I did my longest ride so far this year

[Orange utopia]

I did 31 moderately hilly miles only tank of a hybrid. I averaged 12.2 mph. I was planning to ride this bike until I built up to 50 miles and then decide if i can do a century on it but now I'm not sure. I think I really need to resolve my road bike woes. Oh and I passed on the trek pilot 5.0 so I either have to figure out how to make my Klein more comfortable and feel more stable or I need to think about what bike I really want to end up with.

[Velocivixen]

Wow, I'm impressed. I don't know you well or how much you ride but from my perspective that sounds great! I just did my first ever group ride/event yesterday which had some mild rolling hills and was 30 miles. My average speed was just over 11 mph. So you did great!
Have you cycled that distance before? Often? All I can say is that you are an encouragement to me. I found my ride to be very challenging. Good for you and keep it up.

[Orange utopia]

I used to ride a lot so cycling isn't new for me but it has been about 5 years since I did a distance like that I think. My average speed has mostly been around 10.5-11 on other rides since I have been riding this hybrid but I was riding with some seasoned, faster riders who were all on road bikes so that helped get my average up.

Of course the big downhills where I was going 30+ mph influenced that average too because let me tell you I was barely making it above 5mph a couple times going up hill LOL

You are doing great. If I recall you have a trek fx right? One of the guys I wS riding with yesterday was telling me he started with a trek fx about 3 years ago and ended up putting something like 4000 miles on it before moving to his carbon road bike. He did 31 miles with me yesterday, 63 miles on Saturday and 25 miles on Friday. He was a great motivator!

[westtexas]

Congrats on your long ride - it's quite an accomplishment! I have found those long distances get totally addictive... Now I ride 35 miles and I feel like it was just a short jaunt through the park and I need more!! Just think about how strong you are getting by riding your hybrid. If/when you decide a road bike is the way to go, you are going to be really strong

[aquamoose32]

I used to be worried about my first century. I ride a lot now like 150 miles a week, but before that I had only done my longest ride at 70 miles. Someone told me I would be fine. If I could do 70 miles alone, 100 with a pack would be a piece of cake. You draft, there is adrenaline from everyone else, and excitement, lots of refuels stations, you stay hydrated. They were right, the 112 miles were so much easier than the 80 I trained for alone. Hope that helps and gives you motivations. Centuries are so much fun! Give it a try. There is always a sag wagon.

[MollyJ]

I tended to obsess on how fast I could go--and still do. But I bike in KS where wind is a significant factor as well as the lay of the land. We don't have steep inclines but there are ups and downs.

Like you, I had an older bike, a mountain bike that I put smoother tires on. I built a lot of endurance and it was good. But the bike was just not that efficient.

So I have my new bike and I like it alot. But I still don't necessarily go a whole lot faster on an average MPH basis--though I definitely has added about 2 or more MPH as an average. But my Madone is much more efficient and I am often impressed on how much LESS wind slows me down and how I can maximize my downhills. I think the posture of the road bike helps with wind resistance a lot. I think it's hard to over state that but if your general conditioning is such that the drop down position is not going to be tolerable then that is a definite factor.

I cannot over-emphasize how much fun that new, very smooth, very efficient, built for the road, bike is. Wow. It's a thrill.

While I was riding my older bike, I spent a lot of time thinking what my goals and dreams for biking were. I am not a racer, won't ever be. I wanted the bike to take me the furtherest in a time span that I could feasibly accomplish. This bike is helping me do that but it also has taught me why people like having more than one bike. It's strength is the long trip. It's not as much fun for tooling around town in. I kind of envy my husband's hybrid for that.

But I wouldn't give it up.

[chosen1]

I did 31 moderately hilly miles only tank of a hybrid. I averaged 12.2 mph. I was planning to ride this bike until I built up to 50 miles and then decide if i can do a century on it but now I'm not sure. I think I really need to resolve my road bike woes. Oh and I passed on the trek pilot 5.0 so I either have to figure out how to make my Klein more comfortable and feel more stable or I need to think about what bike I really want to end up with.

Congrats! I did my longest ride of my vast road biking career *sarcasm* on Sat too! 30 miles and some change. I've been on a road bike not even a full month now and really only get to do long rides on the weekends. I was riding my mountain bike before but decided that if I'm going to do duathlons I should level the playing field. I knew a road bike would make a difference but I didn't think it would be as much as it has been for me. Hopefully you'll find what works for you too!

[alice]

Yay! Congratulations! Doing a new long distance always feels like a cool accomplishment, no matter how short or far.

[mariacycle]

Road bike woes? Do tell (or point me to another thread that does)...

[Orange utopia]

Road bike woes? Do tell (or point me to another thread that does)...

Basically, since starting to ride again I feel very unstable and nervous on my road bike. I feel like I am bent over too far, wobbly and not in complete control and when I go down hills the bike is so light I feel like it is going to blow out from underneath of me with one good gust of wind or a when a big truck passes me.

If I had put more thought into my hybrid purchase, it was sort of impulsive, I would have probably gone for a more flat bar road bike type that would be sturdier then my road bike and more upright but not feel so much like a tank as my Utopia. I love the Utopia, it is very fun on trails and shorter rides but at about 20 miles or so it starts to feel pretty heavy.

S o I have been going back and forth between trying to tweak my road bike to make it more upright and maybe put som bigger tires on it to make it feel less like a race bike or just replacing it. I had a chance to get a barely used trek pilot carbon frame last week but I ended up passing on it because I wasn't sure that was what I want. Lately I have been looking at some steel bikes that are made for touring and long rides but so far I haven't had a chance to ride any yet.