bikernick

For the last few years I had been doing more of a distance than speed workouts. Anyone else?

shelbyfv

Check out the Long Distance sub forum https://www.bikeforums.net/long-dist...rance-cycling/

livedarklions

What do you consider a distance ride?

I find that if you ask a hundred people on this forum what they consider a long ride, you get about a hundred different answers.

base2 

I've rode as few as a couple of feet to over 220 miles. All of them cover some distance between a start and an end point.

A few of my rides began & ended about 6 feet apart with 30 miles in between due to GPS device anomolies. Strava saying I had a 2 hour, 6 foot ride is a sad thing indeed. Thankfully those rides are rare.

Maybe I don't understand the question. Yes? Maybe...

shelbyfv

My bad, I see OP said just "distance" rather than "long distance." FWIW, BF defines long distance as century and beyond. Guess that means 100 miles since forum is US based. No faux 62 mile centuries....

Phil_gretz

I'd guess that anything over four hours continuous riding time is a "distance" ride.

Not that I'd speak personally, because I only ride my bike to commute to work, so I'm neither concerned with performance nor with distance. Arrive in one piece? Check. Get home for dinner? Check.

rumrunn6

absolutely!

fietsbob

Riding a comfortable distance one day, finding a camp place or Hostel , sleeping there ,

and getting up and doing the same the next day , after 30 days , or more,

I found myself to have gone quite a ways .

Some call it Bicycle Tourng..






....

robnol

what are ur riding goals.....I find shorter faster to be about the sane workout as longer slower...it all has to do with how much time I have to workout

Machka 

I almost always do more distance than speed ... long distance cycling is my thing.

Jim from Boston

I've never seen such a definition, though don't read the Long Distance Cycling Forum. When I started touring at about 50 miles a day, a group I met doing 80 miles seemed a long distance.

Currently for me, I consider 40 miles as the minimal for a distance ride, reserved for weekends. A few years ago, I posted:

srode1

I don't focus as much on distance as I do at time at endurance intensity. 4 hours at the upper end of my endurance pace is my definition of the beginning of longer distance rides. For training purposes, anything much longer than that has diminishing value, better off increasing the intensity and doing back to back days of similar time. The things rides 6 hours and longer can help with is dialing in nutritional plans and improving contact point tolerance for ultras (which are my cup of tea).

Jim from Boston

I have previously posted:

Quote:

Originally Posted by chas58

,,,The most important part of getting in shape for that is to make sure your derriere is comfortable with that much time in the saddle. :

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

…I think that if training for a long ride, one has to toughen up down there where you sit, and I think that requires extended, continuous time in the saddle; I calI it…ahem...uh...“pounding the perineum [or pudendum].”

bakerjw

I am into bikepacking and most of my long rides start in Banff.
My first real "long" ride was 120 miles. It was on a surly Karate Monkey loaded with tent, sleeping bag, gear, etc...

For my type of riding, I explain it like this...
It's not how fast you go.
It's not how far you go.
It's how long you go.
If I can stay in the saddle for 10 hours, I can go a long way.

OldTryGuy

Speed + distance combined nicely until 2015, age 65. Health issues significantly eliminated the "speed component" of my rides so settled on adding distance. Last Thursday following a 12 day lay-off I remounted and rode a comfortable but tiring 104 miles. Slow compared to pre-2015 but satisfying. Saturday was a much shorter 69 miles at an increased speed but yet again disappointingly slow.

Long time riding companions encouragingly profess, "Your speed will return" but truth is "Ain't gonna happen !!!" Have adopted a "ride my age+ when kitted-up" and when time allows at least 100 miles. Today will be an 8AM start with end time tentatively at 12:30PM so at least 69 miles and if feeling OK extend the ride a bit longer. Maybe 100 miles --

Machka 

The Long Distance Cycling Forum "definition":

"Do you enjoy centuries, double centuries, brevets, randonnees, and 24-hour time trials? Share ride reports, and exchange training, equipment, and nutrition information specific to long distance cycling. This isn't for tours, this is for endurance events cycling."



Unfortunately, as much as we like cycling long distances, we haven't been able to do it for a while. Our last one was a 300K before Rowan's accident.

Lemond1985

I'm not a fan of long rides. I like Lon Haldeman's school of thought. I try (and often fail) to get an hour of really high intensity riding per week. Seems to me like a better use of my riding time, since I'm quite lazy.

I really don't see the appeal of going a steady 14-15 mph for hour after hour after hour, and I really doubt there's much health benefit, but YMMV.

ctpres

When you get OLD it's the only thing you can still do.

Lemond1985

What happens when you try to go at 90%? You may not look like Peter Sagan or Miguel Indurain while you're doing it, but 90% of what you're capable of is still 90%.

indyfabz

fify :d

Machka 

We're not after a health benefit ... at least not directly.

Being out there ALL day long is to get away from the office ... to take in the scenery, the weather, nature. It's about doing something away from the computer. It's about getting away from people and the phone and demanding emails. It's about taking care of yourself out there. It's a challenge. It's an escape.


I also like long day-hikes for the same sorts of reasons. And if my hips and back can take it, I wouldn't even mind getting into a bit of ultra-running.

Lemond1985

Well, I take that back then. I can see plenty of health benefit in getting away from people, florescent lights, office politics, pretending to be polite to co-workers you can't stand, and always-annoying office equipment.

indyfabz

Robert Kraft would beg to differ.

Slightspeed

After proving to myself that I can do centuries, I don't do them anymore. I ride for fun, and the fun factor starts to fade around 50 miles. I can do more, and still do, but 50ish is a good number for me. Our club has a mileage prize for most miles ridden each month. They also require a metric century every month to qualify. I'm usually there on miles, at around 100 a week, but don't do the metrics, so I never win a prize. Just riding at 69 years old is prize enough.


Almost ...

indyfabz

Keep in mind that if you end a ride with a reading of 100 miles and your computer is over by the smallest of possible amounts (1/100th of a mile) you have only ridden 99 miles.