Longest Ride

Chris Armstrong came up with the following;:

Quoted message said:

I had my longest ride Saturday. 80 miles. I did it on a cyclocross bike
I bought on ebay a few weeks ago. I wore padded shorts and a normal
pair of shorts over the top, I have changed the seat that came with the
bike to a more comfy one, but my bum still felt sore as hell for the
last quarter if not more of the ride. Does anyone wear more than one
lot of padded shorts, or is it just a case that a few more rides and I
won't feel it.

Added mileage = less pain = more pleasure. 😉

Quoted message said:

I also noticed that the first half of the ride wasn't all that
enjoyable but once I was about half way through and knew there were
less miles ahead of me than behind, then the ride became much more
enjoyable. Does anyone else get this psychological thing on longer
rides , esp. when cycling alone.

I find that long rides, in my case my longest in the past 10 years or so is
only 40 something miles I think, make me start slowly and build up until I'm
'homeward bound' then I tend to keep increasing speed. Though I do mostly
ride off-road ... 😉

--
Paul ...
(8(|) Homer Rules ..... Doh !!!
ebay stuff 5234286719 7996850544

Chris Armstrong said:

I had my longest ride Saturday. 80 miles. I did it on a cyclocross bike
I bought on ebay a few weeks ago. I wore padded shorts and a normal
pair of shorts over the top, I have changed the seat that came with the
bike to a more comfy one, but my bum still felt sore as hell for the
last quarter if not more of the ride. Does anyone wear more than one
lot of padded shorts, or is it just a case that a few more rides and I
won't feel it.

Depends on the kind of pain. If it is chafing, then a good quality
cream will help. Slther loads on before the ride and replenish as
necessary.
Aches/stiffness are probably the saddle not quite suiting you. This
canespecially be the case if you have a soft squidgy saddle instead of
one that will concentrate your weight on your 'sit bones'

Quoted message said:

I also noticed that the first half of the ride wasn't all that
enjoyable but once I was about half way through and knew there were
less miles ahead of me than behind, then the ride became much more
enjoyable. Does anyone else get this psychological thing on longer
rides , esp. when cycling alone.

Yes. I did my longest ever ride on Saturday (about 135 miles total) and
the last part felt much better than the middle. It could have been
something to do with being downhill but I then knew I'd make it round.

...d

Chris Armstrong said:

is it just a case that a few more rides and I
won't feel it.

^ This.

Bear in mind that not only is it the longest distance you have cycled,
it is also (I presume) the longest amount of time you have spent in the
saddle in one go. That does take a little getting used to, however
comfortable your saddle. But assuming you do have a saddle that fits
you well, it is mostly just a case of putting in the miles.

Quoted message said:

I also noticed that the first half of the ride wasn't all that
enjoyable but once I was about half way through and knew there were
less miles ahead of me than behind, then the ride became much more
enjoyable. Does anyone else get this psychological thing on longer
rides , esp. when cycling alone.

Oh yes, without a shadow of a doubt.

I always mentally break down longer rides into smaller chunks - so your
next target is never more than, say, 50km away. (AUK rides help you in
this by providing control points to aim at.)

d.

David Martin said:

Depends on the kind of pain. If it is chafing, then a good quality
cream will help. Slther loads on before the ride and replenish as
necessary.

Also worth noting that extra pairs of shorts will probably make chafing
problems worse rather than better.

d.

Chris Armstrong said:

I had my longest ride Saturday. 80 miles.

Well done on getting up to a serious distance.

Quoted message said:

I did it on a cyclocross bike I bought on ebay a few weeks ago. I
wore padded shorts and a normal pair of shorts over the top, I
have changed the seat that came with the bike to a more comfy one,
but my bum still felt sore as hell for the last quarter if not
more of the ride. Does anyone wear more than one lot of padded
shorts, or is it just a case that a few more rides and I won't
feel it.

Changing the saddle for "a more comfy one" may have been a case of more
comfy over short distances, but worse over long ones. Soft pillow-like
saddles are not suitable for extended rides. The saddle needs to be
firm, it needs to conform to your shape, and you need to sit on it
correctly so that the weight is taken on the 2 bony bits either side of
your perineum. Saddles are highly individual and what suits one rider
may be torture for another. To some extent though your bum should
harden up with riding, and generally one pair of padded shorts is
enough.

Chafing is a slightly separate issue. A few riders in our club have
complained about our current team shorts. I find the padding is
basically comfortable to sit on but after about 20 hours or so sore
areas develop at the very edge of the padding after tens of thousands
of repetitions of a minute rubbing action. I also sometimes get sore
areas on the inside of the thigh where the material moves slightly, but
again only on very long rides. The best preventive measure for the
chafing seems to be plenty of Vaseline on the areas of skin usually
affected.

Quoted message said:

I also noticed that the first half of the ride wasn't all that
enjoyable but once I was about half way through and knew there were
less miles ahead of me than behind, then the ride became much more
enjoyable. Does anyone else get this psychological thing on longer
rides , esp. when cycling alone.

For me it varies between rides. Generally I feel pretty good in the
early part of the ride. There can always be low patches where you just
have to keep the wheels turning, but I find these come towards the end
of the ride when you're tired and have had enough, especially if
there's still some tough going ahead. OTOH if you're still feeling
strong towards the end of a ride hammering out the last 25 miles can be
a real blast.

For longer rides I find it helps to break the task down into stages so
it doesn't seem too daunting. So, to take examples from my ride this
weekend, rather than think to yourself "Wow, it's still a long way to
Chard" think "OK, Sherborne is not too far now and I'm more or less on
schedule". Once you're at Sherborne, concentrate on Bridport, and only
when you've reached Bridport do you allow yourself to think about
Chard. Once you're at Chard you can reward yourself with a cafe stop
then see about getting to Crediton, and so on.

--
Dave...

Chris Armstrong said:

I had my longest ride Saturday. 80 miles. I did it on a cyclocross bike
I bought on ebay a few weeks ago. I wore padded shorts and a normal
pair of shorts over the top, I have changed the seat that came with the
bike to a more comfy one, but my bum still felt sore as hell for the
last quarter if not more of the ride. Does anyone wear more than one
lot of padded shorts, or is it just a case that a few more rides and I
won't feel it.

If your saddle is OK (for your bum), you'll be fine next time.

Quoted message said:

I also noticed that the first half of the ride wasn't all that
enjoyable but once I was about half way through and knew there were
less miles ahead of me than behind, then the ride became much more
enjoyable. Does anyone else get this psychological thing on longer
rides , esp. when cycling alone.

The psychology of it can vary a lot. I sometimes count even on the
early parts of a ride ("nice - 10% done and counting", "that's a
useful ascent to have put behind me"😉. Later it varies more: if I'm
struggling I get depressed; if I'm finding it easy I'm happy - these
can be self-reinforcing states. A headwind or tailwind makes a
huge difference both physically and psychologically on a long ride.
(Though if it's circular, an early tailwind is worrying).
Ditto traffic: lots of cars cause a weariness which is probably as
much psychological as physical.

--
Nick Kew