Forum Suggestions & User Assistance - Long distance cycling and subforum question

Are you planning any long distance cycling events or rides in 2006? For the purposes of this particular poll, "long distance" will be translated as "anything over 100 kms/60 miles".


Would you be interested in a subforum where you can ask your long-distance-specific cycling questions, where you can post the ride reports of your long distance questions, and where you can discuss with other long distance cyclists such topics as lighting for those rides that extend into the darkness, saddles which are most comfortable for many hours of sitting, and so on?


I know that every year there are several people riding metric centuries and centuries. This year there are a number who have expressed interest in training for the BMB and for the PBP in 2007. It might be nice to have our own place to talk about these things.

I would be interested if there were enough others to have good content. If not, I will stay in the road forum.

As for planned events in '06, I plan on doing a double Century, a 500 miler, a 12 hour race and 6 24 hour races. Depending on scheduling, the 500 miler is the most likely to be dropped since I need to have a support team.

I would be interested if there were enough others to have good content. If not, I will stay in the road forum.

As for planned events in '06, I plan on doing a double Century, a 500 miler, a 12 hour race and 6 24 hour races. Depending on scheduling, the 500 miler is the most likely to be dropped since I need to have a support team.


Let me guess ... is the 500 miler 508 miles? Perhaps the Furnace Creek 508? :D

Yea, every week :)

Are you planning any long distance cycling events or rides in 2006? For the purposes of this particular poll, "long distance" will be translated as "anything over 100 kms/60 miles".


Would you be interested in a subforum where you can ask your long-distance-specific cycling questions, where you can post the ride reports of your long distance questions, and where you can discuss with other long distance cyclists such topics as lighting for those rides that extend into the darkness, saddles which are most comfortable for many hours of sitting, and so on?


I know that every year there are several people riding metric centuries and centuries. This year there are a number who have expressed interest in training for the BMB and for the PBP in 2007. It might be nice to have our own place to talk about these things.
Hey, where'd my reply go???
Yes and Yes

I plan to do at least 3 double centuries and somewhere between 20-35 imperial centuries (mostly unsupported and/or solo). I wouldn't mind doing Furnace Creek as part of a team. I also hope to complete a brevet series as a practice/warm-up for the PBP 2007 qualifying.

Yes, I think a long distance forum is a great idea!
Merry Christmas :)

Yes, Yes.

I plan on completing 5 doubles and 8 centuries with full support staff. Training miles will range from 60 - 140 mile per day.

I might throw in some shorter stuff (20-40 miles) if I have the time after work or want to go mountainbiking.

..."long distance" will be translated as "anything over 100 kms/60 miles"....
question: who are you, and what have you done with the real machka? :D

I'm planning to ride across Canada, so I'd love a folder just about distance riding.

question: who are you, and what have you done with the real machka? :D


Machka, you left off the last zero !! :D

I plan on riding the qualifying brevets in 2006 for the first time. I could use some pointers, so my answer is "yes", I would be interested....esp. from the queen of long rides!

maybe if they don't create a subfolder for long distance rides, they could make a subfolder for all the what-should-I-buy/compare-brand-x-to-brand-y type threads.

Ramp up your definition....100kms is by no means long distance!

:D

A long distance forum sounds like a neat idea.

I like the idea. I will be doing the brevet series this year, and some short 2-3 day loaded touring this summer. I wonder if it should be a seperate forum, or perhaps a sub forum under road cycling or maybe touring?

Steve W.
Who is having trouble typing with a cat lying on his arms. silly kat

Yes, I did century a month (100 miles) during 2005 and I plan to do it again in 2006 along with hopefully trying 200k, 300k and 400k brevets with the intention of building up to do something real long in 2007. I think a long distance forum would be real helpful.

I'm actually planning a charity ride in the summer of '06 to raise some money for the Heart and Stroke foundation. I'll be riding about 7000kms in 45 days. So in short, yes!

Keep an eye out for this event in the coming months!

Yes to both.

I love the idea. We had quite a bit of discussion on these topics recently, scattered between the touring, road, and other forums. But the questions don't seem to fit those forums quite right. A long distance forum would be welcome.

I plan to finish my first brevet series in the spring, and perhaps either BMB or the Cascade 1200 in the summer.

I tend to get stuck in one forum and dont read the other subforums, but I do think its a good idea to specialize a forum.

My long distance plans? Triple Bypass, Hotter'N Hell 100, National 24hr challenge, MS150, TOSRV, GOBA, Columbus Fall Challenge, and the various centuries thrown in every weekend.

I'm hoping to tour the island of Shikoku in Japan to do the Pilgrimage of 88 temples. Maybe Septemberish. between 1400 and 1500 km depending on my route. 14 days of riding, hopefully.

60 miles is too low for a cutoff.

How many subforums do you want? Sounds like overkill to me. Riding 60+ miles is a regular part of road cycling, so it should be included in this forum. I see lots of "first century" or "century report" threads here. I like to read them, and I think they belong here. It's nice to know that some people here actually ride.

Planning on doing a particular ride? Start a thread here and you'll probably get a response.

100+ km rides in 2006? I hope to do plenty of those. And a few 100+ mile rides. A separate subforum? I hope not. Not that I care too much either way for myself at this point. If there's a subforum for long distances, I'll use it. But many people frequent just a few subforums, and it's great inspiration for those who haven't yet worked up to the longer lengths to read about others' experiences, especially others' firsts.

A subforum would be cool, the advice would be helpful and more specific. I plan to do at least 2 24 hr races this year.

Well, we can make the cut-off 100 miles if people feel that's the start of long distance riding. I was just trying to be inclusive because there are some riders who think of a metric century as a long distance. :)

The problem I've found with starting a thread about a particular long distance ride (whether it is a ride report or a question about a ride or whatever) is that it gets buried on the second page within a few hours.

There are a number of us here who are Randonneurs or 24 hour TT riders or whatever, and it might be nice to have a place to discuss the issues that go into those sorts of rides.

There are a number of people, too, who are first time century riders ... last summer there were a whole bunch of questions along the same lines: "I am riding my first century next month and wanted to know ... " If we had a long distance area, where the posts wouldn't disappear by the next day, new century riders, or century riders who wanted some info about their next century could pick up information from the advice in each other's posts.

Let me guess ... is the 500 miler 508 miles? Perhaps the Furnace Creek 508? :D

Not doing Furnace Creek, I hope to do the Southern 500 in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi.

I would also up the limit to 100 milers and beyond. With UMCA anything under 100 doesn't count for points. Besides, anything under 100 miles isn't a race, just a ride... :D

touring forum not working..???

touring forum not working..???
Touring is much different than Ultra cycling. Touring covers long distances but with rest at night, hotels, real food, etc. Ultras such as 24 hours are just straight through. Many are qualifiers for RAAM, considered the toughest race in the world.

Touring is fully loaded and lower speeds. Ultras are competition, not comeraderie. Just like I wouldn't consider Marathons the same category as walk-a-thons.

Touring is much different than Ultra cycling. Touring covers long distances but with rest at night, hotels, real food, etc. Ultras such as 24 hours are just straight through. Many are qualifiers for RAAM, considered the toughest race in the world.

Touring is fully loaded and lower speeds. Ultras are competition, not comeraderie. Just like I wouldn't consider Marathons the same category as walk-a-thons.


Exactly! And Randonneuring is quite different from touring too. Randonneuring involves riding distances like 400 kms (~250 miles) or 600 kms (~360 miles) straight through, or with only a very brief nap. Randonneurs also don't usually ride with panniers, or carry things like tents, sleeping bags, etc. We travel as lightly as possible because we won't be stopping to camp for the night, or if we do stop, we'll just curl up in our space blankets somewhere for a few minutes.

Centuries or double centuries aren't touring either because they are one-day events, and the participants also (usually) do those rides without a full touring load.



I wouldn't mind if the Long Distance subforum were a subforum under Touring rather than Road cycling so that those who do 24-hour mtn bike events are included too. But long distance riding is quite distinct from touring.

Just to clarify further, here what I'm talking about when I speak of long distance events, check out this site:

http://www.ultracycling.com/

It appears that century season is starting, and in my Organized Century post in the Road forum, another person has expressed interest in having a separate forum where long distance rides could be posted.

To the person or people who create sub-forums ... would it be possible for you to have a meeting about this, and might it be possible for a long distance sub-forum to be created? :) Thanks!! :)

Why should there even be a definite cut-off? To beginners, 50 miles might seem like "long distance". For more experienced riders, 100 miles might be "long" and so on and so forth.

Personally, I'm planning to be ready to do a century by June. From there, I'm planning on training for a cross-country charity ride (see link in my signature) and a double century within the next two and half years.

I think it would be great to have a place to talk about training, nutrition, equipment, and the other topics involved with long, sustained rides.

Why should there even be a definite cut-off? To beginners, 50 miles might seem like "long distance". For more experienced riders, 100 miles might be "long" and so on and so forth.

While I agree that defining "long distance" with a cut-off may be arbitrary, I think we are missing the point of why we need (IMHO) a long distance forum here on BF. As we get into longer and longer rides, we have training, equipment and nutrition issues that are very specific to long distance riding. There is a wealth of knowledge in the dozens of BF members who practice endurance cycling (and in some cases racing) as their sport, but the discussions are scattered in many forums and "get lost" easily. Having a long distance forum would contain the topics so that those who are interested can find them easily, and those who are not interested can ignore them even more easily.

Just to clarify further, here what I'm talking about when I speak of long distance events, check out this site:

http://www.ultracycling.com/

Glad you brought up the UMCA. I was about to when you beat me to it. I vote for a long distance site. While ultracycling.com has a wealth of info and joining the UMCA is a good group to support (I am a Life Member) there is not a lot of personal contact. Unless you show up for a lot of the rides they list (check that out). I've been active on the fringes of the long distance scene since the first Race across AMerica.
There is a lOT of camradarie. Teams help each other and riders cheer each other on. The only times I have seen bitterness and anger were in the years I served as a USCF official. There are genuine Brevets as short as 60 K so that could be a minimum distance. The UMCA counts 100 miles as one type of ride and 151 miles as the start for long rides (IMNSHO). I was their mileage contest keeper for several years. Maybe it has changed.

New people should read thru the UMCA files before posting questions. Could save a lot of time. And wear BF gear at events, should be others there.

Just curious if there has been any discussion about this topic among the moderators, or whoever is responsible for creating new sub-forums. People are starting their long distance rides and have begun posing questions. It would be nice to gather them all together into one location so that those who are interested in participating in long distance events can discuss them, and so that we can get to know the other long distance riders here.

Thanks! :)

I'm gearing up for the RAIN (Ride Across INdiana) and could use all the help I can get!