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your "typical" ride

jacksonpt

jacksonpt

Turbo Monkey
Jul 22, 2002
6,791
59
Vestal, NY
I'm sure that a lot of you don't have a "typical" ride, but humor me.

We all talk about how a certain climb killed us, or we hit a certain average speed or this that or the other thing. But a 20 mile ride for me is probably very different from a 20 mile ride for someone in Texas from a 20 mile ride in Colorado.

So - what's a typical ride like for you?

Since I generally ride on my lunch breaks, my typical ride is around 15 miles of country/rural roads, takes 50-60 minutes, and has about 1600ft of climbing. Here is what today's ride - it took me 55 minutes, had 1650ft of climbing, and circled about 3/4 of the town I live in.

 
rooftest

rooftest

Monkey
Jul 10, 2005
611
0
OC, CA
I mix it up. I do 20 mile rides along river trails (with maybe 500 feet of climbing) to work on sustaining a high pace for longer, and I mix that with 40 mile rides with 4,500 feet of climbing so I can take the hills.

I prefer short, steep hills (Like that one at the beginning of your ride) to long, gradual ones. More fun to go down, too.
 
Wumpus

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
Typical ride is rolling hills through the backroads(usually very lite traffic). I have one dirt road climb that is about a mile long on my 60 mile route but most are less than a 100 yards.

Since most of it is through farm/ranch land there isn't much cover and the wind can really be a pain sometimes.
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
my 'typical' ride is my commute...9.5 miles of side roads. it's kind of a pain to maintain any sort of hard pace, because there are 3 major road crossings and several left or right hand turns on the way. there's only two small, short hills of note, and they are very short distance-wise.

i've mapped out a 30 miler that i've done a couple of weekends which is fun; more rural roads, and some nice views. still flat though.
 
I

imploded

Chimp
Aug 24, 2006
21
0
Uxbridge, MA
My short loop is 13 miles with just a hair under 1.2k' of vert. No real lung busters, just long 10% grinds that get you good and randy.

My long loop is 33 miles, with just under 3k' of vertical. I hit up all of the uglies on that one - Hill Street, Purgatory Rd, Central Turnpike, Putnam Hill Rd, Richardson Street, West Street, and W. Hartford Ave.

I do hill repeats W->E->W going from W. Hartford Ave. to E. Hartford Ave. I've only done it a few times and it is a total leg buster heading West. I hope to get up to 10 laps of this by spring . . .

Cheers,

-Andrew
 
Wumpus

Wumpus

makes avatars better
Dec 25, 2003
8,161
153
Six Shooter Junction
Here's today ride:



The wall at mile 34 is really not there. I take a hike/bike trail across the top of the dam, and I can't seem to find the top of the dam on the map.
 
I

ito

Mr. Schwinn Effing Armstrong
Oct 3, 2003
1,709
0
Avoiding the nine to five
I'm in Santa Clara, CA so my typical ride is about 8 miles of lights and traffic each way, but my favorite loop is 35 miles with about 1600 feet of climbing. It takes about an hour and thirty minutes these days.

Once I'm out of the city, which is mostly flat, it is a couple of short steep grinds and then it gets into a bit of a sustained climb before hitting the rolling hills alongside a local reservoir and up a nice canyon road. In the spring and summer evenings it is amazing. You get the light filtering through the trees and super long shadows everywhere. THe creek is always running fast and during a short descent you'll hit 35 in the corners. It is usually a bit warm with a slight breeze to keep the core temp down as much as possible. Then it is a couple a mile or so of climbing, steep with switchbacks. Once you crest the hill there is a trailhead you can stop at or just keep going into a twisting, steep descent through a backroads "neighborhood".

The descent is technical, but fun, and when you are riding with someone there is always a 1/2 mile sprint on the flat at the end. This kills it for most people as after the sprint you get into a mile long climb that hits 19% at spots. That finishes up with a joiner descent to Highway 9. From there you can continue climbing for seven miles or descend the two and a half miles into town. The whole area outside of Santa Clara is wooded and green with smooth, winding roads.

going out on that ride always puts a smile on my face. :biggrin:

The Ito
 
Goddy43

Goddy43

Monkey
Apr 21, 2005
170
0
What roads are those in Vestal? My brother in-law grew up in vestal and has mentioned some of the rides he used to do in that area. My sisters both went to BU so I know the area slightly...
 
jacksonpt

jacksonpt

Turbo Monkey
Jul 22, 2002
6,791
59
Vestal, NY
My lunch rides start at BU, as that's where I work. The ride goes up in the hills behind campus (Murray Hill, Powderhouse Rd), then out to RT 26, then to Pierce Hill, then down Holly Hill (near African Rd elementary school), then over to Jensen Rd, then back to campus.
 
narlus

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
here's my commute:



it's a little off (9.2 miles vs 9.5 my cycle computer tells me) but close enough. the hill @ the 6 mile mark is a steep one. i can get over 40 mph fairly easily going down, but going up it's painful to maintain even 8-9 mph at the steepest part.
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
My commute home:


Notice the 3 climbs at the end of my 40 miles? I did the last half of the ride in total darkness with a typical north-south headwind coming off the bay...
 
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