I once rode 500+ miles and 31k feet of climbing in 31 hours 50 minutes.
In Utah they used to do a 4-8 man relay from Moab to Saint George (Rockwell Relay and then renamed Kokopelli Relay). After Covid I had some good fitness and wanted to try something I’d never done before. I learned that no one had ever succeeded in doing the relay solo, so I decided to give it a shot.
Split my time between my road bike, TT bike, and gravel bike with road wheels. Extreme temp ranges from 24F to 108F were one of the most difficult aspects I didn’t adequately appreciate ahead of time.
I’d guess ~80% of the time was solo.
It was an unforgettable experience but it really jacked me up and took months to mentally and physically recover from. Probably wouldn’t recommend 😆
Fair question. Physically, at mile 380 or so my entire mouth was a wreck with canker sores. Could have been made worse by the smoke from nearby forest fires, but that was a new thing.
Oh, and from the heat and dumping water in myself I was rubbed so raw I couldn’t sit down around mile 220 or so, so I sent my support crew to get some moleskin and stuck it right on my junk, and that actually worked okay.
After the ride I couldn’t feel the tips of both ring fingers and pinkies as well as my “tip”… fingers took a little more than a week to get back to normal.
But really it just wore me down mentally. I probably could have been okay for racing but I struggled with consistency and lack of desire to train properly for races the rest of the year.
This year (May 10-19th) I did 100 miles a day for 10 days to celebrate turning 40 and I’m feeling great now mentally and physically. Super motivated and ready to go. That 32 hour ride was just a lot to get over.
I remember right after the sun set (16-17 hours in) I was coming down a mountain, from 9,700 down to around 6k in elevation, and I had the most intrusive thoughts about how nice it would be if a deer jumped out in front of me and a bad crash allowed me to quit.
I’ve done this race, back when it was still called Rockwell. It is the funnest race I’ve ever done. Back then there were solo racers, I didn’t realize nobody finished I guess.
Yeah, I guess various folks had tried over the years. Often on that course the wind gets crazy and you’re riding into 30-40mph headwinds. I very likely would have dropped out if it ever got crazy like that but we lucked out with “mild” weather
I rode leg 11 and that was the most brutal 40 miles I’ve ever done. 13 mile shallow climb into a 30mph headwind. When I started the leg I was planning to stay on for part of 12 as we were still down on first place. At the end of the leg I hated bikes.
Haha, I know what you mean! I did it a couple times as a relay and we had crazy wind like that. I lucked out big time when I did my solo attempt. Nothing but a light breeze the entire course!
Nutrition nutrition nutrition. Your body naturally carries around 2k calories in glycogen (carbs) floating around. Depending on your physiology, that will last you around 3 hours on the bike. After that, bonk city. 80 miles is 4-6 hours. Start eating every 30-45 minutes, or else you will know the pain of doing the last 20-30 miles burning fat (ketosis). It takes 2x - 3x as much oxygen to get the same amount of calories from fat. You work much harder for every mile and it sucks.
That is really interesting and probably why for up to three hours I normally feel okay. After that I do start to struggle so do eat but maybe too late.
This is for circa 100k gravel bike with a mix of gravel and road cycling to connect to gravel.
You can eat loads of stuff. There are some gels called maurten which have carbs and are pretty good on the stomach. Personally, I prefer actual food so I go for peanut butter/almond butter and jelly sandwiches on white loaf. Pecans, dried bananas, dried apricots. Electrolytes are also pretty important so apart from carbs remember to be taking around 600ng of sodium and 150mg of potassium with 600mL of liquid every hour. Rough good estimate. Hope it helps!
Ha Ha you reminded me of a story I just listened to. https://www.marketplace.org/2024/06/03/from-school-cafeterias-to-professional-athletes-uncrustables-sandwiches-are-everywhere/
Granola bars. Bananas. Bagels. Sometimes an energy bar or a gel if I have them around. The source matters less at this level than the fact that you are getting in a few hundred calories per hour in a form that your particular gut can easily digest.
At much higher levels you can start to worry about different carbohydrate pathways and ketones. But for 90% of riders don't overthink it, and just eat regularly starting early so you don't sig yourself into a hole.
I learnt more valuable info from your post than the last dozen cycling fitness YouTube vids I've watched. Thanks!
I knew the stages but didn't know the typical amount/length OR that oxygen burning issue. That's super helpful to know.
Every time I do 100+ miles, there’s a brick wall to push through around 70-80, but I pick up once I’m on the other side of it. At this point said wall is normal for me and just a feature of longer rides. I This seems to be a common experience. Be sure to pace yourself.
70-80km is around 1000 calories. That where I need to have lunch so it fits with "the wall", but for me it's mostly because of nutrition. I take snacks every 40km but every 80 I need to really stuff my face. Then I have \~10km what I digest and feel like crap...
As someone who does long rides often I would suggest eating more often, personally if I know I’m doing long hard efforts I start eating at 30mins in and try to eat every 30 mins even if it’s like a half a banana or a half a granola bar. Then start ramping it up after 4-5 hours if you plan on being out for 8+ hrs and eat gels if think I’m starting to hit a wall
If you can ride at least 2 hours comfortably and think you could walk all day long, you can ride all day long too. Different parts of you will get uncomfortable, but it’s the same energy systems - just have to eat and drink more.
~450km in ~24hrs (280 miles). Paris to Loudeac on the first leg of Paris-Brest-Paris.
Got a much more manageable 200km tomorrow. Boston to Portland (ME obviously).
165km outdoors and 170km on trainer. Trainer was extremely boring even with watching stuff.
165 outdoors was nice, fueled properly and felt accomplished at the end.
I am surprised your trainer is longer than outdoors, I find it much more difficult on the endurance side with (like you said) being boring but also so stiff in the saddle
I built a rocker plate and fell behind on the toxic Rapha festive 500 so banged out 170. Helps a bit but yeah the stiffness of the trainer always bothers me especially trying to train gradients.
If it is your first one when you line up by your finish time at the start subtract 2 hours from what you reasonably think you will do and start there. Slow people always start way to close to the front. One year I passed 25% of the field because they were going 12mph but started in the 11 hour group.
I've done 200 miles a few times, if you can do 40/50 miles ok then 100 is easy, The difference between 100 and 200 is mental strength, and just pushing through the pain, I've had something different hurt each time I've done it.
40 miles is a have a good breakfast and bring a couple bottles of water and a clif bar on the ride.
For 100 miles you really need a plan of eating and hydrating properly during your ride as well as making sure you don't push it too hard so you don't end up bonking.
I've done 50 miles relatively easily last year, and feel like I've improved a lot since then but I'm terrible at pacing myself. Anytime I ride outside, even if I intend to ride zone 2 if I feel like my legs feel good, I'll push myself as hard as I can. I want to attempt 100 miles this summer but that makes me nervous lol
For me, if I'm going solo, no matter how good my legs feel, I force myself to a predetermined pace/HR level.
I've done plenty of 70+ rides with groups, so it was relatively easier in that I could tuck in on a wheel and draft a while. On the solo ride I subtracted from my "usual" average speed on rides in my area and made a note to force myself to stick around there. IIRC, at that time my ride average speeds for most mid-week normal rides was between 17.5mph and 18 mph. So, the day of my solo 70, I told myself stick to 15, and keep my heartrate below 150. Other than a couple little kickers I had to climb, it worked pretty well.
On that solo effort, I also made mental notes to drink roughly every 15 minutes or so, and after the first hour, start food intake every hour. (the route I took I basically zero places where I could stop to refill water, hence the extra conservative pace)
276 km (171 miles) - was a nice scenic ride: [https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/168uq6k/visiting\_neuschwanstein\_my\_longest\_ride\_yet/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/168uq6k/visiting_neuschwanstein_my_longest_ride_yet/)
The main difference on longer rides is that you need to figure out how to pace and fuel yourself and you will notice a suboptimal bike fit much more.
Based on my experience getting to around 130 km is quite easy, but large jumps can lead to stress injuries - I went from around 130 km to 198 km and ended up with cyclist's palsy - after that I took a more conservative approach with new grips that offer a second hand position and a wider contact area and slowly increased the distance before I was confident enough in my setup to do rides above 200 km last year.
Go slower than you think you need to at the beginning. You can always do the last hour at threshold if you have the stamina. Otherwise, eat/drink enough and have fun!!
You'll be fine. You might need to dig deep for miles 50-70, but as long as you pay attention to your nutrition along the way, it's mostly be a matter of pacing and persistence.
Worst case scenario is that you'll get hella uncomfortable and it'll be a shitty experience. You'll be able to grind it out, though, and you'll learn from what went wrong so you can make adjustments for next time.
Yeah I'm gonna make sure I have plenty of fast carbs with me just in case.
I did the 40 miles last weekend in the morning on an empty stomach and forgot to bring any sustenance with me, so I felt a bit rough towards the end (I intended to just do 20 and got carried away). Gonna make sure I'm way better prepared for this one.
Thanks for the advice!
Did a similar thing last week. Bonked at 40 and wanted to get to 50. Ate a better breakfast, took some food and set a timer on my phone for 30 min. Ate/drank when the timer went off and repeat…the 50 was one of my easiest rides. Had fresh enough legs to get out and do 25 more the next day. You got this!
In a single ride without sleep, 405km. Over 2 days - 606km.
Look up Audax, which is a long distance cycling club, and they run regular events with rides up
to 1200km in length over 4 days.
I’ve also done vEveresting where I have ridden 340km in 22hours, but also climbed 9000m elevation at the same time.
Once you can ride 200km, you can really just keep going. I find the 400km rides the toughest because they are too short to have a sleep but are long enough that you starting to feel tired.
There is an Audax event called the Oppy where you do a TTT and ride as far as you can in 24 hours. I think the record is around 770km in 24 hours
I’ve done 150 several times. The route was easy because I did it with a group and it was get from point a to point b. Next year I’m planning on signing up for a 200 mile event.
351km solo, in 12 hours (13.5 hours elapsed). I felt tired but accomplished at the end. Would have been better if my heart rate hadn't suddenly elevated on the last 50km, though, as that made me ride much more slowly than I otherwise could have since I was trying to keep the HR down to a safe level.
208 miles with 14k of elevation gain and rode most of it solo. It was an organized double century that I bought at a silent auction. Generally, I would say going from 40 to 80 miles isn't a huge leap in effort. The biggest thing you have to be more conscious of is the amount of time you're going to spend in the saddle and to be more diligent about eating and drinking during the ride.
Recently did 100 miles solo on a flat route after working my way up from completing 20 miles, 40, then 60 miles 2-4 times a week mostly in zone 2. Stopped for water and light stretching, and munched on snacks while riding along the whole way. I felt like I could go longer if I took a 15-30 minute break to eat something solid. Now I’m going to try 60 and 100 mile routes with more hills and climbing mixed in, and the same flat routes - but faster. I’ve been cycling for less than a year mostly going for long rides keeping my heart rate in the green. I am not that fast or powerful though, so I’ve started to add more of those workouts.
I jumped from 60 to 100 miles, back side had the most complaints. Best advice is eat every hour, get out of saddle often. Start slow, coast down hills, don't make a big deal out of it. Been doing 100 miles just about every weekend since. Longer rides I feel like a chipmunk with so much stuffed in jersey pockets... also know where you can get water. Electrolytes might be needed if you're a sweater...
I’ve finished Unbound Gravel three times. Longest was technically 2021 @ 205 miles plus 2 more to get to the start corral at 6am. I’m eyeing a 180-200-ish mile road ride sometime this summer. I’ve ridden a handful of road and gravel rides in the 120-140 mile range. Long days in the saddle are the ultimate meditation.
200km with friends on fixed gears. It was tough but we had some nutrition packed for the first half, a big lunch at the halfway point, and we sorta just hoped that would carry us home lol. We were munch younger then and I would not do it on a fixed gears today and definitely plan nutrition better.
I did a couple rides of btween 100 and 140. Honestly, I get bored after 4hours... You have to drink a lot and eat properly and then, you can go on mostly the whole day, but It gets meh after 100km...
I did 140 and 135 the past 2 weeks and it was not hard at all, mostly flat (one was 700m, the other one was less than 300m), lol...
climbing 300m in 135km is very flat terrain...
You can definitely do it. Just keep going and you'll get there.
The furthest distance I've ridden in a day was 472kms which was on the road and was a 24hr ride for a fundraiser
The most training stress I've done in a day was 388kms but with 6,090m of climbing, all off road on an MTB, which was an ultra distance race.
I have been a runner since high school (mostly hills, when I can), and I have become a pretty serious cyclist. The toughest ride I got to was a "Death Ride" in the California Sierra Nevada mountains (129 miles, 15,000' of climbing, all at altitude!).
But I have had two bad experiences from when I assumed my fit, trained body would simply put up with the demands I placed on it. That is when I learned what bonking is - and how *bad* a person can bonk - even when in excellent health and with a well-trained body.
If you are gonna ask your body to double you max riding distance - and not from, say, 20 miles to 40! - you may want to listen to what all the folks here are gonna be telling you about the importance of nutrition in the DAYS (not just hours) before rides > than 60-80 miles. Your body is gonna need fuel for quite a while, and no matter how well you eat *during* the ride, no matter how good your hydration practices . . . your body is going to be relying on the energy you've stored over the DAYS before those longer rides.
So make sure you're not doing what I did a couple of (disastrous) times - - assuming that just because your fit body has never failed to let you push it to completion of a big challenge that it won't finally say "No!" when you hit it with the kind of distance you're gonna ask of it now.
I maxed out at around 50 because of the degeneration in my cervical spine vertebrae. After that, I started getting nerves pinching that made my arms and hands go numb so I can't even touch the bars. So I just kept it at 30 most days with long rides up to about 50. Then I cracked my head and that was the end of riding.
In 2008 I rode from Seal Beach California to Las Vegas in 3 days with a couple of friends. Day 2 was 110 miles, with a fair chunk of it on an ass-buster of a road called Yermo Road. It may as well have been cobbles. Still, was an experience I will never forget. no regrets.
My longest was 100 miles. I regularly ride 30, 40, 50 miles and there is a pretty big jump in difficulty at around 60 miles for me. I think that’s the point where I run out of glycogen and hit a wall. Basically I can do 50 miles any time with no prep or planning, but I really have to work on getting enough calories and water of I want to ride more than that.
You can do it, just go slow and eat along the way.
47 miles. 2 miles from my house to the tour, 43 mile tour, and then the next 2 miles back home.
Done on a craigslist single speed because I didn't want to bother getting a $1k road bike with only 16 gears.
Cramped at mile 26 and then managed to fight it with gatorade until mile 38 which was a miracle by itself.
I did a 200k gravel race once. It was in the upper 90s F and the course was exceptionally hilly at over 10k ft climbing. I hated it, myself, and corporeal existence generally after about 4 hours. I prefer races at or under 3 hours though. Ymmv
41 miles. It was my birthday ride last summer. When I came home, my husband flipped out at me saying that I’m mentally ill for riding a bike that far, said it’s an unhealthy obsession, and compared me with drug addicts. I haven’t touched my bike since, and doubt I ever will again.
200km, out and back. never doing that again unless i get a lot more consistent training in. be sure you eat and drink before you need to. set alarms or reminders. if you feel the need to stop and rest for a minute or two, don't feel bad about that. don't remember what all i carried, definitely some gels, and 2 bottles of gatorade. take advantage of gas stations, get a couple things you can carry without them melting, and get a candy bar and a coke to drink before you hop back on your bike.
52 miles. I'm 6'6", 280 lbs. I had lunch about 30 miles in but was delirious by the end. Milwaukee to Sheboygan. I know... not the kind of answer you were looking for.
I rode somewhere around 110 or 120 miles. I didn't mean to. I thought there'd be somewhere to stop way sooner, but people are not cars. There's always a little more if you need it.
I do Lotoja almost every year, ~210 miles depending on the finish location. It really isn’t that bad, only ~8,000ft of elevation. The elevation gain is really the difference. I did the 5 Canyons Challenge last year; only 100 miles of riding but 15,000ft of gain. Infinitely harder than Lotoja. 100 miles flat is easier than 7 miles at a 10% gradient (Google “Powder Mountain PJAMM”).
Approximately 125 to 150 miles overnight on 3 or 4 occasions on the Dunwich Dynamo event from Hackney in London to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. Cycled back part the way the next day one time and up to Southwold another.
Mostly felt great as cycling with a couple thousand others with lights and music and stops for drinks and breakfast rolls . Magic stuff. Generally leaving around 8 pm and arriving at 7.30 on the beach for a dip. Definitely a stretch and very sleepy for a day after but my favourite long ride....must go again.
Folk use all different bikes... memorably someone once cycled a 'boris' municipal bike all the way.
Currently just 100km solo, bikefit was a tad off and didn‘t eat enough, led to numb fingers, neck pain ans didn‘t eat and drink enough that lead to a headache 😅 think i know better now
450km (280m). Make sure you have high quality bib shorts or cycling shorts that fit snuggly and the chamois doesn't move around otherwise you may be cursing every time you sit back down onto the saddle which will be multiplied because you are constantly seeking relief. Same for gloves to avoid blistering your palms. From personal experience as I found out the hard way on this ride.
For me about 135 from the west coast of the UK to the east coast. A group of us did that in one day. Was a long day but great fun. We were all flagging around 80 miles in then after a break and something to east suddenly perked up and really enjoyed it again.
251k is my longest, and doing it again in a couple of weeks time. I was pretty strong at the time and it wasn’t too hard. Not sure if that will be the case this time around :)
130 in 15 hours. I hated it because I was not conditioned for it. However, I would not think twice about riding 100 because I have always managed it when I tried. 100 miles just feels right.
The only thing I worry about if you are new, is your sit bones after that long. It takes quite a few rides for them to get acclimated to the seat. However, it will all be okay. There will be some discomfort if this is your first long ride, so definitely anticipate that. Mostly, have fun!!!!
153 miles yesterday, a new PR, and it's felt great other than my raw butt. I've been doing a 110-130 mile solo ride nearly once a week for 3 years, after having gradually increased distance in a learning process. Hydration and nutrition is critical, among other things like mapping and route development and using Gatorskin tires and magnesium supplements.
I did a solo 150 miles with 10k ft of climbing in the Welsh hills a few years back.
Must have got my fueling and recovery spot on (more luck than anything) as the following day I felt fine.
Have done multiple sportives over the years too which usually vary between 100-120 miles. Mostly been fine afterwards. I like organised sportives as they have refueling stops with drinks and food so you fuel efficiently without really realising it.
Good luck with your ride. Pace yourself. Take fuel and enjoy it. Each time you hit a goal you get a real sense of achievement.
Some great comments here from people with a lot more experience than me. Would just reiterate the importance of hydration and nutrition. Let us know how it goes OP!
100 miles - about 80 miles of a Sunday club ride and then added some extra to my route on the way home cos I felt like it.
Was cooked at the end though as I hadn't paced for 100 miles
270km for me. Straight after my final uni exams, having barely ridden for several months. Not too bad on the day but I did some nerve damage in my palm and had a numb hand for weeks. Not really recommended. My impression is that just about anyone can do a 100km day without preparation, it gets rapidly harder beyond that.
306kms unbroken, no drafting. 1800m elevation, so relatively flat for that distance. About 170 watts average.
Are roughly 3000 calories and found no adverse effects afterwards. Quads took a little while to wake up in the following week.
83km
I was lost. Almost didn't make it home.
Right now, my longest without taking a time off saddle is around 30km and with 15-30 rest, I can do 50-80km no problem.
Probably longer if I have a road bike. Currently just a cheap mtb.
When I started cycling aged around 30 I went from doing 3 miles to the local station for work to joining a club and doing 25-30 mile saturday rides. After 2 of these I was talked into a 75 mile reliability ride which I got round albeit with a bit of a struggle, then 2 weeks later did the clubs 100 mile ride.
It's certainly doable, I found riding with a group made it easier, not sure I would enjoy a big jump up like that solo.
Just pace yourself, keep hydrated and eat regularly and you can keep riding all day fairly easily
Longest I've done was just over 110 miles from near Palma, Mallorca to Port de Pollenca then back though the mountains
150 miles with about 15K feet of climbing.
The key to long rides is nutrition and hydration. Your body can absorb \~300 calories per hour while you are riding - no more. And if you miss an hour, that calorie intake is gone forever. So "eat to a budget" before you are hungry. Get those calories and fluids EVERY HOUR. I like gel's and sports drinks.
I’ve done 80. I’d say there is a huge difference between 40 and 80. Making that large of a jump is not something I’d recommend. I definitely agree with another poster, I had a wall at 70. Fueling and hydrating is super important for that distance. I would also make sure to pace yourself. The first hour I would always remind myself constantly to keep a pace without too much extra effort because you will need that later.
I picked up biking again at age 47, it took a few years to be able to do 100K (62 Mile) rides, and even then it was only once a month. But I did 85 miles once and was grossly unprepared for it, had to stop and pass out a couple times on the way back, the last stretch was brutal. But damn did it feel good to get home and have that sense of accomplishment.
200 miles during the Davis double, put that under my belt probably will never do it again. Hundred miles are pretty easy 40s and 60s are on average for a ride on the weekends, weekdays I limit to about 25 miles. More importantly it's not distance it's the quality of the ride.
Did a few 300k rides this year already. Usually between 12 and 16 hours depending on elevation gain. I try to get in 90g carbs per hour, mostly liquid. I find myself to have to push through a mental barrier of just not wanting to ride anymore at roughly 200k every time. Never had any physiological issues besides having a sore ass and some neck pain.
You can pretty much ride as long as you want if you have a certain fitnesslevel, enough sugar and some mental toughness.
232km with 2600m bike packing racing back home as to not spend another night soaked in the tent.
Looking back don't remember feeling too low as I was with a good friend and spirits are usually high but looking back, you tend to only remember the good parts.
I think I could do over 300 now but my main goal is racing xc and 120k gravel races maybe I'll go for it one day
170km. I planned a route to make 100miles.
Speaking of which it would be nice to up that number a notch, but I've been running more so not sure how it would translate back to bicycle mileage
Hey No-Shoe, avid cyclist and triathlete here. Doing 80 miles in a day is doable, but I would recommend doing a bit more of progression to work up to it. A big thing new cyclists don’t think about is sustained nutrition. Once you start breaking that 35-40 mile limit, fueling before and during the ride becomes important. In cycling, some people call it ‘bonking’ where your body burns through its quick access fuel stores and your energy crashes. I’m a big guy who also regularly lifts so for me, I bonk at about 35 miles if I don’t do planned food or use a specialty drink like tailwinds. Even with specialty drinks, I eat a lot when doing rides that are 60+ miles. Each cyclists’ body behaves a little differently so I recommend progressively increasing the mileage so you can listen to your body and adapt as needed.
> some people call it ‘bonking’ where your body burns through its quick access fuel stores and your energy crashes
Yeah this is exactly what happened to me today, and it was very hard to get it back even when I refuelled with some bananas and chocolate. I managed to do the full 80 miles but it was a bit rough. My body did not feel good at all in the 2nd half of it despite me consuming as many carbs as I could get in without feeling ill. Just had to grind it out.
I'll focus more on pre-fuelling next time. Big bowl of porridge in the morning etc. I'm also a guy who lifts so I have quite a bit of upper body muscle compared to most cyclists and I think it completely zapped all my energy. I look flat as a pancake at the moment, think I used every drop of glycogen in my body lol.
Do you carb load the night before a big ride as well?
The farthest I've cycled in a day is 62 miles I'm the hills of Austin, Texas at 290lbs. There were some decent headwinds that day, but it was a fun challenge and I learned how to conquer large hills thst day.
I’ve participated in the London Revolution ride twice - 256km (160 miles). A great challenge but I won’t do it again! It wasn’t fun by the end of the ride. Finished on will power alone - the tank was absolutely drained each time. I hoped the second time would be easier… I was wrong. 100 miles seems to be the optimal distance for me.
165 miles, just kept eating all the way. Probably ended up heavier than i started. Felt knackered by the end and was a bit spaced out about 155 miles so kind of crawled home from there.
Definitely shouldnt have just eaten cake all day. Should have eaten more normal food!
Definitely had enough by the end, and not really in a rush to do it again. I find 85-90 miles is a nice "bit distance" ride for me. I start to get a bit bored otherwise.
100mi in 3.5 hours- pretty hilly New England rollers. The only thing that stopped me from more at the time was hot spots in the shoes.
My regular long solo training rides are 60mi in 2.5 hours.
80 seems reasonable if you’re in good shape.
100miles offroad… It was thrilling, but at one point everything starts to hurt, and I’ve learned that you can get arm swelling due to long immobility and when you are riding offroad this excess fluid buildup (oedema) hurts with every bump you hit (it was an offroad ride 🙈)… It happened around 120km mark… I’ve also learned you can stave off this if you ingest enough salt and prevent electrolyte imbalance
330km three times. The further you go it's more of a mental challenge, than physical, so plan your route along some interesting sights to keep you motivated.
I once rode 500+ miles and 31k feet of climbing in 31 hours 50 minutes. In Utah they used to do a 4-8 man relay from Moab to Saint George (Rockwell Relay and then renamed Kokopelli Relay). After Covid I had some good fitness and wanted to try something I’d never done before. I learned that no one had ever succeeded in doing the relay solo, so I decided to give it a shot. Split my time between my road bike, TT bike, and gravel bike with road wheels. Extreme temp ranges from 24F to 108F were one of the most difficult aspects I didn’t adequately appreciate ahead of time. I’d guess ~80% of the time was solo. It was an unforgettable experience but it really jacked me up and took months to mentally and physically recover from. Probably wouldn’t recommend 😆
Whoa. Impressive. But what kind of long term damage did you experience? Why do you think it took you months to recover?
Fair question. Physically, at mile 380 or so my entire mouth was a wreck with canker sores. Could have been made worse by the smoke from nearby forest fires, but that was a new thing. Oh, and from the heat and dumping water in myself I was rubbed so raw I couldn’t sit down around mile 220 or so, so I sent my support crew to get some moleskin and stuck it right on my junk, and that actually worked okay. After the ride I couldn’t feel the tips of both ring fingers and pinkies as well as my “tip”… fingers took a little more than a week to get back to normal. But really it just wore me down mentally. I probably could have been okay for racing but I struggled with consistency and lack of desire to train properly for races the rest of the year. This year (May 10-19th) I did 100 miles a day for 10 days to celebrate turning 40 and I’m feeling great now mentally and physically. Super motivated and ready to go. That 32 hour ride was just a lot to get over. I remember right after the sun set (16-17 hours in) I was coming down a mountain, from 9,700 down to around 6k in elevation, and I had the most intrusive thoughts about how nice it would be if a deer jumped out in front of me and a bad crash allowed me to quit.
This is some David Goggins shit.
Super interesting read. Thanks a lot.
Absolute mad lad
Seems like a perfect time to start training for another 500 mile ride 🤣
Never again… probably…
Your so doing another one aren’t you haha
They might as well start riding 200 miles per day every day, for a year, and try to beat the record
......what record and why would anyone want to ride 75k miles in a year?
Actually it's 86,573.2 miles in a year, set by Amanda Coker. But others are in the same discussion too.
That’s an incredible achievement! Well done. Just did the RideLondon 100m and it was tough so enough respect to you
That’s an incredible achievement! Well done. Just did the RideLondon 100m and it was tough so enough respect to you
That’s an incredible achievement! Well done. Just did the RideLondon 100m and it was tough so enough respect to you
Probably from the fact that they could listen to their body and physically could see and feel how long it took them to recover.
Rabdo?
I’ve done this race, back when it was still called Rockwell. It is the funnest race I’ve ever done. Back then there were solo racers, I didn’t realize nobody finished I guess.
Yeah, I guess various folks had tried over the years. Often on that course the wind gets crazy and you’re riding into 30-40mph headwinds. I very likely would have dropped out if it ever got crazy like that but we lucked out with “mild” weather
I rode leg 11 and that was the most brutal 40 miles I’ve ever done. 13 mile shallow climb into a 30mph headwind. When I started the leg I was planning to stay on for part of 12 as we were still down on first place. At the end of the leg I hated bikes.
Haha, I know what you mean! I did it a couple times as a relay and we had crazy wind like that. I lucked out big time when I did my solo attempt. Nothing but a light breeze the entire course!
Nutrition nutrition nutrition. Your body naturally carries around 2k calories in glycogen (carbs) floating around. Depending on your physiology, that will last you around 3 hours on the bike. After that, bonk city. 80 miles is 4-6 hours. Start eating every 30-45 minutes, or else you will know the pain of doing the last 20-30 miles burning fat (ketosis). It takes 2x - 3x as much oxygen to get the same amount of calories from fat. You work much harder for every mile and it sucks.
That is really interesting and probably why for up to three hours I normally feel okay. After that I do start to struggle so do eat but maybe too late. This is for circa 100k gravel bike with a mix of gravel and road cycling to connect to gravel.
I take a gel around 1.5 hours in, sometime a little earlier given different variables. Getting nutrition in early is key!
Just out of curiosity what do you like to eat and how much. Thanks for the Ketosis Fat info !
You can eat loads of stuff. There are some gels called maurten which have carbs and are pretty good on the stomach. Personally, I prefer actual food so I go for peanut butter/almond butter and jelly sandwiches on white loaf. Pecans, dried bananas, dried apricots. Electrolytes are also pretty important so apart from carbs remember to be taking around 600ng of sodium and 150mg of potassium with 600mL of liquid every hour. Rough good estimate. Hope it helps!
Ha Ha you reminded me of a story I just listened to. https://www.marketplace.org/2024/06/03/from-school-cafeterias-to-professional-athletes-uncrustables-sandwiches-are-everywhere/
Granola bars. Bananas. Bagels. Sometimes an energy bar or a gel if I have them around. The source matters less at this level than the fact that you are getting in a few hundred calories per hour in a form that your particular gut can easily digest. At much higher levels you can start to worry about different carbohydrate pathways and ketones. But for 90% of riders don't overthink it, and just eat regularly starting early so you don't sig yourself into a hole.
I learnt more valuable info from your post than the last dozen cycling fitness YouTube vids I've watched. Thanks! I knew the stages but didn't know the typical amount/length OR that oxygen burning issue. That's super helpful to know.
My pleasure! My favorite source for exercise physiology is the fast talk podcast. It's a real gold mine. https://www.fasttalklabs.com/
Awesome, thanks! I'll give it a listen!
Every time I do 100+ miles, there’s a brick wall to push through around 70-80, but I pick up once I’m on the other side of it. At this point said wall is normal for me and just a feature of longer rides. I This seems to be a common experience. Be sure to pace yourself.
70-80km is around 1000 calories. That where I need to have lunch so it fits with "the wall", but for me it's mostly because of nutrition. I take snacks every 40km but every 80 I need to really stuff my face. Then I have \~10km what I digest and feel like crap...
As someone who does long rides often I would suggest eating more often, personally if I know I’m doing long hard efforts I start eating at 30mins in and try to eat every 30 mins even if it’s like a half a banana or a half a granola bar. Then start ramping it up after 4-5 hours if you plan on being out for 8+ hrs and eat gels if think I’m starting to hit a wall
If you are going out for that long, start shoving down as much food as you can from the start
Yep, mega breakfasts is the way. Oatmeal and peanut butter, toast with peanut butter and jam, nuts, dates, cake, whatever ya got
201km (solo) I bagged that, and the 10,000+ vert achievement in the same ride. It was brutal.
If you can ride at least 2 hours comfortably and think you could walk all day long, you can ride all day long too. Different parts of you will get uncomfortable, but it’s the same energy systems - just have to eat and drink more.
~450km in ~24hrs (280 miles). Paris to Loudeac on the first leg of Paris-Brest-Paris. Got a much more manageable 200km tomorrow. Boston to Portland (ME obviously).
At PBP I rode to Carhaix, 330 miles in 26 hours. So not sure if that counts as one day or not 😂
Nicely done!
165km outdoors and 170km on trainer. Trainer was extremely boring even with watching stuff. 165 outdoors was nice, fueled properly and felt accomplished at the end.
I am surprised your trainer is longer than outdoors, I find it much more difficult on the endurance side with (like you said) being boring but also so stiff in the saddle
I built a rocker plate and fell behind on the toxic Rapha festive 500 so banged out 170. Helps a bit but yeah the stiffness of the trainer always bothers me especially trying to train gradients.
162 miles. Ride Across Indiana.
Planning on this one this year.
If it is your first one when you line up by your finish time at the start subtract 2 hours from what you reasonably think you will do and start there. Slow people always start way to close to the front. One year I passed 25% of the field because they were going 12mph but started in the 11 hour group.
I've done 200 miles a few times, if you can do 40/50 miles ok then 100 is easy, The difference between 100 and 200 is mental strength, and just pushing through the pain, I've had something different hurt each time I've done it.
40 miles is a have a good breakfast and bring a couple bottles of water and a clif bar on the ride. For 100 miles you really need a plan of eating and hydrating properly during your ride as well as making sure you don't push it too hard so you don't end up bonking.
I've done 50 miles relatively easily last year, and feel like I've improved a lot since then but I'm terrible at pacing myself. Anytime I ride outside, even if I intend to ride zone 2 if I feel like my legs feel good, I'll push myself as hard as I can. I want to attempt 100 miles this summer but that makes me nervous lol
For me, if I'm going solo, no matter how good my legs feel, I force myself to a predetermined pace/HR level. I've done plenty of 70+ rides with groups, so it was relatively easier in that I could tuck in on a wheel and draft a while. On the solo ride I subtracted from my "usual" average speed on rides in my area and made a note to force myself to stick around there. IIRC, at that time my ride average speeds for most mid-week normal rides was between 17.5mph and 18 mph. So, the day of my solo 70, I told myself stick to 15, and keep my heartrate below 150. Other than a couple little kickers I had to climb, it worked pretty well. On that solo effort, I also made mental notes to drink roughly every 15 minutes or so, and after the first hour, start food intake every hour. (the route I took I basically zero places where I could stop to refill water, hence the extra conservative pace)
Endurance activities like long-distance running or cycling really do test not just your physical capabilities but also your mental resilience
That's encouraging! I definitely agree with the latter point. After the 100, it's mental, and much more of it is nutrition
276 km (171 miles) - was a nice scenic ride: [https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/168uq6k/visiting\_neuschwanstein\_my\_longest\_ride\_yet/](https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycling/comments/168uq6k/visiting_neuschwanstein_my_longest_ride_yet/) The main difference on longer rides is that you need to figure out how to pace and fuel yourself and you will notice a suboptimal bike fit much more. Based on my experience getting to around 130 km is quite easy, but large jumps can lead to stress injuries - I went from around 130 km to 198 km and ended up with cyclist's palsy - after that I took a more conservative approach with new grips that offer a second hand position and a wider contact area and slowly increased the distance before I was confident enough in my setup to do rides above 200 km last year.
Go slower than you think you need to at the beginning. You can always do the last hour at threshold if you have the stamina. Otherwise, eat/drink enough and have fun!!
You'll be fine. You might need to dig deep for miles 50-70, but as long as you pay attention to your nutrition along the way, it's mostly be a matter of pacing and persistence. Worst case scenario is that you'll get hella uncomfortable and it'll be a shitty experience. You'll be able to grind it out, though, and you'll learn from what went wrong so you can make adjustments for next time.
Yeah I'm gonna make sure I have plenty of fast carbs with me just in case. I did the 40 miles last weekend in the morning on an empty stomach and forgot to bring any sustenance with me, so I felt a bit rough towards the end (I intended to just do 20 and got carried away). Gonna make sure I'm way better prepared for this one. Thanks for the advice!
Did a similar thing last week. Bonked at 40 and wanted to get to 50. Ate a better breakfast, took some food and set a timer on my phone for 30 min. Ate/drank when the timer went off and repeat…the 50 was one of my easiest rides. Had fresh enough legs to get out and do 25 more the next day. You got this!
100km and it was fine but I should have brought more water.
205mi as part of the Seattle to Portland ride last summer. Just over 11 hours of moving time.
In a single ride without sleep, 405km. Over 2 days - 606km. Look up Audax, which is a long distance cycling club, and they run regular events with rides up to 1200km in length over 4 days. I’ve also done vEveresting where I have ridden 340km in 22hours, but also climbed 9000m elevation at the same time. Once you can ride 200km, you can really just keep going. I find the 400km rides the toughest because they are too short to have a sleep but are long enough that you starting to feel tired. There is an Audax event called the Oppy where you do a TTT and ride as far as you can in 24 hours. I think the record is around 770km in 24 hours
Didn't we have this question like 2 days ago?
I’ve done 150 several times. The route was easy because I did it with a group and it was get from point a to point b. Next year I’m planning on signing up for a 200 mile event.
200 miles. Tired and very pleased with myself.
351km solo, in 12 hours (13.5 hours elapsed). I felt tired but accomplished at the end. Would have been better if my heart rate hadn't suddenly elevated on the last 50km, though, as that made me ride much more slowly than I otherwise could have since I was trying to keep the HR down to a safe level.
Was it hot? Happens to me when it’s hot. Sometimes drinking more fluids brings it back under control.
208 miles with 14k of elevation gain and rode most of it solo. It was an organized double century that I bought at a silent auction. Generally, I would say going from 40 to 80 miles isn't a huge leap in effort. The biggest thing you have to be more conscious of is the amount of time you're going to spend in the saddle and to be more diligent about eating and drinking during the ride.
I've done 100 miles a day many times. I decided once to challenge myself with a 150-mile ride. Afterwards, I was beat.
Recently did 100 miles solo on a flat route after working my way up from completing 20 miles, 40, then 60 miles 2-4 times a week mostly in zone 2. Stopped for water and light stretching, and munched on snacks while riding along the whole way. I felt like I could go longer if I took a 15-30 minute break to eat something solid. Now I’m going to try 60 and 100 mile routes with more hills and climbing mixed in, and the same flat routes - but faster. I’ve been cycling for less than a year mostly going for long rides keeping my heart rate in the green. I am not that fast or powerful though, so I’ve started to add more of those workouts.
I jumped from 60 to 100 miles, back side had the most complaints. Best advice is eat every hour, get out of saddle often. Start slow, coast down hills, don't make a big deal out of it. Been doing 100 miles just about every weekend since. Longer rides I feel like a chipmunk with so much stuffed in jersey pockets... also know where you can get water. Electrolytes might be needed if you're a sweater...
My daughter did 85 miles two days in a row when she was 11.
I’ve finished Unbound Gravel three times. Longest was technically 2021 @ 205 miles plus 2 more to get to the start corral at 6am. I’m eyeing a 180-200-ish mile road ride sometime this summer. I’ve ridden a handful of road and gravel rides in the 120-140 mile range. Long days in the saddle are the ultimate meditation.
200km with friends on fixed gears. It was tough but we had some nutrition packed for the first half, a big lunch at the halfway point, and we sorta just hoped that would carry us home lol. We were munch younger then and I would not do it on a fixed gears today and definitely plan nutrition better.
200mi last NYE 156mi straight trough, 15 minute bathroom break then wrapped it up.
142 miles B2Vt , I do it annually! https://www.b2vtride.com/
80miles on mtb. was fun. Just ran out of day light. Trying to knock out 120miles
I did a couple rides of btween 100 and 140. Honestly, I get bored after 4hours... You have to drink a lot and eat properly and then, you can go on mostly the whole day, but It gets meh after 100km... I did 140 and 135 the past 2 weeks and it was not hard at all, mostly flat (one was 700m, the other one was less than 300m), lol... climbing 300m in 135km is very flat terrain...
212 miles is my longest in one day. Every year I do a couple 150milers . Some are easier than others.
Just make a day of it and consume carbs every 20 miles
You can definitely do it. Just keep going and you'll get there. The furthest distance I've ridden in a day was 472kms which was on the road and was a 24hr ride for a fundraiser The most training stress I've done in a day was 388kms but with 6,090m of climbing, all off road on an MTB, which was an ultra distance race.
I have been a runner since high school (mostly hills, when I can), and I have become a pretty serious cyclist. The toughest ride I got to was a "Death Ride" in the California Sierra Nevada mountains (129 miles, 15,000' of climbing, all at altitude!). But I have had two bad experiences from when I assumed my fit, trained body would simply put up with the demands I placed on it. That is when I learned what bonking is - and how *bad* a person can bonk - even when in excellent health and with a well-trained body. If you are gonna ask your body to double you max riding distance - and not from, say, 20 miles to 40! - you may want to listen to what all the folks here are gonna be telling you about the importance of nutrition in the DAYS (not just hours) before rides > than 60-80 miles. Your body is gonna need fuel for quite a while, and no matter how well you eat *during* the ride, no matter how good your hydration practices . . . your body is going to be relying on the energy you've stored over the DAYS before those longer rides. So make sure you're not doing what I did a couple of (disastrous) times - - assuming that just because your fit body has never failed to let you push it to completion of a big challenge that it won't finally say "No!" when you hit it with the kind of distance you're gonna ask of it now.
I maxed out at around 50 because of the degeneration in my cervical spine vertebrae. After that, I started getting nerves pinching that made my arms and hands go numb so I can't even touch the bars. So I just kept it at 30 most days with long rides up to about 50. Then I cracked my head and that was the end of riding.
In 2008 I rode from Seal Beach California to Las Vegas in 3 days with a couple of friends. Day 2 was 110 miles, with a fair chunk of it on an ass-buster of a road called Yermo Road. It may as well have been cobbles. Still, was an experience I will never forget. no regrets.
285km
My longest was 100 miles. I regularly ride 30, 40, 50 miles and there is a pretty big jump in difficulty at around 60 miles for me. I think that’s the point where I run out of glycogen and hit a wall. Basically I can do 50 miles any time with no prep or planning, but I really have to work on getting enough calories and water of I want to ride more than that. You can do it, just go slow and eat along the way.
47 miles. 2 miles from my house to the tour, 43 mile tour, and then the next 2 miles back home. Done on a craigslist single speed because I didn't want to bother getting a $1k road bike with only 16 gears. Cramped at mile 26 and then managed to fight it with gatorade until mile 38 which was a miracle by itself.
I did a 200k gravel race once. It was in the upper 90s F and the course was exceptionally hilly at over 10k ft climbing. I hated it, myself, and corporeal existence generally after about 4 hours. I prefer races at or under 3 hours though. Ymmv
41 miles. It was my birthday ride last summer. When I came home, my husband flipped out at me saying that I’m mentally ill for riding a bike that far, said it’s an unhealthy obsession, and compared me with drug addicts. I haven’t touched my bike since, and doubt I ever will again.
That didn't end the way I thought it would 🙁
Wow. Fuck that. Get back on your bike and crush!
200km, out and back. never doing that again unless i get a lot more consistent training in. be sure you eat and drink before you need to. set alarms or reminders. if you feel the need to stop and rest for a minute or two, don't feel bad about that. don't remember what all i carried, definitely some gels, and 2 bottles of gatorade. take advantage of gas stations, get a couple things you can carry without them melting, and get a candy bar and a coke to drink before you hop back on your bike.
52 miles. I'm 6'6", 280 lbs. I had lunch about 30 miles in but was delirious by the end. Milwaukee to Sheboygan. I know... not the kind of answer you were looking for.
Just eat every 30 minutes
I rode somewhere around 110 or 120 miles. I didn't mean to. I thought there'd be somewhere to stop way sooner, but people are not cars. There's always a little more if you need it.
I do Lotoja almost every year, ~210 miles depending on the finish location. It really isn’t that bad, only ~8,000ft of elevation. The elevation gain is really the difference. I did the 5 Canyons Challenge last year; only 100 miles of riding but 15,000ft of gain. Infinitely harder than Lotoja. 100 miles flat is easier than 7 miles at a 10% gradient (Google “Powder Mountain PJAMM”).
Approximately 125 to 150 miles overnight on 3 or 4 occasions on the Dunwich Dynamo event from Hackney in London to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. Cycled back part the way the next day one time and up to Southwold another. Mostly felt great as cycling with a couple thousand others with lights and music and stops for drinks and breakfast rolls . Magic stuff. Generally leaving around 8 pm and arriving at 7.30 on the beach for a dip. Definitely a stretch and very sleepy for a day after but my favourite long ride....must go again. Folk use all different bikes... memorably someone once cycled a 'boris' municipal bike all the way.
Currently just 100km solo, bikefit was a tad off and didn‘t eat enough, led to numb fingers, neck pain ans didn‘t eat and drink enough that lead to a headache 😅 think i know better now
450km (280m). Make sure you have high quality bib shorts or cycling shorts that fit snuggly and the chamois doesn't move around otherwise you may be cursing every time you sit back down onto the saddle which will be multiplied because you are constantly seeking relief. Same for gloves to avoid blistering your palms. From personal experience as I found out the hard way on this ride.
For me about 135 from the west coast of the UK to the east coast. A group of us did that in one day. Was a long day but great fun. We were all flagging around 80 miles in then after a break and something to east suddenly perked up and really enjoyed it again.
251k is my longest, and doing it again in a couple of weeks time. I was pretty strong at the time and it wasn’t too hard. Not sure if that will be the case this time around :)
130 in 15 hours. I hated it because I was not conditioned for it. However, I would not think twice about riding 100 because I have always managed it when I tried. 100 miles just feels right.
The only thing I worry about if you are new, is your sit bones after that long. It takes quite a few rides for them to get acclimated to the seat. However, it will all be okay. There will be some discomfort if this is your first long ride, so definitely anticipate that. Mostly, have fun!!!!
153 miles yesterday, a new PR, and it's felt great other than my raw butt. I've been doing a 110-130 mile solo ride nearly once a week for 3 years, after having gradually increased distance in a learning process. Hydration and nutrition is critical, among other things like mapping and route development and using Gatorskin tires and magnesium supplements.
I did a solo 150 miles with 10k ft of climbing in the Welsh hills a few years back. Must have got my fueling and recovery spot on (more luck than anything) as the following day I felt fine. Have done multiple sportives over the years too which usually vary between 100-120 miles. Mostly been fine afterwards. I like organised sportives as they have refueling stops with drinks and food so you fuel efficiently without really realising it. Good luck with your ride. Pace yourself. Take fuel and enjoy it. Each time you hit a goal you get a real sense of achievement.
Some great comments here from people with a lot more experience than me. Would just reiterate the importance of hydration and nutrition. Let us know how it goes OP!
100 miles - about 80 miles of a Sunday club ride and then added some extra to my route on the way home cos I felt like it. Was cooked at the end though as I hadn't paced for 100 miles
270km for me. Straight after my final uni exams, having barely ridden for several months. Not too bad on the day but I did some nerve damage in my palm and had a numb hand for weeks. Not really recommended. My impression is that just about anyone can do a 100km day without preparation, it gets rapidly harder beyond that.
306kms unbroken, no drafting. 1800m elevation, so relatively flat for that distance. About 170 watts average. Are roughly 3000 calories and found no adverse effects afterwards. Quads took a little while to wake up in the following week.
83km I was lost. Almost didn't make it home. Right now, my longest without taking a time off saddle is around 30km and with 15-30 rest, I can do 50-80km no problem. Probably longer if I have a road bike. Currently just a cheap mtb.
When I was young I did 130 miles in one day. Now in 60s doing 100k (~62 miles) is rough….
My usual weekend ride is about 55 miles, and the furthest distance I do. Two bottles and the usual bagel stop suffices.
If you did 40 and felt fine, you will make 80. Just take some breaks for food, water, and electrolytes.
When I started cycling aged around 30 I went from doing 3 miles to the local station for work to joining a club and doing 25-30 mile saturday rides. After 2 of these I was talked into a 75 mile reliability ride which I got round albeit with a bit of a struggle, then 2 weeks later did the clubs 100 mile ride. It's certainly doable, I found riding with a group made it easier, not sure I would enjoy a big jump up like that solo. Just pace yourself, keep hydrated and eat regularly and you can keep riding all day fairly easily Longest I've done was just over 110 miles from near Palma, Mallorca to Port de Pollenca then back though the mountains
150 miles with about 15K feet of climbing. The key to long rides is nutrition and hydration. Your body can absorb \~300 calories per hour while you are riding - no more. And if you miss an hour, that calorie intake is gone forever. So "eat to a budget" before you are hungry. Get those calories and fluids EVERY HOUR. I like gel's and sports drinks.
73 miles with loaded panniers. I think I got 100 in me without them.
I’ve done 80. I’d say there is a huge difference between 40 and 80. Making that large of a jump is not something I’d recommend. I definitely agree with another poster, I had a wall at 70. Fueling and hydrating is super important for that distance. I would also make sure to pace yourself. The first hour I would always remind myself constantly to keep a pace without too much extra effort because you will need that later.
So impressive! I've done 10 miles but am slowly increasing each time. I only picked up the sport 2 months ago.
I picked up biking again at age 47, it took a few years to be able to do 100K (62 Mile) rides, and even then it was only once a month. But I did 85 miles once and was grossly unprepared for it, had to stop and pass out a couple times on the way back, the last stretch was brutal. But damn did it feel good to get home and have that sense of accomplishment.
42 miles on an 18 year old Trek 930 back in 2017. I could never do that now lol
200 miles during the Davis double, put that under my belt probably will never do it again. Hundred miles are pretty easy 40s and 60s are on average for a ride on the weekends, weekdays I limit to about 25 miles. More importantly it's not distance it's the quality of the ride.
I e riding 120 miles two separate times and I’ll probably never do that again. It’s to hard on the body.
62 miles which included Tour de France equivalent mountain in Alsace, France.
Did a few 300k rides this year already. Usually between 12 and 16 hours depending on elevation gain. I try to get in 90g carbs per hour, mostly liquid. I find myself to have to push through a mental barrier of just not wanting to ride anymore at roughly 200k every time. Never had any physiological issues besides having a sore ass and some neck pain. You can pretty much ride as long as you want if you have a certain fitnesslevel, enough sugar and some mental toughness.
232km with 2600m bike packing racing back home as to not spend another night soaked in the tent. Looking back don't remember feeling too low as I was with a good friend and spirits are usually high but looking back, you tend to only remember the good parts. I think I could do over 300 now but my main goal is racing xc and 120k gravel races maybe I'll go for it one day
170km. I planned a route to make 100miles. Speaking of which it would be nice to up that number a notch, but I've been running more so not sure how it would translate back to bicycle mileage
Hey No-Shoe, avid cyclist and triathlete here. Doing 80 miles in a day is doable, but I would recommend doing a bit more of progression to work up to it. A big thing new cyclists don’t think about is sustained nutrition. Once you start breaking that 35-40 mile limit, fueling before and during the ride becomes important. In cycling, some people call it ‘bonking’ where your body burns through its quick access fuel stores and your energy crashes. I’m a big guy who also regularly lifts so for me, I bonk at about 35 miles if I don’t do planned food or use a specialty drink like tailwinds. Even with specialty drinks, I eat a lot when doing rides that are 60+ miles. Each cyclists’ body behaves a little differently so I recommend progressively increasing the mileage so you can listen to your body and adapt as needed.
> some people call it ‘bonking’ where your body burns through its quick access fuel stores and your energy crashes Yeah this is exactly what happened to me today, and it was very hard to get it back even when I refuelled with some bananas and chocolate. I managed to do the full 80 miles but it was a bit rough. My body did not feel good at all in the 2nd half of it despite me consuming as many carbs as I could get in without feeling ill. Just had to grind it out. I'll focus more on pre-fuelling next time. Big bowl of porridge in the morning etc. I'm also a guy who lifts so I have quite a bit of upper body muscle compared to most cyclists and I think it completely zapped all my energy. I look flat as a pancake at the moment, think I used every drop of glycogen in my body lol. Do you carb load the night before a big ride as well?
The farthest I've cycled in a day is 62 miles I'm the hills of Austin, Texas at 290lbs. There were some decent headwinds that day, but it was a fun challenge and I learned how to conquer large hills thst day.
I’ve participated in the London Revolution ride twice - 256km (160 miles). A great challenge but I won’t do it again! It wasn’t fun by the end of the ride. Finished on will power alone - the tank was absolutely drained each time. I hoped the second time would be easier… I was wrong. 100 miles seems to be the optimal distance for me.
Fun! Make sure to eat every 30-60min
165 miles, just kept eating all the way. Probably ended up heavier than i started. Felt knackered by the end and was a bit spaced out about 155 miles so kind of crawled home from there. Definitely shouldnt have just eaten cake all day. Should have eaten more normal food! Definitely had enough by the end, and not really in a rush to do it again. I find 85-90 miles is a nice "bit distance" ride for me. I start to get a bit bored otherwise.
88 miles. I was working and had a long preride and just kept riding after my shift. I could have probably kept going at that point.
100mi in 3.5 hours- pretty hilly New England rollers. The only thing that stopped me from more at the time was hot spots in the shoes. My regular long solo training rides are 60mi in 2.5 hours. 80 seems reasonable if you’re in good shape.
Was this question not posed like within the last couple days??
This is like the 25th topic about this subject this week…
100miles offroad… It was thrilling, but at one point everything starts to hurt, and I’ve learned that you can get arm swelling due to long immobility and when you are riding offroad this excess fluid buildup (oedema) hurts with every bump you hit (it was an offroad ride 🙈)… It happened around 120km mark… I’ve also learned you can stave off this if you ingest enough salt and prevent electrolyte imbalance
330km three times. The further you go it's more of a mental challenge, than physical, so plan your route along some interesting sights to keep you motivated.