Is There Any Difference Health-wise Between What You Ride or How Far You Ride ?

[Oldhippy]

If you find a saddle that works, Brooks in my case no padding required and will happily potter around 50 or 55 miles taking photos with a packed lunch in lightweight combat trousers and hiking boots. For me that works and I know that is anathema to some. I feel healthy in every way and will keep going until I can't.

 

[ClichéGuevara]

From experience, the longer you've been riding for, the faster you go, mainly because you get a 'better' bike.

 

[alex_cycles]

I may have phrased it wrong . I was just curious . At the moment for my unfitness level I am quite happy with the amount of cycling I'm doing . If I do too much I can spend a day or so with the fairies . I may try to extend it a bit next year .
I was just wondering . If a person has reached a certain level of fitness , speed , distance and then upgrades all of his equipment then I would expect an improvement in their performance . This would come at a cost . Could their fitness be improved by down grading to a heavier bike with less aerodynamics which would need more effort from them and less miles but at a reduced cost ?

Yes. That would work, but supposing you're limited in time, some people might find more enjoyment doing a couple more miles in the same time.
I've certainly found that the saying "cycling doesn't get any easier, you just go faster" is absolutely true in my case. But I enjoy that. Not everyone would/does. I guess it depends what you're looking for in your rides.

If you want to make it more difficult, you could wear a weight belt (put something in a rucksack) or attach something to the bike to make it heavier.

 

[alex_cycles]

From experience, the longer you've been riding for, the faster you go, mainly because you get a 'better' bike.

And a well-tuned 'engine'.

 

[si_c]

I may have phrased it wrong . I was just curious . At the moment for my unfitness level I am quite happy with the amount of cycling I'm doing . If I do too much I can spend a day or so with the fairies . I may try to extend it a bit next year .
I was just wondering . If a person has reached a certain level of fitness , speed , distance and then upgrades all of his equipment then I would expect an improvement in their performance . This would come at a cost . Could their fitness be improved by down grading to a heavier bike with less aerodynamics which would need more effort from them and less miles but at a reduced cost ?

Generally speaking if you were looking to improve your fitness and cycling performance downgrading to a heavier less aerodynamic bike and maintaining the same average speed across similar conditions would result in improvement, more likely however you'll put in the same effort and go slower. A better choice might be to add in some shorter, higher intensity interval type sessions, it doesn't have to be anything particularly complicated. There is a hill near me which locals may be familiar with (Atherton Street) which is reasonably steep and reasonably long (especially for Wirral) but usefully there is a nice loop where I can just keep turning left and do repeats of it. I find the more I do it the fitter and faster I get. More recently though, the less I do it the less fit and fatter I get.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Really? People do this. Pass another rider at pace and then hide in a hedge.
I find that astonishing. What sort of strange individual would do this.

That would be one of the weirdest things I've read on here. Weirder even than any of Accy's strange stories.

You would have to know the area well so you would be guaranteed a hiding place just after a convenient bend. Then go and lie in wait for a victim in another hiding place. Pop out from hiding place number one, full effort, make the pass, round the bend and into hiding place #2. Probably note details of your victim in a little black book. What a way to spend an afternoon!

(Goes on to Amazon and orders a black notebook and starts scoping out hiding places on streetview).

 

[Dogtrousers]

What I do find is that when it comes to climbing small hills I tend to catch them up !

What's probably happening here is that because you are both going more slowly the time gap between you results in a smaller distance on the road.

Let's say you are both going up a hill at 10kph and the person who has overtaken you is 10 seconds ahead of you. That 10s will be about 28m on the road.
But if you are on the flat and you are going at 30kmh and the person is 10s ahead of you that 10s will be over 80m on the road.
So when you both slow down to go up a hill the physical gap between you closes, but the time gap is still there.

There's also the possibility that you may have decided to chase after them when overtaken. So they pass you at their cruise speed and maintain that speed. You go flat out to try to catch up, come to a hill where both speeds drop and you will get closer.

I consider myself a bit of an expert at being overtaken as it happens a lot . It can be useful as you can use them as a pacer to up your pace for a while if that's what you want to do - give them 50m or so and then try to keep them in sight for as long as possible. I also find it important to know when a whole line of riders have passed. When I see what I think is the back marker I normally ask "are you the last"?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I also find it important to know when a whole line of riders have passed. When I see what I think is the back marker I normally ask "are you the last"?

I usually ask the back marker “Are you the slowest?”

 

[marzjennings]

I was just wondering . If a person has reached a certain level of fitness , speed , distance and then upgrades all of his equipment then I would expect an improvement in their performance . This would come at a cost . Could their fitness be improved by down grading to a heavier bike with less aerodynamics which would need more effort from them and less miles but at a reduced cost ?

I think to answer this and your original question, if you and lycra clad cycling whippet were riding side by side at the same speed then yes, potentially, they would require less watts and therefore less energy to maintain your speed. Likewise at your present fitness switching to a full lycra body suit and very aerodynamics tri-bike would result in a better performance. At least pedaling at the same wattage should lead to an increase in speed.

As to down grading to a heavy bike, this would only require more effort if the rider is required to complete the same distance within the same time. A heavier less efficient bike would require more energy to complete 20 miles in one hour when compared to riding a very efficient bike. But why do this. If I want to make my hour more challenging I just push harder and ride faster and further.

 

[Ian H]

Okay, I have read the entire thread...

...and I've forgotten what the question was.

 

[alex_cycles]

Okay, I have read the entire thread...

...and I've forgotten what the question was.

There was a question?

 

[GuyBoden]

Another bit of nostalgia, if you only had a heavy cheap bike to train on, because that was all you could afford, when you borrowed a proper lightweight racing bike for local races you were much faster.

You still used all of your energy, but you could cover the distance faster on a light weight racing bike.

 

[Illaveago]

Yes. That would work, but supposing you're limited in time, some people might find more enjoyment doing a couple more miles in the same time.
I've certainly found that the saying "cycling doesn't get any easier, you just go faster" is absolutely true in my case. But I enjoy that. Not everyone would/does. I guess it depends what you're looking for in your rides.

If you want to make it more difficult, you could wear a weight belt (put something in a rucksack) or attach something to the bike to make it heavier.

I took my 1950 tandem out by myself earlier this year for a test ride . I have never ridden a tandem before so it was a bit of an experience . I met another cyclist whilst I was out and he said that I was taking things to the extreme !
I did 6 miles and I don't think my average speed was much slower than normal .

 

[Sittingduck]

I took my 1950 tandem out by myself earlier this year for a test ride . I have never ridden a tandem before so it was a bit of an experience . I met another cyclist whilst I was out and he said that I was taking things to the extreme !
I did 6 miles and I don't think my average speed was much slower than normal .

Did you go Captain or Stoker?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Okay, I have read the entire thread...

...and I've forgotten what the question was.

Dementia is a terrible thing