Chris516

coasting 

i love long long easy rides with good scenery.

aramis

Well thanks for the good replies. I think I've decided I just like to ride hard for 3-4 hours and go home. Maybe in 20 years I'll get all retro-grouchy and ride for 96 hours straight on 48 spoke wheels.

My body doesn't like the extra time spent on the bike and for some reason I think I hurt more (or notice it more) when I go on longer rides at a slower pace than when I go on a shorter faster ride. I'm also really bad at managing my time well enough to get up early enough to get done at a reasonable hour and hey it's just plain boring unless I am with a group.

Velo Vol 

Unless I'm riding somewhere I rarely go, I usually start to get bored beyond 40-50 miles.

dtrain

I've done a few centuries...but found that last 60-90 minutes to be a real killer. I think organized metric centuries are my personal sweet spot; shorter if I'm on my own or in a small group. I'd rather ride hard for a couple hours than ride all day.

Campag4life

I pretty much agree with you OP. A 60 mile ride averaging 15mph takes four hours of pedaling. That's enough. 70 is OK on ocassion. A century in a pace line isn't so bad...pretty easy to ride higher speed in a group...averaging 18-20 mph takes a pretty low watt output.

Last year, I rode routinely 60 miles...sometimes solo and sometimes with a couple of buddies. After that, I feel like I got my biking fix and need to take a rest.
Cheers.

Sixty Fiver

A 7 hour century is a pretty enjoyable ride if the company and scenery are right and I consider this a brisk touring pace.

Those 60 rides were always the hammer fests as more people could afford the time and going hard for three hours is nothing like going hard for 5.

bikerjp

It's nice to see people admit that 30-50 mile rides are the norm. I've only topped 60 miles a few times and all were vacations or when I had a lot of time. It's really hard to find time to go out for 4+ hours even on the weekend. That said, if I have the time I enjoy the longish rides. I always ride solo and the me time is great. Hoping to do more 60-80 miles rides this summer so we'll see.

Elevation

If im riding by myself no more than 4 hours without stopping, with people I know... skies the limit.

RollCNY

Lest you think everyone agrees with you:

The only purpose for a ride of less than 15 miles is to get to and from work.

The only purpose of a ride from 16 - 30 miles is to ride as hard as you can, to atone to the cycling gods for wasting time commuting.

The only purpose of rides of 31 - 60 miles is to ride and gab socially on a group ride, like a large traveling knitting circle.

Rides longer than 60 miles are to be enjoyed alone or with one other, and are what riding a bike is all about. The self-sufficiency of riding to a place that you know was too far, and then riding back. Release your inner 6th grader.

rebel1916

I enjoy suffering (check out https://www.njtrailseries.com/devil this is serious fun) but generally speaking I stop enjoying cycling after 3-4 hours. So, I generally ride less than that. Because riding a bike makes me happy and I like to keep it that way.

merlinextraligh

Getting ready for cross Florida (167 miles), then Dirty kanza (200 miles of gravel roads.
So doing a lot of long rides. Can't say I'm real enjoying it.

roadiejorge 

Most I've done is ~140 miles which with a group was fun but solo I don't think I'd be saying the same thing. I make sure to get a few centuries in between spring and fall just for the challenge otherwise 60-70 milers are my long rides.

Genaro

I normally ride 40-60 miles once a week, but would ride more if I had more time. Longest ride I've done was 120 miles, and I know I would enjoy rides that were 100-150 miles in distance. In the summer, I find myself leaving the house earlier and earlier (as early as 3AM) to get in more miles by noon. I don't mind riding with other people from time to time, but on my long rides, I prefer to ride alone as I enjoy alone time, and I don't have to worry about other people slowing me down, or slowing down others. You spend more time BS'ing when you do long ride with others that makes your rides longers.

StephenH

To each his own. No problem with that.

If you don't like long rides because something's hurting, consider working on that problem. A 62 mile ride shouldn't be a test of butt endurance. If you drove a car a 100 miles, and it made you all sore to do so, you'd get a new car, you wouldn't go around saying "Gosh, I just hate long drives!" If you can't stand to ride 70 miles, you're probably not real comfortable at 50 miles either, and fixing the 70-mile problem will help with the 50-mile issues, too.

Some of y'all don't have time to do long rides, and I understand that. But then, there's some of us that don't have much to do, and long rides help out there.

Riding at a sustainable pace with friends is what it's all about for me. Riding as fast as you can might be a good workout, but isn't much fun for me.

bt

when I get bored at the 60 mile mark I just dial up to 700 watts and finish the last 40 in about and hour or so.

megalowmatt

I like to smell the roses and take it all in when I ride. The farthest I've ridden is 68 miles for the San Diego "metric century" and that's probably about as far as I care to go right now.

MetalPedaler

I've never taken a really long ride and I have no plans of doing such. In a way, it might be cool to be able to say that you rode 100 miles.....but me? I'd get bored; it would cease being enjoyable- probably by the 50 mile point. I rarely even DRIVE 100 miles! I love taking a 25 or 30 mile ride. I don't want riding to be something I drea; something that wears me out; something that is tedious and boring- so I avoid really long rides. I just don't see super-long rides as fun. I'd rather do 4 25 mile rides in a week...than 1 100 mile ride.

Muffin Man

This happened to me. I blew up. Fixed gear centuries are fun, but they hurt.

krobinson103

I like the feeling when I've gone 180km and know I still have another hour to go. Nothing like finding those pain varriets and brwaking them. It also does wonders for my conditioning and fitness.

marqueemoon

That.

I don't mind longer distances, and even like riding alone, but with a young kid my riding time is kind of limited. Plus I should be hurting myself more to prepare for cross anyway.

What I've decided doesn't really interest me is randonneuring. Riding at night is not my thing, nor do I like convenience store food or sleeping in ditches.

youcoming

My average ride is 80km but only because of time restraints. I love long rides hope to do 12 centuries this year with one triple century in there somewhere.

twoblacklabs

"Ain't nobody got time for dat!"
Seriously, I enjoy long rides by myself. My first century (08/31/12) was solo. My butt was so sore, I was glad no one had to listen to me moan and groan much less have to stop when I did. The chaffing was horrible. Otherwise, I truly enjoy being able to come home with a big ass grin on my face and posting that I finished 50, 60, 70, or even 100 miles, SOLO. I am yet to find group riding any fun.

I would enjoy it so much more if we had decent scenery around here. Farms are cool and all but it gets REALLY OLD in the flat lands of NE Indiana/NW Ohio.

svtmike

I enjoy the odd standard century but a fast-paced metric century is kind of my sweet spot. I can do a metric alone, but anything much longer and I get bored if I'm not with a group.

seypat

If I might ask, why exactly do you get bored if you are not in a group?