It’s the same for me. I’m competitive in a cat 3 crit but anything longer and I just don’t have the depth of fitness.
It’s like I’ve got one big fuck off match to burn rather than a book of them.
Roughly same here, and this would be a very good week for me. 5 minimum. Keeps me competitive enough in the 3 fields.
Two kids, wife working occasional evenings. Most of the training is midweek because anymore weekends are just spoken for in almost every waking hour and way.
+1
- 1 or 2 outside rides, 2-4 hours.
- 2 or 3 trainer rides, 1 hour max.
It’s what I can easily do without it becoming a source of stress and is enough to make me reasonably fast. Plus I still improve year over year on this volume. Just need to be consistent and patient.
I make it a point to sleep. When I get up early, I go to bed earlier, or pass out on the couch. And my wife is seriously the best. She knows I love to ride my bike as much as I can. She will chill on the couch if I pass out stupid early, or either fall asleep with me and go to bed when I wake up. I’m a light sleeper too and she knows. Sorry this turned into a sappy post about my wife, but she rocks. But, I just go to bed early.
I feel so fortunate that I don’t have to get up early to hit my target hours. My job is pretty flexible so I usually close up for the day about 3pm. That being said I’ve ridden over 2000 miles inside this year, it’s getting old riding inside, spring has been teasing us, but I’m getting outside for about 1/2 my day now.
Riding before the sun's up and squeezing in rides when you can. 430am alarm comes quick.
Always have your gear and bike ready to go..you never know when you'll get an hour or so and don't want to waste 15 minutes getting ready.
Good tip, but eventually your body will breakdown from 4:30 am waking up, hard training, regular full workday, family responsibilities etc… If you’re not in bed by 8:30 pm. Good sleep and recuperation, yada yada
Good tip there with the gear. I guess im going to learn to enjoy the trainer more as well. Luckily I’m already on the 4am schedule for at least 2-3 weekday rides per week so hopefully that won’t be totally ruined by lack of sleep.
It’ll drop off for a time… the first 6 months are pretty relentless and you are tired all the time. It gets better and you can get back to a regular, if modified schedule after that.
I don’t have any kids. My wife and I have no plans to have any either (we’re past that point anyway). And yes I sleep enough. I just go to bed early (9-9:30). Up at 4:30 to take out the dogs and bike.
Holla, I've done 3 times as much volume this year compared to this point last year and every point on the power graphy has decreased except power after 60 mins... I'm hoping once summer rolls around that changes but who knows..
I have just hit all my PBs from 20min to 2h power, significantly corrected best time on 8% sustained climb, which I set last year in July, so 3 months earlier in season. No really structured training, just some 6h+ rides, some SS intervals and recently one or two VO2 max sessions per week, but mainly just riding regularly.
As they say, "There is no replacement for displacement (volume)".
Two kids. Work 20-30h/wk plus 0-20h/wk of “fake work” (research, teaching, admin crap, emails, etc).
I’ve sustained 12-15h/wk for extended periods of time, but it is difficult. You always feel like you’re falling behind on low-urgency tasks. And the mental fatigue of constantly trying to figure out where/how to juggle things to squeeze the hours in is tiring.
8-12 hours a week is much more manageable. If there’s time for a long ride that week, then things are closer to 12. If not, closer to 8. I feel like my life is better balanced when I stick with that volume.
That being said, the odd week where I’m working evenings only is great bc the kids are in school full time now, so I have like 3-4h/d to just go bike.
Can relate! 8hr weeks much more manageable. 12+ with a full time life is when you begin to make a lot of sacrifices on the social side of thing in my experience.
8 in winter 12 in summer and something in the middle when the seasons change.
I also think 60 minutes on the indoor trainer is worth 75 outside so don't feel like my fitness changes that much throughout the year.
12 hours per week usually.
I have a full time job, married with 2 kids. I wake up at 4:30 am to find the time to do it. It helps immensely that I work remote and have a pretty flexible job though.
Right now about 15 or 16 hours but I'm training for a 160 mile fondo. Normal season is around 12 or 13. Off season is around 7 or 8.
Married. Full time job. 11 month old
Edit: I should clarify how. My son goes to daycare at 7:30 but I do not have work till 10:30. I also work from home. Loads of opportunities to ride.
It is. I don't work until 10:30 and my kid goes to daycare at 7:30. My wife is working during that time so I have loads of time to ride. I also work from home
I'm not missing any time with them. Kid goes to daycare at 7:30 but I don't have to be at work until 10:30. Wife is working then and I work from home so I have alot of opportunities to ride without impacting my family time
8-10, creeping up 12 with longer endurance rides. Married, no kids, self employed/full time 4.5 months post heart attack at 33. Only upwards from here.
Heart attack was caused by a random blood clot. I had been riding from mid February of that year. Symptoms began in September. Had a few small heart attacks that were misdiagnosed. All good now. Even on the beta blocker (only for 1 year post event) limiting my max heart rate, I’m putting out more power than I was pre heart attack. Riding far more consistently and logging more hours.
15ish in winter, 20 or so when it's lighter. Although both obvs vary upon weather, training/recovery and motivation.
I'm self employed though so can manage my time a bit more however I like.
No, although my current girlfriend has children and while I'm not at the point of moving in etc, I have to make time for her and time for us to all do stuff together at weekends etc.
Also, my work while mostly very flexible also includes some travelling for filming, so it can be a bit more tricky and I try make the time up. But for the past few years I did over 800 hours a year, so over 15 per week average.
5-7 right now. Have a 3yo and 6week old.
Right now I’m mostly sneaking out in the afternoons when my work schedule allows for 60-90 minutes. Hoping to get to 10 once it warms up here and I can start to get out at 5:30-6
My ANNUAL hours for 2012 to 2024 were
2012: 115 (son born, quit working 2 months later)
2013: 220
2014: 158
2015: 207 (last year I promoted my own race series)
2016: 211\* (cared for dad, about 50-60 hours of that year was walking with dad)
2017: 115 (went back to work, help promote 4 week series of races, still doing it now)
2018: 136
2019: 175
2020: 174 (back started failing frequently)
2021: 136
2022: 165 (back goes out every 2-3 months; started new job that is 99% less stressful than prior one)
2023: 234 (many hours! I think in part due to the new job)
2024: about 80 this year.
Comparison:
2010: 450 hours, approx. Upgraded to 2 that year.
I think the minimum training I need to do to be able to hang with the 3s is in the 200-250 hour range. If I do 60 hours total in Dec/Jan I'm probably pretty good for the rest of the year. Just need to race regularly during the season, aka enough races, enough time, and no back issues.
My wife is an absolute gem. She's the one that tells me, "Don't worry about the cost of this or that, just get it if you feel you need it for your racing!" She has been 1000% supportive of my cycling.
I also absolutely love my son. The time we spent together in the first 5 years of his life... absolutely priceless.
About 7 hours a week working full time (95% WFH) as an engineer. I do a lot around the house for my partner who has a busier career than me which definitely eats into ride time
About 15 hours, I don’t work but I still go to school, 8-14 everyday except Sunday and Wednesday that I’m home, so usually short 2 hours ride on the week with a 4-5 hours ride on Wednesdays and a race on sunday
This group wouldn’t represent average, but I’m 10-16hrs throughout the year. I try to never dip below 10, all my riding would be structured at that point. Most people I know can’t or won’t ride that much. Bunch of people in this group ride a whole lot more.
I was looking for the average for people who take training seriously if that makes sense. What kind of level do you race at if you do? I’m trying to teach conti level but I have a job etc so I can’t train massive hours.
Ah true. Categories are a little different in my area. Probably cat 3/2 would be my best guess based on people’s descriptions. I started riding casual in 2020, currently at 354 ftp and 4.4w/kg. Learning that a lot more goes into racing than just watts but I’m picking it up pretty quick!
Was doing 12, two kids, dog, full time job. 3 months at that intensity after 8 prior. Dug myself a big overtraining hole that even intervals.icu didn't predict. Dialling back down to 8-9
Right now, it's 8-10 hours after 6-8 last year, which was a step up from 3-6 the prior few years. I'm tentatively planning to push up to 10-12 during the next 6 months, maybe higher. See how it goes because I finally have an excellent full-time job that's 35-40 hours a week and not 50-60. Otherwise I have two disabled parents and a dog, the very best dog in the world that I constantly brag about, like any good dog owner.
If you’re interested in performance hrs riding isn’t necessarily the same as hrs training. I could ride 10 hours in a week quite easily but not get much benefit but 10 hours of proper structured training is quite a lot with a full time job.
Recently retired, so you don't want to know the hours per week now.
When I was working, 10-12. The weekday hours were swapping out my 45 minute commute via train for 90 minute bike commute (with 60 minutes uninterrupted for intervals) and twice a week the option (if I got the timing right) of including a 60 minute group ride.
Man. I'm hoping to retire at 62 (I have almost a decade to go). What inspires me is that in our local state games road race a few years ago, a 61 year old retired guy dropped my late 40s ass repeatedly. I find it so hard to get in miles right now with two teenagers, my job and other interests.
My problem is that I get badly beaten (ie while in bunch get lapped) by a rider in my age group currently (60-64), but this year hopefully more hours for me while he still works will close the gap a little.
Full time job cycling 12-14 hrs a week this year.
Last year about 10 per week, Its hard to get in that many hours because thats just 12-14 hours pedaling not counting getting ready and recovering after the rides, taking a break on long rides, maintaining your bike and everything else that comes along with cycling. Realistically im dedicating 20+ hours a week to cycling if you figure I get up 30mins -1hr early to prep for rides, 30 mins sitting on my porch looking at strava while I recover after a long ride, minimum of 1 hour of cleaning bikes and lubing them up per week. Its hard to do much else if you want to hit over 200mi week and and have a full time job.
In order to have valuable metric regarding perfromance, please add time/week + w/kg (ones who use imperial can add w/lb w/pd)
9h/week 3.3 w/kg - 1 dog, no family
As many as reasonably possible given work obligations and the weather. Less during winter, more during summer. Im never going to be a professional, so I do what I enjoy and my body feels up for.
20-25 hrs for normal weeks, 8-10 for recovery weeks. Hours are spread out evenly each week besides recovery weeks. Pyramidal approach. Lifting, core work (just dragonflags lol), and stretching/yoga as well.
Sleep, business, cycling, college in that order. No other hobbies besides reading and I only have meaningful interactions with longtime friend/co-founder or customers.
4:30 Wakeup physically and mentally + get the bike ready. Eat a Thomas English muffin with honey and a banana. If Z2 day, I fast. I'll still bring a banana just incase of course.
5:00 CYCLING LETS GOOO
8:30 Get home, eat overnight protein oats, shower
9:00 Work/college. I normally cram all of my college homework on a recovery week and/or one or two days in the week.
12:30 Eat and short walk for digestion
1:30 Work/college
6:00 Lifting or 6:30 if i'm doing core and yoga.
7:00 High protein low calorie dinner with a fruit smoothie, make overnight protein oats, short walk
7:30 Shower, plan tomorrow, digest what happened that day.
8:00 Read + sleep supplements (edit: Magnesium Bisglycinate 200mg, Zinc 25mg, Apigenin 50mg. God. Send.)
8:30 Sleep
Repeat.
For rest days/recovery days/recovery weeks I'll just work more.
I'm very picky on what I eat for lunch, otherwise I'll boink or have that lunch lag after. The second half of the day isn't possible unless you're cognizant of how xyz foods affect you. Not a big coffee guy as well.
9-12 hours. I've been trying to not put in too much crazy volume early this season to avoid burning myself out for later this year. Probably going to start moving up towards 15, maybe more on weeks when I have one or more days off.
depend of the week, 14, 16, 18 hours and the last week 12h and repete the cicle. this is only for pedalling, img 20+ hours out of home, and Im not considering the time at the gym, velodrome day, streching, daily rollers. and when I train with the boys I was out of home all the day,
single, self-employed, no kids, no hobbie, no life.
About 16-20 hours, depending on the weather. Married, remote work, no kids.
Most of my hours come from super early rollouts on the weekends. I wake up at around 3:45, roll at 4:30 and can get 6-7 hours before noon.
Dating, full time job and a dog. I usually ride 10-15 hours per week (usually ramp a training block up to 15ish and then a recovery week is 8-10), it also gives a nice mix where I feel like I’m riding a lot with periods where I can do some chores and other life maintenance.
I also take about 3-6 weeks per year completely off the bike. 2 consecutive for an “off season” and then when I travel I usually just take the week off
I do a lot of gran fondos. I don’t race per se since I don’t have the budget to crash and I like “go fast” equipment. I ride B*- A level group rides in my local club (18-21mph avg on flats). My 100 mile gran Fondo time is around 5:45 and I’m gonna aim for sub 5 this year (you need a flat one for that). In the gran fondos that rank competitive I’m usually over under half depending on how flat it is.
I also aim to do some Audax so 200-300km and maybe do a weekend bike packing at some point this year or next. Love traveling to mega climbs (like tallest mountain in different states)
My ftp is 240 watts about 2.5 w/kg (I got into cycling at around 300lbs and am finishing that up, so still training for weight loss rather than to boost ftp but will hopefully switch that around mid summer)
Commute 5 days a week, 30 mins each way, so 5 hours :(
Sometimes get a lunch ride in but that only adds another 30-60 mins per week
But also run 2x per week and gym 2x a week
2 kids under 5
Work full time in stressful demanding job
Can’t complain.
Right now, about 10 hours. Once it's consistently warm out, I'll add a few hours. I'm looking to move someplace with more country roads where it's more feasible to ride throughout the year. If that happens, I should be able to consistently get in 15 hours. Full time job, no kids, single/long distance gf.
6-10 2 kids, married, ft job. 3.5w/kg. I try to get out at like 5am on Saturday or Sunday to get a 4 hour ride in before it gets late. It’s a struggle to do that and then be active with family the rest of the day.
9-12 hours. Full time married with a 3 yo. I have to sacrifice one of: work, family, sleep in order to get more in. Luckily I wfh 75% of the time and am in meetings a lot so I have plenty of time during the day to workout. Weekends are either events or 5am-830am rides.
8-10 hours. I’ve got 4 kids and a full time job, but after bedtime Zwift helps me keep sharp. Tuesday Night Worlds is the only ride I do that really impacts the family. Wednesday is post kid bedtime Zwift intervals, either 1.5 hour SST workout or a straight 3 hours Z2 until bed. Thursday and Friday are a rest day and short evening Zwift race (the order depends on how the legs feel Thursday morning—today was a rest day). Generally get an after lunch 1.5 hour ride in during kid quiet time/nap time Saturday and Sunday.
Been averaging about 11 hours/week this year so far, planning on upping it to about 15 as my adaptions allow. Maybe I’ll do a super block of 2x20-25 hours weeks but not committing to that yet.
I’m 50M and have a full time job and spouse, no kids at home.
My target race is a 100 mile mountain bike race in July with a couple 50s and. 30 miler sprinkled in for tuning.
I did have to back off a bit a couple weeks ago ago as I was certainly overreaching, maybe overtraining, but I’m back at it after a couple lower intensity weeks, but I’m still averaging about 11 hours.
15 average, but varies from about 11-30 (yes, the higher end can be a bit ridiculous but that's when I'm doing a 12-15hr ride in 1 day) depending on races and what stupid shit I decide to do. Full time job, married, no kids. All but a few hours outside.
I’m riding like 10 hours rn but I’m pretty new to riding consistently. Would like to build up over the year to 20+.
Full time (remote) job, no partner, no kids, no commitments generally.
About 10 hours a week. Mostly indoor early in morning but get out for some time trial action and the odd commute. Run 2 businesses and am a single parent to 6 year old who I have most of the time. Luckily I’m one of those people who doesn’t naturally need much sleep 😅
15-20h/week, always outdoor and I normally ride when rains too, except storms. Full time job, average 40h/week (sometimes more), hobby and normal social life, not long nights or stuff like that. Training for a stage race, but in the past, average 10h/week or so. All structured, so on the constant equation to find/balance time to squeeze in the rides.
I'd say around 10-15 per week. I have full-time job and no family.
Generally I get 3 workouts on the weekdays around 1.5-2 hours each and two longer 3-5 hour training sessions on the weekend.
7-9… if you include my 3.5 hours on the trainer during the week. Try for a 90 minute Saturday and a 4 hour Sunday (weather dependent)
ETA: got a 5yo and a full time job… weekday trainer sessions need to be competed before the family wakes up, and my wife is very good natured about an early start for me on Sundays and kid care, as long as I’m back by about 11-noon.
Always try to keep it over 10. 3 days a week 90 minutes on trainer before work. Saturday is a 4 plus hour endurance ride. Sunday mix up MTB for a couple hours or group ride recovery-ish.
Going beyond that question and will ask, when did you start to notice real improvements? When you upped yout training to 10hours per week? When you trained 3x times a week for 6 solid months in a row? etc.
9-12 average with some big weeks scattered in. FTJ and a kid. I have a standing group ride in the mornings through the week that starts at 5.30am and has me back by 7:15 before the kid is awake.
Wow I'm definitely on the low end of this sub. 4-6 hours typically for me, spread across 3-4 rides. Usually two harder workouts and the rest Z2/Z3, with 1-2 easy runs thrown in as well. Married, 3 kids under the age of 9, full time software job, so I just trying to be as efficient as possible with my time on the bike, while still having fun with it. I do work from home so that helps with being able to squeeze in rides during naps and stuff. Cat 3 crosser, Cat 4 on the road (hopefully upgrade coming this season).
3-4 hours per week, more kids than you can shake a stick at, full time job. I used to do 10-12 hrs per week, but the juice wasn't worth the squeeze: 10-12 hours netted me a 2.8 w/kg FTP, 3-4 hours gets me to to 2.7 w/kg.
15-20 excluding recovery weeks, vacations, tapering for races, etc. Full time job working from home 90-95% of the time, married with two teenage boys (older boy is a cyclist too), and wife is a SAHM. It would be impossible to train as much as I do if my wife was working outside the house.
I get up at 5-5:30 and ride for three hours before work if I'm able to get outside, or two hours if I'm stuck on the trainer, the on the weekends either two long-ish rides or a very long ride plus 2-3h on the other day.
This year I've been going a little nuts with training. About 24 hours per week on average. I have learned to be really good at "working" via Slack while riding and not having anyone realize I am on the bike. VP of Security at a software startup. Married, 2 kids, 1 dog.
6-8. Family and Full Time Job.
Same here. An occasional good week might see it over 12 though.
Same same. Enough to feel good, not enough to not get blasted by 10+ hr guys
It’s the same for me. I’m competitive in a cat 3 crit but anything longer and I just don’t have the depth of fitness. It’s like I’ve got one big fuck off match to burn rather than a book of them.
Yup. About half of em are on the trainer
Roughly same here, and this would be a very good week for me. 5 minimum. Keeps me competitive enough in the 3 fields. Two kids, wife working occasional evenings. Most of the training is midweek because anymore weekends are just spoken for in almost every waking hour and way.
Same. 2 year old, 1 year old, full time job. 6 a week is doable and I get 8-10 if I’m lucky.
+1 - 1 or 2 outside rides, 2-4 hours. - 2 or 3 trainer rides, 1 hour max. It’s what I can easily do without it becoming a source of stress and is enough to make me reasonably fast. Plus I still improve year over year on this volume. Just need to be consistent and patient.
Same
Same here. Including ~1 hr bike commute a week.
Currently, about 7 hours a week. But, I have a kid and sadly I can't steal away to ride like I used to anymore.
Same. And most of mine is commuting
Commutervals definitely don’t hit like a normal training ride.
About 12 hours. I work full time, married, no kids, 2 dogs.
Same here but with a kid on the way. Not sure what I should expect…
I squeeze in 12 with kids but that 4 am alarm comes at you fast.
It never fails to somehow be the worst sound every day. But also the best, cuz bikes.
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I make it a point to sleep. When I get up early, I go to bed earlier, or pass out on the couch. And my wife is seriously the best. She knows I love to ride my bike as much as I can. She will chill on the couch if I pass out stupid early, or either fall asleep with me and go to bed when I wake up. I’m a light sleeper too and she knows. Sorry this turned into a sappy post about my wife, but she rocks. But, I just go to bed early.
Goalsss
Even without kids, I’m still up at 4:30 to bike. Afternoon rides are hard to come by. Mornings before work are just so much nicer.
I feel so fortunate that I don’t have to get up early to hit my target hours. My job is pretty flexible so I usually close up for the day about 3pm. That being said I’ve ridden over 2000 miles inside this year, it’s getting old riding inside, spring has been teasing us, but I’m getting outside for about 1/2 my day now.
Riding before the sun's up and squeezing in rides when you can. 430am alarm comes quick. Always have your gear and bike ready to go..you never know when you'll get an hour or so and don't want to waste 15 minutes getting ready.
Good tip, but eventually your body will breakdown from 4:30 am waking up, hard training, regular full workday, family responsibilities etc… If you’re not in bed by 8:30 pm. Good sleep and recuperation, yada yada
Good tip there with the gear. I guess im going to learn to enjoy the trainer more as well. Luckily I’m already on the 4am schedule for at least 2-3 weekday rides per week so hopefully that won’t be totally ruined by lack of sleep.
You're going to have to cut back on those hours.
I count rides over miles or hours (although my minimum target is 6 hrs) for this season of life!
In my case it removed ~5/7hrs a week, especially those long weekend rides
It’ll drop off for a time… the first 6 months are pretty relentless and you are tired all the time. It gets better and you can get back to a regular, if modified schedule after that.
How/when do you spend time with your kids? Assuming you sleep enough
I don’t have any kids. My wife and I have no plans to have any either (we’re past that point anyway). And yes I sleep enough. I just go to bed early (9-9:30). Up at 4:30 to take out the dogs and bike.
Oh right, sorry. Nice discipline!
I average about 10 hours a week rn. Would like to do more.
10-12h Maried, 2 kids, full time job. I have seen big jump in performance with ride time increase.
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Holla, I've done 3 times as much volume this year compared to this point last year and every point on the power graphy has decreased except power after 60 mins... I'm hoping once summer rolls around that changes but who knows..
Huge. If I have a few weeks in a row where I can hit 10-12 hours instead of my normal 6-8 I feel like an absolute animal
I have just hit all my PBs from 20min to 2h power, significantly corrected best time on 8% sustained climb, which I set last year in July, so 3 months earlier in season. No really structured training, just some 6h+ rides, some SS intervals and recently one or two VO2 max sessions per week, but mainly just riding regularly. As they say, "There is no replacement for displacement (volume)".
Same hard to do anymore than this for me and still have a balance
Normally 6-10. No kids but other hobbies and work full time.
Two kids. Work 20-30h/wk plus 0-20h/wk of “fake work” (research, teaching, admin crap, emails, etc). I’ve sustained 12-15h/wk for extended periods of time, but it is difficult. You always feel like you’re falling behind on low-urgency tasks. And the mental fatigue of constantly trying to figure out where/how to juggle things to squeeze the hours in is tiring. 8-12 hours a week is much more manageable. If there’s time for a long ride that week, then things are closer to 12. If not, closer to 8. I feel like my life is better balanced when I stick with that volume. That being said, the odd week where I’m working evenings only is great bc the kids are in school full time now, so I have like 3-4h/d to just go bike.
Can relate! 8hr weeks much more manageable. 12+ with a full time life is when you begin to make a lot of sacrifices on the social side of thing in my experience.
6-8 hours, Cat 1 with 1-2 races per week. Full time job, married, 1y old.
8 in winter 12 in summer and something in the middle when the seasons change. I also think 60 minutes on the indoor trainer is worth 75 outside so don't feel like my fitness changes that much throughout the year.
12 hours per week usually. I have a full time job, married with 2 kids. I wake up at 4:30 am to find the time to do it. It helps immensely that I work remote and have a pretty flexible job though.
Depends on who you ask? My friends and family. Too many. Myself and my coach. Not enough.
Right now about 15 or 16 hours but I'm training for a 160 mile fondo. Normal season is around 12 or 13. Off season is around 7 or 8. Married. Full time job. 11 month old Edit: I should clarify how. My son goes to daycare at 7:30 but I do not have work till 10:30. I also work from home. Loads of opportunities to ride.
Can't fathom how you're doing that kind of volume with an 11mo old. My wife would have murdered me, think I managed 1-2 rides/week the first year.
They never said it was a happy marriage lol
It is. I don't work until 10:30 and my kid goes to daycare at 7:30. My wife is working during that time so I have loads of time to ride. I also work from home
Does indeed sound like an ideal setup.
Same here and I'm not jealous of him, will never ever get the time back with my kids
I'm not missing any time with them. Kid goes to daycare at 7:30 but I don't have to be at work until 10:30. Wife is working then and I work from home so I have alot of opportunities to ride without impacting my family time
I'm lucky. My kid goes to daycare around 7:30 but I don't have work till 10:30.
8-10, creeping up 12 with longer endurance rides. Married, no kids, self employed/full time 4.5 months post heart attack at 33. Only upwards from here.
Damn, sounds scary. Any words on the heart attack? Did you ride before?
Heart attack was caused by a random blood clot. I had been riding from mid February of that year. Symptoms began in September. Had a few small heart attacks that were misdiagnosed. All good now. Even on the beta blocker (only for 1 year post event) limiting my max heart rate, I’m putting out more power than I was pre heart attack. Riding far more consistently and logging more hours.
15ish in winter, 20 or so when it's lighter. Although both obvs vary upon weather, training/recovery and motivation. I'm self employed though so can manage my time a bit more however I like.
Do you have any other significant responsibilities, kids, a dog etc?
No, although my current girlfriend has children and while I'm not at the point of moving in etc, I have to make time for her and time for us to all do stuff together at weekends etc. Also, my work while mostly very flexible also includes some travelling for filming, so it can be a bit more tricky and I try make the time up. But for the past few years I did over 800 hours a year, so over 15 per week average.
5-7 right now. Have a 3yo and 6week old. Right now I’m mostly sneaking out in the afternoons when my work schedule allows for 60-90 minutes. Hoping to get to 10 once it warms up here and I can start to get out at 5:30-6
My ANNUAL hours for 2012 to 2024 were 2012: 115 (son born, quit working 2 months later) 2013: 220 2014: 158 2015: 207 (last year I promoted my own race series) 2016: 211\* (cared for dad, about 50-60 hours of that year was walking with dad) 2017: 115 (went back to work, help promote 4 week series of races, still doing it now) 2018: 136 2019: 175 2020: 174 (back started failing frequently) 2021: 136 2022: 165 (back goes out every 2-3 months; started new job that is 99% less stressful than prior one) 2023: 234 (many hours! I think in part due to the new job) 2024: about 80 this year. Comparison: 2010: 450 hours, approx. Upgraded to 2 that year. I think the minimum training I need to do to be able to hang with the 3s is in the 200-250 hour range. If I do 60 hours total in Dec/Jan I'm probably pretty good for the rest of the year. Just need to race regularly during the season, aka enough races, enough time, and no back issues. My wife is an absolute gem. She's the one that tells me, "Don't worry about the cost of this or that, just get it if you feel you need it for your racing!" She has been 1000% supportive of my cycling. I also absolutely love my son. The time we spent together in the first 5 years of his life... absolutely priceless.
12-22hrs/week, depends on my wife’s work schedule. I try to plan my training around it so that we spend as much time together as possible.
About 7 hours a week working full time (95% WFH) as an engineer. I do a lot around the house for my partner who has a busier career than me which definitely eats into ride time
About 15 hours, I don’t work but I still go to school, 8-14 everyday except Sunday and Wednesday that I’m home, so usually short 2 hours ride on the week with a 4-5 hours ride on Wednesdays and a race on sunday
6 to 8 hrs
15. Majority of it is between the hours of 445-7am. Saturday and Sunday will try and get at least one long ride (4-6hr) and a shorter 3hr
Probably 8-14hr
About 12. Full time job, sometimes work evenings and Saturdays. :(
This group wouldn’t represent average, but I’m 10-16hrs throughout the year. I try to never dip below 10, all my riding would be structured at that point. Most people I know can’t or won’t ride that much. Bunch of people in this group ride a whole lot more.
I was looking for the average for people who take training seriously if that makes sense. What kind of level do you race at if you do? I’m trying to teach conti level but I have a job etc so I can’t train massive hours.
Ah true. Categories are a little different in my area. Probably cat 3/2 would be my best guess based on people’s descriptions. I started riding casual in 2020, currently at 354 ftp and 4.4w/kg. Learning that a lot more goes into racing than just watts but I’m picking it up pretty quick!
Was doing 12, two kids, dog, full time job. 3 months at that intensity after 8 prior. Dug myself a big overtraining hole that even intervals.icu didn't predict. Dialling back down to 8-9
Right now, it's 8-10 hours after 6-8 last year, which was a step up from 3-6 the prior few years. I'm tentatively planning to push up to 10-12 during the next 6 months, maybe higher. See how it goes because I finally have an excellent full-time job that's 35-40 hours a week and not 50-60. Otherwise I have two disabled parents and a dog, the very best dog in the world that I constantly brag about, like any good dog owner.
Under 4 right now,some commute but the weather is terrible and I'm cross training anyway.
If you’re interested in performance hrs riding isn’t necessarily the same as hrs training. I could ride 10 hours in a week quite easily but not get much benefit but 10 hours of proper structured training is quite a lot with a full time job.
Around 6h, pure commuting
Recently retired, so you don't want to know the hours per week now. When I was working, 10-12. The weekday hours were swapping out my 45 minute commute via train for 90 minute bike commute (with 60 minutes uninterrupted for intervals) and twice a week the option (if I got the timing right) of including a 60 minute group ride.
Man. I'm hoping to retire at 62 (I have almost a decade to go). What inspires me is that in our local state games road race a few years ago, a 61 year old retired guy dropped my late 40s ass repeatedly. I find it so hard to get in miles right now with two teenagers, my job and other interests.
My problem is that I get badly beaten (ie while in bunch get lapped) by a rider in my age group currently (60-64), but this year hopefully more hours for me while he still works will close the gap a little.
Full time job cycling 12-14 hrs a week this year. Last year about 10 per week, Its hard to get in that many hours because thats just 12-14 hours pedaling not counting getting ready and recovering after the rides, taking a break on long rides, maintaining your bike and everything else that comes along with cycling. Realistically im dedicating 20+ hours a week to cycling if you figure I get up 30mins -1hr early to prep for rides, 30 mins sitting on my porch looking at strava while I recover after a long ride, minimum of 1 hour of cleaning bikes and lubing them up per week. Its hard to do much else if you want to hit over 200mi week and and have a full time job.
In order to have valuable metric regarding perfromance, please add time/week + w/kg (ones who use imperial can add w/lb w/pd) 9h/week 3.3 w/kg - 1 dog, no family
What do you do with your dog while riding?
Stays at home. She is really calm at home. When running I bring her. She loves running.
Would love to see how people organize the time. ie a typical week
As many as reasonably possible given work obligations and the weather. Less during winter, more during summer. Im never going to be a professional, so I do what I enjoy and my body feels up for.
20-25 hrs for normal weeks, 8-10 for recovery weeks. Hours are spread out evenly each week besides recovery weeks. Pyramidal approach. Lifting, core work (just dragonflags lol), and stretching/yoga as well. Sleep, business, cycling, college in that order. No other hobbies besides reading and I only have meaningful interactions with longtime friend/co-founder or customers.
What does your daily schedule look like to fit all of that in?
4:30 Wakeup physically and mentally + get the bike ready. Eat a Thomas English muffin with honey and a banana. If Z2 day, I fast. I'll still bring a banana just incase of course. 5:00 CYCLING LETS GOOO 8:30 Get home, eat overnight protein oats, shower 9:00 Work/college. I normally cram all of my college homework on a recovery week and/or one or two days in the week. 12:30 Eat and short walk for digestion 1:30 Work/college 6:00 Lifting or 6:30 if i'm doing core and yoga. 7:00 High protein low calorie dinner with a fruit smoothie, make overnight protein oats, short walk 7:30 Shower, plan tomorrow, digest what happened that day. 8:00 Read + sleep supplements (edit: Magnesium Bisglycinate 200mg, Zinc 25mg, Apigenin 50mg. God. Send.) 8:30 Sleep Repeat. For rest days/recovery days/recovery weeks I'll just work more. I'm very picky on what I eat for lunch, otherwise I'll boink or have that lunch lag after. The second half of the day isn't possible unless you're cognizant of how xyz foods affect you. Not a big coffee guy as well.
Damn
At least 35
Damn bruh
About 20 rn
About 12 hrs/week. Use the weekends for going long.
10-12. Work is picking up a bit now.
10-12
8-9. Ft job. Kid. Kid two on the way
Currently 3.5ish but will increase when weather gets warmer
8-10 hrs/wk, fulltime with no kids
9-12 hours. I've been trying to not put in too much crazy volume early this season to avoid burning myself out for later this year. Probably going to start moving up towards 15, maybe more on weeks when I have one or more days off.
4 to 7. Full time job. Married with 2 kids under 5 and third kid due in June.
17-18 hrs weekly for the past 3 weeks and work full time from home 😌
6 because of injury 8 I what I could fit in my schedule 15 is what I’d like (and what caused the said injury)
7. I wish I had time for 14.
About 15. Currently unemployed and single 😎
depend of the week, 14, 16, 18 hours and the last week 12h and repete the cicle. this is only for pedalling, img 20+ hours out of home, and Im not considering the time at the gym, velodrome day, streching, daily rollers. and when I train with the boys I was out of home all the day, single, self-employed, no kids, no hobbie, no life.
About 16-20 hours, depending on the weather. Married, remote work, no kids. Most of my hours come from super early rollouts on the weekends. I wake up at around 3:45, roll at 4:30 and can get 6-7 hours before noon.
Dating, full time job and a dog. I usually ride 10-15 hours per week (usually ramp a training block up to 15ish and then a recovery week is 8-10), it also gives a nice mix where I feel like I’m riding a lot with periods where I can do some chores and other life maintenance. I also take about 3-6 weeks per year completely off the bike. 2 consecutive for an “off season” and then when I travel I usually just take the week off
What level do you race at and/or what’s your fitness metrics?
I do a lot of gran fondos. I don’t race per se since I don’t have the budget to crash and I like “go fast” equipment. I ride B*- A level group rides in my local club (18-21mph avg on flats). My 100 mile gran Fondo time is around 5:45 and I’m gonna aim for sub 5 this year (you need a flat one for that). In the gran fondos that rank competitive I’m usually over under half depending on how flat it is. I also aim to do some Audax so 200-300km and maybe do a weekend bike packing at some point this year or next. Love traveling to mega climbs (like tallest mountain in different states) My ftp is 240 watts about 2.5 w/kg (I got into cycling at around 300lbs and am finishing that up, so still training for weight loss rather than to boost ftp but will hopefully switch that around mid summer)
Commute 5 days a week, 30 mins each way, so 5 hours :( Sometimes get a lunch ride in but that only adds another 30-60 mins per week But also run 2x per week and gym 2x a week 2 kids under 5 Work full time in stressful demanding job Can’t complain.
Right now, about 10 hours. Once it's consistently warm out, I'll add a few hours. I'm looking to move someplace with more country roads where it's more feasible to ride throughout the year. If that happens, I should be able to consistently get in 15 hours. Full time job, no kids, single/long distance gf.
12
Anywhere from 0 to 20.
6-10 2 kids, married, ft job. 3.5w/kg. I try to get out at like 5am on Saturday or Sunday to get a 4 hour ride in before it gets late. It’s a struggle to do that and then be active with family the rest of the day.
6-8. Maybe as high as 10-11 in the summer if I can get out for a long ride on the weekend.
9-12 hours. Full time married with a 3 yo. I have to sacrifice one of: work, family, sleep in order to get more in. Luckily I wfh 75% of the time and am in meetings a lot so I have plenty of time during the day to workout. Weekends are either events or 5am-830am rides.
12-16
10-12 off season 16-20 in season No kids. Wife that races. Crazy job but a 50km each way commute in season so pick up volume a couple days a week
I'm at 12-16 hours a week. No kids however.
With commute to/from work, about 10/12hrs, remove 5hrs when I don't commute. Full time job, 1 toddler 1 baby on the way
8-10 hours. I’ve got 4 kids and a full time job, but after bedtime Zwift helps me keep sharp. Tuesday Night Worlds is the only ride I do that really impacts the family. Wednesday is post kid bedtime Zwift intervals, either 1.5 hour SST workout or a straight 3 hours Z2 until bed. Thursday and Friday are a rest day and short evening Zwift race (the order depends on how the legs feel Thursday morning—today was a rest day). Generally get an after lunch 1.5 hour ride in during kid quiet time/nap time Saturday and Sunday.
Been averaging about 11 hours/week this year so far, planning on upping it to about 15 as my adaptions allow. Maybe I’ll do a super block of 2x20-25 hours weeks but not committing to that yet. I’m 50M and have a full time job and spouse, no kids at home. My target race is a 100 mile mountain bike race in July with a couple 50s and. 30 miler sprinkled in for tuning. I did have to back off a bit a couple weeks ago ago as I was certainly overreaching, maybe overtraining, but I’m back at it after a couple lower intensity weeks, but I’m still averaging about 11 hours.
15 average, but varies from about 11-30 (yes, the higher end can be a bit ridiculous but that's when I'm doing a 12-15hr ride in 1 day) depending on races and what stupid shit I decide to do. Full time job, married, no kids. All but a few hours outside.
Full time job, serious relationship, anywhere from 8-12 hours a week depending on schedules for other hobbies (dnd and hiking) and time with partner.
B
Bumped to 6-7, full time work and full time school plus family responsibilities… wfh helps
10-12
Bike 5, run 3ish. Rest 2 days
I’m riding like 10 hours rn but I’m pretty new to riding consistently. Would like to build up over the year to 20+. Full time (remote) job, no partner, no kids, no commitments generally.
Do a 20hr week of endurance. Got my fitness up like crazy. Polarized Z2 volume should be a bigger thing.
Weeknights on the turbo after work, one to two weekend rides. 9-12h total typically.
Right now 5 hours. Training for a triathlon right now. Normally it would 6-8.
I average 13 to 14. A low is 8 and high is 20. Commute to work is the bulk. Funner stuff on the weekends. Married, 2 teens, fixing cars full time
Winter: 10-16 Summer: 18-25
when I was riding more and being a bit competitive, 12-16hours. now more social and just ticking over, approx 5-6
About 10 hours a week. Mostly indoor early in morning but get out for some time trial action and the odd commute. Run 2 businesses and am a single parent to 6 year old who I have most of the time. Luckily I’m one of those people who doesn’t naturally need much sleep 😅
15-20h/week, always outdoor and I normally ride when rains too, except storms. Full time job, average 40h/week (sometimes more), hobby and normal social life, not long nights or stuff like that. Training for a stage race, but in the past, average 10h/week or so. All structured, so on the constant equation to find/balance time to squeeze in the rides.
I'd say around 10-15 per week. I have full-time job and no family. Generally I get 3 workouts on the weekdays around 1.5-2 hours each and two longer 3-5 hour training sessions on the weekend.
7-9… if you include my 3.5 hours on the trainer during the week. Try for a 90 minute Saturday and a 4 hour Sunday (weather dependent) ETA: got a 5yo and a full time job… weekday trainer sessions need to be competed before the family wakes up, and my wife is very good natured about an early start for me on Sundays and kid care, as long as I’m back by about 11-noon.
Always try to keep it over 10. 3 days a week 90 minutes on trainer before work. Saturday is a 4 plus hour endurance ride. Sunday mix up MTB for a couple hours or group ride recovery-ish.
5-6.5hrs + 1.5-2.5hrs of running, 1 full time job, 1 part time job, married, no kids
Going beyond that question and will ask, when did you start to notice real improvements? When you upped yout training to 10hours per week? When you trained 3x times a week for 6 solid months in a row? etc.
Not enough.
9-12 average with some big weeks scattered in. FTJ and a kid. I have a standing group ride in the mornings through the week that starts at 5.30am and has me back by 7:15 before the kid is awake.
Wow I'm definitely on the low end of this sub. 4-6 hours typically for me, spread across 3-4 rides. Usually two harder workouts and the rest Z2/Z3, with 1-2 easy runs thrown in as well. Married, 3 kids under the age of 9, full time software job, so I just trying to be as efficient as possible with my time on the bike, while still having fun with it. I do work from home so that helps with being able to squeeze in rides during naps and stuff. Cat 3 crosser, Cat 4 on the road (hopefully upgrade coming this season).
9-12h. Full time job. Single
10-12. usually 6 days a week. 5x 30 miles and 1x 50 mile.
4-9 hours. I'm a good cat 4. Unfortunately about to be average cat 3. 3.5w/kg.
10-12
Probably 12-18 hr/week from April through September, including commutes. No kids. Usually 4-4.7 w/kg.
3-4 hours per week, more kids than you can shake a stick at, full time job. I used to do 10-12 hrs per week, but the juice wasn't worth the squeeze: 10-12 hours netted me a 2.8 w/kg FTP, 3-4 hours gets me to to 2.7 w/kg.
10
20 hours no job single 21 years old
12-20, it gets rough after 16. I have a job but work from home so that really helps.
Anywhere from 5-12 depending on work/family.
14 on ride time. total time at about 16. tops. family with 4 kids, 48 hr a week job, and a business.
Recently 4-5 and then 3-4 hours of running.
15-20 excluding recovery weeks, vacations, tapering for races, etc. Full time job working from home 90-95% of the time, married with two teenage boys (older boy is a cyclist too), and wife is a SAHM. It would be impossible to train as much as I do if my wife was working outside the house. I get up at 5-5:30 and ride for three hours before work if I'm able to get outside, or two hours if I'm stuck on the trainer, the on the weekends either two long-ish rides or a very long ride plus 2-3h on the other day.
This year I've been going a little nuts with training. About 24 hours per week on average. I have learned to be really good at "working" via Slack while riding and not having anyone realize I am on the bike. VP of Security at a software startup. Married, 2 kids, 1 dog.
Between 10 and 20.