My longest rides ever were when I cycled home through the Alps from Salzburg (where I was studying) to my parents' place near Innsbruck a couple of times (~170k each way = 105.6 miles) ... on a mountain bike
(as that's the only bike I had at the time). No alpine passes were involved, I hasten to add
.
Summer days in Austria tend to be quite hot (often 30C+ in the middle of the day), and I was carrying some stuff in panniers that I needed to take with me for the summer holidays (and I didn't think anything of it, the ignorance of youth
). I still remember vividly how my legs were wanting to do funny circular pedalling type motions as I walked up the stairs at my parents' place (knees lifting high at each step), and how good that cold fruit compote was that my mum had waiting for me
. As far as I remember, I was fine the next day, if a bit more hungry than usual ...
But that's a while ago now
- nearly 20 years! This year I've managed a few ~ 100k day rides, with the longest ~115k (71 miles) I think
.
T
