Ranger63

When I started doing the morning (breakfast) rides with the retired members of the club I belong to, I thought it was kind of neat..
Ride 20 miles and stop for a coffee and bagle break then ride back to the start.
Then I started doing a tuesday morning ride with a rider who didn't like stopping for more than the power bar and water.
"What" I discovered was: I stopped having the leg cramping and muscle fatigue I was having after those 20 min./half hour 'coffee breaks'.
I got more out of the ride as well (conditioning wise)

So I ask: Ride Breaks over 5 min or so..yea or nay for the rest of you folks?

Louis

15 min.~ is OK with me, anything longer usually requires another warm up - which is fine if the group isn't hammering. Perhaps I'm lucky but I've never been bothered by leg cramping.

If the group is hammering I'm gonna be off the back, anyhow.

BluesDawg

Sometimes I do, then again I think I don't
Sometimes I will, then again I think I won't

CACycling

If I'm doing a serious ride, I try to keep breaks around 5 minutes (this can sometimes be a challenge when my wife is along). If we are on a casual ride (20 miles or less total), I'm pretty much OK with stopping for as long as she wants (especially if its at our favorite produce stand for bananas and pastries).

Retro Grouch 

Hammering? On your bicycle? I'd never use a hammer on my bicycle.

bobbycorno

Power Bar and water? You need to stop for THAT? Eat and drink while you ride!

Seriously, there's a place for both. When I'm doing a training ride under 100 mi or so, I generally don't stop except to take a leak or adjust something on my bike. Longer training rides it's nice to take a break and stop for some "real food" every few hours. On brevets, you HAVE to stop at controls to get your card signed, and it's also a good opportunity to pick up more provisions, "jettison excess water", etc. But I still like to keep the breaks short as possible unless it's meal time. If it's a strictly social ride, then stopping for a bite is part of the experience. In short, it all depends on the purpose of the ride. And, yeah, the longer the break, the more the need to "re-warm up".

SP

Jet Travis

Agree. Different rides for different riding partners. With my female beginner pal, I'm happy to spin along stopping at a garden center or for a cup of tea. With my hammerhead 30-year-old next-door neighbor, I strap on the helment and try to hang on. When I'm by myself, I often bring my camera sauntering along and looking for nice landscapes to capture.

swan652

Nay.

stapfam

Most of my rides take in a cafe break 40 to 50 minutes after I start. Only 10 miles or so but then after I am out for another 30 to 40 miles.

OR- I do 20 miles of hills- need a cafe break and then do 20 on the flat.

Without that cafe break-I would starve. Where else would I get a breakfast at 9 am on a sunday?- Or 7pm on a thursday night?

Unless I cook it myself and that is lost riding time.

az_cyclist

Our club rides have a 20 minute coffee/muffin break in about the middle. Our ride averages about 15 mph, but he break allows for some socializing. I dont usually break at all on solo rides of 50 miles or less.

Mojo Slim

Clearly, you'll get no definitive answer here. The group I ride with stops a bit too often for my tastes, but I don't mind the 15-20 minute Coke break at the deli after about 20 miles. If I am alone or with a couple of my buddies, we tend to go farther between breaks (20-25), but there is usually some destination (Starbucks, a deli) in mind. On a longer ride (80+) getting a good lunch is worth the longer stop.

I always carry a camera, so it's not unusual for me to stop for 30 seconds for a shot. But I also carry it around my neck, so there are many pictures taken while moving.

cccorlew

Both. When i ride I want to ride and stop only to refill the water bottle. But sometimes I like to ride out for coffee. I've even ridden to a wine tasting (thank god for the tail wind home)

sauerwald

I've heard that the best tail winds come after bean tastings.

In any event - the vast majority of miles that I put in are commuting to work and back - 15 miles each way, so there are no stops during the ride, but I do eat at the end of each commute. I also do a charity ride, which covers 450 miles over 4 1/2 days - I find on that ride if I eat too much at lunch, I am a hurting puppy for the rest of the day - what works best for me are short stops, about every 20 miles, with snacks at the stops.

Beverly

A ride without food

BSLeVan

This, as others have indicated, depends on the ride. However, I always stop if there is something worth stopping for. For example, I recently came upon a pulled-pork sandwich contest being held during a street fair. While it wasn't in my plan for any stops when I left the house, the hour stop was well worth it. Other times I'll ride all day with nary a stop.

brewer45

On the tandem, Malkin and I stop at least every hour for a "butt break." During those stops, we snack, offload, and stretch. Couldn't comfortably ride more than about 20 miles without those breaks.

Cheers!

SaiKaiTai

I like to take some moments sometimes to stop for a short bit and appreciate where I am.
If I'm just riding to ride, I don't see the point, really. Stop and smell the roses and all that.
Especially on longer rides where I actually have a destination.
I like to stop, have a snack and enjoy where it is I've worked to get to. Usually 15-20 minutes, tops
Otherwise, I might as well just ride a trainer in the garage.

BengeBoy 

I don't stop much if I'm just out for a shorter ride (under 3 hours). I try not to stop within the first 90 minutes of a ride, unless there is something unusual.

If I am riding 4 to 5 hours I will stop to eat something; ideally I would stop with about 2/3 of the ride or more completed. I think like a lot of people I plan rides around "food" destinations, e.g. -- let's ride to that bakery 30 miles from here, get a bagel, return home.

jppe

I've worked over the years to condition myself to not stop. The last 100 miler I did I stopped once for 3 mins. You can eat and stretch while you ride.......Faster guys get frustrated as some tend to stop more and can't figure out why I wind up ahead of them.....

George

I'll stop after 20 miles to swap my water bottles out and take about 2 minute break, then go for another 10 or 15 miles.

Rick@OCRR

I agree with all of the above that said (in one way or another) "It really varies with the ride!"

I've ridden centuries without stopping (fueled by Sustained Energy in a Camelback and two large bottles of Gatorade), and I've ridden as little as 6 mi. between stops (The Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour) with eating opportunities (great pie in Maiden Rock, WI at the Smiling Pelican Bakery!) at almost every stop.

So the rule is, there is no rule. Feel free to modify your behavior for the ride you're on, keeping in mind your goals (if any), and the feelings of others in your group (if any). Wait . . . ah, I mean, if there are others in your group, not if the others have any feelings . . .

Rick / OCRR

SKYLAB

I rarely stop - at all. Some of this is because most of my rides are at lunch - 15-22 miles - and i need to be back within an hour and a half or less. I've also found, when forced to stop by a partner for over a couple of minutes, that my legs really don't like firing back up. So, to avoid that feeling of discomfort from saddling back up, I just stay in the saddle.
Side note - I rode 22 miles yesterday, into BlackHawk and back (a good 2000 feet of climbing?) to stop at my Credit Union. While there I pounded an espresso. 10 minutes into the climb out of the canyon I felt weak-ish. Had to stop for water and a clif shot (non-caffeinated). This so rarely happens to me, it had to be the espresso.

stonecrd

No I hate stopping, I much more prefer to eat/drink while riding. I have changed groups more than once when they started to have 15min rest breaks in 40mi rides.

maddmaxx 

I would think that it would depend on what the ride is for. If its a real breakfast ride, then you stop. If its a training ride you may not. In the 50+ forum more than anyplace else, there are a large variety of riding reasons, styles and abilities.

Do you want to stop......................?

Little Darwin

For a casual ride a long stop is not problematic at all.

For a relatively aggressive ride, I prefer short rest stops.

Some of my rides start out relatively aggressive, then after a long stop turn into a casual ride.

Note, my relatively aggressive rides would look like casual rides to many observers.