I don’t hate them and understand their purpose.
The thing that is annoying is just before each end of the bridges the path takes a 90° turn. It just slows us down.
The only real problem with them that I have seen is when a partially disabled cyclist riding a 3 wheel reclining bicycle. His rear wheels just barely make it through.

Ugh. To each their own (cardiologist) ;)

My main question seems to have gone off track.
I was just curious if riders who do 20-30 miles at a time are done in at the end. I got my answer. Thanks for everyone’s input.

One other question- on a 20-30 mile ride do you stop now and then or just go straight through?

Lucky, hard training, devil. For me it would take ‘mo powa’. A lot mo. :D

agreed. i feel stronger every year. i'm only 58 but i seem to get new PRs every season. indoor training really helps out, no down time, ever.

my commute from work to home is 37 miles with about 2K+ feet of climbing. i only stop at lights.

What is PR?

Depends. Before pandemic days our club had a 25-30 mile ride every Sunday following the long ride on Saturdays. Sunday our group would go 15ish miles and stop for coffee and snacks and chat about the previous day's ride, then cruise to the end. Great fun.
Now if I do 25 miles (solo) I stop someplace and have a banana, take a bathroom break, sit down for a minute. On our Saturday rides we stop around 25 miles for a break and sometimes again depending on distance, hills, heat, need for bathrooms, etc.

We did 42 miles last Saturday and it was hot so people were whining and didn't want to stop for snacks. A different club I sometimes ride with doesn't stop on 35 mile rides unless someone needs a bathroom break. I did 70 miles with them a couple weeks ago and only stopped once for water. When I go with them I bring extra food.

Personal record.
Regarding eating on rides, some people can eat absolutely anything and ride fine. I can eat a lot sometimes, but not overdo it.I have a friend (also a member here on BF) who has done a lot of endurance racing, including 500 mile races and even team RAAM racing. This guy can eat huge amounts of food and go climb mountains. I saw him eat a big burrito and a burger at a break in the mountains, then out climb everyone the rest of the ride.

I have seen other people eat McDonalds or similar and hammer on the bike.

Catching up, after a few days of 'vacation' , riding e-bikes with wife.... phew... I need a vacation... LOL!
so...
Everyone is a bit different. I wouldn't want to 'compare' to anyone I don't know, very personally, in the 'Real World'...
You've come a long way, and getting to know yourself well - or a side of you you haven't had...
If the Lake loop is frustrating you, with the stops, sharp curves turns, obstacles - find other routes to ride...
The out-back 15 miler might be a good option - only you would know. Also any other options in the area...
Given what you say about the lake route, I can;t imagine doing that loop much faster, without reducing your safety margin...
There is an old saying "Go slower to go faster". Meaning ride the bike at higher rpms, lower gears (which will prolly mean you go a bit slower at first). Then, over a period of days and weeks, slowly increase the gear used in small increments, but keeping the same speedy pedaling action. Do that for some months..
Try to get to riding steady at 80 rpm, without getting totally gased... Terrain may modify that slightly, but best to keep the rpms up and go smaller gear for uphills. Try not to go below 70 rpm for now...
And if you can do that for 12 or 15 miles, your body will adapt a bit quicker. 4-5 days of riding is good, keep at it !
Having new ride routes will keep the riding fun - a great thing.
As for the 'weight', you have to eat for the 'weight' you wish to be. Most of us (maybe all) have vices when it comes to nutrition. How you can control that will be key to getting your weight to a level you're happy with.
Ride On
Yuri
EDIT: Looking at the ride stats you posted... The Calories Burned number is prolly WAY OFF... At the speeds the chart shows, the elevations, the Calorie numbers are VERY High... VERY COMMON with most apps/devices which give you their 'guess' for those numbers. They try to be cheerful and motivate,,, but what this does is create mis-understanding on the person's part....
At the speeds and elevations you're riding, 35 Calories per mile (actually Kilo-calories...) would be a better estimate... When you get over 14 mph avg you can bump up to 40 Kcal/mile...
There are approximately 3500 Kcal in 1 lb. of Human fat... or 100 miles... at 14-15 mph avg...
Pls don;t be discouraged, the miles you're putting in will hopefully be joyful miles.
Be honest with yourself on your nutrition...
Ride is great, and you'll benefit from it..

[QUOTE=big john;23520391]Personal record.
Regarding eating on rides, some people can eat absolutely anything and ride fine. I can eat a lot sometimes, but not overdo it.I have a friend (also a member here on BF) who has done a lot of endurance racing, including 500 mile races and even team RAAM racing. This guy can eat huge amounts of food and go climb mountains. I saw him eat a big burrito and a burger at a break in the mountains, then out climb everyone the rest of the ride.

I have seen other people eat McDonalds or similar and hammer on the bike.[/QUOTE


PR. Something I’ve never thought of tracking. When we were young we were a very fast tandem couple. We hoverThese days its all about getting out there.
Stop on the wheel of you can. We’ve had some memorable 200 milers just eating GU

A 25-mile group rife I do regularly has two scheduled stops where folks can join. Always a little chat there, then get rolling again. When I started doing it a year ago, I had a little worry about embarrassing myself in front of experienced riders. Now, it feels downright leisurely.
Solo, I’m going to stop a time or two on a two hour plus ride. Still, if I really push for 30-40 miles (seeking out hills) I guess I feel “done in”, even with stops. But really, that’s more specific training to make sure that a metric century is going to go well.

20-30, yes, just go straight through. 60, coffee stop halfway. On truly long rides, I stopped about every 3 hours, usually about 50 miles of hilly terrain. On well-traveled roads, there's usually a source of water and maybe snack food about that often. Whether one is done in depends on how hard one goes. 20-30, not unless I'm doing a lot of hard intervals, to specially create exhaustion. OK, this is not me now, but it was me until my late 70s. I rode my last RAMROD at 77, really tough because of the COVID interruption. It is totally possible to develop so much endurance that one is not even tired after 200 miles, still have lots left. Still had that at 70. It's a long game.

I can eat one GU, any more than that and I get nausea. Same with Clif bars. I'm ok with Heed or Perpetuem or Power Bars, but mostly I like regular food. I enjoy stopping for food on longer rides and look forward to it. So do some of my friends and clubmates.

At 67 and riding with 250 lbs you are doing fine at 12.5 mph.
Just add more distance so you burn more cals and get lighter.
You will get faster with less weight.
Dont worry about your avg speed just do more miles.
I love riding the FW trinity trails, you can get a good speed going and its not any where as busy as the Dallas trails.
Your bike and fit can also make a big difference to how long comfortable riding is enjoyable.
Try sprinting on some of the short ups and downs like the river crosses on the trails.
Best wishes with improvements!

Straight through.

30 miles is my daily ride distance. A bottle of water and maybe a pack of gummies 1/2 way. Maybe a little more food if I’m riding hard.

I don’t like stopping. The legs get stiff, takes a while to get things going again.

Bathroom breaks aside(sometimes they happen!!) - I typically do 50-60 with the food and water onboard without stopping. Even longer on cooler days where water isn’t an issue.

"aren't you tired" is relative...Greg Lemond's famous quote "it doesn't get any easier, you only go faster"...or something like that is appropriate here...it's relative to how long you ride, not how fast, and the effort put into the ride.
You have to decide what you want out of riding and you do have some limiters...250lbs is the biggest...likely your doctor has already warned you carrying that much weight is not good for you but that is for you to work on.
MUPs aren't going to be useful if you're trying to become 'fitter' because of what you describe...narrow surface, bollards, sharp corners on a short path mean lots of slowing down to negotiate them, add in other path users and you just aren't going to do much more than a very light pace.

Fatigue is going to hit you a lot faster mainly due to the weight you carry but you can become somewhat more fit by riding more and working harder during some of the rides.
Perhaps once or twice a week you can drive to a more 'ride friendly' area and use that area for longer rides.
Start slowly to allow your body to adjust to the increase in effort...perhaps increase the effort to a sign, etc you see in the near distance then ride easy until you recover...doing this several times per ride twice per week will improve your fitness.

It all depends on you...you only get improvements with effort.
I'm several months away from 70 and generally ride over 10k miles annually. I still race and in my riding groups I'm one of the fastest and strongest and also the oldest by several decades...it's not just age, it's effort and dedication to wanting to be at a particular fitness level.
If you want to be more fit you have to make changes and work at it...nothing comes easy...

back in my younger days often rode with a small group of guys in their 60’s and eariy 70’s

many / most other guys / groups guessed we were just plodders - and then were surprised when we did some rides with them and they saw the older guys in action

a few times the older guys would almost match them on some of the longer climbs - and a number of times the older guys would drop them near the end of longer rides

great memories - still smile when I recall these rides

good chance you can ride in 10 years and hopefully another 10 years !

make sure to enjoy your rides - I did some rides with guys that were only interested in doing ‘hammer-fests’ - and a few years later most of them were not riding

> not done at the end - but will feel it if I’ve ridden at a decent pace

BITD I could do a 20-30 mile ride (with climbing) like nothing - decades later in my current condition (too much weight) it’s much different

> most times will stop on a 20-30 mile ride … couple of years ago realized at end of a ride felt better and enjoyed the ride more with the addition of a stop

non stop rides now are almost exclusively reserved for the rides when a storm front is approaching and I don’t want to get caught in a downpour :) … or a preferred restaurant (kitchen) is set to close :) :)

60, 5'7" 190 lbs. I do 20-to 25- mile rides about 3x a week, avg 12 mph if I'm not commuting. Oddly, the commuting 7 miles each way seems to slow down my fitness since I don't get beyond 15 miles at the end of the day, and I never feel like going out for more when I get home. I used to be able to do 25 miles at avg 15 mph but don't feel the need to hammer at all anymore. I don't feel "spent" after 25 miles, but "comfortably tired". As others have said here, it's not the exercise, it's your food intake that will make your weight difference. My problem is the more I ride, the more I rationalize the pizza.

I have been trying to eat healthy. I eliminated bread, sweets and I am eating low carb but not keto. I’m not comfortable eating a lot of fat.
Cobb salads from Salad and Go is my go-to lunch and chicken is always good as long as it isn’t fried. I am cutting down on beer.
A few years ago just after I retired I hit 305 pounds eating anything I wanted. I started low carb and went from 305 at the end of January to 230 in September, but then stopped losing. I am back up to 250.

I am not riding to lose weight. I am riding to get fit so I can ride further. One goal I have is to participate in organized rides here in Texas. There are some rides in the Hill Country I really want to do.

I've found that if I'm doing an activity with the goal of losing weight, I struggle with motivation. If my goal is to perform better at an activity I enjoy, and weight loss will help that happen, my motivation to control my eating is better.

You'd be surprised at all the 250 lb and more cyclist I see on organized metric and full century rides that are doing every bit or better than my 175 lbs. So don't let anyone get you to believing weight is the problem or that getting rid of it will be the solution.

Though that shouldn't be taken to mean I'm saying you shouldn't lose weight for other reasons of health. Make sure you are getting enough hydration during your rides. If you sweat more than you take in, then that can leave you without energy at the end of your ride. Every 10 to 15 minutes you should be taking a few gulps from your bottle. You do ride with a couple bottles don't you?

I usually drink a bottle of water on my way to the trail and take a squeeze bottle on my bike with me. I have only been riding 6 miles so that should be enough. If I go to a longer trail I will take a bottle of water and one of Gatorade.