If I’m doing okay

[brychan]

3 years ago I was diagnosed with lung cancer and 3 years later I’m managing okay with the medication I’m taking

Last September I decided to purchase a hybrid bike to keep fit & lose weight as I was 3 stone overweight

I started doing distances of 10 - 16 miles on average 40-50 miles a week, since then I’ve become hooked on cycling and have also purchased 2 Cube road bikes

Since September last year I have cycled 1036 miles and I am now cycling distances of 16-40 miles and 60-100 miles a week.

My times are for 20 miles on average 1hr 30mins 31 miles 2hr 8mins and I have lost 2 stone

I am 61 this year and just wanted to know from some of you experienced cyclists, are my distances & times good for my age.

Mike

[PH]

You're doing great, I'd say that without looking at your stats, out on the bike and enjoying it, how could there possibly be any other answer?
Your speeds a a bit faster than most CTC type rides and a bit slower than the easier road club sorts of rides, not directly comparable because people ride differently in groups. Are you happy with the way it's going? If so just keep going, if you have some goals that you're looking for assistance achieving, ask away, there's plenty of opinion here, though it's not always simple to find that which suites you, we're all different.
Personally - I'm 57 and happy if my average is over 14 mph. Though I have a preference for taking it easy and doing longer rides.

[tim-b]

Hi
It's difficult to say without knowing about the terrain that you ride on, but that doesn't matter...are you enjoying it?
Your weight is showing positive benefit so that must be better in most aspects, apart from the cost of a new wardrobe
Your average speeds aren't by any means shabby and you're getting recommended amounts of exercise, why wouldn't it be okay?
Regards
tim-b

[pjclinch]

I know people that go faster, and I know people (including me, at 51) that go slower.

But even if you're in a formal racing setup, the real judge of how you're doing is you. If I was you, I think I'd have good reason to feel pretty pleased!

Pete.

[Cunobelin]

That is brilliant, however a word of advice?

There is a proven issue with comparing yourself against others.

What is in reality a brilliant piece of progress, and an increase in your fitness that can only be beneficial, becomes devalued because it is not as good as somebody else.

Unachievable targets, or forcing yourself to meet targets when really you know you should be indoors with a cup of tea are neither helpful or beneficial. The classic example is the "fitness trackers and 10.000 step target. People become obsessed with this when in fact 4,000 steps per day is adequate for the average person to meet the NHS guidelines for activity



You are doing well, the only person you really need to beat is yourself and you are doing that consistently

Keep up with that

[reohn2]

^^^ this.
There is no benchmarks to compare yourself with only you.My advice is to go for a ride and enjoy it,the legs get tuned the more they're used but that doesn't mean to say over use.
Its a bit like eating,leave the table wanting more not wishing you hadn't eaten that last piece of whatever.
Enjoy

[Vorpal]

Wherever you are cycling, that you are cycling at all, and enjoying it, you are doing well.

I no longer use a computer, or track my times. I know how long it takes me to get to work, and if I have a time limit, I otherwise leave myself extra time. Or I ride for half the allowed time, and then turn around and go back.

When I did use a computer, I would have been very happy with those numbers.

[slowster]

You have experienced - and are experiencing - something which I can only imagine is hugely traumatic and stressful. I guess cycling is something which helps you not only because of the benefits to physical and mental health of the exercise, but also because it provides you with something upon which to focus your attention, interest and efforts.

For anyone who had previously been very unfit and/or overweight, it's probably quite normal that the pleasure and satisfaction (and endorphins) coming from getting fit and losing weight would encourage them to re-double their efforts and try to get even fitter/faster. Cue longer rides, using heart rate monitors and other electronic equipment to measure performance and dictate riding intensity with structured training rides and turbo training etc.

The problem with getting so keen is that there is a high probability of burn out, either physical and/or mental.

My advice to you would be to make sure that you are just enjoying your riding as much as possible. I am not suggesting that you completely give up monitoring your performance, but I would suggest that you go out and ride sometimes without the computer. If you want to go fast/hard, then do so but enjoy it and value it for the experience of feeling your heart pumping, your lungs working and your legs hurting, rather than what the number of mph or beats per minute is on your computer. Enjoy the feeling of the wind in your hair on a nice long downhill. Enjoy the feeling of the sun on your back. Enjoy the scenery. Enjoy the liberating feeling of just following your nose and exploring new roads. Enjoy standing under a tree while you wait for a shower to pass. Enjoy a cake and coffee mid ride. Enjoy a pint in a beer garden at the end of the ride. Enjoy meeting other cyclists on the road and exchanging a friendly nod or greeting. However you do it, just make sure you enjoy it.

As for me, I know I'm doing OK if the wheels are going round.

[Alan O]

Are you doing okay? You're doing far better than just okay - you're doing brilliant!

[Mistik-ka]

Echoing the response of others: you're enjoying yourself, you're losing weight, you've increased your exercise capacity tremendously. Splendid on all counts!

As for whether you're exercising as hard as you should, widely accepted rule-of-thumb standards for exercising heart rate suggest that you're working at a level suited to competitive athletes. I don't put a lot of stock in rule-of-thumb exercise prescription, since it doesn't take the vast range of individual differences into account, but the widely accepted formula goes something like this:

Maximum exercising heart rate should be 220 beats per minute minus your age: in your case 159 (but let's call it 160, because you're not testing in a controlled laboratory).
Target heart rate for training: 70 — 85% of maximum: 120 to 136 beats per minute. Your computer read-outs show your average as a bit above that. If you feel good while you're on the bike and afterwards, you're probably doing just fine, but conventional wisdom suggests that you shouldn't push your heart rate higher.

Assessing your exercise by heart rate rather than speed or distance is a more "scientific" approach, and perhaps a safer one if you're trying to calculate "how much is enough". As your fitness increases, you will be able to do more work and burn more fat at a lower heart rate.

The Mayo Clinic, generally a sensible source of health information, has a good article on exercise intensity here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise-intensity/art-20046887 As a retired physiotherapist I like the fact that that they look at the issue of exercise intensity from two practical points of view: heart rate and how you feel.

[Cyril Haearn]

There are lots of things one can combine with cycling: cafes, churches, watching birds or trains or ships, just stop for a read, get talking to people.... The levels near Newport (Wentlooge) look very interesting

I don't have many different routes but I do not get bored, the weather and the light change constantly

[hamster]

Greetings from another cancer survivor (Hodgkin Lymphoma, 2003).
Congratulations on what you have achieved, 14mph+ on anything like mixed country is good progress, especially on a hybrid which is not going to be the most aerodynamic.

Enjoy your riding - there is always somebody faster - ultimately because they are younger or dealt better deals by heredity with bigger heart capacity etc. If you are finding that your standard route is getting easier and faster then that is probably the best benchmark. That hill that used to be a struggle becomes doable with spare gears, etc.

What matters most is having fun and seeking to achieve personal targets. Personally I know I can climb passably but will never be fast - I'm too small and lightly built. So what!

[foxyrider]

As the great Eddy Merckx would say 'just ride!

Your numbers would be pretty good for anyone of your age, you don't have to prove anything, just getting out and riding has done that and long may you continue.

Personally I know I can climb passably but will never be fast - I'm too small and lightly built. So what!

Er Hamster, small and light is how you want to be to climb fast,

An almost 6ft, 13stone+ lump like me has however little chance of going up at any speed! Yes I can get there but my power to weight ratio is terrible. Flat or downhill no problem, overall on a ride I can get a good average but steeper climbs - forget it!

[Damo78]

I'd say you're doing brilliantly.

I got the cycling bug 4 years ago, I started mainly to try and lose weight. However, whereas you've lost 2 stone in a few months, I think I've lost a maximum of 1.5 stone over the 4 years! My main issue is I like food too much, and have a lack of willpower, but what you've done is amazing.

I also agree with others above on comparing yourself to other riders, from my own experience. I used to do that, trying to keep up with my much fitter and more experienced mates, and try to beat their Strava times, but I'd just end up burning myself out very quickly and crawling along the majority of the ride, having to stop for breathers regularly. Last year I decided it just wasn't working, so went for something different, and decided to just stick to my own pace - if I got left behind, so be it, they'd always wait further up the road (and I tend to catch up on the downhills anyway). I started enjoying the rides a lot more. I started getting up hills without stopping for breathers, simply because I was starting off at my own pace and keeping it, rather than sprinting behind my mates and then having to stop because I'd burned myself out again. Slowly, by pacing myself, and enjoying my rides more, my confidence has grown, I've got quicker, can ride for longer, and last week, for the first time in 4 years, the fittest of my mates admitted to struggling to keep up with me at the end of one of our rides. What I'm trying to say in a kind of long winded way is don't worry about competing with others, just keep to your pace, enjoy your rides, and gradually you'll likely start getting quicker as you get fitter, but whilst enjoying your rides.

[hamster]

Personally I know I can climb passably but will never be fast - I'm too small and lightly built. So what!

Er Hamster, small and light is how you want to be to climb fast,

Sorry, what I meant was fast on the flat!