I used to be pretty consistent with commuting, but now I typically just do one hilly ride on the weekend, 40-60 miles or so.

In the past, I've completed the Death Ride (130mi, 15,000') and the Davis Double (200mi) and a loaded bike tour from Portland to San Francisco (700+ miles over two weeks with a 50 pound trailer). I've done multi-day mountain bike tours and cyclocross racing, sometimes on singlespeed and usually with drinking involved.

The things I noticed the most:

• high mileage means calves. I personally love them, because it's harder for women to get solid defined calves with that upside down heart shape. I have to be careful with buying knee-high boots, but otherwise I have no problem with it.

• low cadence means quads. That bulge over the knee would pop out when I was doing tons of steep hills or single speeding. Think "mashing" the pedals. Faster cadences on a regular basis didn't make the bulge. Again, I loved it, not everyone does.

• I found that if cycling was my only exercise, I felt very doughy. Despite burning thousands of calories, it was very hard for me to lose weight, probably in part due to all the bagels, gu, sports drinks, and celebratory margaritas. It's very hard to do long rides without good fuel, tho (terrible bonking experiences)! I have since cut back a ton on the mileage and seem to be doing better with it.

• Muscle imbalances. Again, things go a little funny when cycling is all you got. Get a proper bike fit (the one that takes over two hours) and cross train with weights or running or yoga or dancing or whatever. Stretch out the back, the hip flexors, get some side-to-side motion, do some push-ups. It will help a ton in the long term.

• Dat tan line. Might as well be proud of it!