Guess I'm weird then, I ride at least a metric century every Friday or Saturday, and that's not including the one or two 30 milers I do during the week.

Well, I like my cycling group and enjoy riding. But I run on trails used by cyclists and let me tell you, what an UNHAPPY group of people. It's rare that someone says hello, virtually no one is smiling, what's more common is this angry grimace on riders face...last thing I would accuse riders of doing is having fun, Just saying, lots more misery/stress than joy,

Oh, I don't. I still think the overwhelming majority of the cycling population is not pushing a 20+MPH pace for three hours. I just looked up the results of the last organized ride I did, a Giordana Gran Fondo Series event in Ontario, the 100k category had 10% of folks finish at or under three hours (25/255), and 69 out of 255 finished above 4 hours. Mean average was 3:42, median average 3:43.

Put me around that four hour mark, toss in some cleanup and recovery time, and yeah, it is using up a large part of one of two days I have off a week. Not nuts at all, just harder to do when your limited time gets spread amongst other things.

hang out w/ different ppl

Nah, don't be fooled, that's just a smile being pulled down by the force of the wind in their faces due to the MASSIVE WATTS they're putting out. :lol:

People would say the same thing about runners too.

Actually, that's the #3 reason I like running. My experience, runners are pretty cool about dealing with other runners and pedestrians, lots of positive vibes, waives, smiles...at least where I run, (people with dogs are the universal exception). [#1 reason - better/faster workout. #2 reason: simplicity.]

I can't run a half marathon, probably couldn't run three miles right now. I can ride a half century, metric century or full century. What's the point? That we shouldn't use grandiose terms to describe stuff?

Making mountains out of molehills has been going on for a long time. It's our nature. Don't get bent that it's taking some of your glory.

The cyclists I encounter are no more or less friendly than the runners I encounter, either when I'm running or cycling.

What is the yoga equivalent of a metric?

yopilates?

those of us that ride with that urine in the wheaties look.... that's just a facade so we're left alone to enjoy what we do without any interruptions...

If you enjoy riding fast and/or long distances then do that. For me I don't care if I ride 50 miles or just 1 mile. Always something I can enjoy just being there. We each have our own happiness.

Everyone has different ways of enjoying themselves. My wife and I rode across the U.S. , averaging a little over 50 miles a day for 74 consecutive days. We had a great time, and have ridden a long ride together every year since that ride 11 years ago.

Sometimes we wonder about our sanity. We are leaving on an 1,500 mile ride in two weeks, and are already planning on month-long ride starting a couple weeks after we return.

Type 2 fun: An activity you didn't know was fun until it was over:)

So far the only "Are you nuts?!?" comments I hear, mostly from non-cyclists, are directed at my preference for riding public streets rather than the MUP. Some folks only ride or walk the public park and paths. And some folks find it odd to even want to ride longer than 30 minutes. But despite getting clobbered by a car last month, most of my minor crashes and near misses occurred on the MUP, not on public streets. By far the most common hazards are on narrow, crowded MUPs. I try to avoid MUPs unless it's the only or shortest route between the public streets I prefer.

A metric century or thereabouts a week seems about right to me. After whipping myself back into shape over a couple of years an average workout ride was 20-30 miles. After that, a once a week 50-60something miler felt right, as long as I rode within my limits (while working to push my limits and improve).

Beyond that I had difficulties, mostly with neck pain from an old injury. I could ride reasonably fast for around 20-30 miles, but faded quickly and couldn't hang with a local club's fast group rides over 50 miles. Or I could ride my own slightly slower pace and finish 50-60 miles.

That didn't come easily though. My first year back in the saddle, 2015, after 30+ years away was tough. Took a year to be able to ride a metric century and even that required several rest stops. Took a lot of work to overcome asthma and a constricted airway to improve my aerobic fitness.

I don't recall anyone saying anything about my weight. At 5'11" and 160 lbs I look okay for a 60 year old, reasonably fit with just a bit of fluff around the midsection. If I get down to 150, closer to my optimal weight, I'll probably hear some comments but that's just because folks are accustomed to seeing so many young people with a layer of 5-10 lbs of fat that they look askance at anyone who's normally lean, as people were decades ago before constant snacking became the new normal. I noticed on some recent walks around my neighborhood I see quite a few kids and young teens who look like kids did generations ago, so either they're more active or don't snack constantly.

Well, most the runners I pass have earbuds in and are oblivious to my presence anyhow :innocent:

But seriously, I'd chalk it up to closing speed. If I say something to a runnre I'm passing, by the time I'm done saying it, I'd have to turn my head to hear or they'd have to yell to respond cause I'm alrwady up the trail. Simple matter of practicality.

Recently bitten by the cycling bug. New to the community and looking forward to more of these discussions!

I think that's one of The Rules, #3 or something. Every Ride Must Be Taken Seriously
Probably why there's such a proliferation of dark-colored kit and flat-black road bikes. Gotta look Hard, you know?

Bikes are something like five times more efficient than walking; if you can walk three or four hours then you should be able to fairly easily bike 60 miles. A reasonably fit person should be able to hike across most terrain for many hours because that is what our bodies evolved from. Not run, just hike.

Most of not all riders I know are fine with biking a metric, really the only limiting factor is the seat. Obviously the pace matters, but if we're just expending about the same as walking, then nah a metric isn't noteworthy. Like all riders I always loop an hour off my 50 miler then brag about doing...a fifty miler...

Of much greater concern is most Americans are physically unfit. As in, cannot walk an hour or two. In that sense, yes, you are nuts because you are part of a ever shrinking minority that can do 2-5 hours of anything that is slightly physically taxing.

Plus 100 on this! As an old come backer I'm noticing this more and more. Fortunately there are exception....

They must be a bunch of Stravidiots who care more about KOM's than having fun on a bike.

I think my wife must think this, because not more than three years ago I was in that category. Oh, I think I could walk an hour or two, since I have a physically demanding job, but my weight was at 280 and when I wasn't working I wasn't doing much physical stuff. But now it's nothing for me to go out and knock out 20 miles in less than a couple hours.