DnvrFox

The About 20 Mile Ride 50+ BFN Thread

OK, folks, post your 20 + or - mile rides here. Pictures encouraged!!

spoke50

I do this one about twice a week straight out of the nieghborhood.

BluesDawg

huh?

cranky old dude

The wife and I rode 12 miles yesterday. Can I total up both our tallies and call it a 24 mile ride?

The wind wasn't blowing (rare this year), and the sun was shining through a cloudless sky. We rode quiet residential streets to a large park-like cemetery and then on to a three mile long MUP along the lower stretch of the Genesee River to the mouth of the river at Lake Ontario. After a hot lunch at one of our favorite Diners we rode back up-hill to home. Total didtance 11.65 miles each for a total of just over 23 miles. Sorry, no pics this trip.

Hermes

We have a ride from our house that starts by climbing the Northern section of Skyline through Hillsborough. We descend a bike path over a freeway and connect to the local time trial course. We proceed south to Woodside. This ride is about 25 miles with 1600 feet of climbing. It is a great after work ride with light traffic, good roads and few stops. Like most things in cycling, there are pros and cons. Great roads, scenery and other cyclists but a lot of wind in the evening coming back. Wind in the evening in the bay area is something that we have to live with.

We generally do this ride a couple of times per week.

A variation on this is to drive to the start of the time trial course which is as flat as it gets in our area. We did this last night and rode our time trial bikes for two laps of the course for 20 miles. It was very windy but a nice evening. It is not feasible to ride TT bikes from our house to the course.

late

I commuted by bike yesterday, 17 miles total. This weekend should be about 20, but we'll prob be going to yard sales, so who knows.

Time to get a bike computer. Whatever it is that Spoke50 has must be some fancy gadget.

Allegheny Jet

Due in part to the rain and more so that I had to go furniture shopping with my wife, yesterday's ride was completed on the trainer beginning at 9:30 PM. Total miles turned was 19.88 while watching the NBA game on TV. The ride went something like this:

- 5 min easy spin warm up.
- 20 minute spin ups in very easy gear 34/21: 100 cadence for 2 min, 105/2min, 110/2 min, 115/2 min, 120/2 min,125/2 min,
130/2 min, 135/1 min, 115/1 min, 140/ 1 min, 115/1 min, 145/1 min
- 5 min easy spin rest
- Latacte tempo ladder: 50/21 gear - 50 seconds @ 100rpm/ 10 seconds @ 120rpm, 45 sec 100rpm/15 sec 120rpm, 40 sec 100rpm/20 sec 120rpm, 35 sec 100rpm/25 sec 120rpm... continues.... 5 sec 100rpm/55 sec 120rpm, ending with 60 seconds @ 120rpm. That is a double yikes! drill
- 5 min easy spin rest
- 2 x 10 minute intervals in HR Zone 4 (HR 145 - 155) in a big gear (50/14-15) @ 80 to 85 cadence, 5 minute rest between efforts
- 5 min cool down

kr32

I do 21 everyday after work. Yesterday I added a new section because I found brand new asphalt and it turns out to be 3 miles more and 1 hill more.
edit..sorry but no pictures :-(

Tom Bombadil

I did a 16 miler last week, on the Wisconsin "400" bike trail, using my RANS Stratus bent. Started in Wonewoc and rode south to just past La valle and back. Beautiful ride. As the trail exits Wonewoc south, the road beside of it cuts to the East and in almost no time at, the road is out of sight and out of hearing. So you ride in complete solitude, can't even hear the cars & trucks. There is also complete solitude from my cell phone, for there is no coverage in this area. Never get so much as 1 bar of signal - so I don't take it with me when I ride here.

The trail cuts through wetlands, which are flooded this spring. So in several places, you are riding with water on both sides of the trail. Saw a lot of geese and ducks. A couple of miles before you get to La Valle, you pass by & under some bluffs, which were cut away during the Ice Age glacier melt. Lots of flowers were coming up, the ferns were unfurling, the trillium weren't blooming yet.

Then you pass a large pond that always has waterfowl on it. It is close to a bed & breakfast and they put up a bench there. Then it is through a hillside cut that was made for the old train tracks and into La Valle. La Valle has a large antique shop, a nice art gallery, and several mom & pop restaurants. Rode a bit past the town because I always spot black squirrels just south of town and did so again.

Then it was back into town, got a 6" pizza from the Trailside Restaurant, which caters to cyclists. Rode back to Wonewoc, stopping under the bluffs to explore around a bit. When back in Wonewoc I dropped by the bakery, which is a very low budget, small town (around pop. 800?) affair. Donuts are 40 cents each. Also dropped into their consignment / antique store and found a copy of a 1960s Monkees comic book for $1. My wife was a huge Monkees fan when she was 13-14, so I picked it up for her.

Total number of people (bikers & hikers) encountered on the ride: 1. On my return trip a mile out of La Valle, a guy riding a mountain bike in the opposite direction, passed me, with a wave & hello.

Not much of a ride for the sake of getting in a good exercise, but it sure was relaxing. I had gotten in a 5 mile walk/hike through a state park earlier that day. All in all, a very good day.

linux_author

walked three, biked 16 yesterday... took a break for a cup of java to watch the boat ramp for a while... almost ran over a sleeping mallard in the picnic shelter when i was leaving (i guess it had been sitting next to me all the time i was there):

Ed in GA

I, along with my wife (who is not yet 50), rode the Silver Comet Trail from Dallas, Ga to Rockmart, GA, and back for a total of 33.9 miles on Saturday.

Does that count?

No pics as we discovered her camera was not working.

Hermes

Our TT workout was a little simpler. With our coach in the car following and screaming out the window to go faster here it is:

5 miles of warmup followed by:

VO2 max intervals - 5 minutes 90 rpm, recovery, 3 minutes 95 rpm, recovery 2 minutes 100 rpm recovery. Intensity as hard as possible.

Repeat with a second set.

Setup. Put me off first with a held start with my wife behind by 30 seconds. He gave us the time differential at the end i.e. he was X seconds faster on the time interval or she was Y seconds faster. We each won 3 intervals. The the first 5 minute VO2 max was hard and the second 3 minute was very tough for me and she killed me. The 3rd through the 6th were much better for me.

There is a lesson learned. In competition, I need to do a couple of really hard efforts with some recovery before I can achieve my max power and sustain it. This goes beyond "simple warmup".

Edit: I forgot the best part. I rewarded myself with a Muscle Milk.

Hermes

I believe that is a screenshot of the Garmin Training Center software. Probably a Garmin 305 or 705.

Allegheny Jet

A couple races ago our team had a canopy for us to warm up under using trainers because the race course was closed during other races. I brought my trainer and did the first two drills from my workout to warm up. The LT ladder will bring the HR up and produce the burn in the lungs and legs needed to get fully warmed up. Try it at home sometime, then hit the streets flying. I did the same W/U prior to the the indoor TT's last winter and was ready to go.

Road Fan

My usual 20 mile ride is the Ann Arbor-Dexter run. From my house ride about 5 miles north to the Huron River, climbing the multiply-peaked Newport Road to the middle school. Then roll downhill, through some twisties, power along a flat, until Foster Road which leads to Huron River Drive. This follows the Huron River into Dexter, MI, around 8 miles. Some ups and downs, lots of turns, one rail crossing, some highly questionable pavement, and you get to Dexter, Michigan, northwest of Ann Arbor. There I usually stop for coffee, water, baked goods (really not a pie guy), or ice cream. Sometimes we just set a bit and head back. The route back can be the same or via Dexter-Ann Arbor Road (who in the class can tell me why it's called Dexter-Ann Arbor Road? Dnver? Beverly? Hermes? Very good, class!). This is a 50 mph 2-lane arterial with decent shoulders and wider (nearly 14 feet) lanes. From Dexter to AA it's generally uphill and sometimes aggressively so. It's good for speed, but it allows you to avoid the sometimes horrible eastbound pavement on HRD, and the again-nasty Newport hill. This loop is around 22 miles.

I can add a side trip to Chelsea from Dexter for a nearly 35 mile route, and to loop north from Chelsea to North Territorial Road heading back east towards Ann Arbor. This might become a 55 mile ride (my planned age ride), but I have to map it out and check. All of these roads are 2-lane, tree lined, through farmland and rural residences with some light industry, up and down rolling hills. They aren't big climbs, but any climb is hard if you go fast enough, and being rollers you don't really get to recover before encountering the next one.

I have some of this on Map My Ride if anyone is interested in checking them out.

Road Fan

Hermes

Thanks. Will do.

late

I want to get that 705 when it gets down around 300 bucks. For now, I just ordered another Planet Bike cheapie, 22 bucks off Amazon.

Tom Bombadil

I can see that there are different takes here about what makes for an enjoyable 20 mile ride.

palookabutt

+5. I've learned that there is no way I can do a high-intensity workout with less than ~30 minutes' worth of warmup that includes several efforts to or above LT.

However, as for 20-mile rides, I managed to dodge high winds yesterday by heading out at ~7:30 even though it was still chilly out. Once I got past the chaos near the local high school, the roads were relatively peaceful and I could take some time to enjoy the scenery. Even though this spring has been cold, wet and windy for Colorado, I have to admit it's nice to see green rather than tawny foliage for a change.

Sorry, I keep forgetting to take my camera along!

BluesDawg

Only if you stopped at Frankie's in Rockmart for a slice of pizza.

Shimagnolo

Doesn't look like GTC to me. GTC looks like this.

zoste

Not mine, my Training Center looks like Spoke's.

stapfam

they are just variations on set up.

But my normal 20 mile ride.

Takes in a couple of hills to start with. Up the high and over which is a 15% climb with a short 20% kink in it.Then the 16% but that is downhill but this is followed by a 5% average for about 2 miles that really annoys me and takes me to the top of Beachy Head. Can never attack this one- even with a tailwind. Then the gigzgs down to the seafront and the cafe.Quite the highlight of the ride but I guess you know what pic is posted for this

From here there is a choice- Across the flatlands across the marshes- Back up the cuckoo trail (MUP) Or even out past the Country cottage. These are a bit longer than the 20 mile ride- but on a good day- the views are worth it- and on a bad day- They are still not too bad.

Cone Wrench

Look at Spoke's post, then look at Stapfam's. That, in a nutshell, describes the two types of riders we have on this forum.

spoke50

Bingo... 305, It's fun to play with, but not that accurate.