Your reason for cycling might be to burn calories or put in effort for leg day outside the gym, knowing the distance and time helps you use your cycling time effectively.
The distance you bike helps improve your cycling skills. It is important to know the time and distance you spend cycling because it improves your discipline as a person.
Long-distance cycling should be practiced from time to time to improve your biking skills, prevent heart disease, and also enjoy a long or not-so-long ride.
If you’re planning on cycling 10 miles to work in the morning, or to meet friends after school, here are some tips on how to get there the fastest and most efficient way possible.
- Ten mile cycling guide for beginners
- Ten miles on a bike – how long does it take a regular cyclist?
- Is it possible to cycle 10 miles in 30 minutes?
- How long does it take to bike 10 miles with a mountain bike ?
- How long does it take to cycle 10 miles with an electric bike ?
- Is cycling 10 miles a day good?
- Is cycling 10 miles equivalent to running?
- 10 miles on a bike equals how many steps?
- Conclusion
Ten mile cycling guide for beginners
Cycling can be a great form of exercise and transportation, but it takes practice to master the art of pedaling efficiently. If you’re just getting started with cycling, here’s how long it might take you to cycle 10 miles.
To cycle 10 miles, you need to find out how long it takes you to complete one mile. Usually, beginners tend to cycle at 10mph (16km/h), and this speed is mostly under shorter distances.
A beginner cyclist is likely to use anywhere between 45 to 90 minutes to bike 10 miles.
The wide variance in time depends on the fitness of the beginner. If you’ve ridden a bicycle before and are sporty, you should be able to complete 10 miles in 45 – 60 mins.
If you’re totally new to cycling and are a couch potato, your first attempt at completing 10 miles, including stops and leisurely pedaling, can take 75 – 90 mins. Finding out your actual average speed as a beginner helps to improve performance.
A beginner rides differently from an expert, and you can’t compare Sean Kelly to Lance Armstrong. It’s like comparing Ali Dia to Cristiano Ronaldo. You probably don’t know who Ali is? That’s the point.
Suggested post: Benefits of electric bikes
The time a beginner cyclist would cycle 10 miles is shorter than that of an expert cyclist. A total novice cyclist is likely to complete a mile in 9 minutes, and that means they can cycle 10 miles for 90 minutes or more.
Beginners tire quicker. A newbie cyclist needs to take their time to master cycling to better control their cadence, balance and, speed over time. Beginners shouldn’t start biking long distances like 10 miles, but can get used to cycling long distances by slowly increasing the distance they ride their bike on a periodic basis.
If you cycle down the block this week, you can task yourself to go a mile or two further the next week. That way, you would master long-distance cycling faster and get better at cycling.
I recommend a weekly or bi-weekly increase in cycling distance load for a steady, sustained improvement.
To cycle 10 miles successfully as a beginner, certain factors affect how long it would take to bike 10 miles.
- An inactive person might find it difficult to cycle long distances because they’ll need to make stops to adjust themselves, catch a breath and maintain balance while riding. Whereas an active person might be able to get up to speed with biking quicker.
- Your type of bike determines how far you can cycle and how much time you’ll cycle. Beginners should learn with a bike that suits the terrain they want to ride on. Some newbies pop into a bike shop and ask for a cool bike, not minding important features useful to their biking experience like your ideal frame size, comfortable handlebars, etc.
- It is easier for a beginner to learn with a hybrid bike, a bike that isn’t as fast as a road bike and not as rugged as a mountain bike. A hybrid bike can help a beginner learn how to cycle 10 miles around the city and close to mountains.
Ten miles on a bike – how long does it take a regular cyclist?
Cycling is one of the most popular sports globally, and it’s also a great way to stay fit and healthy. However, many cyclists have never considered how long it takes to ride 10 miles.
An average road biker maintains a speed of 16-19mph (25km/h), so they will cycle 10 miles in 45-60 minutes.
An average biker uses about 5 minutes to cycle a mile. On that account they could complete 10 miles in roughly 50 minutes. You can allocate the minutes for a mile based on your speed. Road bikes can cycle 4 minutes per mile because road bikes are fast and move swiftly on flat roads.
A regular biker should cycle 10 miles a day because it increases strength, builds stamina, and raises your love for biking. Certain factors are important when cycling 10 miles, and they include;
- The terrain you are riding on,
- your physical state of fitness,
- your type of bike and its materials,
- the incline of the surface you are biking on,
- Wind and weather conditions outside.
Is it possible to cycle 10 miles in 30 minutes?
Yes, it is possible to cycle 10 miles in half an hour.
An expert cyclist can cycle 10 miles in 30 minutes or less. Expert cyclists move at speeds of 20mph (32km/h) to 25mph (40km/h), meaning they cycle a mile in 3 or 4 minutes especially on an even terrain.
However, it’d be challenging for a beginner to pull this off. With a good (road) bike and a good terrain, you can cycle 10 miles in 30 minutes but you’d have to be cycling a mile every 3 to 4 minutes. That’s 0.53 kilometers per minute.
| Mile | Time to Cycle |
| 1 | 3 minutes |
| 2 | 6 minutes |
| 3 | 9 minutes |
| 4 | 12 minutes |
| 5 | 15 minutes |
| 6 | 18 minutes |
| 7 | 21 minutes |
| 8 | 24 minutes |
| 9 | 27 minutes |
| 10 | 30 minutes |
How long does it take to bike 10 miles with a mountain bike ?
Mountain bikes are built for mountains, hills, and other rugged terrains, they are the best bikes to ride 10 miles downhill.
Cycling 10 miles on a mountain bike takes more time. While cycling on a mountain bike, you go at 6mph (10km/h).
It takes an average cyclist 10 minutes to cycle one mile with a mountain bike, so that’s about an hour and 40 minutes to cycle 10 miles with a mountain bike on rugged terrain.
However, cycling 10 miles on smooth terrain with a mountain bike takes 45-60 minutes on average.
How long does it take to cycle 10 miles with an electric bike ?
An average electric bike goes at the speed of 20mph (32km/h). An electric bike would be perfect for a commute. It’d be quicker than some cars in London or New York traffic. No need to use your car. Just bike to work!
When you think speed, you should think electric bikes, and it is possible to cycle 10 miles in less than 30 minutes with an electric bike depending on the speed you are going. To be safe, control your speed and pay attention to what’s ahead of you while cycling with an electric bike.
Depending on the class of the electric bike, its motor can accelerate riders to speeds ranging from 20 to 28 miles per hour, so going 10 miles in a short time would be a piece of cake!
With an electric bike, you can cycle 10 miles in 25-40 minutes.
Is cycling 10 miles a day good?
A regular bicyclist is likely to ride 10 miles to keep fit and boost heart health. Asides from the health benefits, there are other benefits of cycling ten miles a day.
- Biking 10 miles a day is beneficial to the mind. A study showed that people who exercise outdoors regularly have good mental health. Outdoor exercise allows people to process their thoughts and keep their bodies fit. Cycling is a go-to exercise to clear your mind and relieve stress a bit.
- Cycling is an excellent avenue to broaden your social circle. Cycling during the weekend, especially in the mornings when other bikers choose to head out and cycle 10 miles is a good time to make friends. Cycling alone is great, but cycling with a friend is amazing.
- Cycling helps you develop navigational skills by planning out the route you’re to go through and doing that with the time you’ve allocated for yourself. Time management and destination planning help sharpen your navigational skills.
On average, a person can cycle between 56 to 60 miles in a day.
It is interesting to note that the world record for cycling in a day is held by Ralph Diseviscourt, who traveled 568.8 miles, that is 915.39 km in a 24 hour period.
Is cycling 10 miles equivalent to running?
Cycling and running are two trendy exercise routines, with each one having its benefits and drawbacks. But do you know which one is more difficult? Is cycling 10 miles equivalent to running?
Cycling 10 miles is equivalent to running 3.5 miles because running is more strenuous than cycling. Cycling 10 miles can take 45-60 minutes but running 10 miles would take 90-120 minutes.
The run to bike ratio is about 1:3, which indicates that one mile of running equals 3 miles of cycling. You can spend up to 24-30 minutes for a three-mile run equivalent to 9 miles of cycling.
Racing a cyclist foot to bike, would be an epic contest. Running has more physical benefits than cycling, its a more intense activity than cycling and guarantees improved health and fitness. Some would argue that this makes running a better workout.
What makes cycling different from running?
- Running burns more calories than cycling because it uses more muscles. You can burn 145 calories in a 30 minutes cycle and 290 calories in a 60 minutes cycle. Whereas, you burn 295 calories in a 30 minutes run and 590 calories in a 60 minutes run.
- Cycling makes use of bicycle wheels as a propelling force while running makes use of the legs, feet, and lower body as the drive. Hence the muscles in the legs, feet and thighs develop when cycling, while lower body muscles, as well as arm muscles, develop from running.
- Cycling is easier than running. Running requires more energy, so you won’t be able to run as long as you can cycle.
Cycling and running are both beneficial, you just have to find which suits your lifestyle and fitness goals better. This often requires you test out which you prefer, as cycling may be easier on your joints than running, but running may be more effective for weight loss.
Related article: Benefits of mountain biking
10 miles on a bike equals how many steps?
Walking, running, cycling. What do they all have in common? The great outdoors!! People walk as a form of exercise, run long and short distances and cycle long and short distances.
Not many people realize just how many steps they take in a single day. When it comes to exercise, the more steps you take, the better off you are.
Cycling is a great way to get some physical activity in and can even be used as part of your workouts if you ride 10 miles every day, but do you know what that translates to in terms of steps?
If you make a choice to walk as opposed to cycling for the day you might want to know how many steps are equal to your everyday 10-mile cycle.
According to the steps conversion chart by PEHP Health benefits:
- Cycling at a low intensity where you can hold a normal conversation without having trouble breathing is equivalent to 85 steps per minute.
- Cycling at a moderate intensity, where you may have some difficulty breathing, is equivalent to 150 steps per minute.
- Cycling at high intensity, a tolerable intensity that does not last for an extended period of time and may cause difficulty speaking and catching your breath, is equivalent to 200 steps/minute.
- Cycling at extreme intensity, where you can’t even talk and are completely sweaty and exhausted from peddling, equals 265 steps per minute.
The above method is useful in calculating how many steps can make a 10-mile bike ride or go by the general rule of thumb that says 2000 steps is equal to 1.6km, which is equivalent to 1 mile, so 10 miles would make 20,000 steps.
To determine how many steps make a mile based on your pace. 2000 steps is equivalent to 0.9 miles when walking at a quick pace, and 2,500 steps is equivalent to 1.0 miles when walking at a moderate pace (briskly walking/jogging).
It takes 20,000 steps to cover 10 miles when jogging or briskly walking and 25,000 steps make 10 miles when walking.
Conclusion
You can cycle 10 miles in an hour or even 30 minutes (if you’re a fit cookie). Cycling 10 miles in moderate time depends on your bike, your fitness level, the surface you are riding on, and the gear you’ve got on. Cycling daily is beneficial to your physical, mental, and sometimes your social well-being. So, get up and try cycling 10 miles today!
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The article is informative but it leave out one factor: some of us cycle on bike lanes in city traffic and deal with traffic lights. I commute on an ebike and my route is 11 miles. I often pedal at top speed of 28 mph, but it still takes me about 30 minutes to arrive at my destinatio due to stops at red lights.
Oh yeah, Gotcha.
I have found cycling excellent for arthritic knees, it’s low impact. I ride a electric MTB, I can easily double those MTB speeds. I found out years ago that a conventional bicycle has a lot less tyre drag than an MTB. I ditched my conventional MTB.
That’s great to hear. Yeah, electric MTBs can go much faster.