VegasJen

I had a dental appointment in Vegas today. Vegas isn't a long drive, but I'm not fond of it so anytime I know I'm going in, I bundle other things like specific stores or whatever. One of the things I often plan is a ride as long as I'm there. Since I was going into north Vegas, my route took me through the Red Rock loop. I've measured this ride before, out and back is almost exactly 30 miles.

So I park on the north end and start my ride. Now, probably five of the first six miles is uphill and I'm about 2-3 miles in when I get passed by a guy (I hate getting passed, but that's a whole different thread). I notice this guy because he's on a newer Orbea and he's wearing a powder blue jersey. Pretty distinct combination. It's also relevant to note this is around 9:30am.

I finish my ride, turns out to be uneventful and I'm pretty close to my average for that route. I go on to my appointment and hit a few of the stores available in Vegas. I head back the same way I drove out. It's now 5pm as I'm driving through Red Rock and who do I see but that same guy in the powder blue jersey on his Orbea.

I like to think I'm a pretty strong cyclist for what I am, but just wow. The guy was out there for at least seven hours. Just

Koyote

No biggie.

Eric F 

It would be for me. A very biggie.

asgelle

That’s nothing. I would often leave the house at 6:30 in the morning and not get back till 5:30 in the afternoon or later. I’d routinely do this up to five days in a row.

Eric F 

Work commute?

Atlas Shrugged

You seem to be talking in the past sense.

Carbonfiberboy 

7 hours is a really long ride, maybe a century if one stopped for a real lunch and took a couple of other breaks. OTOH one of my little sayings is that a fit cyclist should be able to ride a century on any given day, no special prep, just dial it back to a sustainable level. Work up to it. 30 miles is perfect for a weekday, 4 hours as hard as possible for the long weekend ride. That's when interesting things start to happen, like you get faster. Takes a few months.

tFUnK

If you got the time and the will, you can work your way up to doing it pretty easily.

It wasn't very long ago when I used to spend long days in the saddle pretty routinely (and had the fitness to do it without suffering too much). Used to be able to knock out a flat-ish century like it's nothing.

Now my rides are in the 2hr range and that's plenty. That's just what my current lifestyle allows and I have adjusted to being content with it. I do miss it, though, and hope to be able to spend long days in the saddle again in the near future.

elcruxio

It's pretty individual but I think for seasoned cyclists riding all day shouldn't really be a problem, given one manages intensity and fueling and there's no underlying issue preventing it.

I'm not a strong rider anymore, but my longest dayride by duration was last summer and around 14 hours. The distance was around 200km, but there was eight ferry crossings and a few longer waits.

wolfchild

6 - 7 hours is an average time for my weekend ride. No big deal, I leave at around 5:30 in the morning and finish early in the day.

indyfabz

Maybe he took two separate rides.

indyfabz

Occam’s Razor.

GhostRider62

Hardcore is wearing the same kit for 5 days and when you look down at your thigh, you see saddle sore blood and you laugh

A 7 hour ride is clearly admirable

skidder

That's hardcore unless he/she was training for something. Last time I did a 7-hour ride was on a bike tour, I had a few 'generous' stops along the way, and maybe covered 70 miles. Two hours is about my 'max' these days, maybe covering around 35-40 miles/50-55km.

beng1

It just depends on the age of the rider. Young people can do just about anything, but if a rider is a senior citizen then of course things are much harder. So not knowing the age of the rider nothing can really be said about them at all.

wolfchild

There is nothing hardcore about spending 7 hours on a bike when the weather is nice. You just need to know how to pace yourself and fuel yourself properly and it isn't all that hard. The only time it becomes a challenge is when the temps are very cold or when riding during cold rain or extreme heat... HTFU

terrymorse 

That's not hardcore.

I used to start my morning ride at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, fill my bottles with sulphuric acid, ride for twenty-nine hours uphill in zone 7, and when I got home, my dad would kill me and dance about on my grave singing "Hallelujah".

CAT7RDR

7 hours? Depends. Heat, humidity, winds, altitude, elevation gain, surface, supported, bike choice, scenery, fuel, hydration and my stubborn will all come into play.

phughes

Us bicycle tourists do that all the time, day after day, carrying a load.

phughes

In an alternate thread:

I had an eye doctor appointment and rode the bike. I passed this woman, I can't stand a woman riding faster than me, and had a great ride. Total miles were around 15 miles, so 30 miles round trip. I had my appointment, and couldn't ride for a while since my eyes had ben dilated, so I went to a couple sporting goods stores, then had coffee at Starbucks before riding back. Who do I see, but the same woman I passed earlier. She had been out about seven hours. That's hardcore.

genejockey 

The Scientist in me wants to point out that we have no idea what he was doing when you couldn't see him. Maybe he rode another 5 miles, stopped, worked all day, then got kitted up and rode back. Or maybe he rode the whole time and did a century.

You need to ride where there are a lot more cyclists. Here in the Bay Area, you can't ride anywhere without being passed by fitter, faster cyclists, but you also pass quite a few as well. Puts your own fitness in perspective - there's nothing quite like passing another cyclist like they're standing still, and while you're still feeling the glow of conquest, being passed like YOU are standing still!

veganbikes

You were lucky to even get sulphuric acid.. I would get up at 3 am 2 minutes before I was allowed to go to bed in the shoebox at the bottom of the lake, my father would shoot me 8 times in the chest and I would have to drink the blood and ride for 32 weeks straight up and down Mount Everest on a Huffy with square lead wheels wearing clothes made of splinters averaging at least 800 watts while he would make me flog myself with a medieval mace, all while also holding 3 simultaneous mill jobs that I had to pay them for allowing me to do, and then when I was finished I was thrown completely in the woodchipper and when I got out I had to dig my own grave and bury myself and also do the eulogy while he defecated on my gravesite...And you tell the young people this and they don't believe you!

Troul 

They made the ride worth the effort!

wolfchild

It's time for some counselling

indyfabz

ikr.