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Today I rode in the Gear Up for Kids (http://www.gearupforkids.org/) ride that went south of madison through back roads and smaller towns. It was supposed to be 50 miles but when they plotted out the course it came to 53.2, and my bike odo at the end said 54.31.

It was the first time I ever rode in a semi-competitive setting (as much as a charity ride can get competitive ;)) and also the longest ride I've ever done at once by around 20 miles. To all you recreational bikers out there I highly recommend doing something like this. :) It was a really good use of a saturday morning (though I'm about due for a long nap :eek:).

So even though this is in the "off-topic" forum, I can tie it to hypermiling, well, sort of. :cool: Somewhere between 30 and 40 miles I realized I didn't have enough left to continue attacking the hills like I was doing earlier in the race. So I switched to PWL (Pedal With Load :D) and just tried to maintain constant output, letting speed follow terrain and gearing up or down as needed. There was also quite a bit of Ridge Riding - I really noticed how much LESS road noise I was making staying on the white line, which can only mean less rolling resistance. And of course close-in drafting was a given (though not something I do in a car).

All in all, a pretty nice ride! (For the curious, I finished in 3:10 with a total of about 5 minutes of rest stops :eek:)

Hi Jerad:

___Good Grief, you did more work today then I have all year :D

___Nice finish time and congrats on adapting hypermiling “techniques to whatever you own and drive”. Hopefully without to much in the way of emissions as well ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

If there were any emissions I wouldn't want to be the one following in a close-in draft ;)

A belated congratulations!

Roughly 3 miles on bike = 1 mile running

That is about like running a half-marathon (13.1 miles) - an achievement.

Although I don't understand the Prius well (I did start the "Prius for Dummies" thread ), for some reason cycling seems more like the HSD - IMA is more like running.

Cycling is a great hobby/sport; I just wish I still had time for it. I consider the fifty mile distance to be one of the real breakthrough distances for touring cyclists. Once you can do that at the pace you did, you have the fitness and technique that will let you do pretty much any distance. Is a century ride in your future?

Cycling is a great hobby/sport; I just wish I still had time for it. I consider the fifty mile distance to be one of the real breakthrough distances for touring cyclists. Once you can do that at the pace you did, you have the fitness and technique that will let you do pretty much any distance. Is a century ride in your future?

Thanks for the encouragement. :) I think I'd be willing to try a 100-miler - haven't heard anything about something like that being put on around here though. I've also had "bike across the US" in the back of my mind as a long-term goal. For that it would be nice to have a group of people that a) I could spend what would probably end up being 2 months with ;) and b) of about the same ability.

100 miles on a bike is the energy of a marathon (26.2 miles) without the pounding on the joints. :)

I did the Hilly Hundred (www.hillyhundred.org) a few years ago, and am planning on doing it again this October. It is about 50 miles each day (Saturday and Sunday) through the hills of southern Indiana. It is considered one of, if not the, best touring ride in the country. The scenery makes it worth the pain. ;)

Locutus, congrats on the 50 miles. I've never gone more than 25 (in a triathlon nearby), and that was an effort.

My wife & I are planning on doing the MS-150 from Houston to Austin next spring, so I better start getting some more miles under my belt this fall.

http://www.ms150.org/ms150/

It's amazing how comparable biking vs. driving can become. I averaged 17mph on my triathlon, and my commute often averages in the low 20s. Granted, in one I'm a man possessed and the other I'm coasting. But the speeds are not far off.

It's amazing how comparable biking vs. driving can become. I averaged 17mph on my triathlon, and my commute often averages in the low 20s. Granted, in one I'm a man possessed and the other I'm coasting. But the speeds are not far off.

Heh, I know what you mean. :) Lately I've been averaging 16-19 mph biking to work depending on wind, and if I need to drive I'll end up averaging 19-22. It really is close. (Which one - biking or driving - is the 'man possessed'? ;))

Thanks Marc and Fenrir for the suggestions of longer rides to undertake.

I haven't been out nearly as much as I should this year, but
the few times I've been out on the bike I've been trying to
hypermile my legs, pretty much just as locutus described.
Constant, regulated torque; let terrain and gear changes
dictate how fast I actually wind up going. It does seem
to produce more distance for less exertion...
.
_H*

Locutus,

There used to be a great ride in early September (I think) - the Door County Century. I haven't done it in years (since I became a home-owner, my weight has gone up & my fitness level has gone down :o), but it was a beautiful ride, from Sturgeon Bay up the bay side of the peninsula Gills Rock, then back down the lake side & back across to the starting point. It went through several of the state & county parks up there, & the scenery is worth the effort :)

They also had 15-, 25-, & 50mi. routes.