Digital Gee

A short ride?

An intermediate ride?

A long ride?

A very long ride?

I have my ideas, but they're shifting (expanding). Just wondering how other people think of this, if they even think of this.

RockyMtnMerlin

25, 45, 80, 100

cabaray

Ok I'll bite

short 0-10
intermediate 10- 30
long 30 - 60
very long 60- 100

cheeseflavor

25, 50, 75, 100

Steve

jppe

Now-my numbers above assume I have not laid off the bike for a while, winds in the 5-10 mph range, and the route to be no more climbing than 100 ft per mile. For example, a 40 mile ride in a headwind of 10-20 mph just got bumped up to the "very long ride" category for me!! Likewise, doing a climbing route that averages more than 100 ft per mile can quickly move up categories in my book as well-but I'd take the hills over the wind any day!

Red Baron

For me........
less than 10 is NOT a ride

A short ride? 20

An intermediate ride? 30-40

A long ride? 50+
A very long ride? 75 - 100+

BTW-
"my ideas" I agree EXACTLY - I admire the person who has pride in riding 3 miles if its long for them, ditto on a person who has pride that they did 5 minutes+ on a trainer.

jppe

Well said. Would wholeheartedly agree on the trainer deal as well. I must have undiagnosed ADD or something as I can't stand........wait...I need to do something else before I can fini......

p8rider

Short 10 - 20
Intermediate 20 -35
Long 35 -50
Very Long 50 - +

It is an everchanging scale. As Red Baron mentions I don't believe this is a contest. If you have pride in 3, or 5 miles so be it. At least your out here and not parked in front of the TV watching DigitalGee in another parade!
As I have mentioned in the past, the worst hill on any of my rides is the one leading up to my house. I live on Summit St. and they didn't just pull that name from a hat. That being said two days ago I watched an older woman, (older means someone older than me) ride up my street at least three times as part of a quick loop through our neighborhood. Perhaps she was doing interval training, but I've got to tell you I was very impressed!

JupiterGuy

For me at this point:

Short = 5-10 miles
Intermediate = 10-20
Long = 20-40
Very Long = 40+

6 months ago the distances would have been less.

marmotte

A short ride is 5 km
Intermediate: 5 km against wind
Long: 5 km against wind during rain
Very long: Köhnigsstuhl mountain in Heidelberg (5 km, 500 m elevation) as fast as I can

marmotte

RockyMtnMerlin

Great answer. I sure wish I could return to my days of cycling around Munich! THAT was fun!

FarHorizon

10-20-30-50+

jcm

Yeah, that terrain and wind thing can make a short one seem long. It's fairly hilly here.

Personally:
short = 10-15 miles
inter = 15-25 miles
long = 25-60 miles
very long = I haven't yet, but the Seattle to Portland comes to mind and I'm working on it. Starting in March I need to do centuries on the week-ends (I've been told). It's 200 miles over two days.

Velo Dog

I've come down a few miles in the last couple of years, because I haven't ridden as much as I'd like. For now, short is anything under 10, going up to 60+ as a pretty long ride (I can't call anything under a century "very" long, though I haven't done one in three years).
By summer, though, "Short" will be <20, "intermediate" 20-50, "long" 50-100 and "very long" 100+.

Garfield Cat

Distance is just one factor. A short ride but with adverse conditions, is a very long ride indeed. Gee, if you get a chance to come up to Orange County to ride the Santa Ana river trail, those Pacific ocean winds kick up in the afternoon and give you one heck of a ride going south towards PCH.

stapfam

I look at the conditions as to how I regard a ride. I also ride a mountain bike offroad, so all my milage should be 150% of the roadies on effort exerted. True that- Offroad milage takes more effort than rolling along a bit of perfectly smooth tarmac. Mind you, after a winter of frost and rain, and broken water mains and digging up the road to relay gas pipes etc. Some of our roads are as lumpy as our trails.

On distance 25 miles is a warm up for us. a good ride starts at 40 miles, expeditions are around 65 and a long ride is anything that takes over 12 hours. Work that out at an average of 10mph in good conditions and below 8 for the diabolical and you get an idea of how slow we can be.

It will also differ on the time of year. I do train for a big ride in June and by the end of May we are doing 30 miles in 2 1/2 hours. we are riding 30 miles at 12mph. Unfortunately it is all downhill from then on, and my last ride was cut short at 20 miles at an average of only 10 mph. Mind you, I had to stop for coffee, and the weather was a bit bad, and I had to take pictures of the snow, and --- There must be another excuse for going that slow.

Milage does not bother me now, All that matters is was it a good ride. Answer is YES as I can't remember the last bad ride I had. If I could, There would still be a good point to note on it.

Shifty

Short 25
Intermediate 50
Long 100
Very Long 130+

DEK

short < 10
intermediate: 10 - 30
long: 30 - 50
very long: something I'll probably never be able to do.

GrannyGear

Aside from raw numbers, there is the matter of perception. 75 miles with friends and nothing to do for most of the day can be seemingly too "short". A 20 miler when the time is stolen from some pressing obligation which you can't forget can be "long".

PaulH

A short ride is less than a mile (1.6 km) -- like riding to the library or store and back. An intermediate ride is a normal, daily ride like my 11 mile 18 km) round trip commute to work. Anyting longer than that is long, particularly if the Trail-A-Bike or trailer is attached. Very long is over 14 miles (23 km) carrying a child, like going from village of Ocracoke, NC to the pony pen and back. Any ride carring at least 40 pounds (16 kg) of groceries is at least intermediate

Paul

webist

Short = 30 minutes or less
Intermediate = 1 - 2 hours
Long = More than 2 - 4 hours
Very long = More than 4 hours