First long distance cycle - what to expect

haf1zur

Hi

So I finally built my hybrid racer and fancy a ride

Have to go to Sutton on Friday so thought why not cycle there, now this is my first long distance cycle (long distance for me), 20 miles there and 20 back. Google maps says 1 hours 58 mins each way, not sure how accurate that is.

Have not cycled for a while, so looking for tips

Need to post some pics up as well

Thanks

cougie

If its the first ride I'd do a few shake down rides before then. Couple of laps round the block etc - make sure everything is still tight.

As to the ride itself - take it nice and steady. You'll probably need some fuel towards the end of the ride and take water if its warm too.

Enjoy the ride.

haf1zur

Hopefully bottle and cage arrive tomorrow

Will be doing a few miles before hand to test out, first outing this evening so hoping everything goes well

Bobbinogs

haf1zur wrote:

Google maps says 1 hours 58 mins each way, not sure how accurate that is.

That would depend on how fast you cycle

As Cougie says, try and get out today/tonight for a few miles as a spin and make sure everything is ok (nothing worse than starting off with that annoying shifting problem only to find it gets worse the further you go, etc.).

Hard to know how difficult the ride will be without you stating what you are used to cycling. An average person who doesn't cycle would find a 40 mile round trip very difficult, specially if there are a couple of hills on the way, but if taken at the right and sustainable pace then there is a good chance of completing it ok. I went out with my 9 year daughter the other week and we did 10 miles on a very flat course. The hardest thing there was keeping my patience and maintaining the encouragement

haf1zur

Been using Boris bikes for the past few months and managed 13 miles in 58 minutes each way on a few journeys, which I thought was pretty good considering the type of bike and the amount of cycling I have done recently.

Hoping to be much better with my own though, what ever the result, it would be a benchmark to improve on.

slowbike

Bobbinogs wrote:

I went out with my 9 year daughter the other week and we did 10 miles on a very flat course. The hardest thing there was keeping up with her and listening to her encouragement

There - corrected that for you!

Bobbinogs

Yeah, cheers. My bike looks great with some pink DuraAce tassles, btw.

RoadMeridaBen

Expect tired legs!

fatdaz

And a sore Aris

thefd

You should be fine. 20 miles at 1 hour 58 mins is an average speed of just over 10 mph. When you have done 13 miles you have averaged 13.44 mph. So take it easy and you'll be fine. Enjoy it!

CiB

20 miles should take about an hour & 20 minutes at a steady pace; 15mph is 4 minutes per mile = 80 minutes. So an hour & a bit's worth of excercise at a steady pace won't deplete you too much. Assuming a bit of a rest and then the return journey at the same pace means less than 3 hours steady effort with a break in between. Easy.

Don't get bogged down thinking you'll need a dozen energy gels or an enormous meal to recover the lost calories - that sort of distance & speed isn't likely to burn any more than 1500 calories. A drinks bottle full of rich squash each way will do. When you've finished, start plotting a long ride of 50 miles +.

I'm not being snide (ok...) but there's a steady stream of threads lately about doing petty mileages built up as some kind of endurance marathon. 10, 20 even 30 miles is the sort of distance that should be a doddle after two or three weeks on a bike. Anything less is warm-up territory and should be treated as such. Think in terms of time not distance and it falls into place.

NewTTer

CiB wrote:

20 miles should take about an hour & 20 minutes at a steady pace; 15mph is 4 minutes per mile = 80 minutes. So an hour & a bit's worth of excercise at a steady pace won't deplete you too much. Assuming a bit of a rest and then the return journey at the same pace means less than 3 hours steady effort with a break in between. Easy.

Don't get bogged down thinking you'll need a dozen energy gels or an enormous meal to recover the lost calories - that sort of distance & speed isn't likely to burn any more than 1500 calories. A drinks bottle full of rich squash each way will do. When you've finished, start plotting a long ride of 50 miles +.

I'm not being snide (ok...) but there's a steady stream of threads lately about doing petty mileages built up as some kind of endurance marathon. 10, 20 even 30 miles is the sort of distance that should be a doddle after two or three weeks on a bike. Anything less is warm-up territory and should be treated as such. Think in terms of time not distance and it falls into place.

+1, nice reality check

fatdaz

CiB wrote:

I'm not being snide (ok...) but there's a steady stream of threads lately about doing petty mileages built up as some kind of endurance marathon. 10, 20 even 30 miles is the sort of distance that should be a doddle after two or three weeks on a bike. Anything less is warm-up territory and should be treated as such. Think in terms of time not distance and it falls into place.

I agree with this but as this is a Road Beginners forum you are going to see lots of questions from beginners and 20 miles seems like a long way to someone who's new to the hobby. Maybe there should be a sticky in the Beginners forum entitled "Preparing for your first rides up to 30 miles" or something similar

haf1zur

Well done it, and it wasn't so bad, forgot to time the journey there but the way back 19.4miles took 1:43:55, hills slowed me down a lot as well as traffic lights, it seemed like all of them were red as soon as i got there

Grenouille

CiB wrote:

I'm not being snide (ok...) but there's a steady stream of threads lately about doing petty mileages built up as some kind of endurance marathon. 10, 20 even 30 miles is the sort of distance that should be a doddle after two or three weeks on a bike. Anything less is warm-up territory and should be treated as such. Think in terms of time not distance and it falls into place.

But this is the beginners forum. If you don't like questions like this then maybe you should stay out of this forum.

20-30 miles is definitely not the sort of distance I would have been able to do after just 2-3 weeks in the saddle. I'm 3 month new to cycling and 2st lighter than at the start (which was 20+ st) and only last weekend did I manage a 30 mile ride. Going on another tomorrow. I certainly don't consider this a warm up ride. :?

Gizmo_

Everyone improves at different rates, and terrain and equipment make a huge difference. But it is true that someone who has been cycling for a month should look at a 20-mile ride on reasonably flat terrain and go 'yeah, ok'. No-one's suggesting that it'll be easy, or that everyone will average 20mph out of the box. But, especially if you are just riding at your own pace, 20 miles is really not very far at all.

And anyone who can average 13mph on a Boris bike really shouldn't worry. I averaged 10 mph on a 13km trip right across to Earls Court the other week...

karlth

I've been at it two years and still consider 20 miles a considerable ride, 30-40 long, anything more very long indeed. We're not all natural athletes.