The “long ride” is one of the pillars of any cycling training plan. Even the most basic recreational cyclist does a long ride almost every weekend. Oftentimes cyclists will do two long rides on both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say it’s not just a pillar of training, but a staple of any cyclist’s week. Just like everyone else, I love a long ride. Whether it’s with a group, or solo, there’s something freeing and refreshing by setting out for a long day in the saddle. However, as my family and work obligations have grown, the ability to put in a four or five hour ride is just not possible. With that, I discovered the magic of a three hour ride. And it applies to both in season as well as the base season and those Zone 2 rides.
Caveat – When to do it longer
I should note one major caveat here. There are absolutely cases in which rides longer than three hours are necessary. The most obvious case is if you have a ride/race longer than three hours. This can include stage races, gravel races, road races, ultra distance events, etc. If the event is more than 2-3 hours, longer rides are necessary.
The other (obvious) case is if you’re a Pro, Cat 1, or even a Cat 2 looking to move up. At this level, it requires a much different kind of training. A majority of the (few) US stage races have stages over 100 miles. There’s even crits that can take two hours – looking at you Clarendon Cup. When you get to this level you need far more than one three hour ride a week. At the highest level, you’re looking at roughly six rides per week and averaging 5 – 6 hours per ride.
This article is about practical training for the working man…so back to our reality.
The simplicity and practicality
My favorite reason for the three hour ride is the simplicity of it. It’s long enough to feel like you’ve accomplished something, while short enough that it doesn’t take up an entire day. I find that riding 1-2 hours by myself is easy. Pushing it to three hours is doable and with a nice route, it can be enjoyable. Most group rides in my area fall into the 3 hour range as well. In addition, you don’t need to stop to refuel as much as you would in a longer ride. I can carry all my food with me and with two large water bottles, I only need to stop once to refill.
Beyond the simplicity of it, there’s logic and science behind the three hour ride. Criterium and cyclocross races range anywhere from 45 to 75 minutes. Including a warm up, the total time on the bike is 90 minutes. Even with two or three preview laps of a cross course, you’re still looking at a maximum of two hours. Track racing also follows this pattern. Most track events offer 3 – 4 races in a session. Again, the combined racing time is rarely more than an hour. Including warm up and cool down, total time on the bike is 90 minutes.
Thus, a three hour ride provides the necessary endurance adaptations needed for these events.
What are the limitations?
The benefits of the long ride are well documented. I won’t go into the nitty gritty scientific details, but the main aim and result is an increase in size and strength of your slow-twitch muscle fibers aka your aerobic energy system. This allows you to build a solid engine on which intervals and race efforts can be built on.
In terms of the research, I can’t find anything out there that says an X length ride will produce the best adaptations. Obviously, the longer you go, the greater the adaptations. With that said, the stress and recovery of cramming in a four or five hour ride into a busy schedule is just not worth it. Ride as long as you can realistically fit into your schedule. And if you can fit a longer ride in once or twice a month, go for it.