# Definition of an Endurance Ride



## xrayjay

I asked the question on another forum but didn't really get an answer so thought I'd post it here. What make a ride an endurance ride? Is it time in the saddle, distance or some other measurement?


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## atpjunkie

*Well personally*

I don't consider a basic century an endurance ride. Any cyclist worth their salt who doesn't have family obligations should be doing these as training at least 1 -2x a month.
When I was single and had the time I did a century or close to it every Saturday at a pretty hard pace. I typically did a metric on Sunday as recovery.

To me endurance is brevets, doubles, or epics. Randos. I mean I have a ride planned that may be under 100 miles but it will be both road and dirt, there may be hike a biking. To me it will qualify. Now your opinions may vary, but that is how I see the world


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## xrayjay

I'm new here can you tell me what brevets, doubles and Rando are? And I agree, I rode a charity ride last year, my only road ride in the past 15 months. It was 68 miles and I could have done 32 more and not considered it an "endurance" ride, although it would have been a century.


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## albert owen

How long is a piece of string?

For some folks riding from Poland to Scotland in order to climb Ben Nevis (happening at this very moment), camping along the way in sub-zero temperatures, is considered a normal adventure during the Christmas Season. In comparison, what most people call endurance rides are simply beginners' sprints ridden by sissies.
For another person a 100k is a serious and worthy challenge.

Bragging is silly, because there is _always_ someone who can go harder for longer. Just as, for a beautiful woman, there is always someone more beautiful.


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## Jay Strongbow

albert owen said:


> *How long is a piece of string?*
> For some folks riding from Poland to Scotland in order to climb Ben Nevis (happening at this very moment), camping along the way in sub-zero temperatures, is considered a normal adventure during the Christmas Season. In comparison, what most people call endurance rides are simply beginners' sprints ridden by sissies.
> For another person a 100k is a serious and worthy challenge.
> 
> Bragging is silly, because there is _always_ someone who can go harder for longer. Just as, for a beautiful woman, there is always someone more beautiful.


Exactly. And in addition to a certain ride differing from person to person a ride of xx miles in pan flat Florida is a heck of a lot less of an endurance test than the same distance though the Alps.


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## xrayjay

Cool. Sounds like it is more of a personal measure against one's own ability than an industry standard. I like this.


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## heathb

I wouldn't gauge endurance based off of miles. I would instead use time as the gold standard.

One 100 mile ride might have a tailwind, no hills to climb, moderate temps and be fairly comfortable. 

On another day 60 miles might be brutal with 40 mile an hour headwinds, lots of steep long climbs and really hot weather. 

So to even out the two I would prefer to use time spent on the bike as opposed to miles and build up from their. 

IMO a cat 5 or 4 racer doesn't need to train for any more miles than their longest race. People who have volume as their primary concern instead of intensity are going to get crushed in most races.


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## bigbill

Most fit cyclists can do a century with little preparation. I've done a bunch of doubles and there's something about mile 150-180 that messes with your mind and body. IMHO, the only thing that prepares you for long distance/time is time in the saddle. A double is at least ten hours on the bike, if you have any bike fit issues they will become obvious. Shoulder and neck pain, numb hands, hot spots on your feet, etc will all manifest themselves after the 6-8 hour point. 

The biggest issue I have is the desire to stay in a group. For example, when I ride STP, I usually don't start with any particular group. I ride past the first rest stop at 25 miles and don't stop until around mile 46. The riders that do the same are usually the more experienced riders that you want to group with. A bad group will wear you out with constant changes of speed. I find a group and stay with them to the end. I'm around 6'2" so people like having me in their group.


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## SelfPropelledDevo

if a person goes to work 8hrs a day
if a person rides a bike close to 8hrs on any given day...

I'd consider that Endurance 

on that tangent: anything that succumbs to a fate such as The Endurance, obviously, that too, is to the core... Endurance.


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## atpjunkie

*Double*



xrayjay said:


> I'm new here can you tell me what brevets, doubles and Rando are? And I agree, I rode a charity ride last year, my only road ride in the past 15 months. It was 68 miles and I could have done 32 more and not considered it an "endurance" ride, although it would have been a century.


is a Double Century (200 miles)

Brevets are long organized rides. A brevet and a randonee are the same thing. (Rando being a shortened term) They typically start @ 200 km.
Randonee means 'long journey' in French.
2 of the classics are Paris Brest Paris (1200 km) or Bostom Montreal Boston (also 1200 K)


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## Alaska Mike

I used to do more long rides (99% solo), but for the last couple of years my rides have gotten shorter (around 50 miles average) and harder (more intervals, more hills...), because I don't have the free time I once did. I do more riding, but I break it up throughout the week. The whole distance thing never really did it for me anyway, and riding for hours like that trained me to be a 4 cylinder diesel. I could chug away all day at a decent pace, but put a hill in front of me or start a sprint and I was off the back. The best I could manage was a slight increase in speed. In my old racing class I could wear down most of the contenders with a high average speed during a road race, which would limit my time losses to sprint bonuses, but that would never fly as I upgraded. It's time to re-train the body and adapt.

For distance training, I generally add about 25-50% to the distance of the event I'm training for. I may only do a couple rides of that duration before the event, but it let's me know what my body is capable of at that point in the ride. For the most part, the shorter the ride, the higher the intensity- unless I'm riding recovery.

To me, endurance events start at the century mark (100 miles), but that depends on how you ride it. If you stretch it out over several legs with stops in between, then I don't consider it much of an endurance event. When I ride 100 miles, I usually do it without stopping much if at all, and then only long enough to refill a water bottle or water the roadside.

A double is more of a stretch for me, but is more about pacing than anything else. Most of the roads around here that are suitable for riding a double are pretty hilly, which factors into the equation. As long as my hydration and nutrition are taken care of, my legs get into a groove and keep turning the pedals over.

In the end, I just got tired of riding that far with no goal other than to say I did it. Chasing mileage just isn't something that excites me, especially if I'm not really improving as a cyclist. YMMV (literally). Do what inspires you.


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## kbwh

I've done the Trondheim-Oslo (540km) randonee once. Took me, or I should say us, 15 hours. Never again. The main reason is that it needs more preparation than I can give it these days, kids and all. 
Now I max out on the 235km around the local lake.


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## orangeclymer

A century ride IS an endurance i don't care how ya wanna slice it for beginners, inter or iron assed riders 100mi is.......well 100mi period.


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## psycleridr

I always thought endurance was going beyond your glycogen reserves. Which to me is riding more than 2 hours, but I am not a racer and have 2 young boys. I used to do the 4-6 hour thing which I enjoyed but don't have the time. Endurance is what you make of it but I would say must be more than 40-50 or 2 hours in the saddle


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## Fixed

*long*



xrayjay said:


> I asked the question on another forum but didn't really get an answer so thought I'd post it here. What make a ride an endurance ride? Is it time in the saddle, distance or some other measurement?


An endurance ride, to me, is a long ride where I'm not racing. "Long" will be relative, but I'd say anything over 100 miles / 5 hours is certainly an endurance ride, but it could be much shorter for your given circumstances (fitness, terrain, conditions).

An "ultramarathon" or "ultra" ride is something a bit different. It's about 200 miles/10 hours or more, but could include racing that distance, and racing *hard*. Double centuries and up are ultra rides. Could also inlude 12 hour or 24 hour time trials, and the 500 mile type time trial events, which started as RAAM qualifiers.


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## elermibmomy

I still need to get my bike titled to me and plates on it then I can ride. I live in West Chester about 40 min N. of Cinci. My bike isnt pretty or even finished, but Ill ride when I can. Keep me posted.


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## Gnarly 928

In my book, there are two kinds, two parameters that make a ride "an Endurance Ride"...

First: When the event is scored by 'how far can you go in 'X-hours'. A few years back I began doing some 12 Hour endurance races...scored by how many mile you could log in 12hrs. There's a group of riders who concentrate on races like this, and they are really something! There are also 24 hr classes, with fewer involved...

Second: The races like RAAM, or the Race Across _____(insert your state or country)..Races where the distance is great. Races where endurance is more important than bike speed..Races where the guy/gal who sleeps the least, eats the best, rides the most effectivily hour after hour will triumph over the one who can put out big watts on the climbs. Events where average speed is the bottom line. 

I'll add a third class of Endurance event...Really really long wheel to wheel races like LOTOJA,(208miles) two day races with huge climbing like The Everest Challenge race
(29,000' climbing in two days of wheel to wheel racing) and the grand tours.

My personal 'break-over' from just riding to an endurance ride seems to come at about 9 hrs in the saddle. At about 9hrs, I begin to look for reasons to quit riding...and I have to come up with compelling reasons to 'endure more' at around that point. There is a learning curve, too.


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