How long are you comfortable cycling for on a regular basis?

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a.twiddler

Veteran
The averages are meaningless unless you are talking just about the average of a self-selecting cohort of people who like cycling for hours as recreation/exercise and are on cycling forums.
I doubt that average/most cyclists cycle for anything like these times or distances.

Probably the readers of this post, or forum, are self selecting anyway. A minority of a minority. I tried Audaxes 45 years or so ago and didn't take to them. I used to ride longish distances but I preferred my own schedule. Then in between, life got in the way. Only recently have the longer rides returned, and being ancient, I tailor them to my abilities.
 

presta

Legendary Member
The averages are meaningless unless you are talking just about the average of a self-selecting cohort of people who like cycling for hours as recreation/exercise and are on cycling forums.
I doubt that average/most cyclists cycle for anything like these times or distances.

It isn't just about who's answering the question either, it's also about exactly what question they're answering. If I'm going out for a full day's ride it'll be 6-8-10 hours or so, but not all rides are full day rides, and not all days are riding days. Then are we talking about the time spent with the bike moving, or the total time from departure to arrival? Then there's how often you're doing it: the distance you can cover in a day is different if it's just one day to what you can manage if it's every day. And lastly, the distance you can manage on a regular basis will be very different if you eat and drink regularly to what it'll be if you try to ride on starvation rations. What applies to distance also applies to speed, the harder you flog yourself the sooner you'll tire.

And that's before you get into ride conditions like weather & terrain......
 

presta

Legendary Member
Velocio's Rules:
  1. Keep your rest short and infrequent to maintain your rhythm.
  2. Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty.
  3. Never ride to the point of exhaustion where you can't eat or sleep.
  4. Cover up before you are cold, peel off before you are hot.
  5. Don't drink, smoke, or eat meat on tour.
  6. Never force the pace, especially during the first hours.
  7. Never ride just for the sake of riding.
 

Pblakeney

Über Member
Velocio's Rules:
  1. Keep your rest short and infrequent to maintain your rhythm.
  2. Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty.
  3. Never ride to the point of exhaustion where you can't eat or sleep.
  4. Cover up before you are cold, peel off before you are hot.
  5. Don't drink, smoke, or eat meat on tour.
  6. Never force the pace, especially during the first hours.
  7. Never ride just for the sake of riding.

#3 is really weird when you experience it.
#5 & #7 are utter horlicks!
 

All uphill

Still rolling along
Location
Somerset
Velocio's Rules:
  1. Keep your rest short and infrequent to maintain your rhythm.
  2. Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty.
  3. Never ride to the point of exhaustion where you can't eat or sleep.
  4. Cover up before you are cold, peel off before you are hot.
  5. Don't drink, smoke, or eat meat on tour.
  6. Never force the pace, especially during the first hours.
  7. Never ride just for the sake of riding.

I've done all of those! Do I get a prize??
 
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