Commuting 90 mins per day fixed gear

Training
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Hi All!

I’ve recently moved house which allows me to commute 18km each way to work, with only one traffic light at the very end/start of the trip. This equates to a 45 minute commute which I do on my fixed gear commuter at least 3 times a week (pending weather/doing a morning ride). Given the course is relatively flat (45m vertical there, 95m back), is this a sufficient way of building base KMs/endurance? It seems a little redundant to do z2 on the trainer when I’m doing 90 mins of commuting at a similar perceived effort with constant pedalling. I’m thinking as long as that stays consistent, I can focus on using TR for all the stuff beyond Z2!

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It’s extra time on the bike and as long as you’re not sabotaging the harder workouts, then it all helps build fitness.

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Is that 22-23mins each way or 45 each way?

Yes, easy riding is easy riding. Depending on where your fitness is and what your plan is it may be useful time in the saddle.

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Yes

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By itself, probably not the most beneficial training. As a supplement to other rides / workouts, absolutely.

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Hey @surlaplaque!

Like mostly everyone has mentioned, if it’s additional riding that does not “sabotage” the actual structured training then you should be good :slight_smile:

However, I don’t see a TR plan on your account. If you are thinking of adding one, considering the amount of extra riding you are doing I would suggest a Masters Low Volume plan; this way you can add the commute rides at your discretion.

Also, keep in mind that adding back-to-back days of commute that average about 90 minutes total is quite a bit of added stress on top of structured training. Maybe consider alternating the days you commute and place the structured interval training on days you know you’ll be well rested.

By looking at your Calendar you could set up something like this with a Masters Low Volume plan:

Monday- Interval Training
Tuesday- Commute
Wednesday- Rest Day
Thursday- Commute
Friday- Interval training
Saturday- Endurance
Sunday- Rest Day

P.S: I based it on the assumption that you work Mon-Thur. If you work Fridays, I would swap Thursday and Friday so after a Rest Day you are fresh for interval training.

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as a side note, that sounds awesome

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Saddle time is saddle time.

I commute about 1 hour each way, never above Z2. Never negatively impacts my training, and it does pay off. I will on rare occasion dona workout ON the commute, but that was in my plan anyway.

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For that reason I’ve chosen high volume masters, putting the planned endurance to my 4-5hrs commute time (mostly).

Low volume keeps the harder sessions shorter, but high volume keeps the workload in the calendar if I don’t commute for whatever reason. I’m thinking HV is configured for the higher overall volume but I’m not sure there’s much to that, it may just be LV plus endurance time.

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Choosing your job based on the quality of the commute training is something I would never do…three times so far. :smile:

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Seems like a great way to do the easy riding TBH. Keep it chill and you’ll only see benefits. Life you said, Save the structured stuff for TR and indoor.

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That’s another easy to do it. LV matters would give you 2 hard workouts and then you can commute on top.

I’m running a LV plan (3 hard workouts) and adding a long ride on the weekend.

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Sounds enjoyable. On on a fixed gear.

I’m only 5 km from work and have one stoplight. About 80% on a bike trial. Often I wish it was a little longer as it’s a nice wind down period after work.

I will usually ride zone 2 on the way home. But the ride to work will sometimes be a mix of Threshold and VO2 max…but mostly because I have a lifelong bad habit of running late…

1 Like