nd2010

I haven't gone far on my bike this year so far. My average ride length was 10-15 miles and I only did a few. But yesterday I rode 75 miles without a hitch. Didn't get too tired or sore at the end. I felt like I could have kept going to 100 and beyond. I know the average person can't ride that far without training.

I wonder why that was. I'd think my endurance would have dropped off after a long time without a long ride. For the past several years, I'd average over 100 miles a week in the summers. Last summer I rode at least 2 centuries in a month, and my biggest ride was a 300 mile, 4 day trip from NJ to Boston.

johnread

Wow! Congrats to you! Like you, most of my rides are shorter distances, but the odd 70-100 mile ride is a great confirmation of increased fitness and stamina. It's tempting to compare yourself with other riders, but I find the most satisfaction when I compare myself with myself. Comparing last ride to this ride; last week to this week; today to last year. When I measure progress like that, I find bicycling most joyful.

StephenH

I find that how I feel along in a ride like that has a lot to do with pace, with temperature & humidity, and with wind. Yesterday was a "tough" ride as I was the slow one in the group, and it was constant challenge to keep up- but it was probably the fastest 200k I've done in the past year. Several years back, I did a ride that was fast and easy and I could never repeat it- as best I could tell, I actually had tailwind both ways.

tea_kettle

That's great, good for you

Lamabb

Was it easy flat or rolling terrain with little to no wind? That's pretty impressive that you held on to your fitness from last season so well, I can't say the same every new year. Sometimes when I do other exercises like running, I find it easier to maintain bike fitness even when I'm not riding. My guess is that you do some other sort of exercise.