Struggling To Make Any Gains

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Lozi

Senior Member
Location
Northants
I have been cycling quite a lot since May last year, I have done 30 miles every single week minimum since then and more recently I have been doing 50 plus miles a week and over 100 for a couple of those weeks.

I don’t seem to be getting any better though could it be that cycling just isn’t for me? I put in a lot of effort and I’m always out there doing it and I just don’t get much faster and can’t really go much further.

I ride my MTB mostly on road for 98% of my training and I do have a drop bar bike I intend to start using soon it’s a Zwift machine at the moment.

When I started again in May I was doing 10-11mph averages and I managed to get up to high 13’s by October but since then I’ve struggled to get to 12mph averages. No matter what I do I can’t seem to be able to do more than around 30 miles in one ride.

There’s people I know who cycle and they don’t put in half the effort week by week as I do but they are quite a lot faster than me and can knock out 50/60 mile rides without much issue.

Its frustrating I want to get good at cycling and I’m putting about all the hours in I possibly can but it isn’t happening.

I do suffer from an illness which effects my ability to absorb nutrients but with all the effort I put in surly I should be getting better at cycling?

On the plus side I have gone from about 87kg down to 75kg so it hasn’t all been in vain.

Should I give up?

My Strava https://www.strava.com/athletes/9164675
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Don’t give up. The cold weather sucks, harder to ride through cold air and in cold wind but you’ll reap the rewards for persevering in the spring and summer. Get on the roadbike, no need not to. Dump the computer game ;) Join a club

Most are slower in winter, some of us aren’t worried about speed. Focus on time in the saddle, then distance, speed has too many variables
 
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Lavender Rose

Specialized Fan Girl
Location
Ashford, Kent
Yes, the MTB will suck a lot of your 'gains' I found switching to Hybrid and then a road bike made me enjoy it so much more - I felt faster and that I could achieve more.

I do other exercise as well as cycling which helps make me faster. Maybe try another activity as well? x
 

I like Skol

A Minging Manc...
Crikey! Lots of things to discuss from your post.....
1st, what makes you think you are slow and why do you want to go faster?
I think I am pretty quick for a non-competitive rider who doesn't train. I typically ride with averages around 15-17mph on my commuter hybrid and road bikes. Probably would be a bit slower than that on my MTB with knobbly tyres on so I guess 13-15mph on an MTB road ride? This sounds just like you so I would say you are really pretty quick in reality.
Who are these people who are quicker than you? Do they ride with you? Do they ride similar bikes to you? How are you judging 'faster'?

My guess is they are all riding fast road bikes when you are on a knobbly shod MTB or you are just being wound up by their BS claims.... "Oh yeah, We always average 22mph, even up hill"

Get your Kona Jake out on the roads on some fat slick tyres and see your speeds jump, that bike should put a smile on your face everytime you turn the pedals. Also focus on enjoying your rides and worry about the speed another time. It is supposed to be fun and if you ain't enjoying it then you won't keep it up.

How tall are you? losing 12kg is a hell of a drop and if you are forcing weight loss and not eating properly/sufficiently then you will be struggling for speed and stamina anyway. You can't knock out big miles when you are starving yourself. I'm 6' 1" and 96kg so I'm not a lightweight but I have the power to beat a lot of people up the hills. There is always a risk that any weight loss you achieve might actually be loss of muscle so be careful if you are ruthlessly trying to get the pounds off.
 

ozboz

Guru
Location
Richmond ,Surrey
Would your illness be Coeliac ?
if it is there are ways around it ,
but keep it up , your doing as good as I am speed wise , I get all kinds of riders bomb past me ,even little kids on 3 wheelers !
;),
as said , a hybrid with 700 c wheels and low resistance tyres will help big time ,
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Would your illness be Coeliac ?
if it is there are ways around it ,
but keep it up , your doing as good as I am speed wise , I get all kinds of riders bomb past me ,even little kids on 3 wheelers !
;),
as said , a hybrid with 700 c wheels and low resistance tyres will help big time ,
He has a drop bar, no need for a hybrid, a tyre change might help tho depending
 
OP
OP
Lozi

Lozi

Senior Member
Location
Northants
Thanks for all your thoughts and advice.

I think I will be faster on the road bike but I was wanting to be faster on the mountain bike first so I could compare to how I started.

One lad I work with did a 14.9 average on his MTB on a similar route to me but he’s only 18 I’m 32 so I’m not to worried about that

There’s 2 blokes I work with who cycle but they are elitists don’t give me any encouragement and anything I achieve doesn’t count to them for one reason or another! I always ride on my own as for some reason they don’t want to include me. Basically I want to be able to kick their asses on the bike but I’m way off one of them occasionally rides his MTB at over 14mph average and describes it as a “relaxing ride”

The weight loss is just a bi product of my cycling its not why I do it and my eating habits have not really changed.


Aa for my illness I had my colon completely removed due to having ulcerative colitis about 5 years ago, more details in my welcome thread on that


https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/new-here-my-cycling-story.227180/
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
As @I like Skol has already been said, a whole lot of stuff going on here!

I think you are doing much better than you think you are. You've lost quite a bit of weight, so chances are you're running a calorie deficit, which is going to impact how hard you can ride. Secondly, 12-13mph on an MTB, in Winter is pretty good, you want to look at your average speeds month by month, rather than ride by ride, and see how you're improving that way. So when May comes around, look at your average speed for May this year with last, and I can guarantee you'll see a big improvement.

In winter, the cold air means it's actually harder to ride than during summer. My average speed has historically been about 1-2mph lower in winter than it is in summer, so you need to keep that in mind, my speed starts to tail off from around the end of October until around now when it starts to warm up! I think you'll find that as the spring and summer come around that your speed will go up noticeably. A lot of people put their bikes away when the weather gets cold, so well done on keeping going through winter!

As for comparing yourself to people from work, it's great to have goals, and I've found that riding with people who are stronger than me is a good way to encourage improvement, but you do run the risk of getting disheartened!

If I can give a bit of advice, just get out and enjoy your rides, don't worry too much about how you are riding and how fast, just enjoy being outdoors. If you really want to punish yourself and raise your fitness, the turbo trainer and zwift are actually great ways of doing it. Do an FTP test (this will hurt) and do some of the workouts, say a from the 4week ftp builder plan. Do this in addition to your regular outdoor rides, which you can consider "active recovery" :tongue:, it'll hurt a lot if you're doing it right, but it's focused training and will actually help a lot.

Lastly, get out on the road bike, it's feeling all sad and lonely in the house!
 

Drago

Legendary Member
I'm with Skol - its good to have targets and strive to improve, but don't lose sight of the fact that cycling is simply a fun thing to do!

Try this;

Instead of looking at average speeds etc, create some sectors on your favourite rides and time yourself. Nothing too long, maybe a mile, say that junction by the post box to the wonky telegraph pole at the tip of the hill? That sort of thing.

Once you know your typical average time for these sectors, start attacking them. Its psychologically quite rewarding to make an improvement, even of just a second. You won't beat your best time every ride, but by trying you will improve, you'll get fitter, your average speed will rise.

Small, realistically attainable goals. Suddenly, before you know it, you're getting better.

I'm working towards running a 5 minute mile. For most of my runs - anywhere from 3 to 9 miles - I just wobble round trying not to look like I'm about to die. However, if I'm feeling good then the final mile is the one I push. I've a long way to go yet, but I'm down to 6:04, and every week or two sees a few seconds shaved off.

In summary, enjoy your ride, but when on one of your imaginary short sectors go hell for leather for a mile, and then back off and enjoy the ride. Short, sharp, easily attainable.

Let me know if you ever come up Salcey Forest way and i''ll join you for a lap or two.

Good luck.
 

Jody

Stubborn git
I would just ride and enjoy what you are doing. No point in looking to deep into stats as you don't know how long the other people have been riding. There are so many variables to average speeds that I would just concentrate on pushing as hard as you feel comfortable and the gains will come to you. You might be both doing a similar loop on MTB's but a light weight carbon hard tail on semi slicks at high pressure is going to be a lot quicker than a 6" full suss on low pressure draggy nobblies. Add to that wind resistance, how you feel on the day, diet, training regimes etc and you can see where the times differences come from.

I like Drago's idea for concentrating on segments. It adds fun and helps push out of your confort zone

You have only been riding a year so don't beat yourself up and keep at it!
 
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