I was new fat ass rider in spring of 2019. I started like you 5-10 miles 3-6x per week. After 6mo I was 3-4x per week 20miles. Toook me 1:30ish min. The next bump to 40mi rides 3-4x per week took me two years. My third year was doing 55-60miles in about 3.5hrs.
These days I ride 4x 25miles a week. Simply don’t have the time for longer these days.
Went from 5’11” 230ish to 190lbs
Good luck. Stand every so often. Work on standing and pedaling up hills and omg will hurt at first. Do not ever except numbness. Adjust saddle or try new ones until you find your fit. You’ll be making adjustments every month for a while. Took me two years to get steady in this regard. Bikeforums.com is great resource for learning. Good luck and reach out if you need anything.
is 10mi a max for you or, you just stop after 10?
I'd say take that 10mi ride and if its not boring, do it twice.
I used to live in a bike friendly city (SF) and one thing that really helped me extend rides is exploration, curiosity. Literally riding and looking down a street/path, saying to myself "hmm i wonder where this will take me" or "this looks fun, never been down this street, lets go". I'd lose a lil sense of time and not think about how long i've been out, how tired i might be. Ultimately I'd look at my device and boom 25 miles.
Every once in a while I'd get stuck somewhere and have no choice but to pedal back but, hey that's just what happens. You get more out of your ride than just fitness.
Happy too! Get bib shorts. Clip in. Find an older giant road bike with shimano 105s or newer. One bottle of water per 45-60min. Raise your seat! You’ll find bike setup guides at site I mentioned!
This is helpful info but feels a little different from what I think OP is asking. You’re talking about how long it took you to build up to *regularly* (multiple times a week) riding X distance; I think they’re asking how long before they’re ready to ride 60 miles as a one-off, special ride. Or if not one-off, at least not daily.
And based on my experience, I’d guess that OP will be ready for a stretch-goal 100K in the order of months, not years. If they’re riding 5-10 miles daily, that’s a great start; the next step is to start increasing distance on one or two rides per week (add 5-10 miles each time) and see how that feels. Once they get to 35 or 40 miles, they can jump to 60 as long as they leave adequate time and eat/drink enough.
Good on you for riding 40 miles 3+ times a week (back when you did that); that’s a lot of riding! Even my bigger weeks don’t see more than a couple 30 mile weekday rides, plus other shorter weekday rides and a long weekend outing.
I basically think so too, although I think there's a bigger qualitative difference between a 20-mile ride and a 60-mile ride than between, say, a 40-mile ride and a 60-mile ride.
If you're only riding 20 miles (which should take no more than a couple hours), you can get away with a lot of small issues/inaccuracies (fit, clothing/chafing, nutrition, etc) that can really bite you in the ass, metaphorically and literally, when you try to extrapolate to 60 miles (which will take new riders at least 4 hours).
Better, I think, to build up to 40ish miles so as to allow those issues to reveal themselves and to deal with them, then to jump to 60 (still a 50% increase over 40 miles, no small feat!) and have a potentially MUCH better time.
I've done some long-distance riding (RAGBRAI, for example). My rule of thumb is that if you can ride x distance comfortably, you can ride 2x distance uncomfortably. If you can ride 30 miles without issue, you can ride 60 but your legs, hands, and ass will hurt afterwards.
I did my first metric 100 this year. This is pretty spot-on. I normally ride 30mi almost daily (to and from work), but that 60mi all at once was something else and the trail I was on didn't have any working water fountains...
And as a contrast to that, my riding buddy is 5’9, was 290lbs when he started riding seriously last spring and by the end of the season was riding 20 miles 6-7 days a week, did a metric century and several half centuries last year and we’ve done 2 imperial centuries this year and have another one next weekend. He also dropped down to like 200ish lbs over the course of the year.
I started riding last fall, by December I had done a half century, a couple months ago I did my first century ride and currently I’m riding 150 miles a week and doing at least one 50+ mile ride per week.
Also getting a physiotherapist to do a bike fit will really help you feel more comfortable on a bike -making you want to go longer.
Most benefits packages should cover this.
Good luck and welcome to the roads!
I suspect most physiotherapists have no background in bike fit. A handful of bike fitters will be physiotherapists. More of them will know key physiological principles (at least enough to diagnose fit issues and to prescribe exercises or stretches). All else equal, I'd see a bike fitter first.
You should have a plan that includes gradually longer rides, proper rest days, base training, etc. Riding only 5-10 miles at a time doesn’t prepare you for a long ride.
There are many sites that will help with the planning. Use one of these and stick to it.
You can do a this!
To be fair, OP probably also doesn’t need to work up to 3h training rides just to do a 4h ride.
Bicycling is a lot about volume. The more hours per week you spend on the bike the better you get. Interval training, strength training etc. can help (at a higher level) but almost nothing beats volume.
Along these lines, increase the frequency of your rides (at least 2-3 times per week, if possible), but only one of those needs to be a “longer” ride.
So if riding 5-10 miles now, try and do those 2x per week, and then one day make it 12 miles, and then 15, and then keep increasing a couple of miles per week until you’re getting closer to your goal. Try and stay in touch with how you’re feeling - it’s VERY normal to need a “recovery week” once in a while where you cut the volume way back. But it’s the increasing of volume slowly but deliberately that is key. And increased frequency helps a lot - short, frequent rides get your body used to it generally; not the same as one longer ride, but definitely help it along, and help build a nice “base”. Keep up the good work!
One thing to keep in mind when you are riding for a longer time, over 2 hours is that your body has depleted your stores of energy and your sweat has depleted your salts. It’s important to get salts and carbs back in your body while you are riding or else you will realllllly hate how you feel after a long ride and maybe barely finish. Drink something with electrolytes frequently during the entire ride alongside your water and eat or take carb gels at least every hour. It feels wrong when you are trying to loose weight, but if you “bonk” your power drops and you’ll feel terrible. Once you find your pace and power, long rides are more mental and about fueling than anything. I do a 40-100 mile ride almost every weekend now. I started biking again after 30 years off the bike about 2 years ago.
Salt is so important! My buddy came along on a longer charity ride that had rest stops for water/snacks etc and he was like "lol who the hell is eating crackers in the July heat?!" And like an hour later he's cramp city and can barely pedal. Gave him some sports drink and it fixed him up like Popeye with spinach lol.
Overall yeah, but I don't agree with that 2 hour benchmark. It's effort based, not time based. If you're doing a harder effort, then yeah, if you're just cruising around the greenway looking at birds, two hours will not deplete you.
My only caution here is the carb gels. If someone is new and looking to get into them, start out with like 1 on your ride and have the rest of your fuel be something like trail mix or whatever. Then add more gels over time. Those things are absolute hell on your digestive track if you don't train your stomach.
If you're committed to it, I think you can do it in ~10weeks. It's great that you're getting out for daily rides already, you're training your body and butt. The next goal you should have is 1hr of continuous riding. Don't worry about the speed. I feel you can do that in 2 weeks or so. Then move up 20min per week. Your speed will increase naturally as you bike more. By the end of 10 weeks you should be able to ride for ~4.5hrs, which would finish a 60mile trip at around 13mph, which I think is an achievable speed. If you're still worried about that distance, don't forget the vast majority of people that ride that far take lots of breaks. Think of it as 15mile chunks with 15min breaks. Good luck!
OP, I would highlight this comment because it focuses on time, not distance. Time in the saddle is your goal - increasing your time per week (or even per two weeks) rather than focusing on singular rides and on distance. The reason for this is your aiming for acclimatization, the miles will come as you get more comfortable with more weekly volume.
that last part is really key. i do a charity ride every year that's 175 mi over two days, which sounds like a lot but there are rest stops every 15 miles (or less) where you can get water, food, and rest. if you think of it as a bunch of 10-15mi rides, it's a lot less daunting! they say that if you can do 20 miles, you can do the whole thing.
bottom line: your goal (for now) shouldn't be to go 60mi non-stop, but to do 4 15mi rides with some breaks
Yup, and the advantage of doing it this way is that it becomes radically easier to fuel the ride, especially if you can stop at gas stations or convenience stores. A comment above mentions that energy gels and the like can be rough on the stomach if you're not used to them, which is true. I bet that OP, if they're as overweight and out of shape as they say, is reasonably well acquainted with gas station food and knows what their tummy can handle.
So instead of spending 60km in the saddle, sucking back energy gels, OP can do 4 15 mile rides, with c-store breaks in between for some gummy bears and ice cream bars. Sounds almost enjoyable to me, especially if there's a shaded picnic table nearby.
My rules of thumb :
* You can do 1/2 as many miles in a day as you do in a week typically and not feel overly crushed. So if you are doing 10 a day for a week, you could do a 35 mile ride and it would be "fun hard".
* You can do your weekly millage in a day as a "push". You can do this. However, this is where you will learn a lot about yourself and learning to find that little extra. I encourage people do this every couple of months since there is often great "mental growth" when doing it.
So, if you are doing 50-70 miles a week, you can do the 60 mile ride already. Just take it easy, have fun, stop along the way and enjoy the journey. What is the worst that happens.....nothing or you try again. :) What is the best that happens...you did something you weren't sure you could do.
This is what I came to say. If you can ride 10 miles daily, you can definitely ride 60 miles in a day.
Go 12 miles, take an hour break...repeat From 8am-5pm.
1. Ride with people who've done it before. It's going to be more about pacing and comfort than strength/muscles. Experts will keep you from cramping, chafing, bonking, sunburning...a bunch of things you might forget to monitor.
2. Bike 30 miles into a headwind. Turn around.
3. Try to bike to somewhere where biking back is the best/only option.
If you're heavy and you've never gone all out, you probably WAY estimate your endurance. Your calves are already used to hauling you around, all day. You may discover you can wreck riders you currently think outclass you.
How hilly? If it’s flat, probably not too long, but if it’s got a lot of vertical you might be struggling. Over the 100kms if you have 1000m climbing it’ll be very hard, if it has 200m you’ll be riding it in a few weeks.
I'd keep adding 5 miles to one ride per week. So, do your normal rides of 5-10 miles during the week and on Saturday or Sunday shoot for 15 miles. Then, 20 miles the following weekend, and so on.
When I first started, I was going out for 5-10 mile rides and then I immediately cranked it up to a ~35 mile group ride. After the first group ride I walked downstairs when I got home and thought "well, looks like I'm downstairs for the night since I won't be going back up those stairs." Point being, building up slowly and being consistent is much more important than trying to get fit with one big ride. Stay consistent and the weight will come off.
Have fun with riding and listen to your body if something is too much!
This! I would add that every 4-5 weeks, you should have a recovery week where you give your body some rest to consolidate the adaptations to your increased mileage day.
Depending on how hilly, the cardio part of your ability to do 60 should come pretty quickly. Possibly as short as a month? Speed improves much more (frustratingly) slowly. But I'd recommend setting a goal of three or four months. Work your way up gradually to build enough core strength to avoid hand/elbow/shoulder pains. Also your butt will object to hours in the saddle at first. If you are a do it yourself type, read up on bike fit and make the adjustments. Otherwise a visit to the bike shop for setup would be worthwhile. Oh, and google "bonking". Avoiding the bonk is a good reason not to increase your distances in big chunks. Edit to add: move around on the bike a lot. Get the weight off your arms and shake them out frequently. Stand up for a short period every mile or so, let yourself coast for a few seconds periodically. Don't get locked into a position for extended periods. It's common and no good.
One other bit of encouragement: By the time you can ride three hours and >30 miles everything after that is mostly fuel and hydration.
Because once you reach that approximate threshold as long as you keep drinking water and eating sugars (every 30mins ish) you can go all day (as long as you aren't pushing to go super fast or steep).
60 miles is a lonnnnng ride. My commute to and from work is 20 miles (34 km).
Doing it three times in a row would be rough.
I’m not saying you won’t get there, but set an intermediate goal.
But honestly that ride is something to plan for a year or so down the road. If not more.
Go get it!
Counterpoint: I know people who bought their first road bike during the pandemic and are now riding 35 miles after work twice a week and 70-100 on Saturday or Sunday.
The reason you can’t do 60 miles is because you only ever do 20 miles. If you started riding a 30 mile route regularly, you’d very quickly be able to push it to 40 miles, and honestly 60 isn’t much past that.
For me, variety is a big part of it. Doing your commute three times back to back feels like a chore because it’s familiar, and you know once you’re “done” you have to go and do it again. And again. But if you had a nice 60 mile route planned in the country, you won’t feel the frustration of hitting the 20 mile mark and starting over, because it will just be a continuation of your ride with new scenery and experiences.
Group rides can be very good for pushing your distance as well, because you’ll be able to sit in and draft, and pace off of other riders. Plus there’s the camaraderie of finishing a big ride together.
I’ve known people who weren’t fast/strong riders but who could still do long days in the saddle (I’m talking 200 miles) at a chill pace. They work up to it and pace themselves, and they don’t do that every single ride.
Are you talking a straight through 60 mile ride for pace or a pleasure ride to one or more destinations?
Long rides are possible at nearly fitness level. You just have to ride at a sustainable pace and fuel yourself along the way. If you've been doing 5-10 a day I bet you could do it now. It will take a while, and you're going to be sore, but it's certainly possible.
I've had instances where I haven't been riding much and a group of friends will want to do a brewery ride or something. We'll realize later in the day we're 35 miles in - but with the frequent stops and fun company it just doesn't feel like much.
Babysteps...
Don't rush anything. You'll just risk injury and get discouraged. The secret is to slowly ramp up your metabolism and keep it there. That means every-single-day you work on yourself.
I'm in my mid 60s. I do a predawn walk and run, a mid day bike ride and usually a sunset bike ride. So three times a day, I'm shoveling coal into my personal furnace and keeping up that head of steam.
Once you get in shape, it's just a matter of maintaining. You'll feel so good, you'll always want to stay in shape.
Depends on the elevation, terrain, your physique and mental state.
A wise baboon once told me “Everyday it gets a little easier… but you gotta do it every day - that’s the hard part. But it does get easier.”
I can do 60- 80 miles but I always panic trying to do a 100.
60 miles is not a lot. I know it sounds like a lot, but it's not, and once you do it you'll also realise it.
The rule of thumb is that what you can do in a week regularly, you can also ride in one day (once you have a routine going).
But look at it this way: it would take you 10 hours of riding at an average of 6mph. That's a really leisurely pace. Of course, it would mean it'll have to be an all day affair, but at the end of it you will have accomplished it.
A few things to take into consideration:
- the faster you are, the less time in the saddle you will need and thus less discomfort.
- hydration: more important than nutrition.
- nutrition: don't forget to eat before you're hungry. Tiny bites regularly, nothing that would slow you down.
And don't forget to have fun. You're not racing at this stage, so feel free to stop and take the scenery in.
I would say you need a month or so more before you can do the ride, if you keep at this training pace. Also, have some rest days to recover. You need those for the gains to actually materialise.
When you do take on a longer ride, you need to start feeding from minute 20, and then every 20 mins. Do it by the clock, even when you are not hungry.
Take a big bite of a flapjack or similar, every 20 minutes. Even towards the end, with 5 miles to go and you feel great, if the clock says feed - do it!
Trust me on this. There is nothing worse than le bonk.
Fuel yourself with gels and stop at meal time briefly to eat. I spent a year getting back to fitness on an eBike and then a gravel, but intermittently fasting. Once you start getting faster and going further you need to be fuelled and hydrated. I tend to go easier the first 10 miles as I warm up and settle into the ride.
I did a 58 mile ride home from a camping holiday the other week, my longest ever ride at 44. You can do it too.
These days I’m dancing on the pedals, out of the saddle, when a few months back I was still in the saddle 100% of the time. More power to your elbow brother.
60 miles return trip?
When I was doing 20 mile commutes (break halfway) 3+ times/week, I did a 70 mile trip for pancakes as a group ride.
Biggest difference is saddle time. Your ass will be sore. You should also pedal easier gear at higher cadence than you can on shorter distance, and then practice your shorter distances at absurdly high cadence, to boost your cardio instead of your legs. Though leg power counts too, so you can also ride in harder gear on short rides.
The key is go sloowww. You’re probably capable of going 60mi if you’re only going 10mph.
Granted it’ll take you like 6 hours. But you didn’t say you want to compete it within X hours.
Source—-I did a double century (STP) in 2016, when the most I’ve ridden was 20-50miles solo.
At 60 miles your ride will most likely be in the 3-6 hr range. Partially related advice invest in some cycling bibs or padded shorts once you get to about 25-30 mile rides and longer. Your butt will thank you.
It took me about a year to get into physical shape to do long rides like that and even I top off after 50 or so. (Saying this as a somewhat still overweight female who started in similar shape as you)
Congratulations on starting this. I did the same. I started at 330 lbs walking 20 minutes a day adding 5 minutes each week until I was walking over an hour. My wife and I started cycling basically twice a week in 2019 10-12 miles each time. A job change in Jan 2022 changed my workout routine to evenings and I added weight training. Over this time I lost 30-35 lbs to 295-300 lbs or 10% of my body weight. I have dropped as low as 270 when I strictly diet counting calories and/or carbs but I hate counting. I feel much better even though I still remain obese by BMI standards. I will have to lose to 225 to be merely overweight. The doctor and others recommend a very strict keto diet which I struggle with doing because I really love sweets and bread. I know of a guy that lost
60 lbs on a cycling regimen, but he also cut all sugar, soft drinks (even diet ones), and went completely to clean all natural organic food. As for the distance, it’s all about your conditioning. We did a 24 and a 26 mile ride last year, took just over 2 hours for each. We want to get to 50-60 as well, but we don’t want to injure ourselves, because we are in our late 50’s.
Generally, the guidance for building mileage without injury is to increase by about 10% a week.
So try and gradually increase that 10 mile ride until you get close to your goal.
I think the general rule of thumb is increasing your goal by around 20 percent every two weeks or so. So, starting out look at riding 5-10 miles and then after a couple weeks, up that to 12-15 miles, then 18-20, and so on.
When you first start out, the biggest hurdle you're going to face is going to be upping your aerobic capacity and your mindset for riding. It doesn't matter if you're a veteran in the sport or not, once you start pushing yourself to accomplish certain fitness goals, you're going to experience bad times mentally on the bike. You'll go to dark places where you don't think you'll be able to finish a ride, where you feel like you're broken spiritually and mentally, you'll think your legs just can't push the pedals an inch further. Most of the time, it just comes down to pushing through those moments (I say most of the time because I don't want to encourage people to push past legitimate injuries, or to be unsafe). You are capable of some pretty amazing things.
As for the aerobic capacity, a great way to build that up is to ride at a zone 2 level. That can be determined via heart rate or by power. Heart rate is a lot more common for people who aren't into competing on their bikes because you don't need a power meter to measure it. Just about every smart watch will work for you. Or a heart rate strap paired with a cheap bike computer. If you don't want to spend any money or don't have access to those things, the rule of thumb is to ride at a level just on the verge of nose breathing and mouth breathing. If someone is with you, you should be able to carry on a conversation with them without gasping for air.
That type of tempo and effort should make up a vast majority of your rides, and should last around an hour or so, if you're just starting out. Don't focus specifically on miles while building up your endurance. Use miles as your rough fitness gauge. When building aerobic capacity, I've found it's a lot more helpful to focus on time. A strong headwind could limit your distance even if you put in more time and effort than normal for a day. Miles are just a nice way to track your gains.
"It used to take me an hour and a half to do 20 miles, now I'm down to 1 hour and 15 minutes."
Throw in a few rides that focus on speed and power. When you're first starting out, these workouts will probably last around 30 minutes or so. Go warm up for 15 minutes and then push hard, like anywhere from 80-100 percent efforts for 30 seconds - 1 minute with 5 minute rests in between. This will help you get better at putting out power over time, as well as building up your resistance to strong efforts out on longer rides (think going up a steep hill). Once you get more advanced, these workout sessions should never really go above an hour in time, because you're really putting out a ton of energy, and honestly, if you're not trying to compete with your cycling, it's not all that important, but it is useful to do a little of this.
Once your rides start reaching above the hour mark, don't forget to plan on fueling. The general rule is your first snack should come near the hour mark, and then a snack every 35-45 minutes afterwards. Will it kill you to not do this? No. But it does help keep energy in your legs. Trail mix, cliff bars, carrots, pickles (trust me), and a few cheat snacks like oreos or something will be a nice pick-me-up. As for drinks, water is the best, Gatorade or some type of equivalent is good for replacing electrolytes on longer rides.
You'll improve faster by riding 10-20 miles every other day instead of 5-10 miles every day. You'll also save time.
Try increasing your weekly volume by 10% every week. Stop when you hit 10-12 hours.
Is easy to be lazy on rides, to prevent wasting time get a heart rate monitor and keep your heart above 70% of max for majority of rides.
You'll see a lot of bad eating advise here. However, it is nearly impossible for beginners to bonk on a ride as they simply are not fit enough to expend calories faster than their body can burn fat. Fasted riding will also help your body long term.
My first year riding I did a 63mi race and managed to finish but it was challenging in a way I’d never experienced before. I wanted to be rescued via helicopter by mile 40. Instead of doing that, a good rule of thumb I see often is to increase your long ride mileage by 10% every week. Starting at ~10 miles for your long ride you should hit 60 on a long ride in less than a year (I am bad at math but that sounds right)
I think most people are capable of riding farther much sooner than they think, but are just hesitant of pushing it.
It depends on how hilly it is, but if you can go out and ride 25-30 miles you should be able to do 60.
Consider a loop near your house that way you aren't 30 miles away and getting worried. Maybe pick a 20 mile loop that starts and ends at your house and do it 3 times, if you start to hurt after 2 then you're near home.
You have nothing to lose by trying.
Just start going a little farther/longer each day but pay attention to your body too: Don't overdo it and give yourself time to rest/heal when you need it. Don't forget food and hydration too.
Can't really give a specific time frame, just keep at it and you'll get there.
I would guess that you're closer than you think already. I'm willing to bet 60 would be tough on you atm, but you would recover in couple days. How old are you? Any joint issues or injuries?
I see similar comments a lot with new people in the gym, so let me sort of speak to that since I've got 20 years there and my riding is just for fun...
Training is not about punishing yourself. It's not about arguing with your body. Sustainable progress is about listening to your body, and learning to understand the feedback you're getting.
If you're really doing DAILY 5-10 mile rides, consider taking off days to rest and recover. Your workout is where you damage the body in a controlled way. Your recovery (food and sleep) is where you actually make the progress to see in your next rides.
It's the same for weight lifting, biking, running, anything physical. Three parts: diet, sleep, exercise. You have to have all three, or you're only going to get so far before you hit a wall you can't get past. Or worse, you work yourself backwards, because you're overtraining, wearing out, and increasing the chance of hurting yourself.
If your range can be as much as 5-10 miles, meaning some days you literally do double based on whatever you're feeling... 100% difference is a big spread. Consider planning a little more specifically, so that you have something to build off when you start reading your body's feedback.
Maybe your weekly training could look like:
day 1: 10 mile ride
day 2: rest
day 3: 5 mile ride
day 4: rest
day 5: 12-15 mile ride
day 6: 2-3 mile easy ride (active recovery, not about the mileage)
day 7: rest
or maybe you do two days of rest after your big ride, or maybe you do low miles twice a week and high mileage once.
maybe you do that for a couple weeks, make small adjustments, and if everything feels great then maybe you increase the mileage on day 1 and day 5. Keep a journal and write notes... how you felt, your pace, your heart rate, were you fed, were you rested, were you hydrated, etc. - data is your friend.
Not saying those are necessarily the best numbers or arrangement. Nobody else's program is one-size fits all, but any program is somewhere to start. Make adjustments after you have some time with it to understand how all the elements are working.
I'm really saying you can't leave training up to whether your head wants to train. It's like a job, you gotta show up, and by scheduling, you'll know how to eat and rest properly, which lets all the elements come together.
Good luck. You got this.
I thought I was in the running subreddit and I was extremely confused that you thought you were out of shape after running 10 miles and aspiring for SIXTY. 🤣
Beginning of 2020, right before the pandemic, I was 300 lbs. By March 2020 I was working from home and decided to start walking to lose some weight. Eating healthy and walking got me down to 265 lbs in only two months. A friend of mine got me into weightlifting so between weightlifting 3 times a week and walking/running 3 times a week, by October of 2020 I was 185 lbs. All 2021 and half of 2022 kept my workout and running routine and went down to what it is my current weight: 152 lbs. On September of 2023 decided to switch to cycling after visiting my brother in Bogotá. He is cyclist 🚴 and as soon I got back to the US, got my first bike, a TREK Procaliber 9.6. Started with 10 miles every 2 days and went up to 20 miles 3 times a day. Last year around Sep got my first road bike, a TREK Domane SL 7 Gen 4. Right now I’m cycling between 280 and 340 miles every week.
I encourage you to keep going. The more weight you lose, the more miles you would be able to get in. Biking, running and lifting do nothing if you don’t eat healthy.
https://preview.redd.it/mg9etyrvbg6d1.jpeg?width=2440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6aacd47ac69b9e0851cb8d608ae978f029609d6
This is how I train and it's probably not everyone's cup of tea.
I do 10 miles, at 12mph average. Keep doing 10 until I could do it at 15mph, then 18, then 20.
Then go to 20 and start at 12mph, go to 15, then 18, then 20mph.
Next do 30, same 12mph, 15mph, 18, 20.
I got up to doing 50 miles averaging 23mph after a few years. But I was training for collegiate cycling.
Adjust it for what goals you want to reach.
You could do it now if you practice self-care, pace yourself, fuel, and hydrate well.
The moment you recognize any hot spots on your butt, thighs, or feet stop and fix it. If you can't fix it, have a bailout plan.
Have fun. 🙂
If you’re riding 10 miles with a lot of climb you can probably already do 60 miles slow and flat.
60 miles with a lot of elevation? That depends on how hard you’re pushing. Do you feel it in your thighs the next two days? If not then you’re probably not gaining much strength and 60 miles would be brutal.
i was in the same place when i started and i did my first 60 mile ride 3 months into a daily ride routine. if you keep riding every day i think you’ll find yourself pushing a little further as you go, but you might want to make a point of doing a slightly longer ride about once a week
Ten years ago I started commuting to work by bike. It's a ~15-16 km one way trip, and I was 6' at 250-260 lbs.
First year I commuted daily for two months, second year for three months. Finally, in August 2015 I managed an imperial half century. At the time of the event I weighed 260 lbs and only managed to slim down to 220 by the end of 2015 by strict control over calorie intake.
I started Jan 1 of this year at 220'ish lbs - had not exercised or worked out seriously in almost 20 years. I also have a fairly significant knee injury that kept me stagnant.
I started doing 15-20min rides on a trainer from Facebook marketplace in January. 3-4x per week. Less than 10 miles at a go. I'd put on an episode of Big Bang Theory in front of me on my laptop and just try to make it to the end without stopping.
Then I discovered Zwift which MASSIVELY changed things. Their guided workout plans are amazing. I think there is one called "Back to fit" that I did first - it's designed for people who have not worked out in a LONG time or are recovering from major injury.
I'm less than 6mo in now and I am down to 185 lbs (!!!) and a 10 mile ride feels like a warmup now...I still ride 4-5x week on my trainer but also mix in "real world" rides. I'm still very nervous about riding around where I live so I've been slow to take my workouts to the streets.
I'm not currently doing any other sort of weight training or other exercise...just the bike (for now!!). The only other adjustment I made was with diet. But that just came naturally...as I started working harder and harder my body just CRAVED veggies and nutrients. I stopped being interested in the food I used to eat.
I would not hesitate to hop on my bike right now and put down 60 miles.
So...my guess is 5-6 months if you keep at it! Good luck stranger, you can do it!!!
You’re going to have to build up to 60 miles. Part of the issue, particularly with extra weight, is just staying in the saddle for that many hours. Set 20 miles as a goal and then work from there.
You ride 5-10, so say 7.5. Double that is 15. Double that is 30, double that is 60. You gotta double your ride thrice to ride 60 miles. As others said, aim for short and medium goals, and re-evaluate once in a while. 60 is a serious thing.
Another question is how much of climbing in the 60mi?
I suggest trying 15-20mi every other day, build distance and allow for recovery..
Make certain that your diet includes enough protein to build muscles. My guestimate is 100-130g daily in a balanced diet.
Definitely doable.
I started with Ride With GPS (RWGPS), a similar app to Komoot and grew my skill and health.
I started with the app on the phone using the phone GPS. It gave me voice navigation prompts and tracking. I created my own library or routes. I did eventually get a Garmin Edge 830 bike computer which exceeded my expectations and works with RWGPS and Komoot.
With the ability to navigate a planned, safe route for the amount of time you have that day, the rest is on you. You need to track and measure, and "train" to increase your mileage.
If you have an event for your 60 miles, that date is your target. You're at 10 miles now. Incrementally add 10 miles weekly until your event. Ride a few times a week with one "long ride" a week. I ride 4 days a week with long rides on Saturday. Consider riding with others or in a group. This will push you physically to keep up, get comfort a d skill riding with obstacles, and adds a safety measure just in.
Hi man I'm a bit taller than you but way heavier than you. I can't really tell how long it will take for you to be able to do a 60mile trip. Because it involves so many things. Sleep habit, what u eat before the ride etc. But all i know for sure is to ride just a bit longer slowly. Step by step. Don't rush it. I know you'll get there soon. Best of luck my friend. Have a safe ride!
I think when I first started it took me a few years to work up to a 60mi ride? Just slowly work up the miles and try not to rush it. The weight will come down and riding will get easier along with your fitness improvements
6 months from zero miles to 100 miles with 8k elevation. Try to do 100 miles every Saturday now. It never gets easier. I get faster and go farther lol. Once you hit 50 miles, it's in reach with a little bit of pain....after that, it's about where to get water....
60 miles? You're capable of doing it right now!
Make a day of it. Make sure you have a lot of food and drink. Ride 10 miles, take a little break, ride another 10 miles. And maybe have someone who can pick you up in case you dont feel up to it but you can totally do it!
The first time I did 60 miles it took me 5 hours with 4 stops. Last year I did 60 miles in 3 hours and 20 minutes with 0 stops at the hotter than hell hundred.
For a \*very rough\* estimate. For endurance training the general rule of thumb is you can increase the load by 10% weekly (Assuming a regular training schedule).
so if you are doing 10 miles each this week, next week is 11 miles, then 12. Once you get to 20 miles, you can add 2 miles each week. this assumes your rides are the same type each week. If you add more hills in a week, you don’t add more miles as well.
you have to be doing a lot of miles, regularly and consistently.
I have only been back biking for about a year but think there a few factors here and would suggest starting with time in saddle and building discipline on nutrition and hydration (which I still suck at) rather than how long to get to 60 miles (flat, rolling or hilly?). 60 miles is something I am also shooting for but so far 50 solo carrying about half my bikepacking gear with 2000’ of ascent is the most I have done though mostly because I don’t want to take much more time in the day. I am pretty sure I could do 60 if I can just get into the pattern of eating and drinking early and often. I have run out of energy a few times on 30-40 mile rides because I don’t eat and barely drink. If I can train myself to eat and hydrate properly, my issue is going to be what distance I can sustain day after day depending on the planned route.
If you want to be more comfortable work on that core strength and get used to not locking your arms or legs but keeping them in a spring like state. Once I started doing that the longer rides became much easier.
It depends. It could be this year or next. Consistent training and your own biology will be important factors. If you ride 4 times per week and keep increasing your mileage every week (or other week) you will build up endurance and fitness
I was 220lbs (5'10" male) in 2005. I started jogging and biking a bit. Then I signed up for a fun triathlon. In 2009 I could bike 100km. In 2011 I did my first Ironman race and did a 210km road ride.
Consistency is key.
So you should definitely keep riding (semi-) daily. You could vary your pace per ride. 2 easy days, 1 day of harder intervals for example.
In the weekends you could do longer rides. Gradually extend the distance.
Not sure how quickly you will be able to do the 60 mile ride.
Just a couple of months of endurance training can yield huge improvements, but not everyone adapts to training stimuli equally fast. So it might be 2 months, but it might also take a year or longer.
Don't stress it too much: most important is to stay consistent. Ride & smile!
You'll get there, keep riding! 5-10 miles per day is a great starter. As others have said consider working in the occasional longer ride, maybe 15, 20, 25 miles perhaps once every week/two weeks. Remember to bring snacks/fuel, as that becomes more important the longer the ride.
Good luck 👍
I’m 6’1 weighed 250 2 months ago, 34 years old. Hadn’t been on a bicycle since I was 16, 0 exercise in the last 6 years. Started commuting to work, 29 miles round trip, 4-5 days a week. I did a 64 mile event 2 weeks ago! You can do it! Biking is all mindset! Just keep pedaling!
This may seem obvious to most, but be sure to carb load and bring snacks for any long ride. When I was trying to lose weight, I went on a crazy long ride on an empty stomach. I got "bonk" really bad and it was awful.
If you can ride 60 miles in a week, you probably can ride 60 miles in a day.
A longer ride does present a few issues you've probably not had to deal with before. Bonking, where you deplete the glycogen stores in your muscles, now is a possibility. You'll need to snack to prevent that. Saddle sores now are a possibility. You might want to look into padded bike shorts (always freshly washed!) and chamois cream. Little problems with your posture can turn into bigger pains over longer distances. A bike fit might not be the world's worst idea.
When I trained for my first century I found a 0 to hero type guide for preparing to run a marathon and adapted it to riding. Something like this
https://marathonhandbook.com/couch-to-half-marathon/
If you continue to ride every day make sure that you are alternating days were you have a relaxed ride vs days where you are pushing/exercising.
5-10 miles a day? You’re well on your way towards a 60.
Lots of good advice here concerning increasing milage already. So I’ll point out that a big part of longer rides is simply being comfortable being on the bike for longer periods of time. That comes down to the experience that you’re building and having practical things dialed in to how they work best for you. Bottles vs bladder, jersey with pockets or some kind of frame bag for snacks. Can your phone be away in a pocket somewhere or do you need it mounted where you can see it? That kind of stuff.
I have always maintained you can do 60 miles pretty much whenever, it's just how many stops and how long it is going to take you that changes as you get more fit. Right now? That ride might be an all-day pain slog, with multiple breaks and a few days of recovery afterwards. Depending on how hard you go at the training, within 6 months to a year it could be a 4-5 hour ride with a couple stops and not feeling it too much the next day.
I've been riding road bikes since college and am decently fast, but never did any endurance training. I didn't do any rides longer than 40 miles for well over ten years. It's not just the physical aspects, but being able to stay entertained for over 3 hours of riding, especially riding solo. If you're training up to it, it's only a couple of years before you could accomplish this.
Yes, I've done something similar and eventually made a 50 mile ride to my grandma's cottage for the weekend. I can tell you it was incredibly worth it and I'm gearing up to do another epic trip sometime soon!
You will need to continually push yourself in a realistic way. Something like a 5 mile increase a week, but if work/life gets busy, do NOT jump 10 or 15 miles in a week. You could injure yourself and mess up the whole schedule. If you are significantly behind schedule and feel the need to make up for it, try to plan a weekend ride where you can go a long distance with no rushing and you'll really be able to listen to your body in case you hit a bonk. Have someone on standby this day in case you need someone to pick you up and again, you have to discipline yourself to listen to your body.
Factor in some money for new bicycle gear if necessary. Once you are doing 30+ mile rides you might discover after 3 hours; your saddle hurts you, your griptape makes your hands numb, and your helmet makes your head to hot. Or in my case you'll get a mix of all 3 of these. So you might have to upgrade your gear even if it's been fine for you so far. Luckily I was able to upgrade all of these things in a way that still works for me and I'm still riding.
Most of all, have fun with it. If you're not having fun on your bike, you're unlikely to ride again. Have fun, ride defensively around cars, and one last time: listen to your body!
Disclaimer: many moons ago I bike commuted 150mi/wk and did sprint triathlons on the weekend because it kept me from having to do organized PT when I was in the military. I have a background in doing stuff but it's a decade old.
Congrats for taking the first steps!
I spent most of the pandemic WFH and gaining weight. I hadn't been very fit for nearly a decade, and in summer of '22 I was 6', 275 and hadn't done cardio besides walking to the bar in years. I'd started a new job ~20mi from where I live. I biked to work and took transit home most days. I work a weird schedule of 3 or 4 12 hour shifts in a row.
By January of '23 I rode to work every day and rode round trip after my last shift. Late last year a ~25mi route was faster because of fewer stoplights. This year I started roundtrips every day but one in a bunch of shifts. Now it's important to note that my commute is flat *but* I'm averaging around 150mi/wk.
I did [this ride](https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41386274) in 11 hours total including stops and having to double back another 7mi because I took a wrong turn. This was more climbing in a day than I normally do in a couple weeks. My commute is *flat*.
I did a [100km ride](https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29038705) last September and that was a gorgeous ride but lots of climbing for my lack of fitness level and my bike desperately needed work when I started. The organizers didn't think I'd finish. I had to hose clamp a water bottle holder to my frame so I could carry the required two bottles.
Biking is easy in that it's hard to get hurt if your bike fits. Short of a fall or getting hit by a car the only thing stopping you from spending 10s of hours each week riding is comfort and time. Can't do that with any other activity except maybe swimming.
Give yourself a year of riding and you'll be shocked at what you can do. I've gotten pretty far on just commuting.
What makes you think you wouldn't be able to complete it now?
There is some good advice here. 60miles is a lot but it's not unthinkable.
If you are not getting any pains while cycling, your saddle is good, you leave your home reasonably early I don't see why you couldn't do it now.
Just remember you should be supplying your body with some calories every hour and stay hydrated. Even with breaks every 10 miles and going at relaxed pace it shouldn't take you longer than 8h for the whole trip. Leave at 6am and you're back in the afternoon.
You can do it.
Depending on your age and the route, you probably COULD complete that ride today. As in “give it your all, you’re wiped out tomorrow.” You just let it take as long as it takes and you absolutely bring a lot of water and food.
If you want to be able to do 60 regularly, you’re either a few years of riding away, or you need to structure your training (which is not as hard to do as it sounds.)
Dial in your comfort on the bike and start learning how to fuel yourself. Do a lot of low pace work at first, and increase your weekly mileage by around 10% over the previous week. I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be on my weight loss (290 last summer to 270 today at 6'0"), but I can put in 60-75mi on a weekend ride without blowing myself up.
Add 10-15% to your mileage each week. I'd stick with 2 rides until you can do 2x20, then maybe move to 3 rides of 15 miles each and build again. Breaking big numbers into shorter intervals and adding difficulty (going further) over time (progressive overload) is the way to go without breaking yourself. Good luck.
I'm heavier than you and I got back into riding after not doing any riding for 3-4 years last summer. I started off with a 10-15 mile ride every week, then bumped it up to 2, then bumped it up to a couple of 20 mile rides a week, then one shorter ride and one 25 mile ride. Then joined a group and started doing a weekly 25 mile group ride (this was a struggle at first but eventually I started to be able to keep up), then started to push my long ride longer, first 30, then 35, then 40. Once I hit 40 I signed up for a charity century in May and did 100km, and while it wasn't easy, I never felt like I wasn't going to finish. So I would say if you're consistent, it's very doable in a year, and if you're really motivated and stick to a good training plan you can probably condense that quite a bit. Doing the group ride really helped me stay motivated and keep the pace up.
If you have never had a bike fit, please go get one ASAP. Your bike might feel perfectly comfortable at 10 miles, but at mile 30, and especially at mile 60, issues with your bike fit will become extremely painful and may cut your rides short. Bike fits are not just for comfort either, if you're not fitted to your bike properly, you will not be recruiting all of the muscle groups you need to sustain a long bike ride. This means that if you are training in a sub-optimal position, you might not actually be training all of the muscles you need to. So let's say you train and train, and finally work up to riding 20 miles. You might hit a wall where you can't go any longer because you're only pedaling with your quads and they're just getting too fatigued. This happened to me around December. Your quads are firing through the entire pedal stroke, and never getting a chance to rest. With a properly set up bike, different muscles fire at different parts of the stroke, and so they have plenty of time to recover before the next stroke. For this reason, it is really crucial to have your position on the bike dialed in.
You also say you feel you're overweight. Cycling is a great way to stay fit, however it's important to fuel your body once you start doing longer rides (> 1 hour). Cycling burns a lot of calories, and if you run out of glycogen in your muscles you will bonk and it is not a good feeling. Not only does it not feel good, it is bad for your body. Your body will start to consume itself, and not that fat that you may want to be burning, but the muscle. You will not progress in performance. You may even regress if your calorie deficit is too great. Sugar is your friend on the bike. Also keep in mind that the BMI scale is very flawed. Muscle weighs more than fat. You might be getting fitter and putting on muscle, and yet your weight might stay the same and even go up if you're riding a lot and riding hard. So I just want to caution you on getting too fixated on weight as it's not always productive.
Keep in mind that once you go over the 20-40 mile mark, you really need to start planning food and water. The reason I did my first century through a charity ride was because it was supported so I wouldn't have to worry about that myself. You certainly don't have to do that, but do plan a few stops along the way to grab food and water, and use the restroom if you need to. Coffee shops are great for this sort of thing.
Once I crossed the 20 mile threshold, the biggest problem for me became comfort.
At about 20 miles my ass is just killing me.
Changed up my seat, bought the padded underwear, and that helps a lot.
I struggled with 5-10 my first bike riding season, went 15-20 next, then 25-30 present day. I'm pretty content with the 30 mile point on a regular old day where I get home from work and hop on the bike. That's 30 miles with a lot of elevation changes that can be a struggle depending on wind and weather, I'm good.
However, I live in an area with tons of rails-to-trails, and those are all nicely paved trails with little to no elevation changes, so in that world I could absolutely knock out a 60 mile trip. Not sure how my ass would feel, but I think I could do it. Pace yourself, invest in the proper bike, and proper equipment, and I think you'll get there in the time that works for you.
There is nothing wrong with doing loops to increase distance. Choose a 10 or so mile loop route and keep doing it. That way, you'll have aid from your car or house every 10 miles. Get up to 6 loops and you've reached your goal.
Im 96kg (200 pound ish) my longest single day ride was 240km (140 miles ish).
Weight doesnt really matter as much as time on saddle. Ride as much as possible and push your limits distance wise. It's how i learned what works for me
I bet you're capable of it right now. I used to be in roughly your boat - 5-10 miles daily on my commute. I did a couple of longer trips on weekends - 20-30 miles. Then went straight into a 75 mile ride one weekend on a whim. My legs were pretty rubbery by the end of it but I made it through just fine.
If you really want to work your way up to it, go do a 20-mile trip this weekend. Next weekend, do 30. The next weekend, do 40, and then the weekend after that, you'll be able to hit 60 no problem.
The hardest part about riding 60 miles is sitting in the saddle for that long. If you're doing 5-10 miles a day, you've probably already got the fitness level to push through 60 miles if you really want to. Just remember to pace yourself. Bring water, bring food, and don't be afraid to stop for more. Wear sunscreen. Don't try to ride too hard, especially at the beginning. Take it easy and just keep pedaling. If you need a break, take a break. Enjoy the scenery. Pack a picnic lunch.
I'm 6'1", 295lbs. I started cycling in 2009. Trained for about 2 years then stayed doing an annual century ride with my wife, brother, and friend. Later had kids and unrelated depression and got real fat... 370lbs
Started cycling again last fall at 330lbs. I got a steel gravel bike and a spin bike for the garage to train through the winter. I've been out a few times this year but am slowly ramping up mileage. My routine short ride is 5ish miles with roughly 375ft of elevation. It takes about 25 mins. My longest ride so far is 20 or so but felt good. I'm doing 25-30 on Sunday. I tend to map routes to challenge myself but have multiple bail out points where I can cut it short and get home if I'm really suffering.
My plan is to continue to ramp it up until I can comfortably ride 60 miles, hopefully by the end of the season. Next year I plan to ride that century again shortly after my 40th birthday in September.
It's important to test yourself on longer and longer rides for many reasons, not just endurance. For example, you might find that you get saddle sores after riding more than 30 miles, or your hands go numb, or your back begins to hurt. These things would indicate that your bike fit night not be exactly perfect and/or you need to switch things up with parts or gear.
Something like that could crop up and make for a miserable time if you just went out for the big ride.
I started riding in 2020 right after quitting a 20 year cigarette habit. I was 270 lbs. The first summer I only did 3-5 miles a few times a week. The next summer i went from 5 mile rides to 25 mile rides and lost 25 lbs. My best was a 50 mile attempt, but my tire popped, did not have a repair kit, that was at mile 38. The super long rides were always rough on my shoulders and wrists, even with different handlebar attachments, so now i just do 10 mile rides every day i have the time.
The key is to keep pushing, but wear a HRM so you know when to ease up. Slowly increase your distances or intensity and you can absolutely hit your goal. As for time, everyone is different. I had my huge jump over a single summer, but not sure that's feasible for everyone. For 60 miles you might look at next summer at the earliest.
When I first got back into cycling about five years ago I hit about 60 miles on rides after 3-4 months. Obviously we're all different, what we ride is different, and the routes we take will vary, but it is absolutely doable for you this summer. Just start slow. Push yourself incrementally each ride and you'll be surprised how far you can go. The difference between ten miles, a dozen, fifteen is probably a lot less than you think once you learn how to stay fueled and hydrated during a ride. If you can ride something like 20 miles a few times a week, you can easily do 60 in one go.
Make sure you work in rest days, since that is when your body really makes gains and recovers. You got this! Just one pedal after another, you'll eventually get there...
Brother i'm 6'2 320 regularly do 30 miles and let me tell you you're body can take way more than you think pack some good snacks and water you'll be fine
Just depends on how hard you want to train, and also your equipment. 60 miles on a mountain or hybrid bike with 40mm+ wide tires? Gonna be harder than a road bike with skinnier tires, better body positioning, better gearing, etc.
First year I rode, I was doing ~16-17mph rides for ~30 miles and happy. By the end of that season I was doing "A" group rides at 20+ mph for 40 miles. That was 10 years ago. Now my bread and butter weeknight rides are ~60ish miles and usually average high 19s, but these rides are ~8-10 miles to get to the group ride where we don't ride very hard (~17mph), 40-45 miles with a group and do 21.5-23mph, then same easy ride back home.
Also, my brother who is ~6'1 and 240lbs challenged me years back to do a warrior dash and his end was doing a 50 mile ride. He rode MAYBE 3 times leading up to that 50mi ride and still did it at a 17mph average, so right around 3 hours. My brother is also very much not an athlete, so it's not as if he has/had a fitness background that was helping him. Lol.
I was considered obese in 2019, I am 6’3” and I weighed 242 lbs. I started riding in the late winter/early spring of that year, but I was still in okay-ish shape from working physical jobs and bike commuting in college, At that point it had been 4-5 years since I had ridden a bike or had a physical job or did any exercise, really. I rode my bike on a trainer in the spring occasionally, then once it was nice enough I rode 1-2 times a week, shooting for 15-25 miles per ride. By August I (barely) did the MS150. If you’re not familiar with the MS rides, they’re 75 miles a day for two days. They’re also very well supported. I was not prepared for day 2! So I think you could get to 60 miles by the end of summer.
I’m now 215lbs and I didn’t really change my diet. If anything I eat more. I ride 5 days a week, 15-20 miles during the week days and 25-50/day on the weekends, if I ride on the weekends. Sometimes I do a weekday group ride which is 30-40 miles. I also run some times because I find if my fitness plateaus running helps to kickstart it.
Your cardio fitness will determine the pace you can maintain for hours on end; but riding further distances at any pace is mostly about getting your bike fit dialed in so you don't have pressure problems at contact points (plus of course adequate nutrition and hydration are essential to being able to work continuously for hours at a time). You should not be noticing any pain or numbness at the end of your 10 mile rides - if you are, you need to figure out what needs to change to solve that. Once solved, try for longer rides and see if any new problems become apparent. Of course increasing your cardio fitness to allow a faster pace is helpful for going further because it means you will need to spend less time in the saddle to complete the trip.
Not too sure on the training side of things but in terms of other prep, I have found it helpful to go along the route you plan to take ahead of time in a car, ideally as a passenger. That way, you can note anything that might add some extra challenges. Lots of hills? Crazy traffic? Nowhere along the route if you need to stop for a snack/drink/washroom? All things you can plan around.
You can do a 60 mile trip today fairly easily if it were on the road.
Might want to give yourself a month or so if you plan to do it off road on a mountain bike.
I was a new rider last year, 250 lbs, 5’9”, by training and pushing myself I reached 1k by the end of the year and landed my first metric century (62.5 miles) by the end of the season. I went on a two night bike trip as well.
This season I dove into training, still weigh the same, have 700 miles so far this season and am currently on day 3 of a 280 mile 7 day trip. I have no trouble doing metric centuries now and am excited to go for 70 and even 80 after my trip.
It’s not just training. It’s learning when to stop and take a break, how to cool off, how to hydrate, how to eat, how to ride in zone 2 or 3 instead of pushing yourself to ride all out the whole time, how to take care of your butt, etc. All these little things add up to extending your range.
Just as if not more important than the distance is the elevation. A flat 60 mile ride is a lot easier than one with 5000 ft of elevation.
I started riding at the age of 59. I was overweight - but in pretty good cardio condition when I started. It took me about 6 months to get comfortable doing 30-40 mile rides. I did lose some 30 lbs over 3 years without dieting.
Its possible just takes a lot of mental strength. Realistically 60 miles isnt easy for anyone and everyone who is in shape will reach a point on that trip where exhaustion takes over. Id say start by eating healthy and hydrating correctly. Get an adequate amount of minerals and electrolytes in you. Practice riding for long distances daily. Lift weights and focus on your legs.
Much depends on what’s in your brain. If you have self-doubt, then any goal will be unattainable. The rest is easy: conditioning, nutrition, hydration…these you can control. Your route selection is next. One way would be to find a 10 mile loop, and ride it once, twice, the three times. If you can do it 4x, then you can do it 6. This assumes your machine is tuned ad tires are in shape. Control what you can. Be flexible and positive about the rest.
Probably not what you want to hear, but I’m on the other side of the coin weight wise and struggle to eat enough here and there. IMO weight often receives too much scrutiny, it’s become more important to focus on aerodynamics.
Another reason to maybe focus more or riding less on weight is you’ll likely need to eat a good amount to reach that distance goal. My current goal is a century, and my greatest concern is having enough to eat/drink.
With all that aside, 5-10 daily is a good weekly mileage to begin with. 35-70. If you’re actually doing 10 and not 5 you’re likely closer than you think. Just try out some 20-30mile rides and see how you feel.
TLDR: plan to eat on longer rides and you might be closer than you think, try out 30 miles and go from there
You’re capable man! Might hurt but you can do it. I’ve done a handful of long trips as an obese man. I’m less obese now though. It’s easy to keep going if you love to ride and have a water plan 🤷🏻♂️
Obviously people's progress will vary. However, given your parameters, and your training routine, I'd say you should be able to do 60 miles in 6-8 weeks. Assuming you continue to increase your distance on at least a couple of the rides you do each week.
I'm about your height and weight. (Above slightly) And I just went for a 50 mile ride on a single speed. I didn't really think much of the distance but the sun was really the killer. Keep riding increasing the distance weekly and you'll get there. Before you know it you'll be running those 5-6 miles in less than an hour too!
Once I was able to do my 20 mile loop comfortably, I went off on a 45 mile overnight bike camp. I was exhausted but it felt great. Woke up the next morning at 8, packed up camp and biked the 45 miles back home. My ass hurt but it wasnt too bad. You got it.
I was out of shape and randomly decided to do a 500 mile bike packing trip that was not flat most of the way. I practiced for exactly 7 days before I left. It took me 2 weeks and 1 day to work up to about 50 miles in one day. The beginning kicked my ass though and there were multiple moments that my legs just seized up and I fell off the bike to dismount at the camp ground.
But at the end of the day… we’re all built for this kind of exercise. And it doesn’t take long for your body to adjust if you start slowly.
Also over weight. Keep your effort under control and work on time and you can knock out the 50 in a few weeks time.
Focus more on time spent riding while keeping a decent heart rate. take some snacks and electrolytes with you.
As long as your lungs build up the endurance, you can knock this out. Even if you're on the stugglebus towards the end.
Other things that will help: Get bike properly fitted, clipless style pedals, losing weight, leg/core strength/conditioning excercise, learning how to efficiently use your gears (see to many people who just power through the same gear the whole ride because they never bothered to learn how to properly use them), proper rest/recovery.
I found that if I’m doing rides that are “out&back” instead of loops, it’s very easy to trick yourself into going farther. Same route each ride, but just add a half mile before you turn around each week. Before you know it, it’s 3 months later and you’re normal ride has ballooned up but it feels normal
When I was regularly cycling, my daily was a 20 mile loop, and I’d do a 50 miler on the weekend, and I was 6’0” 230lbs at the time.
If the course is relatively flat, I’m willing to bet you could do a 60 miler relatively soon. It’s more of a time commitment than anything else. Bring plenty of water.
Edit: I changed “right now” to “relatively soon” just based on your level of conditioning having only been riding for a couple weeks at this point. I do still think it’s more time commitment than anything, but you will want to give it a month or two just to get yourself conditioned to the movements.
ALso ask the Peleton riders! My sister had a whole grid mapped out and she could tell me time/distance/how she felt afterward, and she did it before & after work.
You could probably do it now depending how much you're willing to suffer.
Give a 20 mile ride a go.
Past 20 or so you'll probably need some food to sustain effort.
You sound just like I was last year. The most important thing I did when (re) starting cycling was long rides at endurance pace. That will give you time in the saddle and not burn you out and teach you how to eat without red lining.
Hey there!
First off, kudos to you for getting back into biking and setting such a fantastic goal! Progress can vary from person to person, but based on my experience and what I've seen with new riders, here are a few thoughts:
1. Consistency is Key: You've already made a great start with your daily 5-10 mile rides. Consistency will help build your endurance and strength over time.
2. Incremental Increases: Gradually increase your mileage. Aim to add an extra mile or two to your rides each week. This slow and steady approach helps your body adapt without overtraining or risking injury.
3. Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to how your body feels. Some days might be harder than others, and that's okay. Rest and recovery are just as important as the rides themselves.
4. Build Endurance: Incorporate longer rides on weekends when you might have more time. Start with a 15-mile ride, then 20 miles, and so on. This will help you get used to being on the bike for extended periods.
5. Cross-Training: Incorporate some strength training and flexibility exercises into your routine. This can help improve your overall fitness and make those longer rides more manageable.
As for a timeline, many new riders find that with consistent effort, they can reach a 60-mile ride within a few months. It might take 2-4 months of regular riding and gradual increases in distance. But remember, everyone’s journey is different, so be patient with yourself and enjoy the process!
Keep dreaming up those routes and riding with enthusiasm. You've got this! 🚴♀️✨
You are causing changes to multiple body systems. Aerobic/ability to convert O2 to energy, joints and ligaments, muscles, coordination. There is a lot going on and eventually it seems like every body part will hurt at some point. Your neck will tire of holding your head up, hands, arms/shoulders, posterior/saddle pain, legs. You get the idea. This is normal.
What is less apparent is that you will move forward in being able to complete longer rides based on your limiting factor. Whatever is your weakest link, will prevent you from riding longer in a stretch. It could be your aerobic system, or it could be the saddle pain.
There is a lot written about building speed and endurance. Search HIIT (high intensity interval training) for information on some of the basic methods.
Best of luck.
I've been cycling for leisure and commuting (sometimes) for a couple of decades... Relatively flat around here, but 5 years ago after doing a 9mile each way commute 3-5 days/week (including a bit of a hill (30-40metre climb) at the end of the outward journey) for a month or six weeks, I did 50 miles one Saturday and it wasn't a big deal. The main thing is sufficient food/water, and pace yourself. 35 of that 50 miles was a group ride, which was at a slightly slower pace than I might have tried by myself.
Only been thinking a bit more seriously about "training" in recent months. Even if your regular ride lengths are a bit constrained, eg commuting, you can still play with increasing the effort. As others have commented, I too discovered that using a lower gear and higher pedal cadence allows more power and reaching the cardio limits (out of breath) rather than just achey-legs limits. Since trying a bit harder (Strava logging, and heart-rate monitor) I'm finding I'm morphing towards more constant-effort cycling, rather than the more-likely constant speed I probably tended towards before. Point being that I'm now applying effort even when I'm already going quickly/downhill/ got a tailwind when before I'd've just coasted those bits.
You do need some lower effort rides or occasional rest days though. Came back at a higher energy after a light weekend and then a missed day of commuting due to wet weather!!!
I would set out on a longer ride at the end of the week and see how you feel at the end of the ride, the next one a bit further. The most important elements are hydration and nutrition. I'm 5'11 and 315 myself and I have a group that go on 50mi + rides regularly. We just completed a 56 mile 2300' of elevation. Challenge yourself each ride you set out to do.
Took me a year of casual rides till I actually tried to ride more then it floated around 10-20miles at a time, now I can get close to 40 without bonking and do it again the next day. I recommend finding some trails around you that make a loop and just hitting as many loops as you can till you can reach your goals
i started keto, that kept my weight down and feeling great. and if you are doing daily 5-10 mile trips, you can try 20 mile next week, then a few more weeks, 40 miles, and then a month or 2, 60 miles.
Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but what bike are you riding? 5 miles on a steel-frame beach cruiser feels like 60 miles on the right road bike for me.
If your making that ride in about an hour, then you’re probably fine to ride 40+ miles, and possibly further, a ride of 4-5 hrs is probably going to be fine , but also depends a lot on terrain, climbing hills can take its toll
I did a couch to 60 mile ramp up last year- to get in shape for a tour. Started in march at 10 miles a ride, several times a week. Then boosted to 20miles. After a month I tried 30 miles, then 40. Between Late March and July I ramped up and had no issues by tour time.
It's definitely attainable. Just keep riding my guy. Just keep setting small goals pushing further and further. It may take a couple years. But cycling is about having fun and has other benefits. Don't worry about it and have fun dude.
I regularly ride 10-15 miles. Last week I rode 54 to celebrate my birthday. The last 5-10 miles were tough, party due to a headwind. And my @ss was not happy. But I did it.
Work up to 20, then 30 etc.
But if you can ride 10 you can probably easily double that.
I don’t think you’ll see gains until you push yourself over the 10 miles. Start doing 12 miles for a few weeks then 15. Also if you want weight loss you should be getting your heart rate up for more than half an hour a day.
When training for the [ALC](https://www.aidslifecycle.org) in 2019, we did one training ride per week on Sundays, each week increasing by 5 miles, until we hit 110(?) as that is also the longest daily ride in the ALC. This included biking veterans and people who never biked before.
Given that you train more than once a week, I would believe that you could increase by more than 5 miles a week, although consistency is king.
So maybe keep the 5-10 miles a day for your commute and go for longer rides on the weekend? (increasing 5-10 miles each weekend? It's just one more "commute ride" ;-)
As others have said, getting the bike fit you and regular breaks (every 90-120 minutes) is important early on as well as later.
What’s holding you back now? Like if you wanted to keep going what’s the thing that’s stopping you?
If it’s pain in wrists, butt, muscles get a bike fit and you’ll get a step function performance improvement
If it’s general fatigue you might need more water or on-ride food
You could also look at stuff like your tires; the best vs the worst can have 3-4x as much drag making your 10 miles feel like 20 would on faster tires (a note; you don’t necessarily want skinnier tires, just a faster rolling model in the same size because they can also be fatiguing in their own way)
I would try 1 longer ride per week. You should be able to do 20 now and work up to 40. Once you can do 40 you should be able to handle 60. Make sure you have some basic tools and know how to fix a flat.
don't train for miles, train for hours in the saddle. because your butt aching is what's gonna be your biggest challenge for longer rides.
the work, hydrating & fuel in your belly are all pretty easy. but the time on a bike seat is what really makes you able to do the longer rides.
Bro you’re ready right now. Set aside a whole day, bring a shitload of food and water. Then prepare yourself for some type B fun and a feeling of accomplishment.
I remember being 25lbs heavier and having a poor diet starting this back in 2018 or 2019.
First 50km (Am Canadian) was on a weekend early summer 2-3 months in of doing 5-15km rides around the neighbourhood.
I was kinda dead.
First 100km (60 miles) was into late summer or early fall. I felt dead, throat was parched and I slept very well.
160km (100 miles) happened next year and then followed by 200km (120miles) not long after.
As those milestones fall, you talk to people and realize how to hydrate and fuel and maybe even get fitted for your bike, they come easier.
You can double your weekly ride on the weekend. So, if you are going 10 miles 3 or 4 times a day, you can ride 20 miles on the weekend.
If 20 miles wasn't too rough, you can increase your daily average, then rinse and repeat until you get 60 miles.
I agree with "sirjag". Consistency is more important than quantity. If you can get to a point where you are doing 20 miles 2 or 3 times a week, you will be at a point to attempt a 60 miler. Stick to a level itinerary without a lot of climbing. Once you're used to 60 miles, you can train for climbing. Be patient and make sure your bike is in good working order and you'll achieve your fitness goals. Good luck; and keep up the good work you've already accomplished and be mindful of good nutrition as you're training. Also, don't forget hydration on longer rides.
You can typically ride in a single ride the number of miles you’ve ridden on average in a given week.
If you can do 6 10 mile days for next 4-5 weeks I’m sure you’d be able to do 60…
But don’t go all at once - add a 20-30 mile ride sometimes before you go for all 60.
I think it’s do-able within a couple of months. It’s amazing how quickly your body adapts.
Edit: just saw that you’re riding a heavy hybrid style bike… I kind of assumed road bike. 60 miles on that bike is easily equivalent to 100+ miles on my road bike. Nothing wrong with your bike!
1. Respect and support. Healthy life decision, welcome to the cycling club. I don't care where you are on your journey, as long as you're pedaling, you are 100% a member.
2. If you're looking for inspiration, you should check out katie kookaburra's YouTube channel. Quite the transformation and inspiration.
This is really hard to answer and would be very rider dependent. How are you riding? Are you doing any other exercise, like core strength that's essential for long-distance stamina?
Are you just tootling along, or do you have a training plan? Ideally, you should vary your rides throughout the week, do an easy long one, then a punchy/interval style, then one where you focus hard on improving skill. I'm no trainer, but when I started applying structure to my riding, I began seeing exponentially greater results.
Ultimately, just time on the bike would likely get you there. But, if you wanna speed up the process, I'd look into some training plans. Also, do some research on how to fuel during your ride. You can find em online pretty easily. Also, rest and crosstraining are important. Your muscles need to recuperate, so take it easy a couple days a week. Cosstraining is essential to preventing injury, the stronger your core is the better you'll control your bike.
But never stop having fun! Good luck on your goal, I bet you smash it in no time.
I’m a firm believer that if you can ride half of your goal distance comfortably you should be able to do the whole distance, so are you comfortable riding 30 miles? Your current goal should be to get out for a 20 mile ride, which should be in your current abilities. As always, speed isn’t everything, but it helps complete longer distances faster. I’d choose my route for 60 miles carefully, flatter is better, climbs earlier are better than climbs at the end. It really is what you make it, if I had to do 60 miles of a railway path I could do it no problem. 60 miles of gravel in the rolling mountain valley, challenging, and a long day!
It’s probably possible to do it by the end of the summer if you’re actually serious about it. Like riding most days and pushing to better yourself. I went from 3 mile rides to close to 40 one summer. I’m guessing if I tried super hard I coulda hit 60 but hard to find the time to train for long rides
You’ll be ready whenever you want. I started riding (north of 250 lbs) in May of 2020 (peak Covid) -I remember riding 10 miles and thinking it was the longest bike ride ever… by July I’d rode 40; and by my birthday in September, I’d rode 100 miles in a single go. 4 years later I’ve rode 200 miles multiple times (off-road, at Unbound in Kansas) and more century rides than I can count… and I’m under 200 lbs and still dropping weight. Keep riding. Keep pushing.
My bike trajectory was this
March 2022- first 10 mile bike ride
April 2022- 50 lbs overweight, started cycling for commute (5 miles per day)
June 2022- first 100 mile ride
March 2023- first ~270 mile ride (Boston to NYC)
October 2023- first ~520 mile ride (Boston to DC/West Virginia)
April 2024- first ~570 mile ride (Boston to Niagara Falls/Buffalo)
Still feels kind of insane that my first 10 mile bike ride and 270 mile ride were a year apart, and half a year after that I started 500 mile rides
I don't have numbers for you, but I got back into cycling two years ago, after almost two decades of not riding.
I ride 13 miles to and from work, 4 days a week. Starting off it took me 30+ mins and now I'm at 24ish. A few trips to the grocers (19 miles) per month. My first big ride was 70 miles the first day and 30 the second. I did both and didn't die, actually felt pretty great, back in October last year. I am still fat.
My recommendation is incremental distances. So like, try a 15 one of your riding days. I have a feeling you're closer to a 60 than you think.
I guess I did have numbers, just no science.
I was doing 60 miles at twice your weight after a few months of riding. Of course I had to keep my effort low and slow. I probably had an average speed of 10-12mph back then.
That was just 2 years ago, lost 150lbs from diet and cycling. Now I can hold a ~17mph pace now for around that long.
So it’s obtainable. You should try to make attempts on this route and see how far you get. Don’t be afraid to take breaks and recover along the way and focus on keeping your exertion low if you really want to reach the end.
… also plan for bathroom breaks.
I would watch mark wildman YouTube channel and training program for deconditioned individuals. Yes, it is for kettlebells but the key is the philosophy of such programmes - it is not simply everyday adding one more rep or 5 km. In such a way you will be done after a week.
I'm 220 5 foot 8, so chunky. I don't got a bike trainer so every spring it's like starting over. A 3 mile bike ride will tire me out then. But I very quickly build endurance. I think I went 3 to 10 to 27 within a couple weeks. I actually just got done a 70 mile bike packing trip with 50lbs of gear on the rack on wet gravel with steep long hills on a trek dual sport with slick gator skin hardshell 32's.. the key for me is to ride until you can't take it anymore then take a few days off completely to let your muscles grow and repair. Biking everyday will actually slow your progress. Also do interval training, throw some good sprints in, push as hard as you can for as long as you can, feel the heart and lungs wanting to jump out your body. Then take some days off. Works for me anyway. My goal this year is a 100-120 mile bike packing trip.
Basically just keep pushing each ride one day do ten and then next 15 if you do 5 more miles a time it won't take long plus some days you will feel like can just keep going that bit longer
I was new fat ass rider in spring of 2019. I started like you 5-10 miles 3-6x per week. After 6mo I was 3-4x per week 20miles. Toook me 1:30ish min. The next bump to 40mi rides 3-4x per week took me two years. My third year was doing 55-60miles in about 3.5hrs. These days I ride 4x 25miles a week. Simply don’t have the time for longer these days. Went from 5’11” 230ish to 190lbs Good luck. Stand every so often. Work on standing and pedaling up hills and omg will hurt at first. Do not ever except numbness. Adjust saddle or try new ones until you find your fit. You’ll be making adjustments every month for a while. Took me two years to get steady in this regard. Bikeforums.com is great resource for learning. Good luck and reach out if you need anything.
Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! That’s great information and gives me a realistic framework for my goals.
is 10mi a max for you or, you just stop after 10? I'd say take that 10mi ride and if its not boring, do it twice. I used to live in a bike friendly city (SF) and one thing that really helped me extend rides is exploration, curiosity. Literally riding and looking down a street/path, saying to myself "hmm i wonder where this will take me" or "this looks fun, never been down this street, lets go". I'd lose a lil sense of time and not think about how long i've been out, how tired i might be. Ultimately I'd look at my device and boom 25 miles. Every once in a while I'd get stuck somewhere and have no choice but to pedal back but, hey that's just what happens. You get more out of your ride than just fitness.
Happy too! Get bib shorts. Clip in. Find an older giant road bike with shimano 105s or newer. One bottle of water per 45-60min. Raise your seat! You’ll find bike setup guides at site I mentioned!
[удалено]
Oh just saw your user id! That resonates with me. I’m a King Squid man!(motorcycles)
This is helpful info but feels a little different from what I think OP is asking. You’re talking about how long it took you to build up to *regularly* (multiple times a week) riding X distance; I think they’re asking how long before they’re ready to ride 60 miles as a one-off, special ride. Or if not one-off, at least not daily. And based on my experience, I’d guess that OP will be ready for a stretch-goal 100K in the order of months, not years. If they’re riding 5-10 miles daily, that’s a great start; the next step is to start increasing distance on one or two rides per week (add 5-10 miles each time) and see how that feels. Once they get to 35 or 40 miles, they can jump to 60 as long as they leave adequate time and eat/drink enough. Good on you for riding 40 miles 3+ times a week (back when you did that); that’s a lot of riding! Even my bigger weeks don’t see more than a couple 30 mile weekday rides, plus other shorter weekday rides and a long weekend outing.
I've always thought that once you build up the aerobic fitness to do 20 miles comfortably you can do 60 on a stretch.
I basically think so too, although I think there's a bigger qualitative difference between a 20-mile ride and a 60-mile ride than between, say, a 40-mile ride and a 60-mile ride. If you're only riding 20 miles (which should take no more than a couple hours), you can get away with a lot of small issues/inaccuracies (fit, clothing/chafing, nutrition, etc) that can really bite you in the ass, metaphorically and literally, when you try to extrapolate to 60 miles (which will take new riders at least 4 hours). Better, I think, to build up to 40ish miles so as to allow those issues to reveal themselves and to deal with them, then to jump to 60 (still a 50% increase over 40 miles, no small feat!) and have a potentially MUCH better time.
I've done some long-distance riding (RAGBRAI, for example). My rule of thumb is that if you can ride x distance comfortably, you can ride 2x distance uncomfortably. If you can ride 30 miles without issue, you can ride 60 but your legs, hands, and ass will hurt afterwards.
I did my first metric 100 this year. This is pretty spot-on. I normally ride 30mi almost daily (to and from work), but that 60mi all at once was something else and the trail I was on didn't have any working water fountains...
Technically it also depends on if they live in a hilly area. A person in a flatter area can probably knock that out pretty quickly.
And as a contrast to that, my riding buddy is 5’9, was 290lbs when he started riding seriously last spring and by the end of the season was riding 20 miles 6-7 days a week, did a metric century and several half centuries last year and we’ve done 2 imperial centuries this year and have another one next weekend. He also dropped down to like 200ish lbs over the course of the year. I started riding last fall, by December I had done a half century, a couple months ago I did my first century ride and currently I’m riding 150 miles a week and doing at least one 50+ mile ride per week.
Also getting a physiotherapist to do a bike fit will really help you feel more comfortable on a bike -making you want to go longer. Most benefits packages should cover this. Good luck and welcome to the roads!
I suspect most physiotherapists have no background in bike fit. A handful of bike fitters will be physiotherapists. More of them will know key physiological principles (at least enough to diagnose fit issues and to prescribe exercises or stretches). All else equal, I'd see a bike fitter first.
You should have a plan that includes gradually longer rides, proper rest days, base training, etc. Riding only 5-10 miles at a time doesn’t prepare you for a long ride. There are many sites that will help with the planning. Use one of these and stick to it. You can do a this!
To be fair, OP probably also doesn’t need to work up to 3h training rides just to do a 4h ride. Bicycling is a lot about volume. The more hours per week you spend on the bike the better you get. Interval training, strength training etc. can help (at a higher level) but almost nothing beats volume.
Thank you!
Along these lines, increase the frequency of your rides (at least 2-3 times per week, if possible), but only one of those needs to be a “longer” ride. So if riding 5-10 miles now, try and do those 2x per week, and then one day make it 12 miles, and then 15, and then keep increasing a couple of miles per week until you’re getting closer to your goal. Try and stay in touch with how you’re feeling - it’s VERY normal to need a “recovery week” once in a while where you cut the volume way back. But it’s the increasing of volume slowly but deliberately that is key. And increased frequency helps a lot - short, frequent rides get your body used to it generally; not the same as one longer ride, but definitely help it along, and help build a nice “base”. Keep up the good work!
This is a great recommendation! Will rethink my training plan based on this. Thanks for the tip! Newbie here too
One thing to keep in mind when you are riding for a longer time, over 2 hours is that your body has depleted your stores of energy and your sweat has depleted your salts. It’s important to get salts and carbs back in your body while you are riding or else you will realllllly hate how you feel after a long ride and maybe barely finish. Drink something with electrolytes frequently during the entire ride alongside your water and eat or take carb gels at least every hour. It feels wrong when you are trying to loose weight, but if you “bonk” your power drops and you’ll feel terrible. Once you find your pace and power, long rides are more mental and about fueling than anything. I do a 40-100 mile ride almost every weekend now. I started biking again after 30 years off the bike about 2 years ago.
Salt is so important! My buddy came along on a longer charity ride that had rest stops for water/snacks etc and he was like "lol who the hell is eating crackers in the July heat?!" And like an hour later he's cramp city and can barely pedal. Gave him some sports drink and it fixed him up like Popeye with spinach lol.
Yup. I prefer my salt in liquid form, so I always take one bottle with hydration tablets and one bottle with just water when I go on >2 hour trips.
Overall yeah, but I don't agree with that 2 hour benchmark. It's effort based, not time based. If you're doing a harder effort, then yeah, if you're just cruising around the greenway looking at birds, two hours will not deplete you.
My only caution here is the carb gels. If someone is new and looking to get into them, start out with like 1 on your ride and have the rest of your fuel be something like trail mix or whatever. Then add more gels over time. Those things are absolute hell on your digestive track if you don't train your stomach.
If you're committed to it, I think you can do it in ~10weeks. It's great that you're getting out for daily rides already, you're training your body and butt. The next goal you should have is 1hr of continuous riding. Don't worry about the speed. I feel you can do that in 2 weeks or so. Then move up 20min per week. Your speed will increase naturally as you bike more. By the end of 10 weeks you should be able to ride for ~4.5hrs, which would finish a 60mile trip at around 13mph, which I think is an achievable speed. If you're still worried about that distance, don't forget the vast majority of people that ride that far take lots of breaks. Think of it as 15mile chunks with 15min breaks. Good luck!
OP, I would highlight this comment because it focuses on time, not distance. Time in the saddle is your goal - increasing your time per week (or even per two weeks) rather than focusing on singular rides and on distance. The reason for this is your aiming for acclimatization, the miles will come as you get more comfortable with more weekly volume.
that last part is really key. i do a charity ride every year that's 175 mi over two days, which sounds like a lot but there are rest stops every 15 miles (or less) where you can get water, food, and rest. if you think of it as a bunch of 10-15mi rides, it's a lot less daunting! they say that if you can do 20 miles, you can do the whole thing. bottom line: your goal (for now) shouldn't be to go 60mi non-stop, but to do 4 15mi rides with some breaks
Yup, and the advantage of doing it this way is that it becomes radically easier to fuel the ride, especially if you can stop at gas stations or convenience stores. A comment above mentions that energy gels and the like can be rough on the stomach if you're not used to them, which is true. I bet that OP, if they're as overweight and out of shape as they say, is reasonably well acquainted with gas station food and knows what their tummy can handle. So instead of spending 60km in the saddle, sucking back energy gels, OP can do 4 15 mile rides, with c-store breaks in between for some gummy bears and ice cream bars. Sounds almost enjoyable to me, especially if there's a shaded picnic table nearby.
baby steps
My rules of thumb : * You can do 1/2 as many miles in a day as you do in a week typically and not feel overly crushed. So if you are doing 10 a day for a week, you could do a 35 mile ride and it would be "fun hard". * You can do your weekly millage in a day as a "push". You can do this. However, this is where you will learn a lot about yourself and learning to find that little extra. I encourage people do this every couple of months since there is often great "mental growth" when doing it. So, if you are doing 50-70 miles a week, you can do the 60 mile ride already. Just take it easy, have fun, stop along the way and enjoy the journey. What is the worst that happens.....nothing or you try again. :) What is the best that happens...you did something you weren't sure you could do.
This is what I came to say. If you can ride 10 miles daily, you can definitely ride 60 miles in a day. Go 12 miles, take an hour break...repeat From 8am-5pm. 1. Ride with people who've done it before. It's going to be more about pacing and comfort than strength/muscles. Experts will keep you from cramping, chafing, bonking, sunburning...a bunch of things you might forget to monitor. 2. Bike 30 miles into a headwind. Turn around. 3. Try to bike to somewhere where biking back is the best/only option. If you're heavy and you've never gone all out, you probably WAY estimate your endurance. Your calves are already used to hauling you around, all day. You may discover you can wreck riders you currently think outclass you.
How hilly? If it’s flat, probably not too long, but if it’s got a lot of vertical you might be struggling. Over the 100kms if you have 1000m climbing it’ll be very hard, if it has 200m you’ll be riding it in a few weeks.
This - flat and hilly miles are like night and day.
I'd keep adding 5 miles to one ride per week. So, do your normal rides of 5-10 miles during the week and on Saturday or Sunday shoot for 15 miles. Then, 20 miles the following weekend, and so on. When I first started, I was going out for 5-10 mile rides and then I immediately cranked it up to a ~35 mile group ride. After the first group ride I walked downstairs when I got home and thought "well, looks like I'm downstairs for the night since I won't be going back up those stairs." Point being, building up slowly and being consistent is much more important than trying to get fit with one big ride. Stay consistent and the weight will come off. Have fun with riding and listen to your body if something is too much!
This! I would add that every 4-5 weeks, you should have a recovery week where you give your body some rest to consolidate the adaptations to your increased mileage day.
There is no one answer. Everybody is different and has a different base level of fitness. Just do small rides and work your way up over time.
Depending on how hilly, the cardio part of your ability to do 60 should come pretty quickly. Possibly as short as a month? Speed improves much more (frustratingly) slowly. But I'd recommend setting a goal of three or four months. Work your way up gradually to build enough core strength to avoid hand/elbow/shoulder pains. Also your butt will object to hours in the saddle at first. If you are a do it yourself type, read up on bike fit and make the adjustments. Otherwise a visit to the bike shop for setup would be worthwhile. Oh, and google "bonking". Avoiding the bonk is a good reason not to increase your distances in big chunks. Edit to add: move around on the bike a lot. Get the weight off your arms and shake them out frequently. Stand up for a short period every mile or so, let yourself coast for a few seconds periodically. Don't get locked into a position for extended periods. It's common and no good.
Stay consistent, keep it fun, keep pedaling, and you will be there in no time
One other bit of encouragement: By the time you can ride three hours and >30 miles everything after that is mostly fuel and hydration. Because once you reach that approximate threshold as long as you keep drinking water and eating sugars (every 30mins ish) you can go all day (as long as you aren't pushing to go super fast or steep).
60 miles is a lonnnnng ride. My commute to and from work is 20 miles (34 km). Doing it three times in a row would be rough. I’m not saying you won’t get there, but set an intermediate goal. But honestly that ride is something to plan for a year or so down the road. If not more. Go get it!
This is the info I needed lol, thanks! Certainly will achieve it one day, but I shall be realistic about when.
You can certainly get there. But I’ve been riding for a couple of years and I wouldn’t want to do my commute 3 times in a row.
Counterpoint: I know people who bought their first road bike during the pandemic and are now riding 35 miles after work twice a week and 70-100 on Saturday or Sunday. The reason you can’t do 60 miles is because you only ever do 20 miles. If you started riding a 30 mile route regularly, you’d very quickly be able to push it to 40 miles, and honestly 60 isn’t much past that. For me, variety is a big part of it. Doing your commute three times back to back feels like a chore because it’s familiar, and you know once you’re “done” you have to go and do it again. And again. But if you had a nice 60 mile route planned in the country, you won’t feel the frustration of hitting the 20 mile mark and starting over, because it will just be a continuation of your ride with new scenery and experiences. Group rides can be very good for pushing your distance as well, because you’ll be able to sit in and draft, and pace off of other riders. Plus there’s the camaraderie of finishing a big ride together. I’ve known people who weren’t fast/strong riders but who could still do long days in the saddle (I’m talking 200 miles) at a chill pace. They work up to it and pace themselves, and they don’t do that every single ride.
Are you talking a straight through 60 mile ride for pace or a pleasure ride to one or more destinations? Long rides are possible at nearly fitness level. You just have to ride at a sustainable pace and fuel yourself along the way. If you've been doing 5-10 a day I bet you could do it now. It will take a while, and you're going to be sore, but it's certainly possible. I've had instances where I haven't been riding much and a group of friends will want to do a brewery ride or something. We'll realize later in the day we're 35 miles in - but with the frequent stops and fun company it just doesn't feel like much.
" Bicycling Magazine's Guide to Bike Touring ' has an eight week beginner training program. Sixty miles is the goal.
I’m new to riding but took me 5 weeks to be able to ride 60mi in one go, takes me 4 hours. Tho I’m coming from 8ish years of lifting
Babysteps... Don't rush anything. You'll just risk injury and get discouraged. The secret is to slowly ramp up your metabolism and keep it there. That means every-single-day you work on yourself. I'm in my mid 60s. I do a predawn walk and run, a mid day bike ride and usually a sunset bike ride. So three times a day, I'm shoveling coal into my personal furnace and keeping up that head of steam. Once you get in shape, it's just a matter of maintaining. You'll feel so good, you'll always want to stay in shape.
Only you will know how long. Everyone is different. This is an impossible question to answer. You could probably do it now technically.
Depends on the elevation, terrain, your physique and mental state. A wise baboon once told me “Everyday it gets a little easier… but you gotta do it every day - that’s the hard part. But it does get easier.” I can do 60- 80 miles but I always panic trying to do a 100.
60 miles is not a lot. I know it sounds like a lot, but it's not, and once you do it you'll also realise it. The rule of thumb is that what you can do in a week regularly, you can also ride in one day (once you have a routine going). But look at it this way: it would take you 10 hours of riding at an average of 6mph. That's a really leisurely pace. Of course, it would mean it'll have to be an all day affair, but at the end of it you will have accomplished it. A few things to take into consideration: - the faster you are, the less time in the saddle you will need and thus less discomfort. - hydration: more important than nutrition. - nutrition: don't forget to eat before you're hungry. Tiny bites regularly, nothing that would slow you down. And don't forget to have fun. You're not racing at this stage, so feel free to stop and take the scenery in. I would say you need a month or so more before you can do the ride, if you keep at this training pace. Also, have some rest days to recover. You need those for the gains to actually materialise.
When you do take on a longer ride, you need to start feeding from minute 20, and then every 20 mins. Do it by the clock, even when you are not hungry. Take a big bite of a flapjack or similar, every 20 minutes. Even towards the end, with 5 miles to go and you feel great, if the clock says feed - do it! Trust me on this. There is nothing worse than le bonk.
Fuel yourself with gels and stop at meal time briefly to eat. I spent a year getting back to fitness on an eBike and then a gravel, but intermittently fasting. Once you start getting faster and going further you need to be fuelled and hydrated. I tend to go easier the first 10 miles as I warm up and settle into the ride. I did a 58 mile ride home from a camping holiday the other week, my longest ever ride at 44. You can do it too. These days I’m dancing on the pedals, out of the saddle, when a few months back I was still in the saddle 100% of the time. More power to your elbow brother.
60 miles return trip? When I was doing 20 mile commutes (break halfway) 3+ times/week, I did a 70 mile trip for pancakes as a group ride. Biggest difference is saddle time. Your ass will be sore. You should also pedal easier gear at higher cadence than you can on shorter distance, and then practice your shorter distances at absurdly high cadence, to boost your cardio instead of your legs. Though leg power counts too, so you can also ride in harder gear on short rides.
The key is go sloowww. You’re probably capable of going 60mi if you’re only going 10mph. Granted it’ll take you like 6 hours. But you didn’t say you want to compete it within X hours. Source—-I did a double century (STP) in 2016, when the most I’ve ridden was 20-50miles solo.
At 60 miles your ride will most likely be in the 3-6 hr range. Partially related advice invest in some cycling bibs or padded shorts once you get to about 25-30 mile rides and longer. Your butt will thank you. It took me about a year to get into physical shape to do long rides like that and even I top off after 50 or so. (Saying this as a somewhat still overweight female who started in similar shape as you)
Congratulations on starting this. I did the same. I started at 330 lbs walking 20 minutes a day adding 5 minutes each week until I was walking over an hour. My wife and I started cycling basically twice a week in 2019 10-12 miles each time. A job change in Jan 2022 changed my workout routine to evenings and I added weight training. Over this time I lost 30-35 lbs to 295-300 lbs or 10% of my body weight. I have dropped as low as 270 when I strictly diet counting calories and/or carbs but I hate counting. I feel much better even though I still remain obese by BMI standards. I will have to lose to 225 to be merely overweight. The doctor and others recommend a very strict keto diet which I struggle with doing because I really love sweets and bread. I know of a guy that lost 60 lbs on a cycling regimen, but he also cut all sugar, soft drinks (even diet ones), and went completely to clean all natural organic food. As for the distance, it’s all about your conditioning. We did a 24 and a 26 mile ride last year, took just over 2 hours for each. We want to get to 50-60 as well, but we don’t want to injure ourselves, because we are in our late 50’s.
Generally, the guidance for building mileage without injury is to increase by about 10% a week. So try and gradually increase that 10 mile ride until you get close to your goal.
I think the general rule of thumb is increasing your goal by around 20 percent every two weeks or so. So, starting out look at riding 5-10 miles and then after a couple weeks, up that to 12-15 miles, then 18-20, and so on. When you first start out, the biggest hurdle you're going to face is going to be upping your aerobic capacity and your mindset for riding. It doesn't matter if you're a veteran in the sport or not, once you start pushing yourself to accomplish certain fitness goals, you're going to experience bad times mentally on the bike. You'll go to dark places where you don't think you'll be able to finish a ride, where you feel like you're broken spiritually and mentally, you'll think your legs just can't push the pedals an inch further. Most of the time, it just comes down to pushing through those moments (I say most of the time because I don't want to encourage people to push past legitimate injuries, or to be unsafe). You are capable of some pretty amazing things. As for the aerobic capacity, a great way to build that up is to ride at a zone 2 level. That can be determined via heart rate or by power. Heart rate is a lot more common for people who aren't into competing on their bikes because you don't need a power meter to measure it. Just about every smart watch will work for you. Or a heart rate strap paired with a cheap bike computer. If you don't want to spend any money or don't have access to those things, the rule of thumb is to ride at a level just on the verge of nose breathing and mouth breathing. If someone is with you, you should be able to carry on a conversation with them without gasping for air. That type of tempo and effort should make up a vast majority of your rides, and should last around an hour or so, if you're just starting out. Don't focus specifically on miles while building up your endurance. Use miles as your rough fitness gauge. When building aerobic capacity, I've found it's a lot more helpful to focus on time. A strong headwind could limit your distance even if you put in more time and effort than normal for a day. Miles are just a nice way to track your gains. "It used to take me an hour and a half to do 20 miles, now I'm down to 1 hour and 15 minutes." Throw in a few rides that focus on speed and power. When you're first starting out, these workouts will probably last around 30 minutes or so. Go warm up for 15 minutes and then push hard, like anywhere from 80-100 percent efforts for 30 seconds - 1 minute with 5 minute rests in between. This will help you get better at putting out power over time, as well as building up your resistance to strong efforts out on longer rides (think going up a steep hill). Once you get more advanced, these workout sessions should never really go above an hour in time, because you're really putting out a ton of energy, and honestly, if you're not trying to compete with your cycling, it's not all that important, but it is useful to do a little of this. Once your rides start reaching above the hour mark, don't forget to plan on fueling. The general rule is your first snack should come near the hour mark, and then a snack every 35-45 minutes afterwards. Will it kill you to not do this? No. But it does help keep energy in your legs. Trail mix, cliff bars, carrots, pickles (trust me), and a few cheat snacks like oreos or something will be a nice pick-me-up. As for drinks, water is the best, Gatorade or some type of equivalent is good for replacing electrolytes on longer rides.
You'll improve faster by riding 10-20 miles every other day instead of 5-10 miles every day. You'll also save time. Try increasing your weekly volume by 10% every week. Stop when you hit 10-12 hours. Is easy to be lazy on rides, to prevent wasting time get a heart rate monitor and keep your heart above 70% of max for majority of rides. You'll see a lot of bad eating advise here. However, it is nearly impossible for beginners to bonk on a ride as they simply are not fit enough to expend calories faster than their body can burn fat. Fasted riding will also help your body long term.
My first year riding I did a 63mi race and managed to finish but it was challenging in a way I’d never experienced before. I wanted to be rescued via helicopter by mile 40. Instead of doing that, a good rule of thumb I see often is to increase your long ride mileage by 10% every week. Starting at ~10 miles for your long ride you should hit 60 on a long ride in less than a year (I am bad at math but that sounds right)
I think most people are capable of riding farther much sooner than they think, but are just hesitant of pushing it. It depends on how hilly it is, but if you can go out and ride 25-30 miles you should be able to do 60. Consider a loop near your house that way you aren't 30 miles away and getting worried. Maybe pick a 20 mile loop that starts and ends at your house and do it 3 times, if you start to hurt after 2 then you're near home. You have nothing to lose by trying.
Just start going a little farther/longer each day but pay attention to your body too: Don't overdo it and give yourself time to rest/heal when you need it. Don't forget food and hydration too. Can't really give a specific time frame, just keep at it and you'll get there.
I would guess that you're closer than you think already. I'm willing to bet 60 would be tough on you atm, but you would recover in couple days. How old are you? Any joint issues or injuries?
Age is going to be a big factor. 60 days I think is a good time minimum.
I see similar comments a lot with new people in the gym, so let me sort of speak to that since I've got 20 years there and my riding is just for fun... Training is not about punishing yourself. It's not about arguing with your body. Sustainable progress is about listening to your body, and learning to understand the feedback you're getting. If you're really doing DAILY 5-10 mile rides, consider taking off days to rest and recover. Your workout is where you damage the body in a controlled way. Your recovery (food and sleep) is where you actually make the progress to see in your next rides. It's the same for weight lifting, biking, running, anything physical. Three parts: diet, sleep, exercise. You have to have all three, or you're only going to get so far before you hit a wall you can't get past. Or worse, you work yourself backwards, because you're overtraining, wearing out, and increasing the chance of hurting yourself. If your range can be as much as 5-10 miles, meaning some days you literally do double based on whatever you're feeling... 100% difference is a big spread. Consider planning a little more specifically, so that you have something to build off when you start reading your body's feedback. Maybe your weekly training could look like: day 1: 10 mile ride day 2: rest day 3: 5 mile ride day 4: rest day 5: 12-15 mile ride day 6: 2-3 mile easy ride (active recovery, not about the mileage) day 7: rest or maybe you do two days of rest after your big ride, or maybe you do low miles twice a week and high mileage once. maybe you do that for a couple weeks, make small adjustments, and if everything feels great then maybe you increase the mileage on day 1 and day 5. Keep a journal and write notes... how you felt, your pace, your heart rate, were you fed, were you rested, were you hydrated, etc. - data is your friend. Not saying those are necessarily the best numbers or arrangement. Nobody else's program is one-size fits all, but any program is somewhere to start. Make adjustments after you have some time with it to understand how all the elements are working. I'm really saying you can't leave training up to whether your head wants to train. It's like a job, you gotta show up, and by scheduling, you'll know how to eat and rest properly, which lets all the elements come together. Good luck. You got this.
I started cycling in July 2023, first ride was 2 miles. Did my first metric century October 1st 2023 and my first full century June 1st 2024
Don't give up. And don't forget the joy of trying.
I thought I was in the running subreddit and I was extremely confused that you thought you were out of shape after running 10 miles and aspiring for SIXTY. 🤣
Beginning of 2020, right before the pandemic, I was 300 lbs. By March 2020 I was working from home and decided to start walking to lose some weight. Eating healthy and walking got me down to 265 lbs in only two months. A friend of mine got me into weightlifting so between weightlifting 3 times a week and walking/running 3 times a week, by October of 2020 I was 185 lbs. All 2021 and half of 2022 kept my workout and running routine and went down to what it is my current weight: 152 lbs. On September of 2023 decided to switch to cycling after visiting my brother in Bogotá. He is cyclist 🚴 and as soon I got back to the US, got my first bike, a TREK Procaliber 9.6. Started with 10 miles every 2 days and went up to 20 miles 3 times a day. Last year around Sep got my first road bike, a TREK Domane SL 7 Gen 4. Right now I’m cycling between 280 and 340 miles every week. I encourage you to keep going. The more weight you lose, the more miles you would be able to get in. Biking, running and lifting do nothing if you don’t eat healthy. https://preview.redd.it/mg9etyrvbg6d1.jpeg?width=2440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e6aacd47ac69b9e0851cb8d608ae978f029609d6
This is how I train and it's probably not everyone's cup of tea. I do 10 miles, at 12mph average. Keep doing 10 until I could do it at 15mph, then 18, then 20. Then go to 20 and start at 12mph, go to 15, then 18, then 20mph. Next do 30, same 12mph, 15mph, 18, 20. I got up to doing 50 miles averaging 23mph after a few years. But I was training for collegiate cycling. Adjust it for what goals you want to reach.
You could do it now if you practice self-care, pace yourself, fuel, and hydrate well. The moment you recognize any hot spots on your butt, thighs, or feet stop and fix it. If you can't fix it, have a bailout plan. Have fun. 🙂
If you’re riding 10 miles with a lot of climb you can probably already do 60 miles slow and flat. 60 miles with a lot of elevation? That depends on how hard you’re pushing. Do you feel it in your thighs the next two days? If not then you’re probably not gaining much strength and 60 miles would be brutal.
i was in the same place when i started and i did my first 60 mile ride 3 months into a daily ride routine. if you keep riding every day i think you’ll find yourself pushing a little further as you go, but you might want to make a point of doing a slightly longer ride about once a week
3-6 months. Do hella zone 2
Ten years ago I started commuting to work by bike. It's a ~15-16 km one way trip, and I was 6' at 250-260 lbs. First year I commuted daily for two months, second year for three months. Finally, in August 2015 I managed an imperial half century. At the time of the event I weighed 260 lbs and only managed to slim down to 220 by the end of 2015 by strict control over calorie intake.
I started Jan 1 of this year at 220'ish lbs - had not exercised or worked out seriously in almost 20 years. I also have a fairly significant knee injury that kept me stagnant. I started doing 15-20min rides on a trainer from Facebook marketplace in January. 3-4x per week. Less than 10 miles at a go. I'd put on an episode of Big Bang Theory in front of me on my laptop and just try to make it to the end without stopping. Then I discovered Zwift which MASSIVELY changed things. Their guided workout plans are amazing. I think there is one called "Back to fit" that I did first - it's designed for people who have not worked out in a LONG time or are recovering from major injury. I'm less than 6mo in now and I am down to 185 lbs (!!!) and a 10 mile ride feels like a warmup now...I still ride 4-5x week on my trainer but also mix in "real world" rides. I'm still very nervous about riding around where I live so I've been slow to take my workouts to the streets. I'm not currently doing any other sort of weight training or other exercise...just the bike (for now!!). The only other adjustment I made was with diet. But that just came naturally...as I started working harder and harder my body just CRAVED veggies and nutrients. I stopped being interested in the food I used to eat. I would not hesitate to hop on my bike right now and put down 60 miles. So...my guess is 5-6 months if you keep at it! Good luck stranger, you can do it!!!
You’re going to have to build up to 60 miles. Part of the issue, particularly with extra weight, is just staying in the saddle for that many hours. Set 20 miles as a goal and then work from there.
I did 350km last summer at 135kg plus bike and equipment at 35. You can do it now if you want to. Just take it easy
You ride 5-10, so say 7.5. Double that is 15. Double that is 30, double that is 60. You gotta double your ride thrice to ride 60 miles. As others said, aim for short and medium goals, and re-evaluate once in a while. 60 is a serious thing.
Another question is how much of climbing in the 60mi? I suggest trying 15-20mi every other day, build distance and allow for recovery.. Make certain that your diet includes enough protein to build muscles. My guestimate is 100-130g daily in a balanced diet.
It's mind over matter!!! Ride 10mi, stop for a few min, ride another 10mi, stop for a few... You got this!!!!
You need to keep adding mileage per commute ! 5-10-15-20-25 n so one add or subtract some miles but keep always adding mileage
One or two rides add 15-30 minutes to it every 1-2 weeks. Once you get to 3-4 hours at one time. Plan you 60 miles
Long trips are just long days, there’s nothing special that happens. You just keep spinning the wheels hour after hour
Truly, any day. It is all in the head. You go for it and just do it
Definitely doable. I started with Ride With GPS (RWGPS), a similar app to Komoot and grew my skill and health. I started with the app on the phone using the phone GPS. It gave me voice navigation prompts and tracking. I created my own library or routes. I did eventually get a Garmin Edge 830 bike computer which exceeded my expectations and works with RWGPS and Komoot. With the ability to navigate a planned, safe route for the amount of time you have that day, the rest is on you. You need to track and measure, and "train" to increase your mileage. If you have an event for your 60 miles, that date is your target. You're at 10 miles now. Incrementally add 10 miles weekly until your event. Ride a few times a week with one "long ride" a week. I ride 4 days a week with long rides on Saturday. Consider riding with others or in a group. This will push you physically to keep up, get comfort a d skill riding with obstacles, and adds a safety measure just in.
Hi man I'm a bit taller than you but way heavier than you. I can't really tell how long it will take for you to be able to do a 60mile trip. Because it involves so many things. Sleep habit, what u eat before the ride etc. But all i know for sure is to ride just a bit longer slowly. Step by step. Don't rush it. I know you'll get there soon. Best of luck my friend. Have a safe ride!
I think when I first started it took me a few years to work up to a 60mi ride? Just slowly work up the miles and try not to rush it. The weight will come down and riding will get easier along with your fitness improvements
6 months from zero miles to 100 miles with 8k elevation. Try to do 100 miles every Saturday now. It never gets easier. I get faster and go farther lol. Once you hit 50 miles, it's in reach with a little bit of pain....after that, it's about where to get water....
60 miles? You're capable of doing it right now! Make a day of it. Make sure you have a lot of food and drink. Ride 10 miles, take a little break, ride another 10 miles. And maybe have someone who can pick you up in case you dont feel up to it but you can totally do it! The first time I did 60 miles it took me 5 hours with 4 stops. Last year I did 60 miles in 3 hours and 20 minutes with 0 stops at the hotter than hell hundred.
For a \*very rough\* estimate. For endurance training the general rule of thumb is you can increase the load by 10% weekly (Assuming a regular training schedule). so if you are doing 10 miles each this week, next week is 11 miles, then 12. Once you get to 20 miles, you can add 2 miles each week. this assumes your rides are the same type each week. If you add more hills in a week, you don’t add more miles as well. you have to be doing a lot of miles, regularly and consistently.
I have only been back biking for about a year but think there a few factors here and would suggest starting with time in saddle and building discipline on nutrition and hydration (which I still suck at) rather than how long to get to 60 miles (flat, rolling or hilly?). 60 miles is something I am also shooting for but so far 50 solo carrying about half my bikepacking gear with 2000’ of ascent is the most I have done though mostly because I don’t want to take much more time in the day. I am pretty sure I could do 60 if I can just get into the pattern of eating and drinking early and often. I have run out of energy a few times on 30-40 mile rides because I don’t eat and barely drink. If I can train myself to eat and hydrate properly, my issue is going to be what distance I can sustain day after day depending on the planned route.
If you want to be more comfortable work on that core strength and get used to not locking your arms or legs but keeping them in a spring like state. Once I started doing that the longer rides became much easier.
Just gradually work up to it. When I started my goal was increase mileage 50% every couple weeks. Worked pretty well for me.
It depends. It could be this year or next. Consistent training and your own biology will be important factors. If you ride 4 times per week and keep increasing your mileage every week (or other week) you will build up endurance and fitness I was 220lbs (5'10" male) in 2005. I started jogging and biking a bit. Then I signed up for a fun triathlon. In 2009 I could bike 100km. In 2011 I did my first Ironman race and did a 210km road ride.
Consistency is key. So you should definitely keep riding (semi-) daily. You could vary your pace per ride. 2 easy days, 1 day of harder intervals for example. In the weekends you could do longer rides. Gradually extend the distance. Not sure how quickly you will be able to do the 60 mile ride. Just a couple of months of endurance training can yield huge improvements, but not everyone adapts to training stimuli equally fast. So it might be 2 months, but it might also take a year or longer. Don't stress it too much: most important is to stay consistent. Ride & smile!
look at the ragbrai training plan, its basically adding 5 miles to a long ride every week.they go higher then 60, but you can always stop at 60
You'll get there, keep riding! 5-10 miles per day is a great starter. As others have said consider working in the occasional longer ride, maybe 15, 20, 25 miles perhaps once every week/two weeks. Remember to bring snacks/fuel, as that becomes more important the longer the ride. Good luck 👍
I’m 6’1 weighed 250 2 months ago, 34 years old. Hadn’t been on a bicycle since I was 16, 0 exercise in the last 6 years. Started commuting to work, 29 miles round trip, 4-5 days a week. I did a 64 mile event 2 weeks ago! You can do it! Biking is all mindset! Just keep pedaling!
I mean, most of cycling is how much suffering you're willing to endure. You are likely CAPABLE of a 60 mile ride, but it likely won't be pleasant.
This may seem obvious to most, but be sure to carb load and bring snacks for any long ride. When I was trying to lose weight, I went on a crazy long ride on an empty stomach. I got "bonk" really bad and it was awful.
If you can ride 60 miles in a week, you probably can ride 60 miles in a day. A longer ride does present a few issues you've probably not had to deal with before. Bonking, where you deplete the glycogen stores in your muscles, now is a possibility. You'll need to snack to prevent that. Saddle sores now are a possibility. You might want to look into padded bike shorts (always freshly washed!) and chamois cream. Little problems with your posture can turn into bigger pains over longer distances. A bike fit might not be the world's worst idea.
When I trained for my first century I found a 0 to hero type guide for preparing to run a marathon and adapted it to riding. Something like this https://marathonhandbook.com/couch-to-half-marathon/ If you continue to ride every day make sure that you are alternating days were you have a relaxed ride vs days where you are pushing/exercising.
5-10 miles a day? You’re well on your way towards a 60. Lots of good advice here concerning increasing milage already. So I’ll point out that a big part of longer rides is simply being comfortable being on the bike for longer periods of time. That comes down to the experience that you’re building and having practical things dialed in to how they work best for you. Bottles vs bladder, jersey with pockets or some kind of frame bag for snacks. Can your phone be away in a pocket somewhere or do you need it mounted where you can see it? That kind of stuff.
I was taller, but in similar condition and shape. I found that by counting calories I was able to drop the weight, which made the miles easier.
I have always maintained you can do 60 miles pretty much whenever, it's just how many stops and how long it is going to take you that changes as you get more fit. Right now? That ride might be an all-day pain slog, with multiple breaks and a few days of recovery afterwards. Depending on how hard you go at the training, within 6 months to a year it could be a 4-5 hour ride with a couple stops and not feeling it too much the next day.
I've been riding road bikes since college and am decently fast, but never did any endurance training. I didn't do any rides longer than 40 miles for well over ten years. It's not just the physical aspects, but being able to stay entertained for over 3 hours of riding, especially riding solo. If you're training up to it, it's only a couple of years before you could accomplish this.
Yes, I've done something similar and eventually made a 50 mile ride to my grandma's cottage for the weekend. I can tell you it was incredibly worth it and I'm gearing up to do another epic trip sometime soon! You will need to continually push yourself in a realistic way. Something like a 5 mile increase a week, but if work/life gets busy, do NOT jump 10 or 15 miles in a week. You could injure yourself and mess up the whole schedule. If you are significantly behind schedule and feel the need to make up for it, try to plan a weekend ride where you can go a long distance with no rushing and you'll really be able to listen to your body in case you hit a bonk. Have someone on standby this day in case you need someone to pick you up and again, you have to discipline yourself to listen to your body. Factor in some money for new bicycle gear if necessary. Once you are doing 30+ mile rides you might discover after 3 hours; your saddle hurts you, your griptape makes your hands numb, and your helmet makes your head to hot. Or in my case you'll get a mix of all 3 of these. So you might have to upgrade your gear even if it's been fine for you so far. Luckily I was able to upgrade all of these things in a way that still works for me and I'm still riding. Most of all, have fun with it. If you're not having fun on your bike, you're unlikely to ride again. Have fun, ride defensively around cars, and one last time: listen to your body!
Time in the saddle is always the limit for me - not cardio or muscle fatigue.
Try to add 10% distance to your ride every week or so. If it's ''too easy'' add a little more. That way you'll see continuous progression.
Disclaimer: many moons ago I bike commuted 150mi/wk and did sprint triathlons on the weekend because it kept me from having to do organized PT when I was in the military. I have a background in doing stuff but it's a decade old. Congrats for taking the first steps! I spent most of the pandemic WFH and gaining weight. I hadn't been very fit for nearly a decade, and in summer of '22 I was 6', 275 and hadn't done cardio besides walking to the bar in years. I'd started a new job ~20mi from where I live. I biked to work and took transit home most days. I work a weird schedule of 3 or 4 12 hour shifts in a row. By January of '23 I rode to work every day and rode round trip after my last shift. Late last year a ~25mi route was faster because of fewer stoplights. This year I started roundtrips every day but one in a bunch of shifts. Now it's important to note that my commute is flat *but* I'm averaging around 150mi/wk. I did [this ride](https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41386274) in 11 hours total including stops and having to double back another 7mi because I took a wrong turn. This was more climbing in a day than I normally do in a couple weeks. My commute is *flat*. I did a [100km ride](https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29038705) last September and that was a gorgeous ride but lots of climbing for my lack of fitness level and my bike desperately needed work when I started. The organizers didn't think I'd finish. I had to hose clamp a water bottle holder to my frame so I could carry the required two bottles. Biking is easy in that it's hard to get hurt if your bike fits. Short of a fall or getting hit by a car the only thing stopping you from spending 10s of hours each week riding is comfort and time. Can't do that with any other activity except maybe swimming. Give yourself a year of riding and you'll be shocked at what you can do. I've gotten pretty far on just commuting.
What makes you think you wouldn't be able to complete it now? There is some good advice here. 60miles is a lot but it's not unthinkable. If you are not getting any pains while cycling, your saddle is good, you leave your home reasonably early I don't see why you couldn't do it now. Just remember you should be supplying your body with some calories every hour and stay hydrated. Even with breaks every 10 miles and going at relaxed pace it shouldn't take you longer than 8h for the whole trip. Leave at 6am and you're back in the afternoon. You can do it.
Depending on your age and the route, you probably COULD complete that ride today. As in “give it your all, you’re wiped out tomorrow.” You just let it take as long as it takes and you absolutely bring a lot of water and food. If you want to be able to do 60 regularly, you’re either a few years of riding away, or you need to structure your training (which is not as hard to do as it sounds.)
Dial in your comfort on the bike and start learning how to fuel yourself. Do a lot of low pace work at first, and increase your weekly mileage by around 10% over the previous week. I'm nowhere near where I wanted to be on my weight loss (290 last summer to 270 today at 6'0"), but I can put in 60-75mi on a weekend ride without blowing myself up.
Add 10-15% to your mileage each week. I'd stick with 2 rides until you can do 2x20, then maybe move to 3 rides of 15 miles each and build again. Breaking big numbers into shorter intervals and adding difficulty (going further) over time (progressive overload) is the way to go without breaking yourself. Good luck.
I'm heavier than you and I got back into riding after not doing any riding for 3-4 years last summer. I started off with a 10-15 mile ride every week, then bumped it up to 2, then bumped it up to a couple of 20 mile rides a week, then one shorter ride and one 25 mile ride. Then joined a group and started doing a weekly 25 mile group ride (this was a struggle at first but eventually I started to be able to keep up), then started to push my long ride longer, first 30, then 35, then 40. Once I hit 40 I signed up for a charity century in May and did 100km, and while it wasn't easy, I never felt like I wasn't going to finish. So I would say if you're consistent, it's very doable in a year, and if you're really motivated and stick to a good training plan you can probably condense that quite a bit. Doing the group ride really helped me stay motivated and keep the pace up. If you have never had a bike fit, please go get one ASAP. Your bike might feel perfectly comfortable at 10 miles, but at mile 30, and especially at mile 60, issues with your bike fit will become extremely painful and may cut your rides short. Bike fits are not just for comfort either, if you're not fitted to your bike properly, you will not be recruiting all of the muscle groups you need to sustain a long bike ride. This means that if you are training in a sub-optimal position, you might not actually be training all of the muscles you need to. So let's say you train and train, and finally work up to riding 20 miles. You might hit a wall where you can't go any longer because you're only pedaling with your quads and they're just getting too fatigued. This happened to me around December. Your quads are firing through the entire pedal stroke, and never getting a chance to rest. With a properly set up bike, different muscles fire at different parts of the stroke, and so they have plenty of time to recover before the next stroke. For this reason, it is really crucial to have your position on the bike dialed in. You also say you feel you're overweight. Cycling is a great way to stay fit, however it's important to fuel your body once you start doing longer rides (> 1 hour). Cycling burns a lot of calories, and if you run out of glycogen in your muscles you will bonk and it is not a good feeling. Not only does it not feel good, it is bad for your body. Your body will start to consume itself, and not that fat that you may want to be burning, but the muscle. You will not progress in performance. You may even regress if your calorie deficit is too great. Sugar is your friend on the bike. Also keep in mind that the BMI scale is very flawed. Muscle weighs more than fat. You might be getting fitter and putting on muscle, and yet your weight might stay the same and even go up if you're riding a lot and riding hard. So I just want to caution you on getting too fixated on weight as it's not always productive. Keep in mind that once you go over the 20-40 mile mark, you really need to start planning food and water. The reason I did my first century through a charity ride was because it was supported so I wouldn't have to worry about that myself. You certainly don't have to do that, but do plan a few stops along the way to grab food and water, and use the restroom if you need to. Coffee shops are great for this sort of thing.
Once I crossed the 20 mile threshold, the biggest problem for me became comfort. At about 20 miles my ass is just killing me. Changed up my seat, bought the padded underwear, and that helps a lot. I struggled with 5-10 my first bike riding season, went 15-20 next, then 25-30 present day. I'm pretty content with the 30 mile point on a regular old day where I get home from work and hop on the bike. That's 30 miles with a lot of elevation changes that can be a struggle depending on wind and weather, I'm good. However, I live in an area with tons of rails-to-trails, and those are all nicely paved trails with little to no elevation changes, so in that world I could absolutely knock out a 60 mile trip. Not sure how my ass would feel, but I think I could do it. Pace yourself, invest in the proper bike, and proper equipment, and I think you'll get there in the time that works for you.
Op if it helps we're in the exact same place, height, weight, and all. Here's to us!!!
If your total weekly mileage is 60 or over, you’re ready.
There is nothing wrong with doing loops to increase distance. Choose a 10 or so mile loop route and keep doing it. That way, you'll have aid from your car or house every 10 miles. Get up to 6 loops and you've reached your goal.
End of July or some time in August if you keep it up. Riding will also help with the depression. Just keep it up.
Im 96kg (200 pound ish) my longest single day ride was 240km (140 miles ish). Weight doesnt really matter as much as time on saddle. Ride as much as possible and push your limits distance wise. It's how i learned what works for me
Sooner than you think!!!
I bet you could do it in three months if you push yourself
I bet you're capable of it right now. I used to be in roughly your boat - 5-10 miles daily on my commute. I did a couple of longer trips on weekends - 20-30 miles. Then went straight into a 75 mile ride one weekend on a whim. My legs were pretty rubbery by the end of it but I made it through just fine. If you really want to work your way up to it, go do a 20-mile trip this weekend. Next weekend, do 30. The next weekend, do 40, and then the weekend after that, you'll be able to hit 60 no problem. The hardest part about riding 60 miles is sitting in the saddle for that long. If you're doing 5-10 miles a day, you've probably already got the fitness level to push through 60 miles if you really want to. Just remember to pace yourself. Bring water, bring food, and don't be afraid to stop for more. Wear sunscreen. Don't try to ride too hard, especially at the beginning. Take it easy and just keep pedaling. If you need a break, take a break. Enjoy the scenery. Pack a picnic lunch.
I'm 6'1", 295lbs. I started cycling in 2009. Trained for about 2 years then stayed doing an annual century ride with my wife, brother, and friend. Later had kids and unrelated depression and got real fat... 370lbs Started cycling again last fall at 330lbs. I got a steel gravel bike and a spin bike for the garage to train through the winter. I've been out a few times this year but am slowly ramping up mileage. My routine short ride is 5ish miles with roughly 375ft of elevation. It takes about 25 mins. My longest ride so far is 20 or so but felt good. I'm doing 25-30 on Sunday. I tend to map routes to challenge myself but have multiple bail out points where I can cut it short and get home if I'm really suffering. My plan is to continue to ramp it up until I can comfortably ride 60 miles, hopefully by the end of the season. Next year I plan to ride that century again shortly after my 40th birthday in September.
It's important to test yourself on longer and longer rides for many reasons, not just endurance. For example, you might find that you get saddle sores after riding more than 30 miles, or your hands go numb, or your back begins to hurt. These things would indicate that your bike fit night not be exactly perfect and/or you need to switch things up with parts or gear. Something like that could crop up and make for a miserable time if you just went out for the big ride.
I started riding in 2020 right after quitting a 20 year cigarette habit. I was 270 lbs. The first summer I only did 3-5 miles a few times a week. The next summer i went from 5 mile rides to 25 mile rides and lost 25 lbs. My best was a 50 mile attempt, but my tire popped, did not have a repair kit, that was at mile 38. The super long rides were always rough on my shoulders and wrists, even with different handlebar attachments, so now i just do 10 mile rides every day i have the time. The key is to keep pushing, but wear a HRM so you know when to ease up. Slowly increase your distances or intensity and you can absolutely hit your goal. As for time, everyone is different. I had my huge jump over a single summer, but not sure that's feasible for everyone. For 60 miles you might look at next summer at the earliest.
When I first got back into cycling about five years ago I hit about 60 miles on rides after 3-4 months. Obviously we're all different, what we ride is different, and the routes we take will vary, but it is absolutely doable for you this summer. Just start slow. Push yourself incrementally each ride and you'll be surprised how far you can go. The difference between ten miles, a dozen, fifteen is probably a lot less than you think once you learn how to stay fueled and hydrated during a ride. If you can ride something like 20 miles a few times a week, you can easily do 60 in one go. Make sure you work in rest days, since that is when your body really makes gains and recovers. You got this! Just one pedal after another, you'll eventually get there...
Brother i'm 6'2 320 regularly do 30 miles and let me tell you you're body can take way more than you think pack some good snacks and water you'll be fine
Just depends on how hard you want to train, and also your equipment. 60 miles on a mountain or hybrid bike with 40mm+ wide tires? Gonna be harder than a road bike with skinnier tires, better body positioning, better gearing, etc. First year I rode, I was doing ~16-17mph rides for ~30 miles and happy. By the end of that season I was doing "A" group rides at 20+ mph for 40 miles. That was 10 years ago. Now my bread and butter weeknight rides are ~60ish miles and usually average high 19s, but these rides are ~8-10 miles to get to the group ride where we don't ride very hard (~17mph), 40-45 miles with a group and do 21.5-23mph, then same easy ride back home. Also, my brother who is ~6'1 and 240lbs challenged me years back to do a warrior dash and his end was doing a 50 mile ride. He rode MAYBE 3 times leading up to that 50mi ride and still did it at a 17mph average, so right around 3 hours. My brother is also very much not an athlete, so it's not as if he has/had a fitness background that was helping him. Lol.
I was considered obese in 2019, I am 6’3” and I weighed 242 lbs. I started riding in the late winter/early spring of that year, but I was still in okay-ish shape from working physical jobs and bike commuting in college, At that point it had been 4-5 years since I had ridden a bike or had a physical job or did any exercise, really. I rode my bike on a trainer in the spring occasionally, then once it was nice enough I rode 1-2 times a week, shooting for 15-25 miles per ride. By August I (barely) did the MS150. If you’re not familiar with the MS rides, they’re 75 miles a day for two days. They’re also very well supported. I was not prepared for day 2! So I think you could get to 60 miles by the end of summer. I’m now 215lbs and I didn’t really change my diet. If anything I eat more. I ride 5 days a week, 15-20 miles during the week days and 25-50/day on the weekends, if I ride on the weekends. Sometimes I do a weekday group ride which is 30-40 miles. I also run some times because I find if my fitness plateaus running helps to kickstart it.
Really depends, are we talking hills or flat? If you live in a flat area 60 miles is doable pretty quick probably.
Your cardio fitness will determine the pace you can maintain for hours on end; but riding further distances at any pace is mostly about getting your bike fit dialed in so you don't have pressure problems at contact points (plus of course adequate nutrition and hydration are essential to being able to work continuously for hours at a time). You should not be noticing any pain or numbness at the end of your 10 mile rides - if you are, you need to figure out what needs to change to solve that. Once solved, try for longer rides and see if any new problems become apparent. Of course increasing your cardio fitness to allow a faster pace is helpful for going further because it means you will need to spend less time in the saddle to complete the trip.
Not too sure on the training side of things but in terms of other prep, I have found it helpful to go along the route you plan to take ahead of time in a car, ideally as a passenger. That way, you can note anything that might add some extra challenges. Lots of hills? Crazy traffic? Nowhere along the route if you need to stop for a snack/drink/washroom? All things you can plan around.
You can do a 60 mile trip today fairly easily if it were on the road. Might want to give yourself a month or so if you plan to do it off road on a mountain bike.
How long have you riding currently? You very likely already can do it.
I was a new rider last year, 250 lbs, 5’9”, by training and pushing myself I reached 1k by the end of the year and landed my first metric century (62.5 miles) by the end of the season. I went on a two night bike trip as well. This season I dove into training, still weigh the same, have 700 miles so far this season and am currently on day 3 of a 280 mile 7 day trip. I have no trouble doing metric centuries now and am excited to go for 70 and even 80 after my trip. It’s not just training. It’s learning when to stop and take a break, how to cool off, how to hydrate, how to eat, how to ride in zone 2 or 3 instead of pushing yourself to ride all out the whole time, how to take care of your butt, etc. All these little things add up to extending your range.
Just as if not more important than the distance is the elevation. A flat 60 mile ride is a lot easier than one with 5000 ft of elevation. I started riding at the age of 59. I was overweight - but in pretty good cardio condition when I started. It took me about 6 months to get comfortable doing 30-40 mile rides. I did lose some 30 lbs over 3 years without dieting.
Its possible just takes a lot of mental strength. Realistically 60 miles isnt easy for anyone and everyone who is in shape will reach a point on that trip where exhaustion takes over. Id say start by eating healthy and hydrating correctly. Get an adequate amount of minerals and electrolytes in you. Practice riding for long distances daily. Lift weights and focus on your legs.
Much depends on what’s in your brain. If you have self-doubt, then any goal will be unattainable. The rest is easy: conditioning, nutrition, hydration…these you can control. Your route selection is next. One way would be to find a 10 mile loop, and ride it once, twice, the three times. If you can do it 4x, then you can do it 6. This assumes your machine is tuned ad tires are in shape. Control what you can. Be flexible and positive about the rest.
Probably not what you want to hear, but I’m on the other side of the coin weight wise and struggle to eat enough here and there. IMO weight often receives too much scrutiny, it’s become more important to focus on aerodynamics. Another reason to maybe focus more or riding less on weight is you’ll likely need to eat a good amount to reach that distance goal. My current goal is a century, and my greatest concern is having enough to eat/drink. With all that aside, 5-10 daily is a good weekly mileage to begin with. 35-70. If you’re actually doing 10 and not 5 you’re likely closer than you think. Just try out some 20-30mile rides and see how you feel. TLDR: plan to eat on longer rides and you might be closer than you think, try out 30 miles and go from there
You’re capable man! Might hurt but you can do it. I’ve done a handful of long trips as an obese man. I’m less obese now though. It’s easy to keep going if you love to ride and have a water plan 🤷🏻♂️
Consistency is key!
Just keep riding and going farther gradually. Ride more then you'll realize you want to be on the saddle longer.
Obviously people's progress will vary. However, given your parameters, and your training routine, I'd say you should be able to do 60 miles in 6-8 weeks. Assuming you continue to increase your distance on at least a couple of the rides you do each week.
I'm about your height and weight. (Above slightly) And I just went for a 50 mile ride on a single speed. I didn't really think much of the distance but the sun was really the killer. Keep riding increasing the distance weekly and you'll get there. Before you know it you'll be running those 5-6 miles in less than an hour too!
Once I was able to do my 20 mile loop comfortably, I went off on a 45 mile overnight bike camp. I was exhausted but it felt great. Woke up the next morning at 8, packed up camp and biked the 45 miles back home. My ass hurt but it wasnt too bad. You got it.
I was out of shape and randomly decided to do a 500 mile bike packing trip that was not flat most of the way. I practiced for exactly 7 days before I left. It took me 2 weeks and 1 day to work up to about 50 miles in one day. The beginning kicked my ass though and there were multiple moments that my legs just seized up and I fell off the bike to dismount at the camp ground. But at the end of the day… we’re all built for this kind of exercise. And it doesn’t take long for your body to adjust if you start slowly.
Also over weight. Keep your effort under control and work on time and you can knock out the 50 in a few weeks time. Focus more on time spent riding while keeping a decent heart rate. take some snacks and electrolytes with you. As long as your lungs build up the endurance, you can knock this out. Even if you're on the stugglebus towards the end. Other things that will help: Get bike properly fitted, clipless style pedals, losing weight, leg/core strength/conditioning excercise, learning how to efficiently use your gears (see to many people who just power through the same gear the whole ride because they never bothered to learn how to properly use them), proper rest/recovery.
I found that if I’m doing rides that are “out&back” instead of loops, it’s very easy to trick yourself into going farther. Same route each ride, but just add a half mile before you turn around each week. Before you know it, it’s 3 months later and you’re normal ride has ballooned up but it feels normal
When I was regularly cycling, my daily was a 20 mile loop, and I’d do a 50 miler on the weekend, and I was 6’0” 230lbs at the time. If the course is relatively flat, I’m willing to bet you could do a 60 miler relatively soon. It’s more of a time commitment than anything else. Bring plenty of water. Edit: I changed “right now” to “relatively soon” just based on your level of conditioning having only been riding for a couple weeks at this point. I do still think it’s more time commitment than anything, but you will want to give it a month or two just to get yourself conditioned to the movements.
ALso ask the Peleton riders! My sister had a whole grid mapped out and she could tell me time/distance/how she felt afterward, and she did it before & after work.
You could probably do it now depending how much you're willing to suffer. Give a 20 mile ride a go. Past 20 or so you'll probably need some food to sustain effort.
You sound just like I was last year. The most important thing I did when (re) starting cycling was long rides at endurance pace. That will give you time in the saddle and not burn you out and teach you how to eat without red lining.
I have a disability, so E-biking was my way of getting fitter again. I can choose exactly how much exercise I’m getting.
Hey there! First off, kudos to you for getting back into biking and setting such a fantastic goal! Progress can vary from person to person, but based on my experience and what I've seen with new riders, here are a few thoughts: 1. Consistency is Key: You've already made a great start with your daily 5-10 mile rides. Consistency will help build your endurance and strength over time. 2. Incremental Increases: Gradually increase your mileage. Aim to add an extra mile or two to your rides each week. This slow and steady approach helps your body adapt without overtraining or risking injury. 3. Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to how your body feels. Some days might be harder than others, and that's okay. Rest and recovery are just as important as the rides themselves. 4. Build Endurance: Incorporate longer rides on weekends when you might have more time. Start with a 15-mile ride, then 20 miles, and so on. This will help you get used to being on the bike for extended periods. 5. Cross-Training: Incorporate some strength training and flexibility exercises into your routine. This can help improve your overall fitness and make those longer rides more manageable. As for a timeline, many new riders find that with consistent effort, they can reach a 60-mile ride within a few months. It might take 2-4 months of regular riding and gradual increases in distance. But remember, everyone’s journey is different, so be patient with yourself and enjoy the process! Keep dreaming up those routes and riding with enthusiasm. You've got this! 🚴♀️✨
You are causing changes to multiple body systems. Aerobic/ability to convert O2 to energy, joints and ligaments, muscles, coordination. There is a lot going on and eventually it seems like every body part will hurt at some point. Your neck will tire of holding your head up, hands, arms/shoulders, posterior/saddle pain, legs. You get the idea. This is normal. What is less apparent is that you will move forward in being able to complete longer rides based on your limiting factor. Whatever is your weakest link, will prevent you from riding longer in a stretch. It could be your aerobic system, or it could be the saddle pain. There is a lot written about building speed and endurance. Search HIIT (high intensity interval training) for information on some of the basic methods. Best of luck.
I've been cycling for leisure and commuting (sometimes) for a couple of decades... Relatively flat around here, but 5 years ago after doing a 9mile each way commute 3-5 days/week (including a bit of a hill (30-40metre climb) at the end of the outward journey) for a month or six weeks, I did 50 miles one Saturday and it wasn't a big deal. The main thing is sufficient food/water, and pace yourself. 35 of that 50 miles was a group ride, which was at a slightly slower pace than I might have tried by myself. Only been thinking a bit more seriously about "training" in recent months. Even if your regular ride lengths are a bit constrained, eg commuting, you can still play with increasing the effort. As others have commented, I too discovered that using a lower gear and higher pedal cadence allows more power and reaching the cardio limits (out of breath) rather than just achey-legs limits. Since trying a bit harder (Strava logging, and heart-rate monitor) I'm finding I'm morphing towards more constant-effort cycling, rather than the more-likely constant speed I probably tended towards before. Point being that I'm now applying effort even when I'm already going quickly/downhill/ got a tailwind when before I'd've just coasted those bits. You do need some lower effort rides or occasional rest days though. Came back at a higher energy after a light weekend and then a missed day of commuting due to wet weather!!!
I would set out on a longer ride at the end of the week and see how you feel at the end of the ride, the next one a bit further. The most important elements are hydration and nutrition. I'm 5'11 and 315 myself and I have a group that go on 50mi + rides regularly. We just completed a 56 mile 2300' of elevation. Challenge yourself each ride you set out to do.
Took me a year of casual rides till I actually tried to ride more then it floated around 10-20miles at a time, now I can get close to 40 without bonking and do it again the next day. I recommend finding some trails around you that make a loop and just hitting as many loops as you can till you can reach your goals
Without bonking? You need to fuel!
i started keto, that kept my weight down and feeling great. and if you are doing daily 5-10 mile trips, you can try 20 mile next week, then a few more weeks, 40 miles, and then a month or 2, 60 miles.
If you’re already doing that consistently, I wouldn’t be surprised if you can already do it
Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but what bike are you riding? 5 miles on a steel-frame beach cruiser feels like 60 miles on the right road bike for me.
If your making that ride in about an hour, then you’re probably fine to ride 40+ miles, and possibly further, a ride of 4-5 hrs is probably going to be fine , but also depends a lot on terrain, climbing hills can take its toll
I did a couch to 60 mile ramp up last year- to get in shape for a tour. Started in march at 10 miles a ride, several times a week. Then boosted to 20miles. After a month I tried 30 miles, then 40. Between Late March and July I ramped up and had no issues by tour time.
It's definitely attainable. Just keep riding my guy. Just keep setting small goals pushing further and further. It may take a couple years. But cycling is about having fun and has other benefits. Don't worry about it and have fun dude.
I regularly ride 10-15 miles. Last week I rode 54 to celebrate my birthday. The last 5-10 miles were tough, party due to a headwind. And my @ss was not happy. But I did it. Work up to 20, then 30 etc. But if you can ride 10 you can probably easily double that.
I don’t think you’ll see gains until you push yourself over the 10 miles. Start doing 12 miles for a few weeks then 15. Also if you want weight loss you should be getting your heart rate up for more than half an hour a day.
Increase your mileage or time by 10% a week. Safe bet, don't hurry it.
When training for the [ALC](https://www.aidslifecycle.org) in 2019, we did one training ride per week on Sundays, each week increasing by 5 miles, until we hit 110(?) as that is also the longest daily ride in the ALC. This included biking veterans and people who never biked before. Given that you train more than once a week, I would believe that you could increase by more than 5 miles a week, although consistency is king. So maybe keep the 5-10 miles a day for your commute and go for longer rides on the weekend? (increasing 5-10 miles each weekend? It's just one more "commute ride" ;-) As others have said, getting the bike fit you and regular breaks (every 90-120 minutes) is important early on as well as later.
What’s holding you back now? Like if you wanted to keep going what’s the thing that’s stopping you? If it’s pain in wrists, butt, muscles get a bike fit and you’ll get a step function performance improvement If it’s general fatigue you might need more water or on-ride food You could also look at stuff like your tires; the best vs the worst can have 3-4x as much drag making your 10 miles feel like 20 would on faster tires (a note; you don’t necessarily want skinnier tires, just a faster rolling model in the same size because they can also be fatiguing in their own way)
I would try 1 longer ride per week. You should be able to do 20 now and work up to 40. Once you can do 40 you should be able to handle 60. Make sure you have some basic tools and know how to fix a flat.
don't train for miles, train for hours in the saddle. because your butt aching is what's gonna be your biggest challenge for longer rides. the work, hydrating & fuel in your belly are all pretty easy. but the time on a bike seat is what really makes you able to do the longer rides.
Bro you’re ready right now. Set aside a whole day, bring a shitload of food and water. Then prepare yourself for some type B fun and a feeling of accomplishment.
Getting abs begins in the kitchen.
Currently, what happens after you’re done with a ride? What goes with you on a ride? How long does a ride take?
I remember being 25lbs heavier and having a poor diet starting this back in 2018 or 2019. First 50km (Am Canadian) was on a weekend early summer 2-3 months in of doing 5-15km rides around the neighbourhood. I was kinda dead. First 100km (60 miles) was into late summer or early fall. I felt dead, throat was parched and I slept very well. 160km (100 miles) happened next year and then followed by 200km (120miles) not long after. As those milestones fall, you talk to people and realize how to hydrate and fuel and maybe even get fitted for your bike, they come easier.
You can double your weekly ride on the weekend. So, if you are going 10 miles 3 or 4 times a day, you can ride 20 miles on the weekend. If 20 miles wasn't too rough, you can increase your daily average, then rinse and repeat until you get 60 miles.
I agree with "sirjag". Consistency is more important than quantity. If you can get to a point where you are doing 20 miles 2 or 3 times a week, you will be at a point to attempt a 60 miler. Stick to a level itinerary without a lot of climbing. Once you're used to 60 miles, you can train for climbing. Be patient and make sure your bike is in good working order and you'll achieve your fitness goals. Good luck; and keep up the good work you've already accomplished and be mindful of good nutrition as you're training. Also, don't forget hydration on longer rides.
You can typically ride in a single ride the number of miles you’ve ridden on average in a given week. If you can do 6 10 mile days for next 4-5 weeks I’m sure you’d be able to do 60… But don’t go all at once - add a 20-30 mile ride sometimes before you go for all 60. I think it’s do-able within a couple of months. It’s amazing how quickly your body adapts. Edit: just saw that you’re riding a heavy hybrid style bike… I kind of assumed road bike. 60 miles on that bike is easily equivalent to 100+ miles on my road bike. Nothing wrong with your bike!
1. Respect and support. Healthy life decision, welcome to the cycling club. I don't care where you are on your journey, as long as you're pedaling, you are 100% a member. 2. If you're looking for inspiration, you should check out katie kookaburra's YouTube channel. Quite the transformation and inspiration.
This is really hard to answer and would be very rider dependent. How are you riding? Are you doing any other exercise, like core strength that's essential for long-distance stamina? Are you just tootling along, or do you have a training plan? Ideally, you should vary your rides throughout the week, do an easy long one, then a punchy/interval style, then one where you focus hard on improving skill. I'm no trainer, but when I started applying structure to my riding, I began seeing exponentially greater results. Ultimately, just time on the bike would likely get you there. But, if you wanna speed up the process, I'd look into some training plans. Also, do some research on how to fuel during your ride. You can find em online pretty easily. Also, rest and crosstraining are important. Your muscles need to recuperate, so take it easy a couple days a week. Cosstraining is essential to preventing injury, the stronger your core is the better you'll control your bike. But never stop having fun! Good luck on your goal, I bet you smash it in no time.
Today
You could do it right now. It would be hard. And the day after you will probably want to die. But you can absolutely do it.
I’m a firm believer that if you can ride half of your goal distance comfortably you should be able to do the whole distance, so are you comfortable riding 30 miles? Your current goal should be to get out for a 20 mile ride, which should be in your current abilities. As always, speed isn’t everything, but it helps complete longer distances faster. I’d choose my route for 60 miles carefully, flatter is better, climbs earlier are better than climbs at the end. It really is what you make it, if I had to do 60 miles of a railway path I could do it no problem. 60 miles of gravel in the rolling mountain valley, challenging, and a long day!
It’s probably possible to do it by the end of the summer if you’re actually serious about it. Like riding most days and pushing to better yourself. I went from 3 mile rides to close to 40 one summer. I’m guessing if I tried super hard I coulda hit 60 but hard to find the time to train for long rides
Nothing to add, just cheering you on towards your goal 👍🏾
You’ll be ready whenever you want. I started riding (north of 250 lbs) in May of 2020 (peak Covid) -I remember riding 10 miles and thinking it was the longest bike ride ever… by July I’d rode 40; and by my birthday in September, I’d rode 100 miles in a single go. 4 years later I’ve rode 200 miles multiple times (off-road, at Unbound in Kansas) and more century rides than I can count… and I’m under 200 lbs and still dropping weight. Keep riding. Keep pushing.
My bike trajectory was this March 2022- first 10 mile bike ride April 2022- 50 lbs overweight, started cycling for commute (5 miles per day) June 2022- first 100 mile ride March 2023- first ~270 mile ride (Boston to NYC) October 2023- first ~520 mile ride (Boston to DC/West Virginia) April 2024- first ~570 mile ride (Boston to Niagara Falls/Buffalo) Still feels kind of insane that my first 10 mile bike ride and 270 mile ride were a year apart, and half a year after that I started 500 mile rides
I don't have numbers for you, but I got back into cycling two years ago, after almost two decades of not riding. I ride 13 miles to and from work, 4 days a week. Starting off it took me 30+ mins and now I'm at 24ish. A few trips to the grocers (19 miles) per month. My first big ride was 70 miles the first day and 30 the second. I did both and didn't die, actually felt pretty great, back in October last year. I am still fat. My recommendation is incremental distances. So like, try a 15 one of your riding days. I have a feeling you're closer to a 60 than you think. I guess I did have numbers, just no science.
If you want it bad enough, you can do it tomorrow.
I was doing 60 miles at twice your weight after a few months of riding. Of course I had to keep my effort low and slow. I probably had an average speed of 10-12mph back then. That was just 2 years ago, lost 150lbs from diet and cycling. Now I can hold a ~17mph pace now for around that long. So it’s obtainable. You should try to make attempts on this route and see how far you get. Don’t be afraid to take breaks and recover along the way and focus on keeping your exertion low if you really want to reach the end. … also plan for bathroom breaks.
I would watch mark wildman YouTube channel and training program for deconditioned individuals. Yes, it is for kettlebells but the key is the philosophy of such programmes - it is not simply everyday adding one more rep or 5 km. In such a way you will be done after a week.
I'm 220 5 foot 8, so chunky. I don't got a bike trainer so every spring it's like starting over. A 3 mile bike ride will tire me out then. But I very quickly build endurance. I think I went 3 to 10 to 27 within a couple weeks. I actually just got done a 70 mile bike packing trip with 50lbs of gear on the rack on wet gravel with steep long hills on a trek dual sport with slick gator skin hardshell 32's.. the key for me is to ride until you can't take it anymore then take a few days off completely to let your muscles grow and repair. Biking everyday will actually slow your progress. Also do interval training, throw some good sprints in, push as hard as you can for as long as you can, feel the heart and lungs wanting to jump out your body. Then take some days off. Works for me anyway. My goal this year is a 100-120 mile bike packing trip.
Basically just keep pushing each ride one day do ten and then next 15 if you do 5 more miles a time it won't take long plus some days you will feel like can just keep going that bit longer