When did 73 miles become "not enough"?

My boyfriend and I had planned on getting a long ride in yesterday. Life kind of got in the way and we weren't able to leave the house until about 11am. We ended up doing 73 miles and I was disappointed we didn't get in more.

While sitting on the deck enjoying our post ride recovery beers, we tried to think back to the times when anything more than 15 miles was insanity.

Amazing, how this sport is sometimes, isn't it?

We're both training for a couple 12 hour and 24 hour mtb races this year with some 100 mile mtb races thrown in for good measure.

I wouldn't let us start riding back towards home until we had at least 65 miles in as I WASN'T going home with anything less than 70.

How crazy!

Were they 73 enjoyable miles? I hope?

TJ, you're just impossible to please!:eek:;):D

I can totally relate to what you're saying TrekJeni. I often find myself feeling the exact same way...that no matter how many miles I put in, it never seems like enough. I too, rode 73 miles on Sunday and while it was my longest ride of the season so far, it's nowhere close to what I know I'm capable of. Heck, last season I was riding a 100-miler every month from May - Oct. I remember when riding 40 miles was considered my long ride. Now when I ride 40 miles, I always refer to it as just or only 40 miles...and I know that's crazy because 40 miles IS a long way. It's like I'm never happy with my accomplishments...something I really need to work on.

If distance in miles is what makes you happy, great!
Like Tangentgirl, I wondered if you enjoyed your ride- since you didn't mention anything about that.
Me, I'm a slowpoke who decides on her ride based on how much time I want my ride to last that day. I stopped using a bike computer last year because I no longer care so much about how my mph. We are all different.
Actually, it's pretty convenient when you typically ride 10mph (we have lots of rolling hills here)- because I know if a ride is 25 miles long, it'll likely take me 2.5 hours. :)

That said, I do still brag about my longest (70 mile) ride when folks ask me how many miles I ride. Afterwards, I'll add something like "But that was my longest ever ride, today I'm only going ___ miles." :D
I do feel proud that 5 miles used to seem like a 100 when I first started out, and now 50 miles seems like 100 to me. At 57 years old, I'll take it! lol!

I felt that way at one time--when I was consistently riding 200 plus miles a week, but then life started getting in the way. In some respects, it was good for me to let go of that neverending quest and arguably rigid routine, but I also miss it, too. I spent some time yesterday looking at my old Bikejournal entries, and it just depressed me. Not only did I ride a lot, I was pretty fast, too. I couldn't ride like that now if I tried--and it was just a couple of years ago. :( What's weird is that I feel like it was easier to build my miles when I first started riding than it is now. I don't know what's changed. My motivation maybe? I dunno. I'd like to get my mojo back, but I'm starting to accept that I may never get it back fully or, if I do, it's going to feel and look a little different.

I've had a few 200 mile weeks, but mostly not. Even though I steadily built my total mileage over the years, most of it's been from lots of little rides. I mean, little, like 12-18 miles. Then, for a while I also did lots of 35-50 mile rides on weekends. Now the weekends tend to be 20-40, with a few 50 milers thrown in. Last year was the first year in 5 I did not do a metric. I think it's because I never really train for these longer rides... I just do them, the end is always painful. Last year I increased my total mileage a lot by doing one 25-45 mile ride during the week, plus the weekends, and also doing lots of short (10-12 mile) before work rides. I do work on getting my speed up (to my normal slow speed :)) in the beginning of the season, but this year, I am setting no expectations, as I don't know what my schedule will be like when I start working. It was fun working toward a goal up to a certain point, and i passed that stage awhile ago. But, I still get a little adrenaline, when I am riding with others. I do a good deal of riding with others who are slower, don't ride as far, as me, so maybe that gives me a false sense of superiority!
I know that to my "normal" friends, what i do is nuts, so it helps to put it all in perspective. To the OP, there's nothing like illness or injury to put this in perspective.

I'd really be thrilled if I just regularly did 30-40 mile rides, with an odd metric thrown in, plus my usual routine of yoga, hiking and (now) running. The truth is that I just feel like I have a lot more going on these days then I once did. I'm relatively new to marriage and while I was a home owner previously, I purposely had a home that just didn't require much work. That's different now, as our house and property just require more time and effort. Plus, I need and want to balance what I want out of my free time with what my DH wants. So, all things in moderation at this point. That may change in time, but right now, it's okay. From a health standpoint, I don't think I was any heathier when I rode 200 miles a week. In fact, in a lot of ways, I was putting far more strain on my body and immune system. If nothing else, these changes have made me really learn how to adapt to change. I was ready to throw my hands up about it last year out of frustration, but I've gotten a little more centered since then. My guess is that set of challenges will not be my last, so this is good practice.

I have to fight off thoughts like that (though admittedly on a smaller scale LOL).

Like Lisa, I want to enjoy myself and that is my primary motivation. Speed comes in dead last with distance coming in ahead of speed! I'd like to train for a century this year but am afraid all those competitive types will leave me in the dust and close up shop before I even get to mile 50!!!

So as I get those feelings of insecurity I remind myself that I'm doing it for the enjoyment and that alone is how *I* win :D

I did push myself to do 31mi today and it feels great!

I would say that at least half, and probably more, of the cyclists who do centuries are doing it just to finish. Yes, there are always the speedy ones, but if you choose your century correctly, you will find a lot of people like you.

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Originally Posted by tangentgirl

Were they 73 enjoyable miles? I hope?

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Well the first half of the ride was great as we had a 25 mph tailwind, the last half we had to trudge home in it. At one point I was furiously pedaling downhill and asked my bf how fast we were going (I'm riding my cross bike with my road wheels on it and it doesn't have a computer) and he said we were doing 12mph! I think we had a 20mph avg on the way up. Oh well.

I know Mr. Bloom suffered a similar fate on Sunday.

To tell you the truth, I would much rather be out on the dirt but 24 hour mountain bike races aren't won riding dirt all day, I've got to be out on the road and just putting in miles. Our trails are super wet and unrideable. It's either road or nothing.

Yeah, I guess I could have alternatively said, "when did 12 hour solo mtb races become NOT LONG ENOUGH" I seriously think I need some professional help. hahahaha

I'm 35 and would love to qualify/compete at a world event by the time I'm 40. I've also been asked by a colleague to join him in Argentina to do a 5 day adventure race. He told me we would probably get about 8 hours of sleep the WHOLE race. Now THAT'S JUST CRAZY!!!!:D:D:D

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I've also been asked by a colleague to join him in Argentina to do a 5 day adventure race. He told me we would probably get about 8 hours of sleep the WHOLE race. Now THAT'S JUST CRAZY!!!!

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Sounds way crazy, but way fun! At least you'd have some great stories.

I think either you have the competitive thing, or you don't, and it's probably hard for one group to understand the other.

For example, I don't think I ever have a chance of placing in a race. When I do race (lol 5ks and sprint tris) or ride centuries, it's always for the challenge against myself, for a PR, and primarily to have a good time. If I were popping open a delicious cerveza after the ride you described, I'd be like, dayam, check me out, I survived 73 miles through that craziness, yay me!

Then again, I'll be at that world event cheering you on, but not racing in it, partially because of the attitude described above. It's hard to imagine that not being enough, but at the end of the day, did it help you accomplish your training goal?

I suspect riding home against a 20 mph tailwind counts for something extra, and somehow it evens out to what you hoped for.

When are your races? :)

That is great that 73 miles seems like a short ride to you :) Over in my area 73 miles will be just plenty for me, it maybe that we don't really have any flats and on a ride of about 50 miles we can well over 5000 ft of climbing.

You should enjoy what you do, obviously. If watching your mileage flip over to a certain number is what gives you joy in riding, then so be it.

I like to try and ride briskly as I can, but I'm not super fast. Better than speed I love watching those miles flip over too. It's also kinda amazing to look at a map and see how much space that covers between towns. Plus, the scenery you see, imo. It's cool to go from town, to totally empty country side.

Since my crash I haven't been able to really resume riding. I did a little last summer. But, pain put me back in pt and off the bike.

I still hurt, but am ready to try again. However, I have this serious urge to rip everything off my bike and make her nekkid. No hrm for me, no cadence senson, no Garmin... kinda thinking about even taking off my bar end mirrors, my saddle bag even lol... just stuff a tube/co2 in one jersey pocket, and LaraBar in the other pocket... and go! Crazy, eh? lol:o:rolleyes:

I had one other time I was recovering from surgery and my stats were bumming me out so I went clean bar. Frankly, it was a truly freeing experience now that I think back.:cool: