What qualifies as a LONG ride?

Age: 47
Years riding: 9


GizmoDuck wrote:
I never consider distance as a measure of how long a ride is because it
is so variable.

Short: less than 1hr
Medium: 1-4hrs
Long: 4+ hours.
Ultra: 8+ hours



This is exactly how I feel. Muni or Coker, on road or off, it's time
that matters, not distance. I guess Ken's numbers above are good for me
too. For instance, I went on a Long ride (5:45 on Coker) last Sunday.
But it was only 30 miles. I would not call a 30 mile ride in general
Long, but this one was (lots of 20% climbing on dirt, 4000' of
climbing, rocky, etc). I did an Ultra ride once (12 hours, part Coker
and part Muni), but it was only 37 miles. It was really Ultra though,
with over 12000' of descent and a huge climb to 14250'. I was sore for
about a week afterwards! I've also done 30-40 mile rides that are
Medium and quite easy.

The other one I really liked was Sean's definition: any ride over 20'
trickless. That shows the range of opinion for experienced riders. And
of course when I was learning, around the block (1:45, that's 105
seconds) used to leave me sweating, tired and sore.

---Nathan


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tomblackwood wrote:
.

Age: 46
Years riding: 7
Tiny: 5 miles
Short: 5 - 15 miles
Medium: 15 - 35 miles
Long: 35 - 60 miles
Ultra: 60+ miles


That's about the same for me, except I'm 16.
and I've been riding 3 years.

Chase


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I'm almost exclusively a muni rider (dink around on a Coker and once a
week practice street on a Muni) so my calculus is skewed toward my
experience. For me, and many of the people we ride with, a "long" ride
is not measured in time in the saddle or miles covered on the road or
trail. It's measured by effort and fatique. Several weeks ago we rode
a new (for me) trail up in Santa Barbara which is no more than fours
miles long, tops, but it's even rockier and more continous than the
infamous Tunnel Trail. We made it down in a little more than 90
minutes, and all three of us were spent. I'm not is super great shape
right now but even so, the three hour ride I did yesterday was far
easier than the SB whopper.

My point is that pace and difficulty figure into just how much any of
us do. Coker cruising on the bikepath can seem moderate even after
three or four hours. Bashing down a steep, rocky single track can
torch me in far less time and after far less miles.

JL


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It seems there is great variation in the definitions of 'long ride' --
in terms of both distance and time.

I'll tell you what a 'long walk' is, tho: Any short unicycle ride where
your uni gets a flat tire. The rest of the way, no matter how short
your trip, you look like someone who hasn't learned how to ride (or at
best, like someone who doesn't know how to maintain his uni). Ugh. I
hate those times.


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I've got to say that those are some big distances.

I'm 35, do a lot of road cycling and think that I'm in pretty good
condition. I typically ride about 200 to 250 miles per week in the
summer with Saturday and Sunday rides of 50 to 60 miles each. I've done
quite a few centuries.

Last summer I learned to ride the uni and after a few months bought a
29". I wanted to go on a longish ride so I went on a 15 mile ride. It
was one of the most taxing things that I've ever done. No UPDs but near
the end, free mounting was very difficult as my legs were spent. Even
riding in a straight line was difficult. I couldn't believe it but I
was totally exhausted I only rode for not even 2 hours but I was wiped
out. Riding two hours on the 29" uni felt worse than doing 5 hour
century on a road bike. I was hoping to do three hour rides to
occasionally replace a bike ride but one hour is really near my
threshold of pain and exhaustion.

I find that it is hard to carry food and water like you can on a bike.
I use my cycling jersey pockets but it just isn't the same. One pocket
for iPod, one for water bottle, and one for a little food versus two
bottles on the bike and two pockets for food. It is hard to keep up
your energy levels on the uni....

Peace Out,
Daniel


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marsalone wrote:

I'm 35, do a lot of road cycling and think that I'm in pretty good
condition. I typically ride about 200 to 250 miles per week in the
summer with Saturday and Sunday rides of 50 to 60 miles each. I've done
quite a few centuries.

Last summer I learned to ride the uni and after a few months bought a
29". I wanted to go on a longish ride so I went on a 15 mile ride. It
was one of the most taxing things that I've ever done. No UPDs but near
the end, free mounting was very difficult as my legs were spent. Even
riding in a straight line was difficult. I couldn't believe it but I
was totally exhausted I only rode for not even 2 hours but I was wiped
out. Riding two hours on the 29" uni felt worse than doing 5 hour
century on a road bike. I was hoping to do three hour rides to
occasionally replace a bike ride but one hour is really near my
threshold of pain and exhaustion.

I find that it is hard to carry food and water like you can on a bike.
I use my cycling jersey pockets but it just isn't the same. One pocket
for iPod, one for water bottle, and one for a little food versus two
bottles on the bike and two pockets for food. It is hard to keep up
your energy levels on the uni....




Road unicycling is a different skill to road biking. If you keep
practicing, you'll learn to sit right and to ride in a more relaxed
way. Plus you'll develop the muscles you need. You'll already have the
base fitness from cycling which is why you managed to do 15 miles
pretty soon after getting the 29er. What you tried to do is kind of
equivalent to thinking "I can road bike 100 miles, I'll have no problem
swimming 10 miles", it's just a different skill, the same as learning
to ride a unicycle is different to learning to ride a bike.

As for food and water, road bikers seem to be a bit sneery about them
because they're something mountain bikers wear, but camelbaks really
are great on a unicycle (personally I like wearing one on road bikes
too). Easy to carry a bit of food and tons of water. If you have a
hydration sack with webbing on the side, you can stuff bananas or cake
in there too, which is nice, as it's really easy to grab out.

Joe


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