i was saying to a non-cyclist that i did a 30 mile ride (very flat park loops) and his reaction was OMG that is so extreme.

Well, it depends on intensity and to what you have become accustomed. I was going at a pace where i could sing to myslelf and hold a long conversation and really wasn't getting out of breath. In summer time when proper riding gets done (assuming time and injury permitting) and not just winter keeping the legs active type riding, a typical ride would be at least 60 miles twice a week.

The park loops really was just a stroll in the park, but non cyclists have such an odd response.

Here, its -1.6 this morning. No delay in work schedule. Getting out and to work on time is effort.







Wait, did you mean only in terms of cycling effort? sorry..............

Many people don't even drive that much in one day, let alone cycle it. I remember first getting into this sport and thinking that 8 miles was far, it was for me.

Another perspective is that for me, on a flat course, I can do 30 miles in under 1.5 hrs at a relatively easy pace (for me). The average Joe might take 2.5-3 hrs to do the same course. Remember, their work outs are 20 minutes a day, three days a week... as perscribed by the fitness video. That works for them, their life and their schedule. Intensity isn't really a term they're familiar with. Riding a bike is a leisure as well; a low-impact, low-intensity activity.

I tried to do a run just to mix things up on Wednesday. Even though I ran cross country in high school (cross training for cycling), my heart was jumping out of my chest at 1/4 mile. That reminded me that you just have to tell people you have to train up to any ability.

1) Power meter of some sort.
2) HRM after real testing for HR zones (1-5), lactate threshold (LT), maximum heart rate (MHR), and anaerobic threshold (AT). All those things can determine and define your "effort level".
3) RPE scale, something like this:

+1

More specifically:
https://home.trainingpeaks.com/articl...ew-coggan.aspx

You have to look at RPE in combination with duration. Riding at 6 is one thing, but if you do it for 6 hours, it's another thing entirely.

I'd define it on a scale of 1 to 10 - individual results may vary (drastically)

that's a very good way to describe effort. very useful. thanks

= no effort

i'd call your ride walking pace.

30 miles even at a walking pace is still decent, though with no terrain it is not helping the fact. When i first bought my bike after not riding for about 8 years I thought doing 10 miles was awesome. That lasted about 3 rides.

Then I went up to 15-20 mile rides and at a harder pace (trying to pace faster than the 10 milers)

Once I got bored with that I moved up the scale to 30-40-50 miler rides trying to push the pace a little each time until about 50 miles. Then I was trying to ride at a consistent pace knowing I could be doing another 50

everyone is different. everyone's comfort level is different. I can have a great ride but the same number of miles or a similar ride in time or terrain for my boss would take him less time and require less effort with the same time. he's an athlete with thousands of miles of training and I'm just athletic ...

To most people in my office, the fact that I take the stairs to the 5th floor is extreme.

I've found that trying to explain that I rode XX hours and XX miles to people that aren't active or don't have any knowledge of cycling outside of a beach cruiser is like trying to explain algebra to a 4x+10=18 year old.

I just finished reading A Walk in the Woods, in which Bill Bryson recounts his adventures on the Appalachian Trail. At one point he's staying at a hotel in Waynesboro and needs to get some supplies; someone suggests he try K-Mart:
I think a lot of people have a very low threshold for being impressed by athletic endeavors.

My personal scale has just two levels.
If I can casually chat with my riding partner then it's LOW effort. If I can't, then it's HIGH effort.

RPE charts nails it. Although when looking at entire training ride I just use 3 levels; easy (endurance), moderate (long endurance) and hard (1-1.5 hour ride with several max efforts or just a TT level effort).

This is being nit-picky, but isn't RPE measured on a scale from 6-20 (or at least thats the evidenced backed way)? Thats how I learned it in school, and how I saw it in the "training bible." So I suppose my question is
---> does anyone else out there use the 6-20 scale for endurance training (running, cycling, etc) or is it just me?

For the record, I find nothing wrong with someone using a 1-10 scale for personal training use.

Just revel in the fact that they see you as so awesome. That way you dominate them (evil laugh).

that's about as satisfying as taking candy from a baby. well...any ego massaging is good.

Yes, the official Borg scale is as follows:

• 6 - 20% effort
• 7 - 30% effort - Very, very light (Rest)
• 8 - 40% effort
• 9 - 50% effort - Very light - gentle walking
• 10 - 55% effort
• 11 - 60% effort - Fairly light
• 12 - 65% effort
• 13 - 70% effort - Somewhat hard - steady pace
• 14 - 75% effort
• 15 - 80% effort - Hard
• 16 - 85% effort
• 17 - 90% effort - Very hard
• 18 - 95% effort
• 19 - 100% effort - Very, very hard
• 20 - Exhaustion

The Spinervals and CTS training videos refer to it in the 10 point scale. I suppose either works as long as one uses the same scale all the time

CTS use the 1-10 as they can relate it back to the VO2 MAX, well according to the time crunch cyclist book they put out.