Just wondering what people would view as a long ride, either in hours or miles covered?

I'm asking as I've seen a few things of late which make me believe my ideas and those of others, may differ quite a lot

Short ride, around an hour.

Medium ride, upto 4 hours.

Long ride upwards of 4 hours I suppose.

Depends on the terrain aswell I suppose as lots of big hills make it harder so some folk will put that down as a long ride even though the distance may only be small.

Did 46 miles, loaded, on saturday in just over 4 hours, but didn't feel like it was anywhere near a long ride.

I suppose in my head something 6+ hours starts to become a long ride. I'm just always a little surprised by how many people think that 3 - 5 hours is an epic (mbr mode) ride.

I know that everyone has time constraints and you can't always stay out as long as you'd like to but it doesn't seem uncommon for the *'average' rider to panic at the thought of more than 4 hours on a bike.

* That will be as in 'a rider with normal mtb interests' not average as in fitness, although there may be a link between the two

There's a lot of folk on STW that think a lap of W2 is epic. They are generally overbiked for the route and can't ride for toffee but talk a good game.

They are generally overbiked for the route and can't ride for toffee but talk a good game.

You called?

I did all the trails at Afan in one go once in just over 6 hours. That was a long ride, all things considered.
The WRT was a long ride for me in terms of duration - something like 11 hours on the bike on Sunday. Comparing the two, I think I was probably more tired from the Afan effort. I've been out on the MTB done half the miles, stop twice as often and been a lot less tired for the same duration.

I think it depends on pace, difficulty/ conditions/ severity of terrain and duration. Though having just followed the TD coverage, what constitues a normal "long ride" gets put into perspective somewhat

A long ride is going to Nando's post ride and ordering whole chicken platter, medium ride needs a half chicken and two sides, short ride no Nandos just cake and cup of tea.

Sorry about this and please excuse my hillbilly tendencies but ... wtf is Nando's?

Stu, it's a Portugese chicken restaurant chain, so common now there is one in Merthyr.

grilled chicken so a healthy choice can be achieved

http://www.nandos.co.uk/

Posh KFC where they serve beer

excuse my hillbilly tendencies

Don't worry Stu, I went into a petrol station far out in the wild west of Pembrokeshire to buy some lunch. Converation went like this:
me (browsing the sandwiches behind the glass display counter): "Can I have a BLT sandwich please?"
two ladies behind counter: "A what sandwich"
me: "A BLT"
ladies: "A BLT?"
me (pointing vaguely in the direction of the sandwiches): "a BLT, yes"
Long pause
me: "Bacon lettuce and tomato?"
ladies (coo-ing): "ooooh, is that what BLT stands for. I never knew that!"
me: "...."

The packet of sandwiches in question did have written on it "Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato", rather than BLT.

True story, I kid you not...

The Welsh are a simple breed for sure.