"Riding" vs "training"

A recent post on the Bike Noob blog asked "When does your riding become training?" The thrust of the piece was that there is "riding" - getting on the bike and having fun, and "training" - getting on the bike and doing a certain number of miles/hours because you have to get in shape for something specific. In the post, the author (Ray) discusses his upcoming MS 150 ride, the need to "train" for it, and his dislike of "training" compared to "riding".

As this stuff tends to, his post got me thinking. This time it got me thinking about my own riding vs training questions. I now have to admit that not only do I dislike "training", I just don't do it. Like Ray, I ride because I enjoy it. I do not enjoy riding on my trainer, just like I enjoy jogging and can't stand treadmills.

Previously, when I was pulling down a couple of hundred miles a week, I did my training by having a long commute home and riding it three to five days a week. That's my goal again. In this case, my commute is only 12 miles or so if I take it straight. I have a couple of options though, which include going up into the Oakland hills or just stretching the trip out past my house and looping back up. For now, the 12 miles is enough to whoop me but good by the end, but hopefully that won't last too long.

I can hear those hills calling.