What's a "Long Ride"

Long 40 miles plus solo, 65 plus in a group.

 

Anything over 45 miles is long. And wonderful.

 

50 or 60 miles on a fixed gear is fairly long.

 

I can tell I have a long way to go...I average about 9.9 miles an hour (according to my trip comp) and I'll ride for about an hour three or four times a week. The longest I've done to date is 18 miles (back during the summer). I'm looping the dickens out of my subdivision and occasionally trekking into the nearby city, but this isnt a very bike friendly area and trying to find spots that arent loaded with car traffic isnt so easy.

 

A long ride is when
after 3 hrs from home
the smell of the green grass near the trail starts to fade away
the tar on the road seems much closer to you
you start feeling you need to relax on the saddle and need armrests
you remember the feeling of watching your favorite movie having potato chips
you start questioning yourself..."umm why am I doing this?"

 

It's all realative. For me miles over 50 is a long ride. For a pro that would be right after a warmup...

 

A long ride to me is more than 3 hours. I like a long ride in the country, but get just as much of a bang from city riding. I enjoy riding through the city as a spectator, and viewing people at work or play, architecture, etc.

 

Hey, kid... I just turned 49. And I know three women over the age of 50 that routinely ride me into the ground on 50+ mile rides. They aren't blindingly fast, they just never slow down. After around 40 miles, when the hills are starting to get to me, they just keep on cranking.

So don't let age be an excuse, or I'll send these three over to apply the requisite dose of humility.

 

Anything shorter than 100km (60 miles) is considered short. A long ride would be at least 160km (100 miles) and a *great* day would be 200km (130 miles) and more. I'm talking road of course.

 

OK, I think any questions like these need a perspective. It should be the rider here...

Pro rider - Over 150 miles
Experienced amateur - Over 65-75 miles
Fresh Amateur - Over 50 miles
Enthusiast rider - Over 25 miles
Rehab rider - Over 15 miles
4th grade - Over 5 miles
Kindergarten - Over 1 mile

 

on the first day of my first tour ever, i did 45 miles, hauling a trailer. man, did i think that was long! if i might be excused for tooting my own horn, a few months later on my third tour, i started a tradition which i still maintain on long tours: getting an early start and riding through the first night. on that tour i did 238 miles. since then i've never bothered with more than a rough estimate. of course, this doesn't exactly qualify as a "day".

what i think of as long or short is defined by time in the saddle.

a "ride" somewhere between 1 to 4 hours or so.

a "good ride" maybe between 5 to 8 or 9 hours.

a "long ride" is pretty much something that takes most or all of the day. or alternately when you're pretty much beat due to wind, heat, rain, traffic or whatever, and don't feel like getting back on the bike.

 

For me anything over 50 km is a long ride.

When I was riding regularly during the summer I would go for between 1 to 2 hours. My longest day was 100 km ride.
25 km to a bike-a-thon
50 km bike-a-thon
25 km ride back home

Haven't had anything longer yet. Planning on doing it again next this year but next time I am going to do the 100 km loop for the bike-a-thon, which will make 150 km for the day. I am sure I will stretch that out to 160 km to make it a 100 mile day. At least that's my goal.

 

Staying out for 5-6 hours is a long ride for me. The distance depends on terrain.