There are some mileage numbers that boggle my mind on our monthly sound-off. Now don't think I'm the least bit skeptical; on the contrary just a bit awed and curious. Indulge us by explaining what on God's green earth are you doing to get so many miles? I notice a pattern that it's you guys who never elaborate on what you did that month. Presumably you're too busy riding to spend time with superfluous typing (right on!). And some of you mileage giants don't even bother keeping count anymore.

Are you a touring nut? Randonneur? Racer? Just riding a lot? Do you HAVE A JOB??? :-) If racer, are you pro, if not, what category? How are your results looking? If you're a pro or a high profile amateur, would you care to identify yourself or at least your team?

And feel free to respond if you're below the 1k/month mark but still have something interesting to share about what you're doing. Or if you're the personal, private type, feel free to say nothing.

The following are the big offenders for May who we'd like to hear from:
BiknBen, OwenMeany, gray8110, norcalscott (this guy has two posts to his name and almost 6k YTD ... gotta be up to something), thr0ttles, Js HS (have an idea what you're up to thanks to your brevet reports), plus_vite.

Thanks for humoring the voyeuristic half of RBR.

I usually get in over 1200 miles a month and it isn't as hard as it sounds:

15 miles to work x 5 days = 75 miles
30 miles from work to home, different route x 5 days = 150 miles
If no race on Saturday, 3 hour ride, average 60 miles
If no race on Sunday. 3 hour ride, average 60 miles

Total for week = 345 x 4 weeks = 1380 for the month

I think most of the high mileage riders are doing so by riding to and from work. Hope that helps.

MOn: rest
Tues: 2 1/2 hours
Wed:4-5hours
Thurs:2 1/2 hours
Fri:1hour
Sat:3 hours and race
Sund: 4-5hours / Race

its easy to rackem up

Its not easy to put 1,000 miles a month in. Do you have kids, job and wife?

I wish I could spend that amount of time on a bike and hopefully some day I can. However with kids, wife and job its pretty near impossible.

To ride 45 miles round trip to and from work, I would never see my kids.
To ride 2hrs + during a work day, I would lose my job.

Keep up the miles,
Bro

Now that we are in our 50's and fairly settled down in life riding a lot is not hard to do at all.

Figure our shortest commute is 26 miles round trip 22 days a month. Add an extra 10 miles each day for shopping and goofing off and just plain old riding around. That is already 792 miles a month.

Figure 4 weekends per month at 225 miles per weekend. That is another 900 miles per month.

So without any real effort at all we are already at 1692 miles per month or just a tad over 20,000 per year if everything goes well. Actually Miss M is usually around18-19,000 miles per year and I am a couple thousand miles less.

I guess we are just goofing off too much.

Its not easy to put 1,000 miles a month in. Do you have kids, job and wife?

I wish I could spend that amount of time on a bike and hopefully some day I can. However with kids, wife and job its pretty near impossible.

To ride 45 miles round trip to and from work, I would never see my kids.
To ride 2hrs + during a work day, I would lose my job.

Keep up the miles,
Bro

I think it's essentially impossible with full-time work (or being a full-time student), and all the more so with a family. Maybe just possible under ideal conditions (short commute to work, collaborative wife, good set of lights) and with golden time management skills.

At any rate, I suppose I was more curious about specifically how those miles are spent, toward what goal, and with what results, not so much how to achieve it. Although, of course, how to fit it all in is an interesting discussion in itself.

I’ve been on vacation since the second week of MARCH; I only work about 5 months a year. I don’t’ post my monthly / yearly, mileage; as I don’t feel I represent the average cyclist; when I'm on vacation I can ride 5 hours a day, 7 days a week, if I want to. I usually ride three or four days Monday to Friday (4 to 5 hours/ride), and one long ride on the weekend. I ride with a cycling buddy (he has a job with mornings off), and I try to go out on my tandem, group ride, or race on the weekend. Finished 1st in the >40, and 4th in overall, in last weekends road race. I’m not a big racer (only a couple time a year), I love to go out and cycle around the country side to explore new roads.

Life is GOOD!!!

I am an Attorney, I have a wife, 2 dogs and 7 fish.

Mon: Rest
Tues: 35 Mile fast club ride
Wens: 33 Mile hill climb club ride
Thurs: 35 Solo "big ring" hill climb
Fri: 22 recovery club ride
Sat: Depends but anywhere beteen 65 and 85 miles
Sun: 44 miles one big climb and many rollers.

I leave the house for my rides no later than 6 AM and I get to work by 9. I get home from work about 7:30 and hang out till about 10PM. I don't see my wife much on week day mornings but do get in some Q time in the evening. Sat and Sun I am on the road by 7 and have the afternoons to spend with my family.

I think the 2 biggest contributors to my heathy milage count is my wife's support and living in So Cal where there are so few bad weather days..(like none.)

Monday thru Wednesday - 1.5 hrs
Thursday - 2 hrs
Friday (2 hrs vacation) - 2.5 hrs
Saturday - 3 hrs
Sunday - 3 hrs

total for the week = 15 = 300 miles.

looked at another way, 1000 miles/month = 1:40 saddle time each day. If you are focused and organized, you can be on the bike within 15 minutes of getting home from work. This means that you get home from the nightly ride about 2 hrs after getting home from work. Time for a late dinner with the spousal unit and a couple of hours before the kids go to bed. Based on discussions at work, I know people who spend more time watching TV every week.

I am obsessed and weird...that's the best way to explain it.
Anyone that can spend this much time on a bike alone is a little strange and I'm no different.

Yes I do work, regular "9 to 5" in the office but I live less than 5 miles from the office so I can always quickly get home to get my training rides in. I don't need to punch in so sneaking out a little early on a nice day for a few extra miles is no big deal.

Also, I'm single and have little to no responsibilities other than paying the bills and getting my work done.

I haven't raced in years, was going to start last year but last year because of job/commute I had little to no training time. This year is different. I started my season late (last week of april) so I'm just trying to get some base mileage in and jump back into some local races and training races.

So, to get 1000+ miles a month I generally ride 5-6 days a week and average 40+ miles during the week and put in longer rides on the weekend.

See, its easy :)

Do you ride to work in the rain? Do you ride in the rain regardless? :confused:

Do you ride to work in the rain? Do you ride in the rain regardless? :confused:

avoid the rain if i can but it doesn't bother me much as long as its not cold.

I think it's essentially impossible with full-time work (or being a full-time student), and all the more so with a family. Maybe just possible under ideal conditions (short commute to work, collaborative wife, good set of lights) and with golden time management skills.

At any rate, I suppose I was more curious about specifically how those miles are spent, toward what goal, and with what results, not so much how to achieve it. Although, of course, how to fit it all in is an interesting discussion in itself.

I was able to put in big miles while a fulltime student. It sure was easier than doing it with a 9-5 job. I scheduled classes and work around riding. In Arizona, I set up late classes in the spring so I could ride in the cool mornings. In the fall and winter, I set up early classes so I could ride ride in the warmer afternoon. I received a federal work-study job position as part of my financial aid, so I worked right on campus and could schedule my work hours around my cycling and classes.

I have a round trip commute of 27 miles that I do on the bike at least 3 days per week. I'll often do specific workouts on the way to or from work and extend the mileage. A couple times last month I commuted to work, then rode to the start of an evening group ride. Those ended up being 70 mile days.

On weekends, I'll do about 100-150 miles over the two days when I'm not racing. Strangely, racing takes away from my mileage. I'll do only a short ride and rest the day before an event. The races themselves are rarely over 50 miles.

Last month, I did only a couple races so I had more time for fun rides. I also ended the month by doing a solo 150-mile ride this past Sunday.

A >1k month is not typical for me. I'm usually in the 900 range for this time of year. The last 1000 month I had was June of '02.

BTW: I'm married with two young kids. I work from 8:30 to 5:00 in a very flexible work environment. If I commute straight home, I'll arrive in time for 6:00 pm dinner. It's great!!!

I have a round trip commute of 27 miles that I do on the bike at least 3 days per week. I'll often do specific workouts on the way to or from work and extend the mileage. A couple times last month I commuted to work, then rode to the start of an evening group ride. Those ended up being 70 mile days.

On weekends, I'll do about 100-150 miles over the two days when I'm not racing. Strangely, racing takes away from my mileage. I'll do only a short ride and rest the day before an event. The races themselves are rarely over 50 miles.

Last month, I did only a couple races so I had more time for fun rides. I also ended the month by doing a solo 150-mile ride this past Sunday.

A >1k month is not typical for me. I'm usually in the 900 range for this time of year. The last 1000 month I had was June of '02.

BTW: I'm married with two young kids. I work from 8:30 to 5:00 in a very flexible work environment. If I commute straight home, I'll arrive in time for 6:00 pm dinner. It's great!!!

How did you do that? I've been trying to email my info to some friends, but can never get it to work.

My 2 Cents...

I likely couldn't do it apart from riding to work everyday. 35 Miles RT & I usually stretch that to 50 miles at least a couple times a week. Add in 60-80 on the weekends & there you go. Unfortunately, in Minnesota it's impossible to keep up that pace year-round. May was even tough with a total of 9 rain-free days. 5000 miles last Summer & my plans are to shatter that this Summer....

Oh yeah.... No wife or kids & an understanding GF!

How did you do that? I've been trying to email my info to some friends, but can never get it to work.
I hit "print screen" and pasted it into Paintbrush, then save it as a .jpg. No problemo!

And feel free to respond if you're below the 1k/month mark but still have something interesting to share about what you're doing.
.

I had 714 miles for May, a record for me. Some commuting helped the total, but when I analyzed my log for May, the most significant thing I noticed was that May had five weekends, including Memorial Day weekend.

BTW: I recall that you did the Mountains of Misery last year. Did you do it this year? I signed up for and started the Double Metric option but bailed out at Newport (107.8 miles). I was at the back end of the DM riders and the second rainstorm hit me on the Johns Creek climb and descent. The fact that my car and dry clothes were at Newport played a large part in my decision. Although, with hindsight, I should have done the century ride, I really liked the extra loop for the DM. Next year . . .

I had 714 miles for May, a record for me. Some commuting helped the total, but when I analyzed my log for May, the most significant thing I noticed was that May had five weekends, including Memorial Day weekend.

BTW: I recall that you did the Mountains of Misery last year. Did you do it this year? I signed up for and started the Double Metric option but bailed out at Newport (107.8 miles). I was at the back end of the DM riders and the second rainstorm hit me on the Johns Creek climb and descent. The fact that my car and dry clothes were at Newport played a large part in my decision. Although, with hindsight, I should have done the century ride, I really liked the extra loop for the DM. Next year . . .

I opted not to do it this year. I'm in lousy shape right now, both endurance and speed wise. I haven't ridden over 80 miles in months. Would have been a big slide compared to my ride last year. That's a lousy excuse, but combined with the idea of paying $50 to ride roads I hit every other week, plus the threat of rain ...yeah, I spent the day lounging at home.

Anyway, you had a whale of a ride even without going up Mountain Lake. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself on Potts Mountain -- quite a hill in both the places you climbed it. But John's Creek is not the best time and place, psychologically, to get assaulted with rain. That climb makes me ponder why I was born every time I go over it, no matter what the conditions.

I think you would have felt let down by riding the century route. They added a small loop near Newport to make up for the miles lost in moving the start location. It's nice, but not nearly as epic as the Potts Mountain vicinity.

There are some mileage numbers that boggle my mind on our monthly sound-off. Now don't think I'm the least bit skeptical; on the contrary just a bit awed and curious. Indulge us by explaining what on God's green earth are you doing to get so many miles? I notice a pattern that it's you guys who never elaborate on what you did that month. Presumably you're too busy riding to spend time with superfluous typing (right on!). And some of you mileage giants don't even bother keeping count anymore.

Are you a touring nut? Randonneur? Racer? Just riding a lot? Do you HAVE A JOB??? :-) If racer, are you pro, if not, what category? How are your results looking? If you're a pro or a high profile amateur, would you care to identify yourself or at least your team?

And feel free to respond if you're below the 1k/month mark but still have something interesting to share about what you're doing. Or if you're the personal, private type, feel free to say nothing.

The following are the big offenders for May who we'd like to hear from:
BiknBen, OwenMeany, gray8110, norcalscott (this guy has two posts to his name and almost 6k YTD ... gotta be up to something), thr0ttles, Js HS (have an idea what you're up to thanks to your brevet reports), plus_vite.

Thanks for humoring the voyeuristic half of RBR.Last month I had >700. I took off 4 days just 'cuss I was realy tired. I didn't commute as much as I could have (11 miles each day x5 =55 miles/week). Easy to see how I could have had >1000. BTW-1 wife (1 is enough!:eek: ), 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats. Usually get 2 hrs in a day mon, tues, thurs, fr, and 1 or 2 longer (3-4 hr rides) on the weekend. Not so hard to believe.

I hit "print screen" and pasted it into Paintbrush, then save it as a .jpg. No problemo!
Have you figured out a way to compare data on one screen from different rides yet? I want to put a ride from Tuesday over Thursdays graph to see what the heart rate is like comparatively in certain spots on the same training route, but can't figure out how to do it with the Polar software.

Are you a touring nut? Randonneur? Racer? Just riding a lot? Do you HAVE A JOB??? :-) If racer, are you pro, if not, what category? How are your results looking? If you're a pro or a high profile amateur, would you care to identify yourself or at least your team?


The following are the big offenders for May who we'd like to hear from:
BiknBen, OwenMeany, gray8110, norcalscott (this guy has two posts to his name and almost 6k YTD ... gotta be up to something), thr0ttles, Js HS (have an idea what you're up to thanks to your brevet reports), plus_vite.

Thanks for humoring the voyeuristic half of RBR.

It's not easy for me to ride 1,000 miles/month. It is a goal that I try to reach during the warm weather months. I fell short in April, but I did get 1,000 miles in for October, 2003.

I just love cycling and riding my bike. I do very much enjoy group riding and the bike club scene. My life has gotten to where it revolves around cycling. I never take any kind of trip without one of my bikes.

For me, century riding is my favorite thing. My main goal is to ride a minimum of one century per each calendar month in the year. In the last 41 calendar months, I've ridden at least one century in 37 or them. That ensures that you stay in shape year round. So far, 2004 is looking good.

Now that the weather is warm, I'll typically ride a century on Saturday, 60 or more on Sunday, and 25-30 miles just about every evening. While this often allows me to top 1k miles in a month, you'll never see me log anything much higher. You will not see my logging 2k miles per month.

I have ridden some brevets, and I'd like to do Paris-Brest-Paris in 2007, but I don't like the night riding. I like to get off the bike when the sun goes down.

Yes, I work, and I often have to adjust for family stuff. The big advantage I have is that my only child was born when I was a very young man. She's now away at college (most of the time) and my freetime is mine. My wife is very supportive of my cycling and often rides with me on my easy days, which are few. I like to push myself and to make others suffer if I can.

The downside to all this bicycle riding is that I rarely find myself sitting in front of a TV screen watching sports. Wait! That's no downside.

Oh, yeah. I often find myself riding in the rain. Just a couple of weeks ago I completed a very wet century. Not real fun.

See you on the roads,

-PV

How did you code the 2nd and 16th blue??

I have a round trip commute of 27 miles that I do on the bike at least 3 days per week. I'll often do specific workouts on the way to or from work and extend the mileage. A couple times last month I commuted to work, then rode to the start of an evening group ride. Those ended up being 70 mile days.

On weekends, I'll do about 100-150 miles over the two days when I'm not racing. Strangely, racing takes away from my mileage. I'll do only a short ride and rest the day before an event. The races themselves are rarely over 50 miles.

Last month, I did only a couple races so I had more time for fun rides. I also ended the month by doing a solo 150-mile ride this past Sunday.

A >1k month is not typical for me. I'm usually in the 900 range for this time of year. The last 1000 month I had was June of '02.

BTW: I'm married with two young kids. I work from 8:30 to 5:00 in a very flexible work environment. If I commute straight home, I'll arrive in time for 6:00 pm dinner. It's great!!!

I'm impressed and envious of you folks who rack them up. A good month for me nowadays is anything over 700. Can't commute, lots of activities with young kids and wife - but it's OK. I used to stress as I saw my miles drop off from what they used to be before the family stuff, so I stopped tracking them. Got rid of the computer and focus on quality not quantity. Looking forward to when my son is my ride partner. Life is good - enjoy every ride.

Very little TV for me, too. I taped "24" while it was on and watched before I went to bed and I'll tape stuff on OLN like the races. That's it. TV is a HUGE waste of time.

How did you code the 2nd and 16th blue??
Each type of activity is color coded.

Blue = MTB
Orange = Road Riding
Green = Strength Training (I do "core" exercises)

I can't remember how it is done off the top of my head. I suspect it's in the calendar properties menu found by right clicking on the calendar. You can create a new activity and have an option for choosing colors.

Can't you just open up two (or more) exercises at once? If I try to open an exercise when one is already open, I get a screen that asks if I want to close open exercises. I select "No" and, voila, overlaying graphs.

Or, did I misunderstand the question?


Have you figured out a way to compare data on one screen from different rides yet? I want to put a ride from Tuesday over Thursdays graph to see what the heart rate is like comparatively in certain spots on the same training route, but can't figure out how to do it with the Polar software.

Very little TV for me, too. I taped "24" while it was on and watched before I went to bed and I'll tape stuff on OLN like the races. That's it. TV is a HUGE waste of time.

Tell that to my wife :D

As a beginner rider, even 500 miles a month would be good for me. I work way too far from home to consider commuting (35 freeway miles one way). My wife is getting her Master's Degree, and to do so she is taking some classes at night which means I have to take care of the kids directly after work.

On the plus side, anytime that i'm not working or watching the kids I can do whatever I want. Thankfully she graduates in two weeks, so hopefully during the week i'll be able to ride more after work.

Oh, on weekends I do more MTB than Road, so that definately takes the milage down.

My current riding season is generally April until early Nov. I don't enjoy riding below 45 degrees so that's where I draw the line. However, beginning this winter I will be spending about 3-4 months a year in southern AZ primarily so I can cycle and golf more.

My typical ride is 40-50 miles. I do this virtually every day during my "season". Just take different routes to vary the intensity of my workout. I average about 26 days/month on my bike. Minimum mileage is right at 1,000, and can go up to 1200 - but I've never gone more than 1,200. During the months I spend AZ I expect to taper down my daily mileage, but should still get in about 500-650 per month.

Nope, I don't work and my wife encourages my riding. What more could you ask for....?

500 miles a month for every month of the year is a 6000 mile year if you do it year round.

I think there is are common ways to get high miles

commuting
riding at night
riding in the mornings
the usual way (evening after work rides)


Regular commuters never have to worry about getting miles in, it just happens. The sweet thing about commuting is you get about half of your ride time for free (time you would have spent in a car). Kids and hectic schedules can throw a wrench into the spokes of commuting.

Riding at night- Ironic how most night riding occurs in colder months when the days are shorter but the sweet cool summer nights are great for rides. If you have kids or a wife that goes to bed real early just leave a half hour before they hit the sack and ride 30miles.
Summer nights make you keep your mouth closed unless you like the taste of bugs.

My wife used to plan to do things together on the weekend (This usually consisted of shopping at Target, Hechts, etc.). I would sit around the house and wait until she got ready to leave usually 11:00 AM. Now I ride early on Sat. Mornings and she can plan anything she wants in the afternoons and evenings. Leave at 7 get back at 11:30, easily get in 60 miles. Working in the yard in the afternoon can be tiring or doing strenuous honey dos.

I like to ride a short anaerobic Wed club ride that is 20 miles. I ride to and from the ride and get in 40 miles for the evening.

I ride almost every day at lunchtime. 13 miles, dead flat, with two coworkers. Average 52 miles a week just riding at lunchtime.

The bottom line,

You can fit in riding to your schedule but it is limited by other needs, work, commitments and hobbies. Those things fluctuate with your life. I can't imagine fitting in 300 mile weeks into my schedule but I could if it was a high enough priority, but at this point in time it is not so I get 150 to 200 miles per week during season.

Prior to our first child I did a lot more MTB riding then road riding. The biggest issue was that I had a 45 minute drive to the trailhead. Usually I was riding with other guys so waiting in the parking lot, BS'ing with other riders, and last minute maintenance killed another 15-20 minutes. Once we did get out on the trail there is always one guy we're waiting for or one guy who has a mechanical or forgot to fill up his Camelbak, etc. etc. etc.

To make a long story short, I love MTB riding but hate the time it takes out of my life. With the road bike I usually ride alone and that means I can control the time and mileage. Now that we have a kid I usually start riding between 5:30am and 6am on the weekends to get my miles in before 11am. I also commute to work 4-5 days a week by bike. That adds up. I'm not up to 1k miles/month but expect to put in almost 5k miles per year...

Can't you just open up two (or more) exercises at once? If I try to open an exercise when one is already open, I get a screen that asks if I want to close open exercises. I select "No" and, voila, overlaying graphs.

Or, did I misunderstand the question?
I am trying ot get the HR graph that comes up when you first upload the data to overlay another and still show both as one screen. I so far have only been able to get screens to pop up on top of each other. I will try what you suggested though.

If you have kids or a wife that goes to bed real early just leave a half hour before they hit the sack and ride 30miles.

Or you can use the technique that my crackhead friend does: wait until AFTER she goes to sleep then slip out for some late night partying (or riding). Sure, you'll have to deal with 30 minutes of sleep per night, but isn't the high you get from riding worth it?

Tell that to my wife :D

As a beginner rider, even 500 miles a month would be good for me. I work way too far from home to consider commuting (35 freeway miles one way). I have to take care of the kids directly after work.


Tip for those with long car commutes:
Drive part way and ride the rest. You get the ride in and have your car available for life's daily duties.

Having commuted for a couple years by bike, I've gotten used to it. When I occasionally think about changing jobs, I have to face the fact that I may loose my good bike commute. If I had to, I would ride part of a long commute. It's more difficult but not as hard as you think.

Huh. Have you upgraded to the most current version? I've only used the software from the beginning of this year, but it always overlays the graphs. I wonder if there's a a setting somewhere that allows you to choose on view over another.



I am trying ot get the HR graph that comes up when you first upload the data to overlay another and still show both as one screen. I so far have only been able to get screens to pop up on top of each other. I will try what you suggested though.

My obsessive riding is bad enough without the compulsion to log and tally every mile.

I have only 1 kid, wife, FT Job and I volunteer on a local non profit board. I also play ice hockey 2X per week. I spin 1 or 2X per week, commute 4 miles round trip 3X per week, ride 1 night 1.5-2 hrs and ride 4 hrs sat, 2+ sunday. No wonder I get killed all the time when I do a MTB race--as long as I don't come in last I'm happy. Here in Boulder CO I see people riding all hours of the day. The local legend is most folks don't have to work.

Do you ride to work in the rain? Do you ride in the rain regardless? :confused:
I used to when I lived closer to my job and could bike commute. To commute today I would have to ride a century a day and ride over some really bike unfreindly roads. Riding in the rain is no big deal as long as you have a beater bike you don't really care about and you wear the proper raingear. Snow is no big deal either. Ice is where it gets sketchy though I used to ride on that as well. Had a few nasty wipeouts, but riding on ice will get you to be a good bike handler quickly.

Very little. About 2 minutes at the end of each ride. The distance from the bike computer goes into a spreadsheet that automatically sums the weekly, monthly, and YTD mileage.

I think it's essentially impossible with full-time work (or being a full-time student), and all the more so with a family. Maybe just possible under ideal conditions (short commute to work, collaborative wife, good set of lights) and with golden time management skills.

At any rate, I suppose I was more curious about specifically how those miles are spent, toward what goal, and with what results, not so much how to achieve it. Although, of course, how to fit it all in is an interesting discussion in itself.


I have a full time job, don´t commute but still am able to put 1,000 miles/month. I am 35, currently separated, one kid to whom I dedicate a pretty amount of time specially in the evenings, so no night rides. Right now I am aiming to peak for a 8 day stage race on July 17 so the miles will decrease soon but right now this is how it goes:

Monday: 2 hours medium pace
Tuesday: LT work 2 hours TW
Wednesday: Speed workouts 2 hours TW
Thursday: No bike (my son slept at my house last night)
Friday: Hard Intervals 2 hours TW
Saturday: 4 + hours or race
Sunday: No bike (with my son again)

Total hours: 12 x 20 = 240 miles (+ the saturday's + sums up 1,000 mi)

That´s the time and intensity of my weeks right now (started last week), they aren´t always like that. Currently I am doing that workload because of the upcoming race. I check periodically with my power meter how I am doing so that I can rest when I need to. Obviously the miles increase and intensity decreases during other phases of training so that kind of compensates the reduced milage of the recovery weeks.

I normally wake up at 5:15 AM, I am out at 5:45 and have to be at the office at 9:30 (this is a nice half hour advantage over a lot of people but lucky me). I have to drive 30 min to work.

Just my 0.02

1000 miles a month is easy - 125 miles Saturday, 125 miles Sunday X 4 weekends. Don't even have to count trainer time.

I had 800 in May, primarily due to the 5 weekends. A normal summertime month for me is about 700. 50 each on Saturday/Sunday and 25-30 on 3 nights. Let's say 180 a week or 720 a month. I track my mileage but I do it on a 13 month calendar with each "month" being 4 weeks. Better for comparisons since it washes out the 5 weekend months.

To get to 1000, I'd have to increase the nightly rides to 30-40 and the weekend rides to ~62. Commuting would be a waste of time, I live 3.5 miles from work.

Frankly, it's an additional committment I'm not willing to make. I currently run about 7000 miles a year on a rolling 13 month calendar. More than enough for me. Beyond that, I'd start to feel pretty uni-dimensional. There are too many other things I like to do.

As others have mentioned, getting high mileage each month is not too difficult if you commute. My own commute is around 15 miles round trip, so just commuting to and from work adds up to 300 miles a month. I also throw in the occasional weekend ride, lunch ride, or early morning ride without upsetting the home life too much. On top of this, I swim twice a week and run twice a week for some variety plus prep for an upcoming triathlon.

All this, and I'm married with a 3 month old and work full-time. My key has been to avoid biking/swimming/running during the evening and most of the weekend. It helps that I'm a natural early riser while my wife and son are night owls! My bike time has definitely decreased since having a baby, but I wouldn't trade that for all the free Campy components in the world!

Chris

Okey Dokey.. you asked me specifically.. Of course my name gets thrown into your list and I have 1066 miles for May and by more than 200 miles it's my biggest month ever.. but.. you have questions and here are my answers.

First off, I'm unmarried at 24 - no kids and I work 40 hours a week, 10am - 6:30pm Monday thru Friday. I do race, I'm a cat 3 roadie but I also enjoy challenging event rides (Death Ride etc.) I don't commute frequently. Keep in mind I have 4 hours of daylight before work and 2 hours afterwork this time of year where I can ride. I usually put in 3-4 hour rides on both weekend days.. minimum.

Looking at my May mileage report, I took 30 rides including only one very short.. but brutal 3.84 mile TT. I took 7 days off the bike over the course of the month. My weekends were big mileage days, but I also took a day off work to ride and had Memorial day where I did some good riding too. It wasn't uncommon on weekends for me to take a hard 50-70 mile training ride in the morning and then join my dad for an easy 20 mile cruise in the afternoon. My weekday rides were short, either 3 or 4 per week no shorter than 17 and no longer than 33 miles. My longest ride was 85 miles.

Well, I commute 47.5km each way 5 days a week... 90 per day times 5 equals 475kms a week. Average 4 weeks a month for 1900kms. That would put me on average at 1180 miles per month.
Hmm... well take into account holidays and thunderstorms and I'm hovering around the limit of 1000miles/month.

I have a life outside of riding too. Work, home, family and since it's a new home, lots of housework. I can't get out to ride on the weekends because of landscaping and often it's what I do once I get home at night, but odds are that I'll finish someday (if I don't die first) and get my weekends back. That should put me over the limit again.

Without the commute, I'd ride... less than I like to think about (often known as my Winter riding schedule... or 0 miles/month).

CA

i wouldn't respond to this, but you mentioned my name...

last year i put in a few 1000-month miles (or close), but didn't log all that much for the year. my stuff is way less than MB1 and many others on the board. heck, this year i've only been riding 3 days per week, so far. since hosting a cyclocross series last winter, i've been a bit burned-out. now, holding a position on the board of our cycling club, and being ride director for 3 centuries (one of them a double century) in a 6-month span, i'm more concerned with other people getting saddle time. riding less is making those fewer rides more enjoyable for me. it's also become much more social than last year. i don't care to ride alone, much. i'm hoping a life change (currently in progress) will bring the joy back to riding for riding's sake, for me.

as far as the brevet, it's the only one i did this year. in fact, the 600k was the longest ride over 100 miles for me since september 2003. i've only ridden a couple centuries this year.

thanks for asking.