JS, All of the big rides that I do are organized events that mostly require a few hours or more to drive too. Events like the Death ride are a few hours away near Tahoe, the Everest Challenge is about a 5 hour one way trek at greater than the posted speed limit. It felt oddly strange that the event this past weekend was only a 20 minute drive away. I'm sure there's something similar to the California Triple Crown, up in New York state. Find a ride that tickles your fancy, enter it and have a go. Sure, take the power meter along for the ride and use it to set a sensible early pace but also take in the time to fresh coffee at 0 dark 30, meet similar bikeaholics and enjoy the support, the food and the cheers provided by the organizing club and other volunteers. Normally I wouldnt entertain the though of just riding 200 miles but when it's that much fun it's pretty hard not too... But if your back goes into instant spasms just thinking about riding for that long don't kill yourself just find something that's as fun but fits your current state of health until the back approves a little more. Lance was right - it's not about the bike. In my case it's about the fun.