Whats the furthest you cycled on a mountain bike?

Waddyuk

Doing the ironman next year so doing more mountain biking in the winter to build up fitness when its too bad for the road bike. Just bought a Boardman Pro 20er a sits light so should help with longer rides.

So whats the furthest you have ridden in a session, is 80 miles too much as a target to build upto, on a road or canal bank like the leeds to Liverpool canal etc?

zx6man

Did Leeds to london on a MTB over 3 days which was about 80 a day

njee20

Personally, 122 miles in a 12 hour solo. Plenty of folk have done far far far more.

Particularly on road or canal stuff, the only limit is your motivation really. I'd be aiming for at least 112 miles though, as that's what you've gotta do next year...

welshkev

Waddyuk wrote:

Doing the ironman next year so doing more mountain biking in the winter to build up fitness when its too bad for the road bike. Just bought a Boardman Pro 20er a sits light so should help with longer rides.

?

huh? I've just bought a road bike for the winter for when it's too bad to go on the mtb. surely you just get wet in the winter on a road bike, not wet, muddy, wading through bogs etc like on an mtb :?

The Rookie

My longest is 80miles in a day, not that I couldn't go further, just that I was back to where I stared from, that was on a 14Kg rental clunker and it was 35C that day.

48 and not that fit.

Waddyuk

Top effort that, well done.

The Rookie

Not really, it was just a case of cycling at the effort I knew I could maintain and keeping going, go to hard and you'll 'blow up' and not be able to carry on, go at the right pace and you can keep going almost forever on a bike.

njee20

I've just bought a road bike for the winter for when it's too bad to go on the mtb. surely you just get wet in the winter on a road bike, not wet, muddy, wading through bogs etc like on an mtb

Always been the way - mountain bikers head to the road for winter, roadies head off road.

veronese68

The Rookie wrote:

Not really, it was just a case of cycling at the effort I knew I could maintain and keeping going, go to hard and you'll 'blow up' and not be able to carry on, go at the right pace and you can keep going almost forever on a bike.

This ^ Having done a similar distance at a similar age and probably similar fitness.

njee20

Cycling, unlike running for example, is just about pacing and fuelling yourself appropriately. Just because you can run 10k doesn't mean you can run a marathon. However if you can ride 20 miles you can ride 100. IME you reach a level of tiredness that doesn't really get much worse.

First properly long ride I did was 98 miles around Coed-y-Brenin (the old MBR/Red Bull and Karrimor twice each), I was knackered after 4 hours, but didn't really get any more tired for the remaining 7, although my arms did ache quite a bit by the end.

If I was doing an Ironman I'd be wanting to do long rides on my tri bike though, particularly if it's actually a tri bike, so I could get used to long stints in the aero bars. If you don't have a tri bike at the very least get clip on aero bars, biggest single aerodynamic advantage from those.

The Rookie

A friend of mine has done a 600km Randonneur (38 hours) other than (mental) tiredness he assured me it was no harder than the 200 and 300km he had done before hand (youngest person on record to have done all three in a 12 month period, though as it's not an 'official' record that isn't 100% certain), it was just a case of picking the right pace. The one issue then is saddle soreness, if you get a bit sore after 4 hours you will be in agony after 8, so that is about making sure you have the right kit.

diy

I'm currently training with a female rider to attempt to maybe beat the womens record for the SDW double 200 miles ~25k ft climb. We are aiming for 25/26 hours and some change, i'll be there to stop her go mad (or assist). TBH I'd try it myself if the men's record wasn't 18 hours something.

Distance is not really the issue its distance & climb over time that makes it hard. I've done 130 miles on an MTB 18k ft climb and that was a pretty tough 16 hours

I do however question the logic of using an MTB to train for a road race. It works the other way around, but I can see more effective ways to train. Of course it can be about fun too.

Personally its my road bike that gets trashed in the wet and not my MTB. Winter Mtbing costs a fortune with replacement parts.

kajjal

welshkev wrote:

Waddyuk wrote:

Doing the ironman next year so doing more mountain biking in the winter to build up fitness when its too bad for the road bike. Just bought a Boardman Pro 20er a sits light so should help with longer rides.

?

huh? I've just bought a road bike for the winter for when it's too bad to go on the mtb. surely you just get wet in the winter on a road bike, not wet, muddy, wading through bogs etc like on an mtb :?

I do exactly the same as it saves on cleaning and maintenance leaving my MTB in great condition ready for the drier weather.

mcnultycop

diy wrote:

Personally its my road bike that gets trashed in the wet and not my MTB. Winter Mtbing costs a fortune with replacement parts.

This is my approach too. I actually enjoy winter MTBing, however the second I get off the bike and it's covered in crap and I have to clean and relube in wet shoes I immediately wish is gone out on the toad bike.

rockmonkeysc

I have done 80 miles and felt like I could have done another 20 and I have done 30 mile rides which have destroyed me.
I have also done a three and a half minute downhill run which had me so exhausted I very nearly puked in the finish arena.

stubs

Many years and 4 stone of body fat ago I did the Leeds to Liverpool canal ride in one day (128 miles I think) and I was hallucinating by the time I got to 100 miles and remember nothing about the last couple of hours. I wasnt particulary fit just stupid and bloody minded.

Long_Time_Lurker

Part of the coast-to-coast - Penrith to Tynemouth, total of 83 miles. It includes 2 or 3 horrible hills.
Took ages and was bloody tiring, but was doable as we didn't have a time limit
Distance wasn't the issue. It's making sure that you are fed and watered for the entire time and know the route.
One of our friends bonked in the middle of nowhere despite being warned that there was a big hill coming up as we passed through a small village with a pub and shop. The 5 miles to the next stop wasn't fun for him.

AD1

The longest spin I did on my mountain bike was 144km, 3000m of climbing at my local Trail centre on a Canyon 29er hardtail for charity. Took 12 hours, 10hrs 15min pedalling. Carried a back pack throughout including bladder, 2 tubes, pump spares, tools. Back was sore as a result. Went through may highs and lows throughout the spin. The main think is to eat and drink regularly on the spin, if you wait until your hungry its too late and will take longer to recover.

bobbydeak

160 miles in 2 days for a charity ride around skipton area, tough as !

bennett_346

112km but it was cycle paths so not real mtb terrain.

cube1961

300 miles !

The Northern Monkey

73.5km on day 4 of the crudcatcher coast to coast challenge..

Day 1: 50km
Day 2: 70km
Day 3: 68km
Day 4: 74km
Day 5: 31km (I jumped in the support vehicle as my dodgy knee gave up, there was still 20km to go!)
Day 6: 60km (drugged up to mask the pain of my knee)

The route was off road as much as possible!

Profile for day 4:

kajjal

60 miles in one day. Ran out of food and water but luckily went through a village so stocked up again.

Ulysses

62 miles yesterday ... I also ran out of food/gels and water right at the end ... except for a few jelly babies. Pushing for 100 miles but will need a friend half way with water and food as will be around 10hrs in the saddle.

njee20

Can you not either carry more, or go via a shop...?

pilch

In one day 100m - Kielder 100

Over 9 consecutive days 900k - Joberg2C

Ulysses

njee20 wrote:

Can you not either carry more, or go via a shop...?

I could do actually, would only mean taking 8 electrolyte tabs and probably 6 - 8 gels and a half a loaf of Soreen in my back pack. Would only need to buy water en route then. It looks a whole lot more achievable now I've finally broken in to 60 miles.

FishFish

The Rookie wrote:

48 and not that fit.

That is a fairly low IQ

cooldad

Ulysses wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Can you not either carry more, or go via a shop...?

I could do actually, would only mean taking 8 electrolyte tabs and probably 6 - 8 gels and a half a loaf of Soreen in my back pack. Would only need to buy water en route then. It looks a whole lot more achievable now I've finally broken in to 60 miles.

Stop at a pub for a pie and a beer and they'll give you free water.

Ulysses

Nah, I'd never get moving again!

welshkev

njee20 wrote:

I've just bought a road bike for the winter for when it's too bad to go on the mtb. surely you just get wet in the winter on a road bike, not wet, muddy, wading through bogs etc like on an mtb

Always been the way - mountain bikers head to the road for winter, roadies head off road.

yeah, I've only just discovered this. weird :?