# Average Distance



## The Highlander (Aug 7, 2011)

What is the average distance that everyone rides per trip? I have been away from my bike for about 9 years and now im getting back into it heavy. Im trying to get into shape without having a heart attack:eekster: Ive riden every day this week with an average of between 5 and 8 miles. Both trails and roads and some messing around in between, climbing sand piles and trying to hop rocks an curbs. Anyway, now that i rambled on.....


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## Cormac (Aug 6, 2011)

I'm on the extreme low end with mileage I know. But on paved I do about 6-12 depending on how the fiance feels. And on the trails, by myself I do about 4, with others I'll do closer to 8. I just don't push myself as much when I'm on my own. More of a leisurely activity for me when alone. With others I push myself to keep up with them best I can. As for the road mileage, I'm the one pushing her!


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## T.Blazer (Aug 7, 2006)

I usually ride just a little bit less than too much or slightly more than not enough.


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## Aggiefan83 (Aug 14, 2011)

10-12 miles in town with wife. 15-18 when alone. On trails usually 3.5 -5 miles not sure as to why but all of my local trails average this distance.


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## pkmffl (Jun 26, 2011)

I've been starting out at 5-8 mile rides. It's getting easier!


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## terrasmak (Jun 14, 2011)

Doing a 12 mile loop, back home its usually about 9 miles with the wife.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

5.4 road miles in the morning, 6.1 on the way home.

Rides that are for me vary. By time, I usually ride for 2-4 hours, depending on how much time I have available. By distance, hard to say... 5.2 miles with my girlfriend the other day. A bit under 19 last time I did a "real" mountain bike ride and my GPS was working. Just under 20 on a road ride not too long ago, with my all-time records at 100 in a day and 75ish in a ride without stopping for longer than a power bar or bathroom break. 35 off-road on my longest recorded MTB ride, which followed about 6 of messing around on a different trail network with some teammates.

Those aren't averages, I'm afraid. I don't record my mileages.  I can tell you that this year, on average, on days I've ridden, I've ridden for 1.7 hours. That's anywhere from days with half an hour of commuting split into two rides to a day when I rode to meet some teammates, spent a couple hours clinging to a faster one's wheel, and then took the long way home to meet the volume goal I had that day. I'm also about 318 hours of riding in this year.


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## Varaxis (Mar 16, 2010)

All my rides are usually 20+ miles of singletrack each, but I don't ride everyday. I ride maybe 1-3 times a week. 

If it counts, add 1 road ride a week (8 mile round trip on a mtn bike, often riding in the dirt on the side of the road) just to go to the grocery store.


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## CarolinaLL6 (Apr 12, 2010)

I would say distance is also relative to the difficulty of the trail. There's a greenway near me where 6 mi out then back can kick some ass because of the climbs.


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

IMHO, hours and intensity are better metrics to use. 40 miles a day, 5 days a week or 3.5 hours a day currently.


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## MRisme (Mar 22, 2010)

I attached a screenshot from some of my recorded rides.

I started MTBing doing 8-10 mile rides. I then found myself getting jealous of people on bikes while I was driving to the trails, so I started to bike to the trail head and thus added miles to my rides! I then started to find alternate routes to get to the trails through backs of neighborhoods and found my rides getting longer and longer.

During the week I tend to keep them around 20-25 miles and around 2 hours, sunlight being the limiting factor.


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

The Highlander said:


> What is the average distance that everyone rides per trip? I have been away from my bike for about 9 years and now im getting back into it heavy. Im trying to get into shape without having a heart attack:eekster: Ive riden every day this week with an average of between 5 and 8 miles. Both trails and roads and some messing around in between, climbing sand piles and trying to hop rocks an curbs. Anyway, now that i rambled on.....


2 hours is a "normal ride" 4 plus is on the long side.

Commute is 25 min one way.


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## Ken in KC (Jan 12, 2004)

*^^This^^*



AZ.MTNS said:


> IMHO, hours and intensity are better metrics to use. 40 miles a day, 5 days a week or 3.5 hours a day currently.


I measure road rides by miles. Unless I'm on an epic trail where I'm riding to finish, I measure mountain bike rides by time.

Typically 1-2 hours during the week (8-20 miles?) and 3+ on the weekend.

Ken


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## anekin007 (May 23, 2011)

I try to get in 2-3 hours and depending on the trail its 10-15 miles. Or whenever I get hungry i'll head on back.


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## The Highlander (Aug 7, 2011)

Wow, alot of you guys ride alot of miles. I think it true its not the milage but the time and intensity. I ride with my son who is 9 at a local damn that has trails that are about 6.5 miles. It takes about an hour or so but for the most part it is very flat. When i ride alone out my door the grades and trails are much rougher and steeper and i do about the same milage in the same 1.5 hours but its much more deamnding on my body. I suppose i will never do much more than that amount unless i find a partner to ride the trails with to push me a bit. Until then ill keep pedaling...


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## AGrant (Jan 28, 2009)

I'll add mine to the mix. When I first started out (14 years ago) 7 miles was a big ride for me. I've upped the anty over the years and now a normal fast tuesday night road bike ride is 25 miles of high heart rate intensity. A long saturday road bike ride may be 60+ miles - although I'm not doing much of that these days. The Niners are too much fun 

My mountain bike rides vary from 13-15 miles up to 20+ depending on how much time I have. Back in the spring I was doing up around 30 miles of single track averaging around 10-10.5 mph but that was maybe once every 3 weeks. Normal would be 20 miles at a 9.5-10 mph pace on single track. If I don't get in at least 13-15, I feel like I've been jipped and not gotten a good ride in...but thats just me being me.

Right now, I've been really loving my single speed, so my distances have come down some. Example - this past saturday I did 13.5 on my single speed and averaged 10.4 then Sunday afternoon I rode my geared bike and rode it as a single speed for the first 7 miles at 11.1 avg then geared for 7 miles at a total 10.4 avg. It just varies depending on how I feel and if I have a race coming up.

They key for someone starting out or getting back is just enjoy the ride. Don't worry that much about distance or averages, just make sure you have fun and enjoy the ride. The rest will come with time and if you focus on fun, you won't get burnt out like I did a few years ago.


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## Phillycore (Apr 4, 2009)

XC ride once a week... in the 8-12mile range


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## xufima (Jun 4, 2009)

7-10 miles in 2-3 hours with lots of tough climbs


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## joman2055 (Jun 30, 2011)

i just started riding. but i do 10-12 miles on trails in about an hour with not a whole lot of climbing.

this is my last ride i did (my 4th ride overall) 
2011-08-18 16:30 PQ - Google Maps

this was my 3rd ride i did. not much fun but was about a 980 foot climb on the way up then i got to have fun on the way down. 
8/16/11 Shooting Range Mission Trails - Google Maps


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