Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Century ride or not?

I do at least one 160 km ride per week in the season and had an interesting comment from a friend the other day. I ran into him at about the 120km mark and we stopped and chatted for about 30 minutes, had a snack after which he asked how far I was riding. I said "about 165 km by the time I get home. Another century down." He commented "well, not really. You stopped so are more or less starting a new ride."

My question is, What is an acceptable meal/drink/restroom break and still consider it the same ride?

uh... my legs don't recover in 30 mins.... in fact they get cold so it makes starting back up a bit harder. I'd say it's the same ride.

In my opinion it would have to be a pretty long break not to consider it the same ride. It may be hard to define precisely, but to paraphrase the famous supreme court case about pornography, "I know it when I see it".

So is he saying that someone riding much slower but not stopping at all is riding a century but you are not ? That probably means that no Brevet would count as a century+, since there are always stops at Controls. I doubt if anyone has ridden a 600km Brevet, in his definition.

Every organized ride has time limits -- even the charity rides. Most people on those charity rides accumulate a lot of stopped time ... does that mean that they've had a lot of short rides that day ? Brevets have time limits, overall and at each Control. If you finish within the time limits, you've completed the ride. Note that it's a "ride" not "rides".

My opinion is that if you stopped and undertook some other major activity -- went shopping; worked for the day ... that lasts a significant amount of time in the context of the ride, then you've had two rides not one. Note that I wouldn't count it as two rides if you rode 50 miles to the Dollar General, went inside and bought something, and then rode another 50 miles home.

Why do some people always want to minimize someone else's accomplishments ?? Is it a holier than thou attitude ?

Does your friend pee while he is riding or does he stop ... or perhaps he doesn't ride at all ?

RAAM is starting to wrap up. Some of the riders take breaks longer than 30 minutes. Some even get transported to the hospital, returned to the course and continue. No one says they are starting a new ride or that they did multiple ride. No, the are recorded as having ridden on 3021.3 mile ride.

The 600 and 1200 kilometer randonneuring events all include one or more "overnight" stops longer than 30 minutes. Yet they are not considered multiple rides. And that's codified in the rules.

I'm regularly on double centuries where because of physical or mechanical issues people have to stop for longer than 30 minutes. But at the end of the day they still get credit for a 200 mile ride as long as they finish before the cut-off.

Does a 100 mile training ride have a cut-off? So, why 30 minutes as the delimiting point in an acceptable break? Would 29 minutes be OK? Or is it 15 minutes? Or must the ride be done non-stop? Does stopping for a stoplight count?

Whatever.... he's an idiot.

I think your friend is a little too uptight about what a century is.

Thomas summarized what I was going to say - I like to think of my 600k adventures as complete rides, even if I slept for an hour or two along the way.

I guess my definition of stopping the ride is when you take the bike clothes off.

I guess my definition of stopping the ride is when you take the bike clothes off.

I take my bike clothes off during 600km and 1200km Brevets ... but they're considered one ride. I guess that I've never changed clothes or slept in my civvies during a century ride though !

I take my bike clothes off during 600km and 1200km Brevets ... but they're considered one ride. I guess that I've never changed clothes or slept in my civvies during a century ride though !

I did. My 100 Miles of Nowhere ride started out in a downpour that continued for hours. I was doing 2.2-mile loops, so when the rain finally stopped and the road dried, I changed into dry shorts. I've never been happier to put on a pair of shorts:o

He commented "well, not really. You stopped so are more or less starting a new ride."

I think your friend is silly and you should take his opinions with caution.

I see much mention of 600k and greater rides and the fact that even with overnight stops they're considered a singular venture.
Just out of curiosity, do most people feel that if the amount of time you spend on the bike is significantly greater than the amount of time you spend off the bike for any number of consecutive days, that's still "the same ride"?

It seems that many people would agree that riding a 6hr century on Saturday morning and another on Sunday morning would be back-to-back centuries, and not a double. But what if you ride a 16 hour double on Saturday, and another on Sunday after getting 6 or 7 hours of sleep?

I'm just interested to know where people draw their personal line for calling it "the same ride".

I'm just interested to know where people draw their personal line for calling it "the same ride".

Most of my rides have some kind of objective. My objective usually includes a distance and a rough time goal (for me a very conservative time goal :) ) e.g. 100 mile training ride in eight hours, double century in fifteen hours, brevet, etc. The "ride" is over when my objective is met.

If I go out on Saturday to do a century and then Sunday to do another those are two different rides to me. I'll refer to that weekend as back-to-back centuries (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=538025) and log it as two rides. If I go out and climb Mt Diablo in the morning and then do a quick ride around the island with my kids after lunch that's two different rides and they go into my log as such.

Yeah, it's still one ride. Heck, I've done tours where I stopped for at least an hour and had a full lunch, and to me it's still "one ride."

However, I do agree with the general principle that you get a little "cold" after more than 10 minutes, so you probably don't want to hammer right after a half-hour break.

It's one ride. When I rode the 12hr Sebring race I stopped plenty of times for more liquid (it was hot out), more food, restroom break, changed shorts, etc. I managed to cover 213 miles, but according to your friend, after the 6th hour when I stopped to eat my PBJ sandwich, I started a new ride. :rolleyes:

Perhaps your friend is jealous of your accomplishment?

My question is, What is an acceptable meal/drink/restroom break and still consider it the same ride?Acceptable to who, me?

There ought to be be some sort of reference for defining the concept of a bicycle ride, but even if there was it is sort of a "who cares" type of topic.

I have an idea. I would base the idea of a single bicycle ride to be more than twice as long as any of the stops. No matter whether the stop be for a mechanical or a rest and fuel.

In other words, if you ride for an hour, but then stop for over 30 minutes and then ride for another hour, then you are two hour-long bike rides.

Similarly if you ride for five hours with minimal breaks, then stop for over 2 1/2 hours, then start again - you are starting a "new" bike ride.

The same formula should work for brevets as well. After all, even if you ride sixteen hours, but then take eight hours off the bike - you'd have hard time convincing me that was single bicycle ride. Even if you did end up with a single 36 hour brevet......

Ok, I have no business chiming in, but: you're friend is full of it. If you can knock down 160k in a day, that is a century. Good golly, but this guy is a wet dishrag. Can he even complete a century? Does he have a clue about what is going on? :notamused:

Keep up the good work. I'm jealous of your abilities just reading this one post. :beer:

Acceptable to who, me?

There ought to be be some sort of reference for defining the concept of a bicycle ride, but even if there was it is sort of a "who cares" type of topic.

I have an idea. I would base the idea of a single bicycle ride to be more than twice as long as any of the stops. No matter whether the stop be for a mechanical or a rest and fuel.

In other words, if you ride for an hour, but then stop for over 30 minutes and then ride for another hour, then you are two hour-long bike rides.

Similarly if you ride for five hours with minimal breaks, then stop for over 2 1/2 hours, then start again - you are starting a "new" bike ride.

The same formula should work for brevets as well. After all, even if you ride sixteen hours, but then take eight hours off the bike - you'd have hard time convincing me that was single bicycle ride. Even if you did end up with a single 36 hour brevet......

I find this patently ridiculous. :twitchy: I would need several weeks of training to do one century. The breaks on organized rides often last for half an hour to an hour.

Century = 100miles / 1 day

Your friend is a wonker. A century ride is a 100 mile ride in a day. Let's even call it 24 hours because if you, for some strange reason, started at 11 PM and finished the next "day" your friend might say that wouldn't count! Logic seems to be lost on some people.

Live long and prosper.

BlueJay66