pathebikeguy

A lot of my friends who like to race seem to get panic attacks when i suggest going for a century + ride; ie 160km +. For them 100km maybe 120 is a very long ride. I like doing centuries on the weekend but dont consider them "long". Back when I was randonneuring rides didn't seem to be "long" until they passed the 200km mark.
What is "long" for you?

Captain Slow

Simple. A long ride is one where you go farther than you ever have before. This is a moving scale, and extremely subjective... just the way we humans like it.

My regular weekenders run between 105 & 120 miles, depending upon what I have time for. I consider anything over 110 to be "long-ish." Once again, that's speaking strictly for me. My so-far-for-now LONG ride was a 168 mile road trip... and that was 20-something years ago. It'll probably stand as such as I slowly decay into geezerness.

Meanwhile, I call the 60-milers that I do on weekdays my "short rides." Sick. Some folks drink too much... me, the bike's the drug.

I've an employee... a very large lad... who just started cycling. Anything over 15 miles... about an hour... he considers to be a very long ride indeed.

Finally: A ride of ANY distance where you're nursing a particularly nasty boil on your bottom is by definition a long ride.

ghsmith54

To paraphrase the late George Carlin:

- Anybody who doesn't ride as far as I do is a wimp.
- Anybody who rides farther than I do is crazy.

I ride 10-12k miles per year and have done numerous 700-900 mile weeks. I have riding friends that routinely do 3000 mile months who think I'm worthless and weak . I have other riding friends that only manage 3-4k miles per year who think I'm nuts.

I like Captain Slow's definition. Long is what's long for you. Pushing yourself occasionally is a good thing.

bobbycorno

Reminds me of a woman I used to work with. She's a fairly serious triathlete, and in excellent shape. She's competed in at least one Ironman tri (2mi swim, 112 mi bike, marathon run), but when I suggested that she try a 200k brevet that I was organizing, she said, "Oh, I could NEVER ride that far!"

OTOH, now that I've been rando'ing for a few years, a ride doesn't seem LONG if I can do the whole thing between dawn and sunset. So anything under 300k isn't really long for me any more.

So I guess the short answer is "long" is anything more than you're used to. Outside the comfort zone. Pushing the envelope. That kinda thing.

SP

mattm

i think it's because racers do such high intestiy, they can't imagine pacing themselves for that long.

200k is a good place to start calling a ride long, but for me i think anything over six hours is a "long" ride.

LWB_guy

It's a long ride if before arriving home I eventually succumb to the idea of getting off, and lying down on a grassy knoll to stretch my back and shoulders and arms.

SharpT

Long is any ride where I may have to deal with sleep deprivation.
400k and up...

--
SharpT

CliftonGK1

That would make my Thursday morning 12 mile commute a long ride. I'm usually running low on sleep by Wednesday.

ronsmithjunior

Long is when I see the sun come up more than once.

buzzman

cyclists always think things are longer than they really are.

pathebikeguy

Lots of good definitions!
I like Captain Slow's definition ie'; going further than you usually go or that you have ever gone before.
Riding from sunrise to sunset is good too.
But riding until you have to deal with sleep deprivition is TOO Long for me.

G-Whacker

For me a ride is long when my body starts telling me it can't take anymore (but I force it to go on anyway)

It's been said on this forum before that a hot humid metric is longer than a cool fall double metric.

hndlebar

I have found that a vast amount of cyclist don't ride much past the 2 hours or 30 miles.

mattm

totally - i started a double-century thread in the Road Forum, and the responses were mostly "why? it's too boring."

but boredom is up to you... it's not the ride's fault if you're bored, it's yours!

Reynolds 

I may be a wimp, but for me over 100km is long, and over 200km very long. My longest so far is 250 km. But I still ride more than 15000 km a year.

ericgu

Long is whatever makes the people where you work shake their heads.

My experience is that metrics are the start of that, centuries fit the bill, and doubles really get them going.

Hydrated

It just boggles my coworkers' minds that I ride my bike 10 miles each way to work. My long weekend rides are completely beyond their comprehension. It seems that anything beyond 2 miles makes them shake their heads!

Jim from Boston

I had thought long ago that a "hard-core" cyclist does at least 10,000 miles a year. I barely make 4000, mainly due to time limitations, so I humbly call myself a moderate distance rider.

Reynolds 

My co workers think I'm crazy for riding 22 km round trip every day, rain or shine. They can hardly believe I regularly ride more than 100 km in a day.

mattm

another gauge for LD rides: if you can map it out on a state map, then it's probably a long ride.

ncherry

State map? Not enough fine definition for my rides. But I need do several maps to map out my routes. I just worked up my second 140+ mile ride loop. I won't get to do that one until next year. I've got 4 new 120 mile loops. I'm also in charge of the club's double century (though I didn't create it).

Jim from Boston

[QUOTE=ncherry;7298556]State map? Not enough fine definition for my rides. But I need do several maps to map out my routes. QUOTE]

I find that the metropolitan area maps from AAA are of a very good scale to show enough detail to plot a route on fairly lightly traveled roads, especially with the crazy roads in the Boston area, yet cover enough area suitable for long rides. I use it to plan loops of up to 100 miles, but certainly could map out longer ones.