How often do you rest during a ride?

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bluezelos

Active Member
Location
North West
did a 36 miler the other night, which is quite a bit longer than I normally do. Back feeling a little sore these last couple of days. I did stop for a short re-fuel (about 10 mins) but that was my only stop.

Do you recommend stopping a bit more frequently when on a long ride, or just keep going?
 

Smokin Joe

Legendary Member
Depends entirely on how I feel.
 

lane

Veteran
Probably 20 to 30 miles. I would do a 30 mile ride from home without stopping but would depend on the time of day I might stop for some lunch if it was lunch time. If I was doing a 60 mile ride I would probably stop twice and on a 100 miles three times.
 

Domus

Guru
Location
Sunny Radcliffe
All depends, MK cycles serve very good coffee, shortest route from home to there is about 20 Kms. On a good day I spin it out to 30 Kms, then over the top to Rivington and into Horwich, I have a cafe there which allows me to take the bike inside so I might have lunch, then if I'm feeling very lazy I may well stop at Costa in Bolton, just 8 Kms from home. Being retired, on a sunny day, I can easily manage three stops in a 60 Km ride.

Before my prostate surgery I stopped more frequently.............but only for a wee while..
 

lane

Veteran
If you do a longer ride than normal you might feel sore and tired the next day and extra stops might make no difference.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
That sort of length of ride would include lunch and/or coffee and cake, maybe shopping, a visit somewhere...not in a rush on a day out :okay:
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
When you feel like it. I generally have one significant stop of at least 10 min on any ride, be it 30km or 200km where I get off and sit down for a bit. I need that as a nice punctuation mark.

I also stop when I feel like it, or when called upon by nature and then I'll have a stretch as well as something to eat. Plus post hill recovery stops if there are any really big hills. But I normally try to ride on for 15 min or so after the big hill to let my breathing calm down a bit before I stop. And then I might decide I don't need to stop after all.

And for photo opportunities too.

Oh yes, and shop stops to fill bottles, eat peanuts etc.
 
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alicat

Legendary Member
Location
Staffs
On a ride of 36 miles or so, I would have one cafe stop in the middle for a snack - bacon sandwich, toasted teacake etc. Cafe to cafe is my style. I wouldn't stop otherwise unless I saw something interesting to gawp at.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Before my prostate surgery I stopped more frequently.............but only for a wee while..
Given the frequency of my hedge-sprinkling on rides these days, I suspect that I am heading that way too...! :whistle:

If I am riding by myself I don't stop unless I have to; I certainly don't stop for 'a rest'. I might stop to refill a bottle, or eat a cereal bar, but otherwise I would just keep on going. I pace myself so I can keep riding at that level of effort.

If I have stopped for non-rest reasons I might take a few photos while I was at it, but normally I can't be bothered to dig my phone out of my bag. I used to carry a camera in a bar bag and stopped for more photo-opportunities then because I could stop, take the picture(s), and be moving again within a couple of minutes.

If I am in a group, we usually stop about every 50 kms (30-ish miles) for snacks and tea/coffee i.e. once on a 100 km ride, twice on a 100 mile ride and three times on a 200 km ride. If someone else was organising the ride then I'd do what everyone else was doing - within reason. I was telling someone recently about a 25 mile CTC ride with 3 cafe stops - that would do my head in!
 
Is it a coincidence that we have all these photographic threads
- bike in front of a gate
- bike in front of a memorial
- bike in front of anything at the top of a hill

Funny that isn't it?

Actually, as I use paper maps I have to stop to navigate, and my water bottle on the Xtracycle is in my bags, so what with stopping because I'm lost, drinking water, taking a pee, taking my coat off at the bottom of hills, putting it on again ten minutes later because I'm cold, and 'Photographic stops' it's a wonder I get anywhere at all, especially at the speed I ride...
 
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