What's a "ride" anyway?

[BobbyJones]

The recent brevet thread got me thinking about how far people ride and expectations on the type of equipment they use. I've always ridden a Cannondale and my favorite comments were how they're just not suited for long rides.

I've seen some people ready for bear if they're going out for more than a hour, and some with just a tube, co2, jacket and a powerbar in a jersey pocket for a hundred miles.

So, what's your idea of distance?
In my case, "going for a quick ride" is in the 35 mile range

A "Saturday morning" ride is 60-80, and a long ride is 100-120, pushing 150 if an event is coming up

What say you?

[AngryScientist]

what's the question?

a ride for me is whenever my butt is in the saddle, whether it be to the liquor store around the corner or a fast weekend century.

if the question is how you prepare for different length rides that's another story, depends on weather, temperature, terrain and location. i'll pack different gear for a century in august in the middle of nowhere than one in october close to train routes.

i enjoy every ride i take.

[BobbyJones]

what's the question?

See the question in bold- the one that says "So, what's your idea of distance?"

THAT was the question. Along with my examples following the question I was hoping the context of my question was clear.

The rest was back story on WHY I was curious- primarily based on the statement in the brevet thread of "We had expected the brevet crowd to be filled with fendered, steel frames, lots of wool, Brooks saddles, and spiffy English-style saddlebags. Not so much."

But thanks for playing along with the romanticized reply and your training insights.

[christian]

I have toddlers. Other than the commute, the usual ride is 20-35 miles. That's ok, it's still riding, even in 1-hour chunks!

[gone]

It depends.

I ride the vast majority of the time by myself so, depending on time of year, the average ride is in the 30-50 mile range. In the summer when it's nice I'll ride 50-80 miles a couple of times a week. Occasionally I'll do a solo century just for the heck of it.

When I get together with riding friends from disparate parts of the country, we generally ride 100+ miles every day.

[Fixed]

around the block if i am lucky
cheers

[firerescuefin]

I have toddlers. Other than the commute, the usual ride is 20-35 miles. That's ok, it's still riding, even in 1-hour chunks!


This....what you can, when you can. Trying to stay race fit is more of a challenge...add training in the garage with a baby monitor hanging from the handlebars.

[67-59]

My schedule makes it easiest to ride for about 1-2 hours per day, nearly every day, when the weather cooperates...but rarely much more than that.

This means that the vast majority of my rides are within a fairly narrow mileage range - typically 20-35 miles. I make up for it in total mileage by doing this virtually every day during the season, which means I usually have as many total miles as friends who do 50-100 mile rides on weekends, but only occasionally get out during the week.

So for me:

Short ride: anything under 20
"Normal" ride: 20-35
Long ride: anything over 35

[Vancouverdave]

what's the question?

a ride for me is whenever my butt is in the saddle, whether it be to the liquor store around the corner or a fast weekend century.

if the question is how you prepare for different length rides that's another story, depends on weather, temperature, terrain and location. i'll pack different gear for a century in august in the middle of nowhere than one in october close to train routes.

i enjoy every ride i take.
+1--a "ride" is any time that you're turning pedals outdoors.

[FlashUNC]

So, what's your idea of distance?


The seperation of two points in space is my general idea of distance.

In all seriousness, what AngryScientist said. Any ride -- whether is a long weekend ride around the countryside or a spin down to the corner store and back -- counts.

[fourflys]

well this thread has the potential to be a organ measuring contest...

most of my rides are under 40 miles... just that time of my life where being able to get prepared for anything else just isn't possible...

the idea that a "ride" has to be xx of miles minimum is pretty silly in my opinion... I'm not sure if that is what the OP was getting at with the question, so I apologize if I misunderstood...

in the end a ride is anytime you are out on the bike for pleasure... if going out on the bike is work then it's not a ride regardless of the distance, it's a chore...

:beer:

[thwart]

well this thread has the potential to be a organ measuring contest... True enough.

A ride is a ride. Some of us are not lucky enough to be able to get away for 5 or 6 hour rides (then again, are family obligations and all that it entails something negative in the big picture of things? Some of the folks riding the really big miles have no other life, so to speak).

I've transitioned from long weekend rides and shorter weekday rides to overall similar mileage, but longer weekday and shorter weekend ones, to avoid those 'gone for the day' rides. People around me like it better that way.

[BobbyJones]

Folks, if you feel your masculinity threatened by the question, don't answer.

Some people "got" the question, but for some reason I feel a need to explain myself better. A clearer reason for my curiosity is this:

In the mentioned reference thread there was an expectation for a certain type of equipment based on the event, which was a 200k. Now in my experience thats not exactly a long distance requiring much of different set up than a ride of lets say 100k. And obviously not for a lot of people on the brevet either. And as mentioned i've heard things that Al Cannondales are uncomfortable and not suitable for long rides (i get a kick hearing this after 120 cushy miles).

However, to me (yes, this is about me) I may rethink my equipment for 300 to 1200k. Others may start planning at 50k. So be it.

All this got me thinking- We're all a community here. We contribute because we have more in common than not. So, quite simply, I wonder what the "community" considers a long ride. Or a short one. It's that simple. It wasn't about a ride "counting" (counting for what, anyway?), or if you liked riding or not.

Oh well, I guess time and/or distance doesn't exist for some people. You must be the ones paying your bills in unicorn horns and rainbows because "it's not about money" either.

[fourflys]

Oh well, I guess time and/or distance doesn't exist for some people. You must be the ones paying your bills in unicorn horns and rainbows because "it's not about money" either.

no idea what this means... but dude, seriously... it's not that big of a deal... people read your question and answered it... remember, you post is entitled "what's a "ride" anyway"...

[Nooch]

A "long" ride for me is anything more than 50 miles. Most of my training rides/interval rides/endurance mileage is about 1.5 hours or 20 or so miles.

Weekend long rides, over 50 miles/2.5-6 hours.. (but I cary the same things -- maybe just a few more gu's and a few more dollars -- ride the same bikes -- because they're the only one's I have -- and enjoy myself)

Here's another take on it, from Bill Strickland:
http://bicycling.com/blogs/theselection/2011/11/03/did-that-ride-count/

[fourflys]

Here's another take on it, from Bill Strickland:
http://bicycling.com/blogs/theselection/2011/11/03/did-that-ride-count/


awesome...

I guess to answer the second question of how long is long I would say, for me, a long ride at this point is 50 miles...

[Ti Designs]

I know a few track riders who think anything more than 3km is a long ride. I have no sense of direction at all, to me a ride is what happens between when I leave and when I get back. A long ride involves multiple ice cream stops. A really long ride involves sleeping in an ATM or renting a car to get home. The rides I don't get are test rides. People take out a bike, ride it around the block and from that they can tell something??? My version of a test ride often involves a few ice cream stops (if the bike can't handle and ice cream stop, what good is it?), a few town line sprints with friends, a dirt road or two, and some seriously steep climbing. I took out an Ottrott for a test ride and brought it back when it needed it's ST bearings replaced...

[DRZRM]

Sadly, with two kids three-year-old and under, my rides are early or late, and are generally shorter than I would like. If I can squeeze in a 35-45 on an early weekend morning, I'd delighted. If I don't ride to work (15 miles RT if I stretch it) than these days I'm riding 90 minutes of mixed trail and concrete in the dark with my CX bike in the park with lights on the bars and my helmet. No lights at all in the park, and a lot more wildlife than during the day. Interesting stuff.

[palincss]

In the mentioned reference thread there was an expectation for a certain type of equipment based on the event, which was a 200k. Now in my experience thats not exactly a long distance requiring much of different set up than a ride of lets say 100k. And obviously not for a lot of people on the brevet either. And as mentioned i've heard things that Al Cannondales are uncomfortable and not suitable for long rides (i get a kick hearing this after 120 cushy miles).

However, to me (yes, this is about me) I may rethink my equipment for 300 to 1200k. Others may start planning at 50k. So be it.


The planning you need to do, and the amount of gear you need to bring, depend on many factors including distance, the time it takes to do that distance, location - terrain, facilities where you're riding, temperature and climate - and of course, where you are in the riding season.

On the 200km brevet I did last Saturday, the fastest riders finished in just under 8 hours while the slowest took 13 hrs 21 minutes to do the ride. The fastest finished before sundown and really didn't need either lights or reflective gear, while the slowest riders were riding in darkness for around 4 hours.

Everyone needed to cope with morning temperatures in the high 30s and mid-day temperatures in the low 50s, and for some back down to the low 40s after dark. That isn't a particularly wide temperature range for around here; the weekend before, it was 32 degrees at 7 am (36 degrees at 9, when my ride began) going up to 65 at mid-day, and you don't cover that temperature range with a pair of arm warmers and leg warmers.

But to answer your specific question, for me 200km is a long ride, the longest distance I've ever done. For most riders I know, a century is a long ride, the longest most of them have ever done or ever plan to do, and most of those riders expect a whole lot of support to be provided by event organizers.

[christian]

My equipment choices vary with the weather and whether I will end up at home again or somewhere else, not on the length of the ride, things like PBP obviously notwithstanding. By that measure, a long ride would be one that couldn't be completed in daylight hours or would take multiple days, I suppose. Longest ride I've done is 186 miles, but other than a SON, I used the same equipment as usual.

But I don't equip myself any differently for a 120 miler than I do for a 20 miler. Appropriate clothes, spare tube, patch kit, tool kit, credit card, driver license, and money. I value self-sufficiency in all my rides, and I'm not sure what else I'd need on a one-day ride. In 29 years of riding, I've never had a ride I had to abandon due to mechanical issues, so if I'm doing it wrong, it must be that I'm carrying that mini-tool unnecessarily on the 20 milers?

Also, I fill my tires with rainbow-colored unicorn sh1t, so I rarely flat! :)

[fourflys]

Sadly, with two kids three-year-old and under, my rides are early or late, and are generally shorter than I would like. .

I feel your pain brother... having a 3 y/o, 11 y/o and going to school takes up most of my riding time... I actually had more time to ride when I was going to work every day... I could at least get an hour everyday at lunch...

[BobbyJones]

But I don't equip myself any differently for a 120 miler than I do for a 20 miler.....I value self-sufficiency in all my rides, and I'm not sure what else I'd need on a one-day ride. .....so if I'm doing it wrong, it must be that I'm carrying that mini-tool unnecessarily on the 20 milers?

Also, I fill my tires with rainbow-colored unicorn sh1t, so I rarely flat! :)

We're in the same boat on the above. BTW - i was up in your neck of the woods on Saturday. You weren't kidding about having great riding up there.

[beeatnik]

For me a short ride is anything under an hour or a ride where if my bike explodes, I can easily call a friend for a ride home.

Now a long ride is harder to define but, to paraphrase the Supreme Court, I know it when I experience it. I don't bring anything more than what I carry for a short ride so I usually experience an "oh crap!" moment, being 50 plus miles away from home.

[Jack Brunk]

Tonight's 20 mile mountain bike ride in the pitch dark with a little 900 lumen helmet light. All critters are a little bit bigger in the dark.

[1centaur]

Tonight's 20 mile mountain bike ride in the pitch dark with a little 900 lumen helmet light. All critters are a little bit bigger in the dark.

Luckily for us, they don't read the Serotta Forum so they don't know that.

[DRZRM]

Yeah, when you hit a raccoon or a fox full in their dilated eyes with a headlamp, they can look pretty...surprising. Ok I actually scared the crap out of myself on a slow climb the other night when a fox about 10 feet away from me seemed to take on the dimensions of a wolf.

Tonight's 20 mile mountain bike ride in the pitch dark with a little 900 lumen helmet light. All critters are a little bit bigger in the dark.

[tannhauser]

I get bored on anything over 76 miles.

[giverdada]

chamois butter - if it goes on, it's a ride.

if it doesn't, that little jaunt to get more beer/see the chiropractor/get lost on the way home/end up cyclocrossing on those awesome trails we used to ride in university/arrive muddy and late to pick up the 6 and 3 year old at daycare, that jaunt that became a ride, will hurt.

hill climb repeats are my lowest distance rides, but they put a good hurt on for the pre-daycare pickup allotted hour. weekend rides are a daydream, but certainly good for the soul. and then there are those twelve minutes of rendered fixie time each morning and evening on the commute. no butter. just smiling.

[Jack Brunk]

Yeah, when you hit a raccoon or a fox full in their dilated eyes with a headlamp, they can look pretty...surprising. Ok I actually scared the crap out of myself on a slow climb the other night when a fox about 10 feet away from me seemed to take on the dimensions of a wolf.
That's awesome! Heart rates are always a little higher at night.

[Louis]

As the days get shorter and the ride opportunities with decent weather dwindle I'm willing to accept less and less time as a "ride." In the summer I wouldn't bother with a 30 min ride, but in Jan or Feb if the weather is unseasonably warm and for some reason I can't leave work early, I might settle for that. Better than nothing at all. (and better than exercising inside)