How far do pros ride in a year?

[BumbleBeeDave]

My girlfriend called to ask me this tonight as she watched the Tour with her brother. I was embarrassed to admit I didn't know exactly and I'm not having a lot of luck with Google to find out.

10,000 miles?

15,000?

20,000?

This would be including training and races. Anyone seen anything definitive on this that I could send her a link to?

Thanks in advance for helping me redeem myself!

BBD

[allegretto]

My girlfriend called to ask me this tonight as she watched the Tour with her brother. I was embarrassed to admit I didn't know exactly and I'm not having a lot of luck with Google to find out.

10,000 miles?

15,000?

20,000?

This would be including training and races. Anyone seen anything definitive on this that I could send her a link to?

Thanks in advance for helping me redeem myself!

BBD


WAIT!!!

your GF was with her brother???

this is only acceptable if (and i do mean IF) you wanted to watch alone!!!!!!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . at a farewell dinner for a friend of mine who's heading off to Physician's Assistant school at Duke. I don't have cable, so I can't watch it here at home.

It's late. I'm tired. I rode today. I'm old. I'm bald. My legs are sore. My zebra suit is at the cleaner's.

Cut me some slack . . . ;) :D

BBD

[rwsaunders]

Here's some insight, Dave.

http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Peloton/TNT-corner/life-of-a-pro.html

[WadePatton]

if they ride 4-8 hours per day, 6 days per week at an average of 24mph and 10 months of the year.

pushes buttons

6hoursx24mphx6daysx44weeks equals 38k annually.

holy chit.

and feel free to change the guesstimations.

i know club level guys throwing 6-10k down per year.

edit--i looked at the article and it says 20-25k so i'm proud of my guesstimations. a mph here and hour there and i'm right on. and don't forget that those numbers are for participants in a little 'merican race _not_ a GT.

wp

[paulrad9]

at an average of 24mph

Is it really 24? That sounds a bit high. I was going to say 18-20 mph/average and 75-90 miles/day

[Louis]

I was going to say 18-20 mph/average

Pros? Got to be faster than that.

I have to believe that for them 18 mph is like 10-12 mph for me.

[WadePatton]

Is it really 24? That sounds a bit high. I was going to say 18-20 mph/average and 75-90 miles/day
"my" juniors are avging 22-23 (and haven't been at it long) i think 24 is conservative but there's a ton of room for error on the hours per day/week and weeks pedaled.

[WadePatton]

and...

relative to my riding, it's to the moon and back. :cool:

[paulrad9]

Those are some serious numbers. I ride with a a few local racers on their 'easy' days and they're putzing around ~18mph; this is the only day I can keep up with them ;)

[rounder]

i think i have read several times that the high level pros ride about 25,000 miles per year...that's like once around the world per year.

[regularguy412]

According to Sean Kelly via Eurosport -- "Most pros ride between 20 -30,000 kms per year.

Either way, that's a few pedal strokes.

Mike in AR:beer:

[gearguywb]

I think the 18-20 mph avg is about right. You need to remember the amount of climbing they are doing and in a regular training program there are a number of "rest" days with each hard effort. Hard efforts do not neccessarily mean a high average, often they are short, hard intervals that do very little for the mph average.

[Ray]

Racers on recovery days rider slower than I could have ever imagined. There are a couple of racing groups that train around here. I've seen 'em go by at 25-28 mph where I couldn't even THINK about getting on if I wanted to. And I've also closed them down from a pretty good distance VERY quickly just toodling along in the high teens (on the flats - I rarely average more than 15-16 and often less). That's usually on a Monday or a Tuesday when they're just spinning the legs after a tough race. But, man, they're going so slow its almost hard to believe. So the pace pros average in a race probably has nothing to do with their average for all of the miles they ride in a year.

-Ray

[tylercheung]

*I* prefer to ride at what I call "Easy Rider - The Weight" speed although I will occasionally bump it up to "Easy Rider - Steppenwolf" speed. Ludicrous speed usually results in wanton property damage and bruised pedestrians.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . I'll send a link to this to the GF.

BBD

[Avispa]

"my" juniors are avging 22-23 (and haven't been at it long) i think 24 is conservative but there's a ton of room for error on the hours per day/week and weeks pedaled.

Often, I see people tell/talk about a rider speed/their speed as if these people were made of metal... and ran on oil and gasoline.

I'd curious to see what amateur would average 22+ miles per hour on a consistent basis, on their TRAINING rides, and not get injured within 3-4 weeks... Mind you, sucking wheels behind a group ride constantly is no training.

Even pros cannot consistently maintain a "conservative" 24mph on every workout they do and be injury free for too long.

As far as miles, I recall seeing TOP amateur and pros training an average of 1,200 - 1,400 miles a month, including races... this equals 17,000+ per year.

NOW, keep in mind, most serious pros and top amateurs ride and measure their training by the TIME they spend on the bike, not the miles/km... so you could safely say that a pro on the average trains 1500-1800 hours a year. And the emphasis is on QUALITY vs. QUANTITY...

..A..

[MattTuck]

so you could safely say that a pro on the average trains 1500 hours a year.




Anyone know a book publisher? Remember that book that came out a few years back where the author basically just played golf as a profession for a year, to see if he could get down to par from the championship tees?

What about a book where a person, like me or you, just trains 100% of the time with no other job commitments, and sees how far they can go. Yes, I understand it takes more than a year to develop as a high level cyclist, it is just an interesting thought exercise.

[Jason E]

Anyone know a book publisher? Remember that book that came out a few years back where the author basically just played golf as a profession for a year, to see if he could get down to par from the championship tees?

What about a book where a person, like me or you, just trains 100% of the time with no other job commitments, and sees how far they can go. Yes, I understand it takes more than a year to develop as a high level cyclist, it is just an interesting thought exercise.


I like the idea, no reason not to ask for two-4 years to do it, right? :rolleyes:

[paulrad9]

Anyone know a book publisher? Remember that book that came out a few years back where the author basically just played golf as a profession for a year, to see if he could get down to par from the championship tees?


I'm sure you'll see some improvements over a year, but for most things (sports, careers, etc.) it takes 6-10 years of full time focus to become a professional

[torquer]

I'm sure you'll see some improvements over a year, but for most things (sports, careers, etc.) it takes 6-10 years of full time focus to become a professional
For a viable career in sports, the focus often must start in middle school or earlier.
Plus, as the saying goes, you need to choose your parents with great care. ;)

[1happygirl]

For a viable career in sports, the focus often must start in middle school or earlier.
Plus, as the saying goes, you need to choose your parents with great care. ;)


Look to the far east. Think 2 yrs old.


RE: mileage question. I don't know for sure, but I remembered the inspiration for the Ride of Silence, biker, Larry Schwartz, had like upwards of 25K by May of the year (the year he was killed). I know for him it was a hobby, and he wasn't doing it professionally, but still..

I found this on the ultracycling website..

In 2002, Larry logged 22,980 miles in the UMCA Mileage Challenge. He was leading the 2003 UMC when he was stuck and killed by a school bus in May 2003. Larry, who was wearing a helmet, was struck by the bus' mirror.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the cyclists who have this as a profession and are considerably younger do this much or more. Not sure how fast he was either. Also, my understanding was that he did this CONSISTENTLY year after year. Yeah, gotta think genetics (plus some training).