Originally Posted by SBRDude

Hmm, how about doing an Ironman triathlon, and not just to finish, but to compete within one's age group? Go do a 112 mile time trial (after a 2.4 mile open water swim) under 5 and half hours and then run a 3:30 marathon and let me know how it compares to a brevet. Those speeds, if you're unfamiliar with them, were fast enough to qualify for the Hawaiian Ironman, which is a world championship event. Brevets and many of the long rides that people discuss around here certainly can be demanding, but the emphasis is not on head to head competition and pushing one's body to the limits during that competition in order to stay on the edge between speed and physical breakdown. I'm not trying to get into a pissing match over who has more experience, but I do get rather annoyed whenever questions are assumed to be coming from a total lack of inexperience. As such, perhaps you should try a tactic different from "picking on someone."