Cycling and Working

[genedan]

Hello, after a long, and at times hopeless search for a job after graduation, I've finally landed a job and I will begin my 9-5 life in November.

Question: I would still like to incorporate ~15 hours of riding per week, with the possible expansion to 20 hours/week as the start of the season gets closer, so how can I accomplish this? I have a 35-50 minute commute (Houston's a big city) 2 times a day 70-100 minutes, so I'm not sure when to ride. I would like to ride to work, but I have to take the interstate so it's not feasible due to safety concerns. Any help, especially from those of you who are racing, would be appreciated.

 

[drummerboy1248]

I do not envy you folks who have long commutes eating up your riding time. I am about 15 minutes from my job. With the shorter days now, I would think it's trainer time for you during the work week and long rides on the weekend. Good luck.

 

[davereo]

I dont race. So anyways when I was working the day shift at my last job for 21 years I left a bike on the rack at work. Weather permitting I would take a 45 minute ride during my hour lunch. I averaged about 4 hours of riding a week while at work and was in the best shape of my life. Although that may have also been the result of a shortened lunch break. Welcome to the working week. 15 hours a week will have to come from riding before and after work and weekends of course.

 

[SierraSlim]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Hi, genedan![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I'm new to biking so know nothing about racing or training required or whatever... but I am kind of good at organization/finding time when it's required.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]You mentioned a long commute on the interstate, where you can't bike. It would make your commute a LITTLE longer, but if there were a place you could park your car maybe 1/2 hour's bike ride from where you work (and take your bike with you), if there's a frontage or side ride that's safe you could drive most of the way, then park and bike 1/2 an hour each way to and from your car. That would give you an extra 5 hours a week of riding. It wouldn't actually add 5 hours to your commute, though, because it would have taken some of that time to drive it, as well. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Just a thought. Good luck in your training! (And congratulation on finding a job.)[/COLOR]

 

[genedan]

Tell me what you think about this article:

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/training-how-to-achieve-bike-life-balance-25463

Fortunately, it's the off-season right now so I'll have some time to adjust to the real world. I'm thinking about starting out at around 7 hours/week and gradually moving up from there. I'll probably put in a couple of 1-hour 5AM rides on Tuesday and Thursday, and then a 3-hour ride on Saturday and a 2-hour ride on Sunday, giving me 3 days of rest in between.

The problem with early morning rides in the cold months, is that it'll be dark so safety's a concern. Any advice on that?

 

[daveryanwyoming]

The linked article lays out the situation real nicely, you can make both cycling and life work together but it takes effort. The first comment to that piece sums it up perfectly 'quality not quantity'

I don't know much other than this is your first job and probably pretty important to do well with it but if you're like most of us you're also balancing relationships (or will be), family and other things. The key thing is that you don't really need or for most folks even want to train 20 hours per week. I'm assuming of course this job isn't to ride professionally but there are domestic pros and thousands of amateur racers including top category amateurs racing effectively on less than 20 or in many cases 15 hours per week. You can improve and do really well on less but the key is to use your training hours really well.

FWIW, I typically train 7 to 12 hours per week year round with the occasional week off the bike for work travel, non bike vacations, family stuff, etc. During the winter months things lean to the low end of that range and sometimes drop even further when life interrupts and during the race season, especially during the early spring build up things lean to the high end of that range with the occasional big week of 15 to maybe 18 hours but those are rare. The key thing is that the less time on the bike, the more important it is to use that time well so that means training with a plan and doing more focused quality work and less unstructured riding whether that's unstructured group rides or JRA.

During the winter months in particular you really want to have a goal and a plan each time you get on the bike. Sure you can have the occasional JRA day just to get on the bike and enjoy riding but for the most part you leave home or jump on the trainer with specific reasons to do that ride and specific goals whether that's an hour of Tempo, a 2x20 set, a 5x5 set or something else.

Anyway, welcome to the working world and congrats on landing a job in this tough economy. There are lots of ways to deal with the shorter days and your additional time obligations now that you're out of school but you really don't need to train 15 or 20 hours a week even if you want to race but you do have to make the best use of your training time.

Good luck,
-Dave