Warm up times..

[Deanno1dad]

Is it just me..every time I go out on the bike..be it summer or winter..the first few miles hurt and I get the "I want to give up" feeling.

Normally I'm happy on a 25 mile plus ride as well ,which makes it more weirder as I can be puffing like a steam train for the first 3 miles..it probably doesn't help that my ride to a more rural location takes me up an immediate hill...Do we all need a 3 mile warm up to get in the zone as it were.

 

[Dusty Bin]

The short/simple answer is yes. You will function at higher level easier and for longer if you spend 10-15 mins riding easy/steady first, before ramping up the effort.

 

[RedRider]

Can take 10 miles for me to get into the swing, I don't think it's unusual.

 

[Biker Joe]

I too have to go uphill to get out of the village and would love a flat stretch to warm up on.
I do sometimes go for a brisk walk before I go for a ride. Seems to help. Doing 5 to 10 minutes steps also helps but I can't always be bothered.

 

[derrick]

About 10 miles for me, the first few hills hurt,

 

[Sully]

I was only thinking this today, I need 5 miles :

 

[DooDah]

About 8km for me to the nearest town, so by then i am sufficiently warmed up to then be abused by the new cycling group I have joined.

 

[phil_hg_uk]

If I am on a long ride it can take a while to get going, when I did a 100 miler a couple of weeks ago I only felt really warmed up after the first 25 miles.

 

[Paulus]

It takes me a couple of miles to get the legs warmed up and working properly. It is a nice feeling when the legs start to work effortlessly.

 

[DooDah]

It is a nice feeling when the legs start to work effortlessly

I would like it if that ever happened to me

 

[Herzog]

10 minutes at an easy pace does it for me (training runs). A pre-race warm-up however is a different beast.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

3-5 miles for me normally, however, sometimes I have to rein myself in to avoid early burnout and keep my average nearer to 17mph - depends on the route though

 

[Octet]

Yep, I find that I need a couple of miles to begin with to get the knee caps loose and the legs turning efficiently. Prior to this, I find I can got nowhere near my average speed without them hurting.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

The first few miles of my commute to work are like this, especially on chilly mornings. I have roughly 250 ft of climbing in the first 3 miles, so no time to warm up before the climbing starts. So I spend those first few miles telling my legs to shut up.

 

[I like Skol]

The first few miles of my commute to work are like this, especially on chilly mornings. I have roughly 250 ft of climbing in the first 3 miles, so no time to warm up before the climbing starts. So I spend those first few miles telling my legs to shut up.

I don't know how many feet I have in the first few miles of my 10 mile commute but I do feel better after about 1-2 miles. It doesn't take more than that. If I push too hard sooner then my legs do complain, but I don't think it affects me later on anyway?

Edit: I checked, only 130ft climbing in the first 2.5 miles of my commute and I never knew that at the half way point I was lower than when I started. I actually cover 10.4 miles, ascend 480ft but descend 570ft. This normally takes around 35-40 minutes.