Fifty Plus (50+) - Mileage Question

This may sound stupid but if I ride 25 miles one way and then back does that mean 50 miles? Or does a fifty mile mean 50 miles one way. I commute 15 miles daily rt.

jim

Not all rides are out and back. Some are a loop and therefore a fifty mile ride indicates 50 actual miles. For instance, I often ride a rail to trail that is 37.5 miles long and therefore my ride is 75 miles.

Out + return = total ride length.
25 miles out and 25 mile return = 50 mile ride.

This may sound stupid but if I ride 25 miles one way and then back does that mean 50 miles? Or does a fifty mile mean 50 miles one way. I commute 15 miles daily rt.

jim

Personally, I wouldn't care if you took a nap between trips but some people do. To me, if you rode 50 miles in a day, it's a 50 mile ride. However, I have a friend that usually rides between 50 and 75 miles a day in short trips (10-15 miles each). He's retired and does all of his traveling by bike. You'll never hear him say that he did a 75 mile ride today even though he rode the miles. I, on the other hand, would say I did a 75 mile ride and might even inflate the mileage a little. :)

-Dennis

Hey Dennis, don't you think that anyone that inflates his mileage a little will also inflate the size of the fish he caught? So the ultimate would be to tell of you going on a century ride on your bike, stopping half way and catching a 9 pound bass. I usually round up to the next whole mile, but that's probably about all.

In terms of aerobic benefit and calories consumed, there's no significant difference between a solid 50-miler and two 25s with a break in the middle. You can verify that online in a number of places.
Those old enough to remember Dr. Kenneth Cooper's book, "Aerobics," from the '70s may recall that he awarded fewer points for the first mile or so of a ride or run than for the remaining ones (he gave specific points for time and distance, with 30 points per week being the number you should shoot for to get some protection from heart disease). In that case you'd wind up with a point or two less per day, because you'd have two start-up periods rather than one. But even he said three 10-minute walks were as beneficial as one 30-minute walk, so it probably doesn't matter.

Hey Dennis, don't you think that anyone that inflates his mileage a little will also inflate the size of the fish he caught?

I'm not sure since I don't fish, but sounds about right. :)

I've converted to metric but just give the numbers like - "hey I managed over 80 this morning"

Don't forget to convert back to imperial when you get round to the fish though.

Just as long as you do not lie to yourself.LOL

And to think I was feeling proud of riding TEN miles today.... Well OK---9.8 to be exact. :)

If I logged running around town on bikejoournal, I'd put it down as errands. If I do two 25 mile rides, I count them as two 25 milers. Just because you stopped a bit for lunch doesn't mean you should count it as two rides. Count it as you like. My Giant computer tells me how long my ride was, but keeps track of daily miles between midnights.

I log every ride on Microsoft Word so that I can monitor my performance. I am not in any way a competitive rider. But I do enjoy keeping track of this data. I don't commute but in your case you do. So there seems to be a distinct classification for you...commute rides. If you have a heart rate monitor and a cyclometer, you might keep track of your data because they're going to be different each way and will vary on the individual days.

Personally, I see a commute ride as two distinct rides. Now, I keep track of total miles per ride and overall mileage per year and cumulative. I have one road bike so I have been keeping track of the cumulative miles on that bike. That way I know when the chain is near its useful life and the difference between front and rear tire wear, and other data.