[jacksonpt]

Was reading through a few threads today, and saw someone talking about taking a "short 2.5" hour ride. Got me wondering what everyone considers a short/good/long ride.

To me, anything under 1.5 hours is short, 1.5-2.5 is good, over 2.5 is long. Part of that is because most of the trails I ride can be covered in about 2 hours, part of it is my fitness level.

And you? How long is a "good ride" for you? What's a short ride, and what's a long ride?

 

[bibs]

I like spending all day riding with my frineds, just "f-in" around on trials or dhing or even a long road ride..and some Xc..but since I started school and work full time....I forgot what that is like...Im sad now..Im gonna go cry

 

[stosh]

15 - 20 mins.

 

[I Are Baboon]

If I am not tired at the end of a ride, it was too short. A long ride is one where I run out of either water or sunlight.

 

[douglas]

umm, what does "good" have to do with the length of the ride?

 

[w00dy]

varies with terrain, I'd say 3 hours is a good normal ride.

 

[golgiaparatus]

I would still be on it.

 

[blue]

Short is if I'm not tired when I'm done...

 

[douglas]

I dont do many long rides, most of my rides are solo or races.....so most times I ride 45-90 minutes, but thats with no stops and riding hard.

I did bonk on Saturdays (monkeyfest) 4 hour ride (but it was ride#4 for the weekend, and after 45 minutes of bonking I did find some energy)

 

[pnj]

all day is a good ride. doesn't matter if it's a long distance or if I never leave the same parking lot. if I'm on my bike all day, it's usually good. even better if I don't get hurt so I can do it the next day.

yesterday was one of those days, here is a pic of my friend scott rolling around on one wheel.

 

[Serial Midget]

A short ride for me is an hour, a long ride is 5 to 6 hours. A good ride? Theys all good.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Long rides for me start at 25 miles. Preferably 30. We did a long ride this past weekend that was 48 miles.

-S.S.-

 

[Morryjg]

Any time on a bike is good and not enough. In my group of friends that ride planning a 'good' ride means somewhere between 20 and 40 miles. Our normal rides are at least 2+ hours though.

 

[LordOpie]

Since it takes me nearly an hour to warm up, I'd say a good short ride is atleast 2 hours. I had a super nice ride both days this weekend about 3 hours each.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

3-5 hours and about 15-20 miles i guess that would classify as "good"

 

[jacksonpt]

I didn't think this would be such a big deal...

2 hours on the bike, regardless of trail, leaves me tired but not spent. My legs are rubbery afterwards, but I'm not usually sore the next day. Over 2.5 hours leaves me exhausted and sore. Less than 1.5 hours and I feel cheated.

 

[Toshi]

a good ride for me is about 3 shuttles. in xc terms we usually stick to around 15 miles.

 

[JSB]

Well I have another issue...wife.
The longer I'm gone the more irritated she gets. So during the week I keep the ride time to an hour. That's a decent ride for me in my current condition. On the weekends I try to ride two hours. I'm usually pretty tired after that.

A question I'd like to add to yours Jackson, is how many breaks do you guys take while riding. On my 1 hours rides none, maybe 2 or 3 minutes before I turn back. On my 2 hour rides we relax for 10 to 15 minutes at the most. The reason I ask is because I tagged along with some riders one day, and they stopped about every mile. They were commenting on other riders that looked pretty spent too. I was like I could riding all freaking day if I took a 5 minute break between each mile...Anyway

 

[Tenchiro]

Every ride is a good ride.

 

[pnj]

Well I have another issue...wife.
The longer I'm gone the more irritated she gets.

find another one....

 

[Echo]

If I can get on my bike for a half hour it's better than not riding at all. But normally I like to ride for a couple hours.

 

[JSB]

find another one....

There would be another set of reasons with a new one, if not the same. The grass isn't any greener.

 

[HedgeHog]

An hour is a short ride for me. Tiring, but still could go for a while. A couple of hours is good. 3+ hours and I'm really spent, and will feel it tomorrow.

I went riding with a friend yesterday and had a great time. He used to do BMX stuff until he hurt his knee. Anyway, I rested a lot since he was along. Usually, I only rest a couple of minutes after a steep climb.

I could have kept going. We were only at it for about an hour and a half.

 

[Wumpus]

Depends on the season: I usually do shorter rides(1.5 hrs) in the summer and longer(2.5+) in the other season.

Shorter daylight night rides are in the 1.5hr range.

If I'm alone breaks are usually pretty short to check out the view or eat something. Group rides tend to have many more breaks to allow for regrouping.

 

[UltraViolet]

left for a ride on saturday at 2pm and got back at 7:30pm that was a lovely ride, but, not what i would call a long ride as the time went sooooooo quickly. a long ride would be a boring ride

 

[biggins]

i really like all day epic rides on my big bike. a good 6 hours of riding/pushing is so awesome. as far as urban i really like to continuaously ride until the urge for a pub and some food come crawlin in. as far as xc, i like to do 3-4 hours. skate parks i can session from open till closing. my big bike epics (which most of you have not experienced) are the most fun though.

 

[Skookum]

1 hr. is a shortass screw around ride

2 hrs. is a good trail ride

4 to 7 hrs. we're into the long mountain rides

Dhing don't really know time seems to fly....

 

[arsenic]

so far about the longest i've been able to get in is a little over two hours. that didn't seem long, just ran out of light. i've gone for many hour long rides and those always seem so short. what i'm noticing is that after about 45 minutes to an hour i feel really great on my bike. seems like after an hour is when the legs and overall energy really start flowing for me.

i've only been back on a bike for about 2 months now tho - that's after about 10 years away from riding. so i don't know long term how it'll work out for me !

 

[wooglin]

Most trails around here I can average around 10mph. So any ride under 10 miles just doesn't cut it; 10-15 miles is ok; 15-25 miles is pretty good; and any ride over 25 miles is good.

Mostly I've only got time and motivation for pretty good rides. If there were longer loops readily available that would change.

 

[berkshire_rider]

I do a 1 1/2 hour ride twice during the week, and usually a longer (2-4 hr) ride on the weekend. On the two 4 hour rides I did this year I was toast the next day.

 

[stevew]

If my ass hapens to touch my seat and I pedal around the block then it's good.

Time is not my friend.

 

[MtnBikerNJ]

its like flying.. a good ride is one i walk away from. but yea, it usually takes me a while to get into a groove. so I dunno. maybe 2.5 - 3 hours?

 

[Acadian]

for me it's not the quantity, but the quality

I rather do a short fun ride than a long boring one.

 

[Knuckleslammer]

Ok, let's throw another variable into here. Let's leave the terrain as average. I find it hard to ride past 3 hours, but I'm on a 36lb bike. How many lbs are the bike you guys are using to ride 3 hours > more. I'm not talking about downhill either.

Knuckle

 

[jacksonpt]

I rather do a short fun ride than a long boring one.

A boring ride... what's that? Oh, you mean a road ride! Yea, I agree.

 

[douglas]

i really like all day epic rides on my big bike. a good 6 hours of riding/pushing is so awesome. as far as urban i really like to continuaously ride until the urge for a pub and some food come crawlin in. as far as xc, i like to do 3-4 hours. skate parks i can session from open till closing. my big bike epics (which most of you have not experienced) are the most fun though.

How many time a week do you do these 3 plus hour rides?

 

[Acadian]

A boring ride... what's that? Oh, you mean a road ride! Yea, I agree.

Atta-Boy!

 

[I Are Baboon]

A boring ride... what's that? Oh, you mean a road ride! Yea, I agree.

There is nothing boring about a five hour road ride. Try it some time.

 

[jacksonpt]

Let's leave the terrain as average. <SNIP> How many lbs are the bike you guys are using to ride 3 hours > more.

What's "average"? average for us, or average for joe schmoe rider?

On the trails that I usually ride (i.e. an average trail for me), 2-2.5 hours really wears me out - enough so I'm a bit wobbly going up the stairs at home, but not so bad that I'm sore the next day. My bike is about 28lbs.

 

[jacksonpt]

There is nothing boring about a five hour road ride. Try it some time.

I know... I've actually been wanting to get into road riding, just don't have the cash for another bike right now. For kicks though i demo'd a Specialized Alez the other day - just road it around the parking lot for a few minutes. It took me about 30 feet before I missed my suspension.