# How far in one day?



## SkipdiverJohn (24 Apr 2018)

I was having a conversation with an old boy I'm friendly with, and the conversation somehow got on to the younger generation being lazy and unwilling to go anywhere under their own power. Out of the blue, he casually mentions that around 1954 him and a mate, then still both teenagers, rode SS Fixed bikes on a day trip totalling.....216 miles. 108 miles each way, a bit over 6 hours for the outbound trip and 8 hours to get back. I put the A and B points in a route planner and it came back as 106 miles e/w, so I'm inclined to believe it isn't BS. When I asked him what he was riding he equally casually says a lightweight racing frame with 52/13 - as it was the biggest gearing he could find!. Even today with bikes having 20 or more ratios to choose from, I reckon even the most dedicated riders would baulk at doing that distance in a single day, let alone on a SS bike with a gearing of over 100 inches! He did say though the following day his thighs had swollen and he had trouble getting his trousers on when he got up so he ended up going to the doctor's.


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## Maenchi (24 Apr 2018)

Not sure what bikes they were riding, but in the early 1930s when an auntie and uncle of mine would have been in their 20s they said the used to ride from Sheffield, where they lived............ to Scarborough .......................and back........on the same day !!!! which is about 180miles................I was very impressed by this, the story was told to me when I said i'd cycled to Scarborough myself, just getting there........... in one day from Sheffield was enough for me !!! and I was in my early 20s also................


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## Slick (24 Apr 2018)

I met a cracking old boy a couple of years ago when our riding. We got chatting about all sorts of things and he told me how he wanted to test a hand built bike him and his father had just completed and he ended up in campbeltown from Drumchapel I think it was. Around 145 miles each way, but not on the same day.


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## screenman (24 Apr 2018)

Knocking the young again, my young son has done many iron mans, they had not been invented back in 1954. My father and father in law were both not very active men who did very little except moan.


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## Racing roadkill (24 Apr 2018)

I tend to do a couple of 230 mile rides every year. I’ve done them on everything from my old Btwin Riverside Hybrid, to a Brompton. There are issues with doing those kinds of distances in one go, but if you do them with someone else / a group, it’s less mentally trying. The physical aspects are still going to be there, the mechanical aspects are also a consideration, and actually getting time to do them, is an issue. But it’s certainly not that unusual to find people cycling a ride of that distance / duration. It’s a bit more unusual to do it every day, for a year or more though.


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## Sharky (24 Apr 2018)

It's amazing how amazed non cyclists are when you tell them how far you rode at the weekend, or on your commute into work, but even as an experienced young cyclist, I was amazed by the exploits of the late Roy Cromack when he broke the 24hr time trial record (507 miles).


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## derrick (24 Apr 2018)

I do the odd 200 mile ride. We have one planned for the 12 of May. It will be my other halfs first 200. So far her biggest is 140. She is now 56. Am pretty sure she will cope. First one i did, was actually 214. garmin battery died before the ride finished.
https://www.strava.com/activities/301362611


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## winjim (24 Apr 2018)

If on the one hand you've got


SkipdiverJohn said:


> the younger generation being lazy and unwilling to go anywhere under their own power


and on the other there's


SkipdiverJohn said:


> the following day his thighs had swollen and he had trouble getting his trousers on when he got up so he ended up going to the doctor's.


then it's just possible your argument lacks a certain nuance.


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## Ming the Merciless (24 Apr 2018)

I will be riding just over 200 miles this Saturday. Riding this kind of distance in one go is no big deal if you ride long distances regularly. Trying to do it at higher speeds is hard. As long as you have your bike setup for comfort, have worked out what food and drink works for you, and keep your pacing comfortable; then almost snyone can do it. If regular audaxers, average age 50 or so, can di it; then I am sure younger riders won't find it an issue.


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2018)

YukonBoy said:


> If regular audaxers, average age 50 or so, can di it; then I am sure younger riders won't find it an issue.



Being capable of doing it is one thing, but while I know plenty of audaxers who ride fixed for preference, they're pretty much all 'veterans'. Kids these days just don't seem so interested in doing long rides on fixed. I don't know if that's due to laziness or other factors though.

I only discovered the joy of fixed-gear road riding in my late 30s. I do the odd audax on fixed but prefer much more reasonable gearing, around 67 inches - doing a long ride on a 100-inch-plus gear is insane. (I'm contemplating using the fixed gear bike for the West Highland 1000 at the end of May but not sure it's a good idea - will probably end up going with gears. I'm pretty sure there will be other riders on that event on fixed though.)


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## Ming the Merciless (24 Apr 2018)

You over estimate how hard fixed is. Like anything it just takes a while to get used to and then you are away. It is not necessarily harder, just different.


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## derrick (24 Apr 2018)

YukonBoy said:


> You over estimate how hard fixed is. Like anything it just takes a while to get used to and then you are away. It is not necessarily harder, just different.


It's really hard if you are geared wrong, i always used a fixie for commuting, it was geared for a flat route, every now and then i used it for club rides, the hills really hurt.


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## Ming the Merciless (24 Apr 2018)

derrick said:


> It's really hard if you are geared wrong, i always used a fixie for commuting, it was geared for a flat route, every now and then i used it for club rides, the hills really hurt.



Well gear inch choices are always a topic for discussion amongst those of us who ride fixed. Do enough long rides and hills and you get a feel for what works for you. Generally geared riders go backwards when you start going up, then overtake on downhills as you spin like a dervish.


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## SkipdiverJohn (24 Apr 2018)

I'm surprised to hear that people are currently doing these distances on one day, even on bikes with multi gears, but to ride SS or Fixed seems bordering on insanity - as no route of 100+ miles each way is not going to have some hills on it!.
What I'm amazed at it the case of the journey I described was the average speed. Based on the approx journey times I was told, it meant they averaged about 16.5 mph for the outward leg and 13.5 mph on the return. 
Now, over 60 years ago there would have been less road traffic, and they were on very light, built-up amateur type racing bikes with drop bars, but even so that is a very high average speed to sustain over such a long distance. There would have been no fancy energy gels to consume on the fly then, so I'd imagine there must have been at least a couple of brief stops en-route to gulp down some water and devour a Kendal Mint Cake bar or two, which would have made the average speed even harder to attain. The use of minimalist SS bikes I'm told was partly down to the fact derailleur bikes were still uncommon back in the early 50's, and partly because a SS was both lighter in weight and cheaper to build than a multi-gear as the bulk of the money went into getting the best frames possible - I'm assuming they would have been 531 butted, and not easily affordable to a couple of teenagers on the weekly wages they got from British Rail. 
I do think there's a generational thing though, because back then, most working class people did not own a car so riding a bike several miles to work, doing a day's hard physical labour whilst at work, then riding home was considered perfectly normal - so the required level of effort needed to cycle a very long distance may not have been considered particularly extreme. People generally weren't fat in those days and regular cyclists working in physical occupations were probably vastly fitter physically than all but the most dedicated athletes are nowadays.


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## Ian H (24 Apr 2018)

I have campaigns on fixed every so often. Last time was 2015 when I qualified for and rode Paris-Brest-Paris. It was the 2nd time I'd ridden it on fixed, and much faster than the first. There were several others riding likewise. 
And in case you think I'm some super-athlete, I'm about to start drawing my pension.


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## skudupnorth (25 Apr 2018)

Last years Cheshire ride with Colin, I clocked the 130 mile mark on my fixed Boardman. Both me and the bike coped perfectly with varied terrain and conditions. I will be doing the same again with the gang,cracking ride !


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## amedias (25 Apr 2018)

It's not such a great distance to many, while it might not be common among your peers there are hundreds (thousands?) of people all over the country Audaxing most weekends. A 200k ride is 'normal', 300s and 400s are hard work but still not unsual, 600k+ generally reserved for the committed though ;-)

I sneak in the odd 200-300k ride whenever I have the the time, did a pair of 200s the week before last as well as normal commuting and mid-week rides, not meaning to blow my own trumpet as I still remember when I managed my first 100k ride and felt like I was going to die, but it is really all about what you're used to.

With regard to the speeds, well it's very route dependant.... on a hilly (they all are round here) 200k with ~2500-3000m climbing my moving average is normally in the 14.5-15.5mph region depending on the exact profile and weather/fitness. Give me a flatter ride though and I'll solo it at 16+mph, get some strong clubmates together and (depending on the mates) 18+mph isn't out of the question over that distance.

Fixed/SS doesn't necessarily end up slower either, I mean it can do on some routes, but again it's all about the elevation profile (and which way the wind is blowing!). My fastest rides have been geared, and so have my slowest. When you've only got the one gear you pretty much _have_ to ride at a fair output, so you invariably put in decent speed if your gear is well matched to you and the route.

I think the bell curve distribution of fitness levels is skewed compared to in the past, but I don't think the peaks are any higher or lower if you know what I mean. There are fit and active people now as well as inactive, but the baseline activity levels as a population have probably decreased to the point that some efforts that were once perceived as normal now appear abnormal, if you get what I mean?


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## Ming the Merciless (25 Apr 2018)

They would have been on the A roads back then. Flatter, less junctions can make a big different to your average on a pot holed gravelly back lane.


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## Whorty (26 Apr 2018)

Currently in training for an 'extreme' sportive in Wales (Double Devils) that is 100 miles with 3000 metres of climbing and some pretty nasty 20-25% sections. Did it with my geared bike last year but contemplating doing it SS (not fixed) this year. Ride is in June, so will depend how training goes, but would love to do it SS if I feel I have a chance.


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## biggs682 (26 Apr 2018)

My parents did " 24 hour Reliabilty rides " on a regular basis in the 50's and they did 200+ miles min on each one they did , cyclist's were cyclist's in those days .

What with no alloy or carbon frames mostly ridden single or fixed gearing all steel frames you were lucky to have alloy rims and tubs with brakes that were shocking compared to modern one's , ok a lot less traffic and very little cycling specific clothing


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## Pennine-Paul (26 Apr 2018)

Furthest I ever cycled in a day fixed was 158 miles from Oldham to Morecambe and back,not likely to try and go any further due to a shoulder injury from a couple of years ago,3 or 4 hours is about my limit these days.


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## 3narf (28 Apr 2018)

SkipdiverJohn said:


> I was having a conversation with an old boy I'm friendly with, and the conversation somehow got on to the younger generation being lazy and unwilling to go anywhere under their own power. Out of the blue, he casually mentions that around 1954 him and a mate, then still both teenagers, rode SS Fixed bikes on a day trip totalling.....216 miles. 108 miles each way, a bit over 6 hours for the outbound trip and 8 hours to get back. I put the A and B points in a route planner and it came back as 106 miles e/w, so I'm inclined to believe it isn't BS. When I asked him what he was riding he equally casually says a lightweight racing frame with 52/13 - as it was the biggest gearing he could find!. Even today with bikes having 20 or more ratios to choose from, I reckon even the most dedicated riders would baulk at doing that distance in a single day, let alone on a SS bike with a gearing of over 100 inches! He did say though the following day his thighs had swollen and he had trouble getting his trousers on when he got up so he ended up going to the doctor's.



WOW! Mind you, they were tougher in those days, and had no fat so probably weighed about 7 stone each... I'm rubbish, I get cramp in my thighs after about 25 miles.


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## screenman (28 Apr 2018)

I wonder if people back then rode their bikes rather than read about them on internet forums.


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## 3narf (28 Apr 2018)

screenman said:


> I wonder if people back then rode their bikes rather than read about them on internet forums.



I'd say it was highly likely


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## amedias (30 Apr 2018)

screenman said:


> I wonder if people back then rode their bikes rather than read about them on internet forums.



Nonsense, they just chatted about them in the pub instead... and _then _went for a ride ;-)


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## screenman (30 Apr 2018)

amedias said:


> Nonsense, they just chatted about them in the pub instead... and _then _went for a ride ;-)



What like actually went out of the house.


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## Whorty (30 Apr 2018)

screenman said:


> What like actually went out of the house.


Oy, less of that language on here!!! Going outside? Humph .... as if


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## GuyBoden (30 Apr 2018)

skudupnorth said:


> Last years Cheshire ride with Colin, I clocked the 130 mile mark on my fixed Boardman. Both me and the bike coped perfectly with varied terrain and conditions. I will be doing the same again with the gang,cracking ride !



I think that @ColinJ should add the Swettenham ford into his marvellous Cheshire Ride. We went straight past it last year.


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## skudupnorth (30 Apr 2018)

GuyBoden said:


> I think that @ColinJ should add the Swettenham ford into his marvellous Cheshire Ride. We went straight past it last year.
> 
> View attachment 406738


Oh yes ! Love a paddle in the wet stuff !


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## GuyBoden (30 Apr 2018)

skudupnorth said:


> Oh yes ! Love a paddle in the wet stuff !



It's a bit slippy...........


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## HLaB (30 Apr 2018)

I did a few centuries on my old cheap steel fixie (Viking).


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## Blue Hills (2 May 2018)

Maenchi said:


> Not sure what bikes they were riding, but in the early 1930s when an auntie and uncle of mine would have been in their 20s they said the used to ride from Sheffield, where they lived............ to Scarborough .......................and back........on the same day !!!! which is about 180miles................I was very impressed by this, the story was told to me when I said i'd cycled to Scarborough myself, just getting there........... in one day from Sheffield was enough for me !!! and I was in my early 20s also................


were they married at the time? If not could it have been a ploy to explain their somewhat disheveled appearance on "arriving" back in Sheff?
Either way am impressed, and by the OP.


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## Blue Hills (2 May 2018)

screenman said:


> My father and father in law were both not very active men who did very little except moan.



Certain bits of cchat would have been a godsend for them 

sorry couldn't help myself - back to the excellent thread.


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## steveindenmark (14 May 2018)

2 guys rode the Indiepac on fixies this year. One of them is still riding round Australia. He is covering crazy distances every day.


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## Nitram72 (4 Oct 2018)

Sat in the pub after doing 105 miles with 8200 feet of climbing on 49*19..

Beer can't stop the pain in my thighs....1:8 out of aveton Gifford at 95 miles.... Was screaming at the top....

2nd century in 3 weeks.... Trying to get fit...


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## rogerzilla (6 Oct 2018)

132 miles overnight on a slightly misnavigated 2008 Dunwich Dynamo.


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## colly (7 Oct 2018)

108 miles is the longest fixed ride l have done. It's also the longest ride I've ever done.
@totallyfixed organised a forum ride around Rutland a couple of years back. 
That was it.


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## Blue Hills (7 Oct 2018)

Did 160 miles plus mega mega loaded non stop last summer - south London to Dunwich, then on to a bivvy near a dual carriageway in Caister, Norfolk. More recently did just under 140 miles from Wolverhampton to the Ribble Valley loaded on the same 26 inch wheel exped bike, though not as much loading. Second ride possibly tougher as a lot of the route was on varying degrees of off road and there was a fair bit of climbing towards the end. Made it thanks to my usual long ride drugs of Lidl's wine gums and choco peanuts and stops in fields to make double espressos. If someone comes up with a team T shirt promoting these I would be first in line. Oh and Lidl packaged sugary breakfast goods. Oh and a wetherspoons special offer mixed grill and two pints of finest Caramel Stout.


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## Smokin Joe (10 Oct 2018)

YukonBoy said:


> They would have been on the A roads back then. Flatter, less junctions can make a big different to your average on a pot holed gravelly back lane.


Good point there. When I started club riding in the sixties we would think nothing of riding part of a club run along the A127 or the A12 out of London and riding two abreast all the way. They were smooth, fast and fairly flat roads on which time trial records had been set. I wouldn't now dream of riding on either of those roads, even on a Sunday they are brimming with high speed traffic and uncomfortably dangerous. Cyclists are now pushed onto the lumpier back roads.


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## rogerzilla (16 Oct 2018)

My legs say fixed is actually better than gears over a long ride, and my watch says it's faster. My theory is that the former is due to lower weight, lower rpm and better elimination of waste products from constantly-moving legs. The latter is also due to lower weight but also because of the discipline of "keeping on top of" a fixed gear.


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## mangid (19 Oct 2018)

rogerzilla said:


> My legs say fixed is actually better than gears over a long ride, and my watch says it's faster. My theory is that the former is due to lower weight, lower rpm and better elimination of waste products from constantly-moving legs. The latter is also due to lower weight but also because of the discipline of "keeping on top of" a fixed gear.



I'm the opposite, summer months I'll average 18mph for a century on the fixed on a good day. On the plastic special I'll be pushing close to 20, and occasionally reach the magic number. I can maintain 24 on the flat on the fixed for a while, I think that's about a cadence of 120. More comfortable is 100 which is 20, that I can keep doing that on the level for a while. I can go faster for longer at 100 on the geared bike.


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