svtmike

There are only so many cornfields one can look at before the wonder wears off.

That and I enjoy social activities more than solitary.

Campag4life

Merlin,
200 miles of gravel roads?...single ride?...what kind of bike are you using for this ride...tire size?

I know why you are putting the miles in because you want to develop your endurance...but why do you seek these kind of grueling style rides
if you don't either enjoy the process or the competition?

whitemax

You read it on the internet so it has to be true.

Campag4life

I too enjoy the group dynamic. Different people to chat with. And, overall speed is faster...sometimes a lot faster and much easier to ride longer distances. The rides that devolve into hammer fests can be a bit painful...but has its charm as well.
If the group is fast, I generally push myself harder riding with others versus by myself.

rebel1916

Riding with a group adds another dimension. You have to pay more attention and cooperate. It's like the difference between playing musicalone or with a band.

bikecrate

The limit for me is around 55 miles due to back issues. That's about as much as I want to do anyways considering my time constraints. Mostly I ride around 30 – 45 miles.

svtmike

You haven't lived until you've cooked along with almost zen-like effortlessness in a rotating paceline.

I consider a ride of 30 miles on the short side for a group ride.

seypat

So I guess it boils down to being an extravert or an introvert. The extravert needs the group dynamic and feeds off of the pack while the introvert is happiest rolling along by her/himself in solitary confinement. Being an introvert, the worst possible scenario for me is the same group of people, at the same time, at the same place, etc. Whether it is a pack of cyclists, a golfing foursome, or going to play some basketball. You always have the same group dynamics, the same personalities with the same chit chat. I would must rather show up to the golf course or basketball court and see what happens.

As for the cycling, that's why I like to doing the organized rides by myself. You are never out there by yourself anyway. You are always drifting in and out of people/groups and talking to different people at the rest stations. Even if I sign up with a group it is expected that everyone in the group do the best they can. So the fast move on and the slow get dropped. That is the nature of the beast. No quarter given or taken. The true test begins when you get dropped and have to fend for yourself. (I'm usually the one getting dropped by the way)

RoadMike

I was looking at all the people commenting on the boredom of solo centuries and was puzzled till I saw the cornfield comment. Adding elevation is a good way to take away the boring...

Seriously, it shouldn't even count if it's 100 miles with less than 4k ft of elevation gain.

seypat

The toughest ride I have ever been on period, was last April. It was supposed to be low 70's, calm and sunshine. A storm blew in and it was around 50, steady to hard rain and high winds with gusts in the 40-50mph range. Touring bikes with fenders were the order of the day. I felt sorry for the Paceliners because the roostertails prevented them from pacelining or even riding close single file for wind protection. They didn't seem to know how to cope with riding without the help of the pack. Luckily, the wind got so bad that it starting blowing over the volunteer temporary structures. So they closed the 100 route and diverted those riders that were still going to the metric route. 5 1/2 hours to go 62 miles!

As bad as it was, give me some way to keep my feet dry and I'd probably do it again tomorrow!

Adrianinkc

Normally long rides on weekends only for me. My usual Saturday ride is leave home, ride to bike shop 19 miles away and do the group ride and come home. Usually 65-90 miles, Sunday I like to go to another shop that has a coffee shop ride and end up with about 50 doing the same thing as Saturday.

RollCNY

It may all come down to this. I did 250 miles over 2 days solo, and they were the best two days of riding I have had. I am always puzzled by the "Do you play music?" threads, because music would ruin the experience.

On a funny note, I hated my single speed until I took it on its first 60 mile ride. Now I love it for that, because you don't optimize cadence and gear every moment. You just ride your bike.

MetalPedaler

I would get MORE bored doing a long ride with a group. Not only would I have the boredom of being in the saddle too long [I get bored with any activity if I do it too long] but then I'd be wanting to get away from the group [I like solitary pursuits]- I would have to hope that they were all faster than I, so that I could get dropped, and then at least enjoy being alone! [I'd go out of my way to ensure that I got dropped!]- To me, a good part of the enjoyment of cycling, is the solitude and quietness.[Not that I don't have those things at home...it's just that with cycling, you can actually go somewhere, and still have such things!]

Nachoman

I don't dislike 60+ mile rides (and I do them regularly) but my sweet spot is around 45 miles.
45 miles and below, I feel like I can hammer the whole time.

seypat

I'm lucky in that I live in Richmond, Virginia. Lots of varied scenery and terrain that is easily accessible. I do have a brother that lives in Chicago. I was up there last October to do the Men's Health Urban Athlon and will be doing it again this year!

seypat

I also think there is a different mindset as well. My wife is a runner and I have been doing some various 5-10ks with her. The mindset is you start, go and don't stop until you finish. Then you go home and do something else for the rest of the day and look forward to the next one. I think this is the same mindset for the short-medium hammerfest type rides. But for me anyway, the long ride is a different mindset. It is more like a journey or a stage race. You ride, stop and ride again until you complete the distance.(goal) If you don't make it and have to abandon then you have failed. Then you look back and reflect on what you accomplished.

idc

I've learned that if it's a fast(er) ride I prefer 50-80 miles. Beyond that, it's more enjoyable if it's more of a randonneur thing with longer stops and some real food/drink, and/or more social.

svtmike

I've always come up as an introvert in any Meyers-Briggs assessment I've done, so I don't think it's 100% that. When it comes to athletic pursuits, I've always preferred a team environment to solo. I definitely push myself harder when I have some accountability to keep up or to get stronger.

I ride longer rides mostly with the same group and we are all pretty close friends, at least among the core regulars. I enjoy the competition, the teamwork, the camaraderie, the trust, the coaching, the varying perspectives, and the security of the group. I get out on my own enough commuting and on weeknight evenings to get my fill of solo rides and more structured training work.

As for elevation, that presents a physical challenge but doesn't necessarily make the alone time more tolerable. It tends to break up a paceline that isn't very equally matched (at least where I go for serious hillclimbing off in western WI) so the climbing itself is a solo activity with a regroup between hills.

baj32161

I have gotten away from measuring my rides by mileage. I now go by time actually in the saddle and, although, I would not qualify most of my rides as training rides, per se, I often feel that the ride was much more enjoyable if it was not overly long...say...longer than 3 hrs, maybe 4.

PDX Reborn

+1
Ditched the cycle computers, years ago. Just one less, "mental bog". 2-3hrs on the saddle is max for me, these days.

androidtt

I only go up to the distance where I can average 20mph...

I like to keep under 75. 50-60 is great long ride. 80 is "ok". 90 is "ugh". 100+ is "wtfuuuuuuuuuuuu". When I did 104, I wanted to throw my bike over the bridge. Especially because it was just me and another guy. I was on my tri bike and I wanted to "be fair" to him so I only rode on horns and pads. Tri bike definitely wasn't meant to be ridden like that! Ouch.

I think I'll do an Ironman and then stick to 70.3's when I jump up distances.

caloso

Like others have said, increasingly I am measuring my rides by time. Sometimes if I'm fancy, by kilojoules.

chasm54

Plausible, but wrong in my case. I've always scored very high on extraversion in stuff like Myers-Briggs, but I almost always ride alone. It's unusual for me to take a training ride of more than 4 hours, but that isn't because I don't like long rides. And I tour alone, sometimes for very long times/distances. It wouldn't be that unusual for me to cover 100 miles in a day while on tour, and I have done solitary tours that lasted weeks and thousands of miles. For this extravert, at least, the solitude is part of the appeal.

dmcdam

Solo only and just lack the free time to put in much more than 20-30 miles in a serving. Maybe once my kid is a bit older and doesn't mind me being gone all day...

JamieElenbaas

Amen to that brother. I always tell newcomers, "There will always be someone who rides faster than you and there will always be someone who rides slower." I suppose I could interpose longer and shorter as well.

Anyway, ride what you enjoy. You may find, however, that your tastes change over time.