# 150 km?



## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

how long do you guys think it will take to ride about 150km on road with a mtb as an average rider. my work (army) is thinking of doing a trip in the summer that would have us ride 150km one day to a trail network, camp ride and hang out for 3 days then ride back on the 5th day. im trying to find out if this is not to crazy. remember we are army and embrace pain and misery lol. what do you think the estimated time for the 150km would be too? all kit would be in follow on vans so only water and food would be carried. thanks alot for your help guys!! :thumbsup:


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## MTBerNick (Oct 23, 2012)

It is possible, it would suck on a mountain bike (average rider) but it is possible. That is roughly 93 miles, if you could average a 5 minute mile it would be around 18-19 hours. Personally I would try and go 60 miles, stop rest for 4-5 hours then do the rest. I am in the Army as well, and I dont know about supporting your "ebracing pain and misery."


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## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

its better then sweeping the floor over and over for a week lol. im just a trooper (private in the Armour core) trying to help a captain plan a trip for next summer. if it wasnt for the snow id ride 150 km to tell him what kinda time he is looking at (on duty of course lol) a day and a half is what i first told him today but iv never done a 150 km ride so i dont know. not to say your math is wrong but i got just under 8 hours with 5min a mile which doesn't seem that bad


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## mitzikatzi (Sep 9, 2008)

It really depends on the "trail network's" surface. I have done 125km in day on my MTB but that was on gravel/fast fire roads.

8 hours riding is a good day on the bike maybe 10 to 11 hours with stops. So if the trail surface is ride-able at about 20 kmh then I say do the ride.


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## Larry_K (Jul 10, 2010)

For an "average rider" the best wild guess I have is around 10-12hrs of ride time if the terrain fairly flat. Add another couple of hours for all the needed pit stops. IMO, most riders I would call "average" wouldn't make it through a 100mi ride in one day, especially on a mtn bike. 

If you were just talking about doing a 150km ride, camping for a few days, then riding back I'd say go for it (with proper training ahead of time of course), but if you're planning to ride trails while camping I'd put it in the "bad idea" category. I know quite a few folks that do century rides on a semi-regular basis and their body is pretty much shot for a day or two aftewards no matter how good of shape they're in.


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## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

the 150km is on road once we get to the destination it is 90km of trail that we do on our own with a camp set up for 3 days. i want to make this happen cause i love biking especially on the clock lol. i just need to sell the idea to leadership. 10-11 hours does seem like a reasonable time to do it in though.


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## wschruba (Apr 13, 2012)

15-16 mph is an average, sustainable speed on a bike on the road. Knock about 3-4 mph off for knobby tires, and you're looking at 8-9 hours of riding time. You _will_ need to take a few breaks to recover.

That is to say nothing of the conditioning you will need to do that. _Your_ butt might be ready for that kind of punishment, but if the rest of the group are not avid cyclists, they may make it through the first day's ride okay, but will be in no condition to ride after that (butt-ularly speaking). Also remember that you'll be riding the following days, as well as the trip back.

That's a hell of a lot of PT, most guys who ride long distances take a few days off before and after the ride to recover.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but you'll need a ton of calories to sustain that kind of activity (probably wind up carrying a pack full of food each, unless you have someone driving along with supplies). Logistically, it is difficult to carry a large load (tent, sleeping bag, food) and still make fast time. In fact, you might suggest that someone check out a truck from the motor pool to (at the very least) ferry the supplies to the camp site. You will also have to cope with the fact that some people just will not be able to physically make it through all of that, and will have to have a contingency plan in effect to get them back to base (truck, again).

Larry K pretty much hit it on the head. Logistically, it's possible (see above) but in terms of conditioning, your body will be hard pressed to keep up with the calories it needs to repair/recharge.


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## MTBerNick (Oct 23, 2012)

********** said:


> its better then sweeping the floor over and over for a week lol. im just a trooper (private in the Armour core) trying to help a captain plan a trip for next summer. if it wasnt for the snow id ride 150 km to tell him what kinda time he is looking at (on duty of course lol) a day and a half is what i first told him today but iv never done a 150 km ride so i dont know. not to say your math is wrong but i got just under 8 hours with 5min a mile which doesn't seem that bad


You are correct my math is wrong lol :madman: . But I agree, you and everyone else would be totally shot after 150km, you would not want to ride 90km worth of trails, you would want to lay around on your ass and sleep.

Armor huh? Im a Scout, are you a Scout or Tanker?


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## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

Canadian recce so ya scout. i dont want to give the guys something easy but it i have to make sure there is is pt involved. its a tricky balance to make


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

Your talking about a point A to point B ride, not an out and back ride. So, it depends on what kind of elevation change there is between point A and point B.


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## Grinderz (Aug 31, 2012)

I think you also need to factor in the kinds of bikes that people will bring as well. A $150 supermarket slug will probably fall to bits on a 150km ride, that's if the rider hasn't picked it up and lobbed it as far as they possibly could first.

Given the distances/times I have pulled in some xc races, I would say 8-12 hours would be suffice on the road for an 'average' rider BUT on a bike that is pretty decent and rolls well. This factors in a couple of breaks and no break downs.


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## Tone's (Nov 12, 2011)

if you attach some army rockets on your bike you could cut the time down by heaps...id give that a try..


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## perttime (Aug 26, 2005)

During my Finnish military service, we figured 18 km/h average riding speed on roads (dirt and paved), and 15 km/h when including a short break every hour. The longest our company did was about 90 km each way (carrying personal gear for a week), so a bigger break in the middle sounds like a good idea.

There were always some "mechanicals", so the support vehicle had a bike mechanic with spares.

That was done as a form of low-tech troop movement in company size units and most of us were not "into riding bikes".


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## Jernas (Oct 2, 2011)

perttime said:


> During my Finnish military service, we figured 18 km/h average riding speed on roads (dirt and paved), and 15 km/h when including a short break every hour. The longest our company did was about 90 km each way (carrying personal gear for a week), so a bigger break in the middle sounds like a good idea.
> 
> There were always some "mechanicals", so the support vehicle had a bike mechanic with spares.
> 
> That was done as a form of low-tech troop movement in company size units and most of us were not "into riding bikes".


That sounds about right to me. We should be looking at an average speeds of below 15 km/h in this case (not suitable bikes for the road, knobby tires, carrying a lot of gear etc.) which means it should take you more than 10 hours for 150 km on road. My guess is if everything goes right you should be at point B in 11 hours 30 minutes.


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## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

we will only be carrying what we want for the ride everything else (ie. tents, packs) will be on trucks following. 10-11 hours does seem reasonable time. ill let you guys know Monday if it gets approved or not. thanks a lot :cornut:


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

Your question can't be answered if we don't know what kind of elevation change there is from point A to point B.


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## sjhiker (Apr 25, 2008)

Also, what kind of cycling training / gear will the cyclists be wearing? As an avid hiker and runner, my hiking/running endurance didn't translate too well to the bike.

Also, I can't imagine riding a bike 20km let alone 150km in fatigues...


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## SimpleJon (Mar 28, 2011)

If you are smart - you should put on 1.5" slick tires, something like T Servs, for the road section; and put the knobbies in the trucks then change over at camp - over 150Km you should be able to avg 5 to 10Kmph more quite easily with better tires. 150km on knobbies would be pretty hideous. having lockout on your suspension would also be a big help on the road.


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## sjhiker (Apr 25, 2008)

150km on knobbies might just turn them into slicks...


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## DennisF (Nov 4, 2011)

Ok, these guys are fit, but most of them don't cycle regularly, right? But road biking is a lot different in physical requirements than mountian biking. Mountain biking around here anyway, has no long hills or long descents. Just rolling hills. You haul ass up a short hill for a minute or two at the most, then your muscles (and butt) get a rest coming down the other side. Biking on the road is grueling -- just pedal pedal pedal with no break. Even coming downhill, you pedal.

Assuming it is feasable, you don't want to cause everyone to hate cycling (and you ).

Why not do a trial run with a few other guys and get their input? Maybe start with a 75 km loop.

One thing you can do while road biking that will help a lot is *drafting*. We experimented on a rails-to-trails, and even at 10 - 15 mph, it makes a huge difference. I'm betting you can easily add 1 - 2 mph to your average speed. But, it requires some practice and has its risks.


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## eb1888 (Jan 27, 2012)

While this stage is focussed on the road riding, the trail riding is a more complex problem. Most guys can ride a bike on the road. Trail riding is a different activity with important technique and minimum equipment considerations. Could be the more challenging segment.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I find that my climbs and descents are longer off-road than on-road. Both in terms of raw mileage and elevation - nobody wants to develop the big hills, so they're still Department of Natural Resources land - and also because MTB is slower.

I'd give your company a bit more credit for riding speed when actually riding. Say 15 mph average moving speed. That's including the knobbies and mountain bikes. But it takes a lot of discipline and some luck to actually be moving for a whole ride. A big group of non-racers probably spends about 25% of a ride stopped. That pulls the average speed down to more like 11 mph. So it's about an eight hour ride, maybe more if you also have stops for actual breaks, as opposed to just the inevitable ones. I think the 10 hour estimate is not bad, at the end of the day.


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## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

this is close to the route we will be doing. https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=cfb+petawawa&daddr=45.8580263,-77.2184385+to:45.7336762,-76.8571872+to:gatineau+park&hl=en&sll=45.715769,-76.659851&sspn=0.679824,1.454315&geocode=FZR7vAIdvK9k-yENzxwssM1bgSmBLGHW8MzWTDENzxwssM1bgQ%3BFeq8uwIder1l-yl9chC_izTRTDFfixq4HlQobQ%3BFSzXuQIdnUBr-ynpcIJjF2vRTDGzJrsRkWXycg%3BFTnPtwIdZK53-yHcUNrlMSIY5Sk1c4EEZu_RTDHcUNrlMSIY5Q&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=10&via=1,2&t=m&z=10

we wont be doing this till next summer so there will be time to train and get ready for it. i know there will be a few who will hate cycling and me after this but o well lol.


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## Mountain Cycle Shawn (Jan 19, 2004)

^ Then click the bike icon and it tells you how long.


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## DennisF (Nov 4, 2011)

Well, at least it is downhill on the way there


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## MadBlackHatter (Mar 26, 2012)

the bike icon says 8 hours which seems too short. that's 18kmh. 10 hours sounds good though maybe 11 with breaks and such.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Google's calculator seems to assume a moderately strong rider on a road bike and no breaks.

The no breaks aspect means their estimates range from very easy over short distances to quite difficult over a long distance, especially with a group, especially if people can't eat on the bike.


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## eb1888 (Jan 27, 2012)

You need to produce some good riding trails once you get there. Past reviews show marked bike trails at beginner level. Mo and Foreplay and Whale are noted as the fun ones, but were hiking only in 07. Now the park website says all trails are shared. Sounds like an expanded choice now.


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## zephxiii (Aug 12, 2011)

Here is a ride i did a few weeks ago along a bike path, 20miles out and back and i am pretty sure i didn't pause the recording during breaks.

Biked 42.06 mi on FSR 42.06mi mountain bike on 11/18/12 on 2012-11-18 | cycling Training Log Entry | MapMyRide

That was on a 26er FS with fast rolling XC tires not riding hard or anything.


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