Touring - Longest ride ever

I've done a 24 hour ride on my last tour. Not 24 hours straight....I took breaks, but most of the time I was awake during that 24 hours, I was riding my bike. I don't suggest it, but I still wonder if anyone else has tried something like this. If so, how long did you ride?

11hrs from Medocino to Corte Madera with about eight stops that took up about an hour total. Averaged about 17mph. One of the finest stretches was past Bolinas along the bird preserve at sea level before Stinson.

course this was 30yrs ago and I was 60lbs lighter.

Amsterdam to Warsaw and back , but I had to stop and hang out with the locals and drink beer with them occasionally ..
:beer:

Months..

Something like 15 hours was the longest day I have done on tour. It wound up being 142 miles and I took a bunch of breaks. That is about as long as I ever want to ride in one day when on tour. I like my sleep to much to go longer, at least when on tour.

That was Springer NM to Santa Fe NM. There was a good bit of elevation gain but none of it was steep.

Yesterday I rode 131 miles, took 12 full hours with 7 breaks. I was mostly dead after that, and I'm pretty sore today. Thankfully I'm not on tour. It was an organized century, with 15 mile rides to the starting point and then back home after.

Well, it's not exactly a tour, and I for one haven't done it, but....

http://www.raceacrossamerica.org/raam/raam.php?N_webcat_id=1

The winner crossed the US, 3000 miles in 9 days 46 minutes. Is that the kind of thing you're thinking of? :D

I've done a 24 hour ride on my last tour.
More interesting is why did you ride 24 hours without sleep?

I've done 123 miles in about 13.5 hours (including about 2 hours of breaks). Wasn't to bad but I had a shower and bed waiting for me at the destination. It's somewhat questionable if I shouldn't have just pitched the tent one more night and taken a little bit more time to enjoy the scenery.

during a 24hr MTB race, I can do about 200 miles solo
125 in 9.5hrs Motnerey to Morro Bay, on a mtb
here's another interesting leg: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38071110

Longest not touring is 215 miles for a 24-hour fundraiser (I was young and in racing shape).

Longest while touring was 152 miles :D over a little over 11 hours total including stops due to a strong tailwind, good road, and not much to stop for. Next day, the winds reversed and I did something like 45 in 9 hours.:notamused:

On the touring parts of my tours, I try to keep my rides under 12 hours. But my tours usually surround long-distance cycling events like the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200K, the Great Southern 1200K, etc.

When it comes to long-distance events, I've done two 24-hour races (the UMCA 24-hour in early September in Iowa/Illinois) and four 1200K randonneuring events where you have to complete 1200K in 90 hours or less including all breaks ... and I'm a slow rider so there's not much sleep involved. See my website in my signature line for details. :)

Rode a mountian bike 148 miles in 13 hours for a charity ride at age 52 and 30 lbs. lighter

I've done a 24 hour ride on my last tour. Not 24 hours straight....I took breaks, but most of the time I was awake during that 24 hours, I was riding my bike. I don't suggest it, but I still wonder if anyone else has tried something like this. If so, how long did you ride?

How far did you ride?

Why did you do it?

I've twice ridden 100 miles loaded -- both starting from high points in different National Parks 100 miles from my Seattle home. The first time took me all day, and the second only about 8 hours. On my road bike, I'll do 100 mile loops occasionally, but typically try to keep it at 80 or less.

The last day of my tour I covered 202 miles in 16 hours because I was tired of repairing flats. I had flats for nearly two weeks straight. The next day I woke up and saw my front tire was flat!

I've ridden double centuries on my road bike a few times, the longest being 206 miles in one, long day. On a six week tour five years ago I rode more than 100 miles on six occasions including two about 115 miles each. I'm not a fast rider. My ability to ride a long distance in a day is because I can withstand sitting on a bicyle that long.

There are some Chinese guys here training for the Paris - Brest - Paris randoneur (sp?), which is 1200 km in 96 hours. At the moment they are doing 23 hour runs, one of them is Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu, about 320 km.

They have invited me along, but I am not going!

z

There are some Chinese guys here training for the Paris - Brest - Paris randoneur (sp?), which is 1200 km in 96 hours. At the moment they are doing 23 hour runs, one of them is Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu, about 320 km.

They have invited me along, but I am not going!

z

The PBP is 1200K has to be completed in 90 hours or less. I wish we had 96 hours to ride it!! :D I've completed it once in 2003, and DNF'd after 400 km of riding in the rain in 2007.

In order to get into the 2011 PBP they (and Rowan and me, and several others in the Long Distance forum) will have to ride a Super Randonneur series between November 1, 2010 and mid-June 2011. A Super Randonneur series consists of officially sanctioned 200 km, 300 km, 400 km and 600 km rides. So your friends will have to do a lot more than 320 km!!


BTW - if any of you are interested in doing Long Distance rides, there is a Long Distance forum here where riders routinely ride centuries (100 miles) and much, much more. :)
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?231-Long-Distance-Competition-Ultracycling-Randonneuring-and-Endurance-Cycling

The longest ride I can remember doing was 112 mi in a triathlon in Japan. My time was something like 5hrs 10min (unloaded, of course).

I've toyed around with the idea of doing a 24hr MTB race, but I don't think there any around here. They have a big one in Tucson where I used to live, but maybe it's for the best that I don't get mixed up with that!

My longest ride was 150 miles. Around 130ish I start to feel sapped of strength and my legs start feeling very sore....I'm a fast rider and I ride 200+ miles weekly with my club. I think it's becuase I don't know how to properly break & eat/drink. I just did a 135 mile ride having consumed nothing the night & morning before, 2 bottles of Gatorade and 2 more of water and 1 bannana.

I don't take breaks longer than 1-2 minutes becuase i'm afraid my legs will "cool off" and It will be too hard to get back on the bike and continue.

at what point do you guys take breaks? How much do you eat drink? what do you eat & drink?

focus on: On Bike Nutrition
i.e. calories in/minute/hr

you can use Perpetuem by Hammer Nutrition
and/or my old favorite... drink enteral products like Boost, Ensure... Carnation Instant Breakfast is awesome.

mileage/time vs effort/weight is a classic numbers crunch that you come face to face with. Therefore x(nutrition) = x(weight) is best addressed by either lightweight nutrition, i.e. powders, or having nutrition available while en route, i.e. Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc...

lately I've been focusing on getting away from using Perpetuem, and trying to rely more on what I can muster from my route.

I re-discovered how much I like fried Spam at the end of the day...

while en route, a favorite of mine are king sized snickers bars and a Coke

I'm not a nutritionist, but I read somewhere that your body can only assimilate about 1gm of carbohydrate per minute.
but that does not mean to consume 1 gel packet every 30 minutes. instead I focus on time/carbohydrate management.
that is... if I'm going to "bump" with a gel packet, I'll divide it in half, and consume 1/2 of it 15 minutes later.
or...
you can also do things like mix gel with water

typically I just use gel straight out of the flask or packet, and swig with water.

either way... nutrition is going to come down to what you can "Manage" while riding the bike.

Hammer Nutrition has volumes of stuff to read... it will drive you nuts....

nuts... another good one... trail mix

focus on: On Bike Nutrition
i.e. calories in/minute/hr

I re-discovered how much I like fried Spam at the end of the day...

while en route, a favorite of mine are king sized snickers bars and a Coke

nuts... another good one... trail mix


I'm long out of the fitness and riding you're capable of but that one day ride I did when I was fit opened up a fantastic appreciation for every bit of food I was consuming. After about six hours of riding it seemed like everything I ate became energy in 10-30minutes and was GONE an hour later. I'd stop and fill up both water bottles, buy a 12oz bottle of orange juice and chug it down then head off with a bag of trail mix or a couple of energy bars to nibble on for the next 20 minutes or so eating small enough bites to thoroughly digest then recharge with small amounts of solid food an hour later. It was noticable how each different kind of food became movement.

250 miles with 12000' of climbing in ~18-1/2 hours. About 15-1/2 saddle hours. 600k in under 24 hours is a benchmark to shoot for. And of course Chris Ragsdale won the FC 508 last year in 29:10:31. Not bad for having had 60 mph crosswinds.

ok... so here is my basic fueling outline:

being in Camp, solely has 1 purpose...
???
RECOVERY

the first thing is to cram food down your gullet
if I'm being super amped out on "The Juice", I'll take in at least 1 full dose of Recoverite.

in fact, if you can figure out your fueling demand vs geographical placement in regards to camping...
you can begin refueling at the store....
best case scenario is that you've got stores to access along the way...

so you eat at a store... focus on things like quick absorbing nutrition. not sugar

get into camp, eat/refuel

in camp, drink plenty of water... not use swigs, 30-60cc increments
this volume begins to make you standardize your dosing...

STANDARD UNIT DOSE MEASURES... you want to be able to count your widgets and keep track of time

hydration bladders are great for Dosage Compliance
I used to set my Sunnto watch to count down every 5 minutes, and repeat, reminding me to sip, about 30-60cc each time.

in camp, once I get some food into me, I'll set up my shelter, and peel off my cycling clothes, changing into Capeline, and re-dawn my Kifaru Parka.

in camp, my primary concern is to avoid "The Explosion", which is the typical, pull everything out of your bags, and strew it out...
I try my best to keep things off the ground, and on the bike, thereby reducing the time it takes to repack.

thru the night I keep eating... paying attention to my watch, and what nutrition I have available

In the morning, I'm fortunate, in that as soon as I get up, my bowels are anxious to empty

change clothes into cycling gear, I keep my parka on as long as possible, staying warm, even if it means that I'm wearing all my cycling gear underneath, vest, arm warmers, the whole deal.
shoes with booties over them... STAY WARM

pack up shelter, which is typically the only thing not on the bike.

consume at least 400 calories, and drink about 12 oz of water...

ROLL OUT!

once my body starts to wake up, which is usually in about 45 minutes, I start en route fueling
this part is heavily weighted on experience and how I'm feeling

thru out the day, I lean heavily on the fact that my guts are pretty much empty, and I like to focus on chewing things well, if not being able to simply DRINK MY NUTRITION
its the absorption rate that I'm focusing on, and being able to establish and maintain a baseline Nutrition Value... whatever that is... again... personal experience

i.e. Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem, I will consume 4 scoops in a 24oz bottle over 2hrs by drinking approx 30cc (1oz) every 5 minutes.

thats
270 calories/hr
54gm carbohydrate/hr
7gm protein/hr

for me, this is my optimal base line

I will then "bump" with Hammer Gel if needed.

I will also start to take in EnduroLytes (by Hammer) 1 capsule every 20 minutes at the most. sometimes I break it down to 1 capsule an hour... again... personal experience and knowing how your body is feeling and what it needs.

with this basic formula I can ride a solid 24hrs straight without supplementing very much. maybe 4 King Size Snickers bars along the way...


I carry powdered Perpetuem in a large bottle. a 24oz bottle will hold about 17 scoops, which is about 8 solid hours of constant fueling

I use a hydration bladder which is full of water

my bikes carry at least 3 water bottles.

1 water bottle has a Clear2Go water filter... it never has anything other than water.
1 bottle is mixed with Perpetuem
1 bottle is filled with powdered Perpetuem

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the above is what I've come to discover as my optimal Nutritional Outline

I save eating solid foods for later in the day, typically as I come into camp, or actually in camp.

the problem with "meals" are that they consume major amounts of time and resources

the more you cook, the more equipment you carry
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in the randoneuring method:

I stick to doing a lot of riding, and focusing on things I can eat along the way

my recent discovery is the deli at SafeWay... they have soup and sandwiches that go on sale around 10-11pm...
I have no hang ups with riding into the late night, hitting this resource, then rolling into camp.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIz8lYyd94
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I also like to chug down Milk!
when I'm getting ready to shut things down for the day, I will start to chug down chocolate milk.

In camp I like to eat things like cheese, peanut butter, salami, Spam...
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I've been eating MealPack Bars for a long time now
http://www.mealpack.com/
nutrition vs $ they are awesome...
they also pack their heft...

a possible solution would be to mail yourself nutrition to a Post Office in General Delivery
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Ultimately my goal is to finish the Tour Divide
which is 100 miles/day for 2700miles across the Continental Divide in the dirt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxl7j-eT_v0&feature=channel

250 miles with 12000' of climbing in ~18-1/2 hours. About 15-1/2 saddle hours. 600k in under 24 hours is a benchmark to shoot for. And of course Chris Ragsdale won the FC 508 last year in 29:10:31. Not bad for having had 60 mph crosswinds.

in comparison last year, while en route on tour from Portland to Ventura, when I reach Arcata, Ca, I did the 12 Hours of Humboldt, completing 12 laps in 11:30, about 96 miles and over 19,000ft of climbing (8 mile laps with 1600ft of gain)

when it comes to endurance racing...its an amazing world

ok... so here is my basic fueling outline:
<snip>
If that was your 'basic' outline, does that mean you have a complex one? :eek: :p

If that was your 'basic' outline, does that mean you have a complex one? :eek: :p

lol

yes... there is more

picking thru available nutrition is a gamut
next time you go into a store, stop and look at what foods you'd consider eating

by sticking to things like Enteral Nutrition products or Hammer Nutrition, its easier to establish a baseline

I think there is more rubbish published on nutrition than almost every other field of study, and that is because it is written to sell books.

Everytime I find out some new "fact" on nutrition I go to the primary literature to see if I can find it. The research is rarely there.

z

I think there is more rubbish published on nutrition than almost every other field of study, and that is because it is written to sell books.

Everytime I find out some new "fact" on nutrition I go to the primary literature to see if I can find it. The research is rarely there.

z

yes, I could agree with that, especially when you see the marketing in "diets", "cleansings", etc...

however, when I refer to Nutrition, I'm simply aiming at trying to quantify calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat...
at the very least, attempt to gauge what fuel you are consuming
and optimally
try to put those values to other measures, like time and distance

I've toyed around with the idea of doing a 24hr MTB race, but I don't think there any around here. They have a big one in Tucson where I used to live, but maybe it's for the best that I don't get mixed up with that!

There are heaps of 24-hour road races around the US. In fact, I think you've got one coming up in Texas soon.
See my Links page for list of 24-hour races: http://www.machka.net/links.htm

at what point do you guys take breaks? How much do you eat drink? what do you eat & drink?


I keep it simple when I do my long rides ...

-- I try to consume approx. 500 calories before I set out on the ride.

-- During the ride, I aim to consume between about 200 and 300 calories per hour, and drink 1 to 1.5 bottles (750 ml) of water and/or sports drink each hour. Some of those 200-300 calories could come from the sports drink.

-- I try to take a lunch/dinner break about every 5-6 hours on my really long rides where I consume 500-1000 calories. I prefer sit-down meals if I've got the luxury of enough time for that.

-- I ride easy for about 30-60 minutes after that break.

-- Other than the lunch/dinner breaks, I take breaks whenever I feel like taking a break. It might be a toilet break, a pause at the top of a long climb, a break to take off or put on a jacket, or whatever. If my break is fairly long (i.e. 30 minutes over lunch), it takes a few minutes to get back into the rythmn again, but it's not bad.

-- And as for what I eat and drink ... I consume whatever I crave ... or in many cases, the closest thing I can find to it. :)

veeeeeeery interesting reads, I am rather impressed by both the distances many of you have covered, and the detail put down on your calorie and whatsit input.

shall ruminate on all of this and try to remember some of this to help my endurance. When I rode long days on tours (long days for me that is) I did learn what foods worked and really just sort of muddled through by seeing what didnt work and what helped.

I had a friend who drove across Canada once, and he was doing 300-350km days, and while he was on a lightly loaded racing bike, the distances did and still do astound me in comparing to my 125km max days (albeit with lots of stuff on the bike)--that said, my friend was and still is a heck of an athlete, whereas I am just a regular old tall and skinny guy.

My first 24 solo I did 254km on a rigid singlespeed, with a pig of a gear and no understanding of nutrition other than 'eat as much sugar as I can'. It was not fun.

The most riding i've done is 272km (Canberra to Sydney), on a Friday. I met my friend at the velodrome, rode in a track meet on Friday night, then rode in a 3-man 12hr MTB race on the saturday. That was on a rigid single speed too, and also wasn't much fun

143 miles in about 14 hours I think it was. that was enough. We took a couple breaks. The terrain included mountains, accounting for the need to take 14 hours.

shall ruminate on all of this and try to remember some of this to help my endurance. When I rode long days on tours (long days for me that is) I did learn what foods worked and really just sort of muddled through by seeing what didnt work and what helped.


There is a difference between long distance cycling and touring.

Long distance cycling often has a time-limit. For example, audax/randonneuring where the minimum speed is about 15 km/h for many of the events, or centuries with a 7 to 8 hour closing time. Long distance cycling is sometimes also racing like the 12 and 24 hour races. Even solo, unorganised long distance events usually have a time and distance goal in mind.

In those cases, eating becomes a lot more precise and regulated to provide as much energy as possible, as quickly as possible. So I choose things like cookies, beef jerky, and salted almonds.

Touring is usually a lot more relaxed. There isn't a time set time limit ... it probably doesn't matter if you arrive at your campground at 3 pm or 5 pm or 7 pm. You can adjust the distance you ride each day depending on how you feel. And so, eating can also be a more relaxed situation. You can stop at cafes along the way to have sit down meals, or put together something from a grocery store or whatever you like. So your food selection can be a bit more varied and interesting, and you can take the time to have full meals if you want.

There are heaps of 24-hour road races around the US. In fact, I think you've got one coming up in Texas soon.
See my Links page for list of 24-hour races: http://www.machka.net/links.htm
Thanks for the link! Too bad the event is in less than 2 weeks. I would still consider doing the 12 hour event, but I have plans for that night. I'll keep it bookmarked for later.

Machka, yes I can see how for the long distance events, one must be so much regimented and organized with food and type of food intake, just so that the distances are physically possible. That said, I am still extremely impressed with how you folks have done such long distances and such long hours in the saddle-speaking of which, boy the other prerequisite is a saddle that fits well!

cheers

tour vs long distance "events"

"events" I'm thinking is the operative word here.

I admit that often times, my rhythm while out on tour simply turns into a day break to midnight type of effort
is it an "event"? not really
is it "Touring"? for me... ya it is... thats how I ride, sometimes...

when I was in the Army we did a lot of training, deployments, etc...
all in prep for combat (I was deployed for Operation Just Cause '89)

I've done a ton of cycling, lots of races, etc...
I love touring!
I also love backpacking

I used to do 24hr Solo MTB races, and really that equates to going round and round in a fairly controlled environment

my point is that, thru "events" you are able to better "train" for real world experiences, i.e. touring
i.e. California Triple Crown
so you go out and do 3 Double Centuries in a season and earn your kudos for CTC
now you know what its like to ride for about 14hrs straight
experience transfers
now you know how to ride a touring bike for 10hrs...

same kind of deal...