sandy_pangle

Exactly where does the line start between novice/recreational riding and true distance cycling?

GuitarWizard

I would say anything over 50 miles starts to become a "serious" ride....but that's my opinion.

DataJunkie

N = your current distance

Distance cycling = N + 10.

Sorry, I am of no help with classifications.

slowandsteady

I chose the over 70 category, but really I think it is more about time than anything. If you need to worry about electrolyte imbalances and eating food, it is a long ride.

Keith99

I chose over 70. To me distance cycling means a ride that sort of fits where the Marathon fits for many runners. E.g. a ride where I wonder if I can go that far and still be riding 'at a jog' so to speak. A ride one would train to be able to finish. That means at least a century.

That said, locally 50 miles is sort of the hump. The local club I ride with SFVBC has in valley and out of valley rides. The longest in valley rides are about 50 miles, the shortest out of valley rides are about 50 miles. But those out of valley rides have real hills. Once you can do the hills it is just a question of adding miles, and that is easy to do, by adding just a mile at a time.

woodcycl

To me, there is a middle-area between novice/recreational riding & Distance Cycling. I'd say novice/reacreational is 0 to 25 maybe, 25 to 75 for middle of the road, and 75+ as distance cycling. Just my perception based on my interpretation.

Little Darwin

I believe the Long Distance Cycling forum the concensus is 100 miles or further.

blue_nose

Personally, you have got to ride over 100 miles for it to be considered a "distance" event or ride. Everything else is just a ride.

merlinextraligh

The answer really has to be different for every individual, and will vary based upon your exprience. Until I'd done a century, I thought it was a very big deal that required a lot of thought, preperation, support and training. Now its a long saturday's training ride. As you do progressively longer rides, your personal idea of what a big ride is, tends to change.

merlinextraligh

Also, doesn't degree of difficulty have too factor in. For example, the maratona dles dolomiti, is only 88 miles this coming year, but with 14,000 feet of climbing it would meet my definition of an endurance event.

Snicklefritz

It depends on who you talk to. For some of my track friends, their idea of "distance" is the kilo.

johnny99

If you ask non-cyclists what a long ride is, they will probably say more than 1 or 2 hours.

If you ask a regular cyclist, he or she will probably say 100 miles or 100km.

Psimet2001 

I too believe it truely means something different for eveyone...thus the poll....

Personally I consider the cut-off to be 100. Many rec cyclists can and do ride centuries, but traveling on rides longer than 100 miles seems to instantly set you apart from most others in the cycling community.

Example: I set up a century for this weekend (see my sig for a link), and have quite a few riders doing the 100. If I extended that ride to a double metric (124) I might be lucky to get 1 other person to join in.

Keith99

I think the context of what is asked makes as big a difference as the person answering. To me a thread asking 'what is distance cycling' is different than asking 'what is a long ride'. I can easily see someone calling 30 miles a long ride. Perhaps because it is the farthest they have ever gone, or perhaps on the other end that because of a busy life it is the longest they have time for.

Hmm Guess that means for quite a few 30 miles is a long ride on a weekday and a short to medium ride on the weekend. And I really hope when it is called a long ride on the weekend it is with a very happy smile.

botto 

endurance event? not exactly, but then again a century in Southern New England (for example) is a piece of piss in comparison.

caveat - for me an 'endurance event' would require somthing in the range of 8-10+ hours on the bike.

cyclezealot

I defined distance as anything above average. My average daily ride is approximately 50 miles. Not that 70 is awful to me, but I compare that to what is average. I probably do at least three 50 mile rides per week and one around 70.. I don't really feel I am pushing myself unless I exceed 100.

curiouskid55

distance riding = how far you can go
speed riding= how fast you can go
racing= how fast you can go how far

howsteepisit

I think that a distance ride clocks in at over 100, but the poll only went to 70, so thats how I voted. Now, Training for a distance ride, thats something else. OVer 50 in training.

cuda2k

Distance = 50 - 100mi
Long Distance = 100+

Pizza Man

I'd define it as any distance beyond the maximum distance you can ride without food or water before you bonk. I don't know how far that is but I'd guess that it's between 50-100 miles depending on conditioning , weather & effort.

voltman

When does one become a cyclist versus a guy with a bicycle?

GuitarWizard

Well....perhaps I should further explain my post above...

I meant anything over 50 miles becoming a "serious" ride in that *most* training rides for *most* people are generally under this distance. I've done quite a few 45-50 mile training rides this year, but for the most part they range between 16-35 miles, depending on what type of ride I'm doing. Granted, riding 50 miles isn't really a huge deal, but with time constrants, it's not like I would have the time to do them whenever I wanted.....as I suspect with many others as well.

As far as serious distance....I would say anything over 100, but again....for most cyclists in decent shape, you can easily ride 100 miles. Takes a little planning and foresight, but they're not too hard (provided you're not sick at the time ). The longest I've been on a bike was 12 hours....that makes for a long day, but pales in comparison to the ultradistance riders. That might as well be a training ride for some. But....they don't fall into the "norm" of what most people do, or have the time/willingness to do.

So yeah....50+ miles start to become a fairly "serious" ride for most. Basically, anything that you need to fuel yourself on is a bit beyond a spin in the park, so to speak. Hard? Well, you can make 'em as hard or as easy as you want, depending on route choice and how hard you push.

mollusk

I'd say it starts at 200km, but that's just me. That distance and under I can do on the spur of the moment. Over that distance might require a bit of planning.

banerjek

I'm with mollusk since none of the distances listed require any preparation unless particularly difficult climbs are involved. However, being a Yank, I'd say it starts at a century since everyone likes nice round numbers.

Machka 

It does depend a lot on the cyclist, and where the cyclist is in terms of riding.

During my first year of cycling, I thought 50 miles was a long way. In 1994, when I did my first century, I thought 100 miles was a long distance. In 2001, when I did my first Super Randonneur series, I thought 300K (180 miles), 400K (250 miles) and then 600K (370 miles) were each long distances as I was getting ready for them. In 2002, when I did my first 1200K randonnee, I thought 1200K was a long distance.

In general now, I look at distance like this ...

100 miles is a reasonable distance ... a good training ride, something I use to maintain my endurance level throughout the year.

A 24-hour ride, or a 400K (250 miles), or a fleche, or something around that distance, is a long distance ride. That's something which, for me, requires preparation in terms of fuel, clothing, equipment, etc.. That distance also enters into the realm of sleep deprivation and sleep deprivation is a significant factor which differentiates between a longish distance, and LONG DISTANCE ride.

Distances over 24-hour rides such as the 600K brevet, 1000K randonnee, 1200K randonnee, etc. are really long distance rides ... but because we (randonneurs) mentally break the ride down into segments (i.e. to the next control) because the idea of riding 1200 kilometers all in one go is almost too difficult for the mind to comprehend, those distances may not seem as long as they are or as they sound.


I will add one more thing here ... for some reason, I have a lot of difficulty with the 600K distance, and to me, it actually seems like a longer distance than a 1000K or a 1200K!! I still haven't figured out exactly why that is.