Ten Miles a Day

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
Ayesha
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Ayesha »

That chart looks suspiciously similar to David Gordon Wilson / Frank Whitt’s chart in ‘Bicycling Science’ MIT Press.

Estimating calorific expenditure on a bicycle is a Devil’s own task. There are so many variables, it isn’t worth bothering trying to get an estimate within 100 kCals for 50 km.

You go out on a cold morning, shivering like a jelly and finish the day in blazing sunshine sweating like a racehorse.

The question is,, how much energy was lost to windchill through the day and how much energy was saved due to ‘Solar gain’ in the bright sunshine?
Who knows?

Lick your finger and wave it in the air for a good answer.

Trying to associate kCals with kW on a bicycle is entirely ludicrous. The methods of logging kCals are too inaccurate.

A more sensible way of making an estimation is to do a VO2 Max test measuring your HR and Watts output at 11 test points on a calibrated ergometer. Get 4th order curve coefficients from the data.
Record HR through the ride and average it. Enter your avg HR into the polynomial and read off the Watts value.
Even so, this will only give you a value for crank power, which is APPROX 25% of total power expelled.

But there are still flies in the ointment.
As you ride, your VO2 characteristic changes.
Ayesha
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Ayesha »

If I add on the 128 miles for The Tinsel and Lanes Audax in December, my present standing is 12.6 miles per day.

Gawd knows how many miles on the ergometer???
beetroot
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Joined: 25 Sep 2010, 9:25am

Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by beetroot »

Mick F wrote:My Garmin 705 records everything it can of course, and I upload the ride history into Ascent - a Mac based activity program. All of the data is re-calculated using HR, elevation profile, speed, rider weight and age and bike weight. The power readout is as good as a program can get I suppose.

You can, of course, use a PowerTap hub.


Or you can just ride your bike
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Mick F
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Mick F »

Yes, and I've now sold my 705.
TBH, it's a sort of liberation to be without it. I no longer look at my HR and cadence - basically it's a "been there, done that" sort of liberation.

Not to say that I didn't enjoy it.
Mick F. Cornwall
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easyroller
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by easyroller »

:D :D :D HAPPY DANCE! :D :D :D

So on Sunday December 1st I managed to hit my target of 8 miles/day (2920 miles) for the year! Currently sitting on 2940 miles after a bumper 85 mile weekend and now should easily push through the 3000 mile barrier. That's all leisure miles as I don't do any commuting. Pretty happy with that as I had a bit of a break here and there.


:mrgreen:
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Mick F
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Mick F »

Congrats! :D
Well done!

My idea of getting an average 10mpd has definitely worked for me. It's made me get out most days and made me clock up the mileage slowly but surely. I hit the 3,900mile barrier on Thursday last week, so have really bitten the bullet. I'm aiming at 11mpd now because things have gone so well. I have only 61miles to do for the rest of the month, but I'm not taking this lightly. Busy all day tomorrow, so it'll be Wednesday before I get another chance and the weather forecast is for icy blasts soon.

Trouble is, it's December of course. As soon as the weather gets too cold/wet/frosty, that's it. Finished. :oops:
It took me until February this year until I made it into credit, and even then I was fluctuating into debt and back into credit until May came when I began to get some big positive numbers.
Mick F. Cornwall
binsted
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by binsted »

Mick F wrote:This is not easy.
If I were commuting by bike, it may be easy, but being retired and having other stuff to do, getting out and getting the average up is very difficult indeed. If I'm not careful I'm going to get obsessed about this. :oops: ............. and tired out.

.


Peeps don't realise the difficulty of being retired, I now have to keep a diary so I don't miss commitments and am so busy I might have to enlist help. :)

Not really sure now how I managed to fit work in :wink: :wink: :)
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Mick F
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Mick F »

Yes. Retired.
Yesterday, I was driving the Community Bus, so no cycling.

Today, no cycling either.
Instead, I've been finalising the stuff for the Poppy Appeal and loads of the stuff is now ready to go into the loft for next year. Meanwhile I've made a stew and it's cooking slowly in the oven for tea. :D
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Mick F »

Rides Diary 2013 now closed.
This December, I rode 281miles ............ far further than I've ridden in a December, probably ever, and twice as far as I've ever recorded.

The year ended with 4,201.41miles total - 11.51miles per day - 80.57miles per week.
If I'd done only another 180miles for the whole of the year, I'd have managed 12miles per day.

This has all been done with actually going nowhere! All I've done is go for rides and not actually gone anywhere. :oops:

Next year I plan on riding Up North to visit friends and family, so that'll boost my figures ok. I wonder if I can manage 13miles a day?
Mick F. Cornwall
Ben@Forest
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Ben@Forest »

I have the same overall target every year (3,650 miles) but rarely ride less than 50 miles at a time. This year my total was 5,029 at an average of 60.6 miles. However as to getting there my monthly targets are 200, 250, 300 then 6 months at 360 then back down 300, 250 and 200. It means I am far more likely to hit the targets than being disappointed right up till the end of March!

This year I was obviously well over but did JOGLE which helped!
Terry_Duck
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Terry_Duck »

As I am coming up to retirement next month, I found this thread fascinating. Like many contributors I have been getting all my mileage from my commute. From 2001 onwards (when I took up cycling again after a very long lapse) I have been doing 21 miles per working day. This has kept me fit and eliminated the need for gym membership.

In August 2013 I was asked if I would take over the IT support in our Partnership school, after thinking carefully about this I said yes and took on a 38 miles per day commute. Last Wednesday Chertsey Bridge was closed due to flooding so I was forced to backtrack and find a different way over the Thames, with the backtracking and getting lost I managed 51 miles that day. The bridge is still closed, but I now know how to get to work without getting lost. The amended route adds a significant distance to an already long commute, I now do 42 miles per working day. I hope the bridge dries out soon!

I didn't cycle during the Christmas holidays, but I didn't stop eating either. A lot of the weight lost during the September to December period was put back on in the Christmas Binge. If I am to remain fit, healthy and slim in retirement I will have to keep cycling regularly or stop eating. I can't do riding nowhere for no apparent reason so what I thought I would do is get a map of my area and draw a circle with a radius of 25 miles and its centre on Guildford where I live. I reckon I could do 25 miles in the morning and another 25 back in the afternoon occasionally. What would make the plan work well is finding other riders who could make it to a point on my circle from where they live, we could meet up, have tea, cake and a natter and then cycle home again. Anyone up for this idea?
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Mick F
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by Mick F »

After I retired from the RN, I had a job locally that I walked to. I'd commuted by bike for many many years and in different parts of the country as I was posted.

From 1996 when I left the RN up to 2004, I hardly turned a pedal. I had no reason to cycle. My cycling life always had a reason, even as a kid, a youth, and a married man - every time I got on the bike, I was going somewhere for a reason.

I lost that reason in 1996. :oops:

In the summer of 2004, I looked at my bike and felt sad. The bike needed to be ridden, so I hopped on and rode it. I managed about 2miles and had to stop coz I was knackered! :oops: With perseverance, my fitness improved and with a few months I was riding all over the place. From then on, I was riding two or three times a week exploring the local lanes and roads doing anything up to 75miles - occasionally even further.

By 2006, I was talked into riding LEJOG, but I decided I'd do LEJOG and Back to LE. Since then, I've toured over most of the country and I'm attempting to ride on every single road in Cornwall - and I'm well on my way to completing it.

There is a cycling life after commuting. It's all a matter of turning a form of transport to get to work into an enjoyable hobby.
Mick F. Cornwall
colin54
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by colin54 »

I've only really started cycling regularly since I've retired, apart from cycling to work before.I've found that if I had the chance to go out and didn't take it at the end of the day I was looking back thinking, I should have gone out today and feeling fed up about it, like a day wasted sat indoors. I've never gone out on my bike and looked back and thought I wish I hadn't. One's a negative feeling for me, one's a positive one . If I'm dithering about going out I think of how rubbish I'll feel later on if I don't, and start getting ready to go, that takes a while but once the decision is made I'm gonna go come what may. If I've checked out the weather the day before and decided it's going to be a good day next day for a ride, I'll always go out as I've already made the decision. I like the feeling of not having wasted the day.This works for me so far
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easyroller
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by easyroller »

I don't commute (okay, I did twice last year...) so besides the odd trip to the shops all my cycling is for my own leisure. I have yet to set a mileage target for 2014 but I've got a couple of other targets. I may try for 10 miles/day but realistically I'm probably looking at more like 8 or 9 miles/day like last year.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Ten Miles a Day

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
colin54 wrote:I've only really started cycling regularly since I've retired, apart from cycling to work before.I've found that if I had the chance to go out and didn't take it at the end of the day I was looking back thinking, I should have gone out today and feeling fed up about it, like a day wasted sat indoors. I've never gone out on my bike and looked back and thought I wish I hadn't. One's a negative feeling for me, one's a positive one . If I'm dithering about going out I think of how rubbish I'll feel later on if I don't, and start getting ready to go, that takes a while but once the decision is made I'm gonna go come what may. If I've checked out the weather the day before and decided it's going to be a good day next day for a ride, I'll always go out as I've already made the decision. I like the feeling of not having wasted the day.This works for me so far

Its a Drug..............
If the sun dont shine, I will force myself out all weathers and I allways feel better after that.
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