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After following the exploits of your favorite bike racers, you've decided to take up road cycling. Now you're wondering how to progress on your bike. We explain in this article how many kilometers it is advisable to cycle when you are a beginner.
How many miles should I bike when I'm a beginner?
If you're new to road cycling, you're wondering how many miles you should bike on a ride.
In theory, this distance should be between 15 and 30 kilometers. But this will depend on several parameters including your sporting background and the difference in altitude.
If you are a great beginner, that you have never done any sport before, do not hesitate to reduce this distance to start. Conversely, if you practice another sport (such as running), you can probably increase the mileage slightly.
This distance should also be adapted according to the level of your outing because 10 kilometers of flat is not equivalent to 10 kilometers of uphill. If you have the opportunity, try to choose a relatively flat route to get started.
What pace should I pedal at?
The goal of these first few rides is to habituate your body to the effort and position on the bike, which is not natural. The goal is to also work on your endurance, so you should ride at a moderate pace, without raising your heart rate. On the other hand, it is important to warm up well at the beginning of each session and not to neglect the recovery between rides.
Running regularly to progress
To progress, the most important thing is regularity. Being able to do two or three rides a week would be ideal. Conversely, doing one big ride on Sunday and not riding for a fortnight would be totally counterproductive. If you can't ride during the week, it might be worth investing in a home trainer to train at home.
When and how to increase distance?
This distance should be increased gradually. An additional 15 minutes per week is considered a reasonable increase. But again, it will depend on how you feel: as soon as you feel comfortable with a distance, increase it slightly.
After two or three months, when you have a good base of endurance work, it will be possible to add exercises to work on other points such as intensity, power, velocity or strength.
Now that you know how to pace your first few rides, how about finding out if it's possible to start cycling at 50? We also suggest you find out how to start road biking and which road bike to choose to start?
