work rate to the top of a hill, just need consistency.
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16/03/2009 11:16:53 PM
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DanielS
Posts 21
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Yeah I think Robert makes a good point! Those guys are averaging 30-35 kph even on hills rides so 600 kms is 20 hrs. If you do 2 hrs of riding each day during the week and a couple of 4-5 hr rides on the weekend theres the 600kms....
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16/03/2009 11:25:30 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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yeah I`d love to be to cruise around above 30kph
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24/07/2009 12:57:14 AM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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As I work Fulltime I find it hrd to squeeze in the kms.Im considering trying to do a couple of days of double sessions, 1 in the morning & 1 in the arvo/evening.Any thoughts?
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24/07/2009 4:13:01 PM
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Dwayne Cox
Posts 23
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Troy.... im in the same boat.. I live 30kms from work so would be ideal to get in 60ks a day but the problem is no facilities to get changed at where I work .... work in finance so need to look half respectable at work..........
With a young family its also hard to get the ks during the week to make the sunday ride a bit easier with the group.
May just have to bite the bullet and use the basin in the work kitchen to "freshen up" and change, maybe once a week and see how it goes.??
The mountain bike idea being substitute for car is a great way to do it ....... 5ks to the shop is better than no ks
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24/07/2009 5:56:02 PM
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Michael Warner
Posts 122
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Dwayne Cox wrote:
May just have to bite the bullet and use the basin in the work kitchen to "freshen up" and change, maybe once a week and see how it goes.??
If your toilet at work has hot and cold sink taps and you can lock the door, you could use one of those tap-to-shower adapters (from Bunnings etc) to give yourself a quick shower. They have two large rubber cups which fit over most taps and feed a shower head - I rigged one up to an overhead beam in my laundry while I was renovating the bathroom!
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24/07/2009 8:03:44 PM
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Clayton Marsland
Posts 6
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If you build up a reasonable base fitness during daylight savings, you can get through the winter on a relatively small amount of training. I got throught the road season (albeit in the lower grades) last year on the indoor trainer during the week and either racing on Saturday or long training ride on Sunday (eg 100kms). Probably about 6-8 hours a week. Just make the hours that you do ride count...
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24/07/2009 8:10:57 PM
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Troy Collett
Posts 171
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yeah Im doing the Megabike spin class.Its pretty dam good.Better than training alone in my garage
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