Did my first 40+ km bike ride in over 10 years yesterday

[CDSmith]

At the ripe old age of 46.

All city/street riding though. I rode to my parents place, about 22 km across town, then had a visit and watched the Olympics with them, then late in the evening got back on the bike and had a great ride home through all the "cruise night" traffic. Saw some pretty great vintage hot rods.

What's the furthest you've ever ridden?

Next I plan on a 50 km trek out to the country to my nephew's place. I've never ridden down the side of a highway before, and this one is just a small two-way one.

[Paco, of Large Cash.]

Riding on the highway is just fine. My only issue is with all the damn junk from littering a-holes! I use my tunes to phase out the rest.

As for distance, I am not sure of my longest, because I have done many multiple-day excursions with my backpack and pannier bags stuff to the teeth with my camp (tent, stove etc) & climbing gear.

During the week I do between 35 & 75, each day, and I do as much as 300km on weekends.

[Scott McD]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

What's the furthest you've ever ridden?

About 2 miles...

[CDSmith]

75 km a day, wow. That's pretty good. I get saddle ass after about 20km of straight riding.

I do have new respect for all those road race cyclists in the Olympics who go over 6 hours straight, doing over 200km.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Scott McD

About 2 miles...

That's what I started out doing about 3 months ago. Have been working my way up to yesterday's ride slowly over that time.

No way I would have tried it before now.

[Doctor Dre]

Couple hundread kilometers over a couple days

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Doctor Dre

Couple hundread kilometers over a couple days

Nice. It's going to be a while until I put in enough pedal time to think about a trek like that.

Maybe next summer.

[WarChild]

No idea, haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid.

I ran 12KM in 54 minutes the other day though, which is pretty damned good for me ;)

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by WarChild

No idea, haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid.

I ran 12KM in 54 minutes the other day though, which is pretty damned good for me ;)

4.5 minutes per km for 12 km..... definitely not too shab at all. I can run but I've always enjoyed my mountain bike a lot more. I doubt I would stick with a running regimen for very long.

[Jman]

in my early 20's for a few years my job was to have a pager and courier around town on my Marinnoni Mountain Bike with street tires. I would most probably do between 30-50 km's daily. And wasn't just cruising, it was hard riding threw street and alley's as clients where always in a rush to get their package...

Got into 2 accidents but nothing more then just fews scratches. Oh and 1 police chase but they couldn't keep up to a bike with their big 4 wheel car ;-)

[Yngwie]

If I didn't have this damn leg disability I would easily do 75+km/day. Now I just bike ride either to my girlfriends (3km away), to the mall (6km away), to the store (800 feet away lol) or to the landromat (1.6km away), but this is not a daily thing, unfortunately. My legs keep getting more and more weak as the days go by due to this disability so my riding days are coming to an end and just that pisses me off.

I wish that there was something that could get rid of what I have, but that's not gonna happen so I will just have to keep doing what I do and hope that I can continue riding for at least another 10 years... (wishful thinking lol)

[Libertine]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

What's the furthest you've ever ridden?

250km. Used to do that fairly regularly. My father lived 250km away, and I liked riding my bike, so when I visited him I most often took my bike instead of the train.

Back then it felt like a relaxing ride, but these days it would probably kill me

[BadBrad]

That must of taken a while!!

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Libertine

250km. Used to do that fairly regularly. My father lived 250km away, and I liked riding my bike, so when I visited him I most often took my bike instead of the train.

Back then it felt like a relaxing ride, but these days it would probably kill me

As you get older it's definitely something you have to work up to. No way I could handle a 200+ Km ride at the moment. I would have to take it in short hops for sure, it would take me several days to complete it, after which I would be in bed for a week I'm sure. My back is pretty bad, both upper and lower.

I am however very much enjoying all the great bike trails in my area of the city. Winnipeg has made a pretty good start in that department, although we still have a long way to go before I'll say the city is "bicycle friendly". Our roads are mostly shit for one thing, and most don't have even a small semblance of a bike lane near the curb. I'm lucky to have quite extensive trails in my immediate area but much of the rest of the city isn't so lucky.

It is the progressive city that is including more bike-friendly lanes and trails into their infrastructurs, especially now with the insane ever-rising price of fuel. More and more people are going to be taking to pedaling.

[baX]

30 km and after that my ass starts screaming from pain.

[X Industry Jobs]

Hell.. I'm 26.. And I honestly don't know if I could handle a 22km ride anymore.. I mean I'm not in horrid shape.. by appearance. I'm skinny, but I haven't worked out in years... and have been smoking for the past ten.

[Paco, of Large Cash.]

Originally Posted by CDSmith

75 km a day, wow. That's pretty good. I get saddle ass after about 20km of straight riding.

There are many tricks to getting rid of saddle sores, but (saddle) ass, I am not sure how to cure that other than spending more time in it.

I am a endurance fanatic, thus I love the long hauls.
On weekends, if I am not spending 6+ hours/day cycling down the highway, I am spending 12-16 hours/day climbing/scrambling or hiking.

39yo and I am only getting younger!

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by X Industry Jobs

Hell.. I'm 26.. And I honestly don't know if I could handle a 22km ride anymore.. I mean I'm not in horrid shape.. by appearance. I'm skinny, but I haven't worked out in years... and have been smoking for the past ten.

That's your biggest hurdle right there I'm afraid. Smoking. I've never picked up the habit in my life ever, and that is the single largest factor as to why it has only taken me a handful of months to get back in a state of reasonable fitness.

Doing anything positive for one's health requires that you make the decision to change and then make yourself stick with the decisions you've made, be it quit smoking, change diet, start exercising, whatever.

On the 20 km rides I go pretty hard, but barely get winded anymore. I do sweat and breathe hard but I no longer ever feel "out of breath" at all. Took a while to get to that level, and I still have a long way to go yet before I can say with any confidence that I am "in shape" fully, but it's a good feeling nonetheless.

When you're ready, quitting smoking would be a great first step.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Paco, of Large Cash.

There are many tricks to getting rid of saddle sores, but (saddle) ass, I am not sure how to cure that other than spending more time in it.

Yep, spending more time riding is the only remedy for saddle ass that I know of. It's slow in coming, but I'm finding I can ride for longer and longer before feeling it.

And my bike seat is one that is a bit wider and a bit more cushiony than your regular type of seat. That's helping too.

Originally Posted by Paco, of Large Cash.

39yo and I am only getting younger!

Good attitude.

[misterhhs]

140 km is my most in Tour of Flanders. But hey...in Belgium they are crazy about cycling :D

[klinton]

Originally Posted by WarChild

No idea, haven't ridden a bike since I was a kid.

I ran 12KM in 54 minutes the other day though, which is pretty damned good for me ;)

wow i'm pretty impressed...i started jogging few months ago, try to do it 2 times a week...and i still can't run (slowly) for more than 10-12 minutes ... but i suppose it's getting better with time..-> when i started i could run for only few minutes

[WarChild]

Originally Posted by klinton

wow i'm pretty impressed...i started jogging few months ago, try to do it 2 times a week...and i still can't run (slowly) for more than 10-12 minutes ... but i suppose it's getting better with time..-> when i started i could run for only few minutes

Keep it up man, keep it up. When I first started I couldn't run more than a few minutes without having to walk. It just takes a little time and a lot of heart.

[D Ghost]

wow congrats, sounds great

[MetaMan]

dam CDLisp where did you find a 40km hill to go down?

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by MetaMan

dam CDLisp where did you find a 40km hill to go down?

In this province? I'd have to ride 150 km to get to it.

Then I'd have to helicopter myself to the top of it in order to ride down. Too much like work.

[Violetta]

I just rode 23km on my indoor bike!

[Furious_Male]

Nice distance. I do a 6 and 12 mile route in HIIT format. The real long distances bore me unless I am on a single track dirt trail.

[CDSmith]

Originally Posted by Furious_Male

The real long distances bore me unless I am on a single track dirt trail.

I hear you on the boring aspect. I do tend to get bored of any activity that gets too repetitive. But I wouldn't class 40 km as a "real long distance" by any stretch. It only took me 55 mins to go the 22 km to get there, and the return trip later on took just under 50 mins. It was quite a nice ride actually, and there are a lot of women out in Winnipeg walking around in skimpy clothes. You won't see that on a dirt trail usually. :D