distance questions ? ? ?

[alci4]

hi folks back again for more advice

just completed my first 30 mile loop and looking to do my first 50 next week (as i am off work so if i'm shagged can recover lol) and have a few questions

1/ i see people doing 70 /80/100's on the forum and wonder how often if at all they stop for breaks? i just did 30 but i cant bring myself to stop i almost feel i'd be cheating e.g. how long do i stop for (e.g. i could go home for dinner half way have a kip then continue and say i did it in 1 ride but i wouldnt have done, or at least not in my opinion) i know there are no set rules just wondering what peoples feelings on this are

2/ i did my 30 miles in 2hrs 18 mins is this reasonable or should i be looking to get my speed up ( mostly canal paths so not many hills except the locks (and a 400 metre tunnel which slowed me down a bit and the bloody gates every mile or so )

3/ how do people get that distance thing where the miles are crosses out in their sigs?

 

[NormanD]

Hello Alci4

Question one

On a 30 mile ride I stop about half way for about 10 to 20 minutes

1) Mainly because my level of fitness is not yet where I want it to be (having four months off due to injury hasn't helped) this gives my body a little time to recover before the next session.


2) I'm breaking in a new bike, so my body is adapting to the new riding position (compared to the old bike), plus adding some little tweaks to make the bike more comfortable and find that sweet spot I had with the old bike

3) Since I ride for both pleasure and fitness I can pretty much take as many breaks as I require: I don’t class each distance I cover as a race, more of an achievement at the moment, if my cycle computer says I set off at 605 miles and I arrive back home and it says 655, then no matter how many times I’ve stopped, I’ve covered 50 miles in that outing (some will say it’s a crime )

Question 2

30 miles in 2.18 hours is a good average if you consider the terrain you're riding over I.E canal paths not always the smoothest of rides: Locks become a barrier.. etc etc all add time to your journey in some way, plus you have to consider the type of cycle you’re riding … is it a mountain bike / hybrid / tourer or road cycle you’re using and the tyres, knobblies will have far more rolling resistance than a smooth thin tyre would.

The more fitness you build up, the more your muscles build up and the more weight you lose, then the speed and distance covered will increase and the time taken will come down.

Question 3

Someone will be along to explain how to add the mileage markers

Hope it’s help

Norm

 

[palinurus]

Depends. If I'm touring or having a nice day ride I might stop loads of times, eat, drink, check the view, fall asleep on a nice patch of grass, go to the pub etc.

Sometimes I'll not get off the bike at all, assuming my drinks bottle(s) and the food in my jersey pocket is sufficient. Otherwise there might be a two minute stop at a garage to restock, unless I happen to find a cafe.

 

[alci4]

riding a voodoo bokor mtb with Geax Barro Mountain tyres

keep reading this obsession with stopping for cake lol but being a 16 stone porker this would defeat the object of the trip for me so i just keep going

not stopping is a mental barrier i supose i gotta try and get over if i'm gonna go much further otherwise if i ever do hit the 100 i am gonna be trashed with no breaks

 

[- Baz -]

What Norman said...

I think you're to be congratulated. It's all relative, isn't it?

For example, I just took my new Ridgeback hybrid out for a first ride this morning - that's first ride for both me in about twenty odd years and the first outing for the bike! Covered four miles - yes, that's FOUR miles - without stopping - and a couple of small(ish) hills. I'm chuffed to bits! For me, this is just the first milestone (I'll be commuting from next week) but still a milestone. There are always milestones...

I don't think you should worry about how often you stop. It's irrelevant and bound to lessen your enjoyment, and isn't that what it's all about?

Good luck on the 50!

Baz

 

[alci4]

What Norman said...

I think you're to be congratulated. It's all relative, isn't it?

For example, I just took my new Ridgeback hybrid out for a first ride this morning - that's first ride for both me in about twenty odd years and the first outing for the bike! Covered four miles - yes, that's FOUR miles - without stopping - and a couple of small(ish) hills. I'm chuffed to bits! For me, this is just the first milestone (I'll be commuting from next week) but still a milestone. There are always milestones...

I don't think you should worry about how often you stop. It's irrelevant and bound to lessen your enjoyment, and isn't that what it's all about?

Good luck on the 50!

Baz

cheers will lyk how i get on

it's not so much i am worried about it but wondered what the general opinion was, but then dont want to start doing longer distances and but my health at risk if it's advisable to take breaks

i am quite lucky in that i am 40 and am not feeling any back pains or niggles that i read a lot of the members get (worst i get is numb hands and a feeling that someone has taken a razor to my unquestionables even with padded shorts lol) but no major pains so happy days

 

[jig-sore]

go to my account (top left), got to edit signature, type in your mileage targets using strike-through text for the ones you have done.

 

[Norm]

Stopping, or not, is a personal thing, as is how you count your ride.

I do a loop of about 30 miles through Windsor Great Park something like 3 times a week. The half-way point nicely coincides with passing Savill Garden, and the rather cute Ukrainian girl at the snack wagon by the Obelisk. Sometimes I'll stop there for coffee, sometimes for coffee and a bacon roll, sometimes I'll carry on. More than anything, it depends on the time of day, so lunchtime = bacon roll (obviously ) but, if it's getting towards 4pm, I want to beat the rush hour so I carry on. I don't usually stop for more than 20-30 minutes, though, so, in my head, I consider that to be one ride.

When I rode to work, though, that was 21 miles each way which I did non-stop, although I did have a break of 10 hours in the middle so I consider that to be two rides.

It's kinda up to you how you do it, and why you are measuring it. If you want to use the ride to gauge your fitness, then you should, IMO, time it from start to finish, including any time you are stopped. If you are just out for an amble, then who cares how long and how many stops.

 

[alci4]

go to my account (top left), got to edit signature, type in your mileage targets using strike-through text for the ones you have done.

k m8 cheers

i thought there was some app on the board i was missing lol

in the words of the great meerkat i am SIMPLES

 

[jimboalee]

Riding a bike ( around Brum at least ) spends about 50 kCals per mile. At a fifteen mph average, that’s 750 kCals per hour.
This is TOTAL spend, not what you replace. That’s in another chapter.

How many calories of instant energy do you think you carry? About 1 hour’s worth, but you are riding at 50% carbs, 50% fatty acids.

So two hours of riding deserves a fuel stop.

How long to stop for?

The general rule amongst tourists is “stop for no longer than 25% of the last section.”

I our case, the stop should be no longer than 30 minutes. Any longer and your working muscles will have cooled and you will need to warm-up again as if you’d just started out.
Therefore, it is reasonable to say that two, two hour sections with more than 30 minutes between them are two separate rides.

Most Audaxers ride the first 50 km section in two hours and then stop for just under thirty minutes for coffee and cakes. From a riding average of 25kmh, the stop brings the overall average down to 21ish kmh. Then they set off again to repeat this over the next 50km.

 

[ianrauk]

And there you have it in a nutshell.

Stopping, or not, is a personal thing, as is how you count your ride.

I do a loop of about 30 miles through Windsor Great Park something like 3 times a week. The half-way point nicely coincides with passing Savill Garden, and the rather cute Ukrainian girl at the snack wagon by the Obelisk. Sometimes I'll stop there for coffee, sometimes for coffee and a bacon roll, sometimes I'll carry on. More than anything, it depends on the time of day, so lunchtime = bacon roll (obviously ) but, if it's getting towards 4pm, I want to beat the rush hour so I carry on. I don't usually stop for more than 20-30 minutes, though, so, in my head, I consider that to be one ride.

When I rode to work, though, that was 21 miles each way which I did non-stop, although I did have a break of 10 hours in the middle so I consider that to be two rides.

It's kinda up to you how you do it, and why you are measuring it. If you want to use the ride to gauge your fitness, then you should, IMO, time it from start to finish, including any time you are stopped. If you are just out for an amble, then who cares how long and how many stops.

 

[jig-sore]

on a long ride i always record two times for my rides. actual riding time (from my bike computer)and total time taken (from my watch).

this allows me to see how long my rest stops are and if they are decreasing at all. on a short ride i rarely stop

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

All that said...

Isn't it far far better to spend 3 hours doing a leisurely ride for 30 minutes, rest for 10, ride an hour, rest 20, ride an hour than to say "oh..it looks like there's a 3.5% chance of rain so I'll get a big tub of ice cream and watch the Eastenders omnibus"

The other thing I would say it's better to do a leisurely ride with stops than start hating your days out through refusal to stop, and then find excuses not to go out at all...