Cycling mileage build up

the things i would pay attention to when upping millage biking are:

how long have you been riding the past

injury prone or not?

how hard will you be riding?

i dont have much of an issue adding longer rides faster than 10%, but i cant go hard all the time. i jump back into cycling in jan each year after more than a month off of it and i get into riding 6-8 hours week right away without issue. just be careful and pay attention to anything that may hurt

10% is definately not a hard and fast rule for cycling or it would take forever to get to a century ride for most people.  Just listen to your body.  I started off pretty frequently but short and built to longer rides pretty quickly.  For instance.  I did the MS 150 in May 2007 but only bought my bike in Sept 2006.  My longest ride leading up to the ride was 42 miles the weekend before and I rode 75 & 78 miles in 2 days the next weekend and other than crashing and bruising my hip I felt fine after.

My wife and I have both been able to increase more than the 10% rule, but what others have said about backing off on the intensity is really important. One thing I'll do is complete my regular training schedule alone and add in a bunch of family rides, some on my MTB pulling a trail-a-bike. It's extra time in the saddle without the big push, it's fun, and it's great family together time.

Great advice so far. I do have a problem with intensity, I start out with the idea of a easy ride, but when I drop down and go aero and feel the wind in my face it's hard not to try to go fast. Granted, i'm not going that fast realatively speaking, just fast for me. I'm going to try to be consistent with the use of my HR monitor and maybe that will help.

like someone else said, I'm not a coach, but I was able to quickly build up distances on the bike. Compared to running, you don't have the same risk of impact injuries.

When I started this whole exercise thing in 2006, I built up to 3-4 hour rides (45-65 miles for me) in less than 3 months..and that was starting from ZERO training. I religiously followed my heart rate to stay in the right zone. Physical endurance was never the problem...it was bike handling, nutrition, learning when and what to eat. That, plus finding products like Chamois Butter to ease the post-ride.