Road Cycling - what is a long ride?

i'm curious about this... i mentioned to a friend that i was out on an 80 km ride the other day, and he says "wow, that's long!" funny... it didn't seem long. for me, any ride less than 50 km is short, 50-100 km is medium and any ride over 100 km is long... what do you think?

3 hours is the point at which I consider the ride long. Anything less is normal to short.

Less than 30km is short for me. 30-50km would be light medium, 50-80 long medium and above 80km is long.

This is all relative though. 50km on a day off is short but the same ride after work can be long. It's more about about how much I enjoy it than the distance. I'll do my first long ride in the coming days and I'm sure it'll be too short!

It depends on the weather, but basically:
- Below 40-50 km is short: no special preparation whatsoever. It's the kind of ride that may happen like yesterday, when I decided to visit a firm 30 km from the office, on the commuter, without bike shoes...

- Between 40 and 80 km is medium (or 35-70 if I tow both children and it is windy). I bring the toolkit and some light food to eat along the road. With kids, there will be a stop at a playground or maybe at an icecream joint. Still, other things happen in the day, like last week when I picked up the kids at their grandmother's after church.

- Above that usually means the day is quite occupied, so it's a long ride.

Regards,

I say anything over 100+ miles. Ride over 4 hours is long. After 4 hours of riding you have already burn over 3000+ calories.

Anything under 50 miles I consider short to moderate, anything over 50 I consider to be a longer ride. However, as my season continues I find that where I draw the line keeps getting higher and higher. (In march I considered 40 miles to be the line).

-Matt-

Welcome back velocipedio.

What stridercc says pretty much fits me as well, and saves me a lot of typing. :)

I agree with what Velocipedio says. (Welcome back, BTW.) Anything over 100km is longer than normal. I'm not too much into 100+ mile rides. I'd rather do something up to 75-80 mi. and just try and go faster. Anything over 80 mi. and my butt starts to complain.

it all depends how I'm feeling...as to what I consider a long ride...more of a mental thing for me I guess...

For instance Saturday I did an 80 mile solo ride...but I felt great so it didn't feel long at all...Sunday I did 35 miles and still felt good so it flew by...

But last Friday I went on a 20 mile ride and it seemed to last forever! wind wind wind!!! arghhhh

When I go out for a serious ride, it is usually about 5 hours and about 60 miles plus.. I consider a ride under 30 to be a short ride. A normal ride usually takes me from about 40 to 60. Above 60 somewhat serious.. But having done centuries about 7 times now, 60 miles is no big deal. Greatest ever 137 miles.

A long ride for me means very numb hands/fingers. Butt aches that I cant feel anymore.. Very sore muscles... When I run out of water(in my bottle)...

A year ago, when i got back in the saddle, a long ride was about 20km. After 3 months, a long ride was more than 30kms. Now a long ride is more than 50km.

I ride at least 20km/day... no exceptions..

But I was taught(road):
short rides: 20-30km
mid: double shortride dist.
Long: double mid dist.
Superlong: triple long dist.

Originally posted by velocipedio
i'm curious about this... i mentioned to a friend that i was out on an 80 km ride the other day, and he says "wow, that's long!" funny... it didn't seem long. for me, any ride less than 50 km is short, 50-100 km is medium and any ride over 100 km is long... what do you think?

I pretty much agree with you, anything over 3 hours of cycling becomes a long ride..

Currently to me a long ride is one that goes over 4 hours, which, depending on the amount of climb, can be between 50 and 70 miles. Anything under 30 miles feels short.

as a rule, anything over 50 makes me tired right now. anything under about 25 doesn't really seem worth the effort, unless it's hill-sprints or intervals.

Being a randonneur, I don't consider a ride long until it gets past the 200km range.

When speaking of randonneuring or brevets, long usually means those of 400 km and above, since the shorter 200 and 300km rides are essentially long centuries (day rides), while the 400, 600km and above require day/night riding.

Dave

Occasionally I ride with a 50 years old man who once held a record in 500 miles under 24 hours. Crikey! That must have been one long massive taxing tedious ride! You go and try beat this man, I know, I wouldn't.

Den Brewers

Brakes were invented by cowards
Women invented rear mirrors.

Originally posted by denbrewers
Occasionally I ride with a 50 years old man who once held a record in 500 miles under 24 hours. Crikey! That must have been one long massive taxing tedious ride! You go and try beat this man, I know, I wouldn't.


whaaaaa? thats like averaging 21mph...and this guy wasn't a pro? motorpacing?

At this point, above 45 miles is a long ride, 30 - 45 is medium....kind of like the 3 hour scenario. Over three hours would be what I consider long.

Although this is over a route with rolling hills and some wind. If there were many large "climbs", classifications subject to change :)

Over 4 hours is when I start calling it a long ride.

Originally posted by Coppi51
whaaaaa? thats like averaging 21mph...and this guy wasn't a pro? motorpacing?

Motorpacing? No w-w-w-wa-a-ay! All on his own! It was back in the late 1980s. If it were it our times he'd be a pro. But as it wasn't, he isn't. But as I meet him at races, every now and then he always teaches us, the younger ones, a lesson or two. You try and get away from him - no way. You try and keep up with him - no way. You try and climb with him - no frigging way! And the man is past 50! But still holds his true against the younger generation. He's a true master. He belongs to the old school of racers and knows his ways around better than all of us down there taken together, I belive. He also adheres to the old ways of training. The ways the legendary figures of cycling did it back then, that is. And this is how he remains competititive. A sign of a true master - the one you can always look up to and admire. A super character. I wish he doesn't pack it up too soon. That'd be sad indeed :(

For me, a solo century is a long rider. Generally, if I find myself sticking food in my pockets I know that I am approaching a ride with a different mindset than a simple and short jaunt.

As for the old guy cranking out 500 miles, I want to add that at The National 24 Hour Challenge (Grand Rapids, MI area) guys regularly crank out 360+ and the winner usually covers a good 400+.

Originally posted by easyrider
For me, a solo century is a long rider. Generally, if I find myself sticking food in my pockets I know that I am approaching a ride with a different mindset than a simple and short jaunt.

As for the old guy cranking out 500 miles, I want to add that at The National 24 Hour Challenge (Grand Rapids, MI area) guys regularly crank out 360+ and the winner usually covers a good 400+.

And there you go, you see? It is not all that uncommon after all to do so long a rides. But, for my money, I wouldn't even think of trying to do something like that. I know I can be complete nuts at times, but not THAT much nuts! :D

Den Brewers

- God must have cried when you left heaven.
- Yes, and he held a huge party when you left.

Yep. Just checked. Winner last year went 450 miles in the 19-24 age group.

One guy in the 45-49 age went 444 miles. Nice. And OUCH.

Check it out at www.n24hc.org

When I get off my bike after a ride and my legs feel about a foot long , I know I've completed a long ride, this usually takes a few hours at steady pace (75kms +)

I go by hours. Some rides I do last 4+ hours. Those are what I would consider to be long rides. Short rides are the ones where I do a quickie- 3 hours or less....

I always spend at least 1 and a half hours on my bike riding outside, unless it's too cold. When it's really cold, a long ride is an hour and a short ride is 30 minutes.

Koff

I'm with that. I generally don't bother to ride less than 1:30. If I have less time than that, I believe I can get a better workout on the trainer or in the fitness room/weight room.

anything over 1 & 1/2 hours INDOORS is a long ride. anything over 3 hrs when going at a quick pace (18-19mph+) or 4+ when just tooling around and 6 hours when being a tourist.

i am paraphrasing something that lance once said, and that is: i ride fast because i want to do my longer rides in a shorter timeframe. man...these people who are inn the saddle for 6+ hours for a century. now that's an athlete! i like biking, but not that much.

RiPH.. I did 101 miles in Death Valley with a 3,000 elevation gain in a little over 6 1/2 hours.. Don't think I am any super athlete, here we just ride all year. Should be ready, I would hope when a cyclist does between 6-9000 miles avearage year here; cyclists i know..
The 100 miles did not seem that long because the scenery was great.. That keeps it interesting.
Riph.. I am down now due to a shoulder injury. I am going stir crazy.. weather today perfect..
But you said 1.5 hours seems long indoors.
My question does this 1.5 hours in the saddle indoors seem enough to keep you cycling fit? I find 40 minutes seems an iternity, maybe bearable; but a very long time.. Is 40 minutes enough to keep you fit? I try doing this 5-6 times a week. Without music or favorite tv news in front of the trainer, I would not be able to keep at the 40 minutes.

anything over 3-4 hours is a long ride...well to me

Hey! Velocipedio's back! Good to hear from ya, guy!

That's tough. I think of a long ride as something over 75 miles. When I talk to others, I try to put it in their frame of reference, like over 45 miles is long. Of course, to the uninitiated, 20 miles seems long. Personally, a road bike ride less than 20 miles seems hardly worth the trouble of "suiting up."

Roadbuzz. I do not ride for less than 30 miles, since it is not worth suiting up.
Roadbuzz. My wife hails from Charlottesville, Va. Was there last September on a family emergency.. Pretty hot.. I saw bike trails everywhere, but not ONE cyclist.. Stayed out near Charlottesville, airport.. cyclists only in town when U/V is in session.. I was all over the town..
and yes, great to have Velocepedio back.

I'd say anything twice the ride you normaly do or so my muscles tell me:D

I go on group rides on saturday/sunday that usually 3 to 4 hours long and range from 80 - 100km...I find those long :D

Of course...I happened to get dropped from the pack today because I just couldn't keep up :( Boy it really sucks to get dropped.

hey roadbuzz! thanks for the welcome back! :):beer:

Originally posted by cyclezealot
Pretty hot.. I saw bike trails everywhere, but not ONE cyclist.. Stayed out near Charlottesville, airport.. cyclists only in town when U/V is in session..
Heat, humidity, we got it all!

Plenty of cyclists around. The community of Earlysville, near the airport, is sort of a local cycling mecca. This time of year you can go to "downtown" Earlysville (a grocery store & a pizza place) any day after work and hook up with a bunch of roadies for a ride. If you're ever back this way again, lemme know, we'll do a ride!

Roadbuzz.. Was an emergency ,so little time for cycling...The countryside looked pretty nice for riding.. Liked the gentle rolling terrain. Nice.. Gina would like to get back. Thanks. Keep that in mind.

Anything less than 100km is short. 100-160km is medium. 160km+ is long, 220 km+ is :D