I noticed an advert for a cycling event the other day and it contained the words ... '4 hour endurance race'.

That got me thinking about what actually constitutes endurance. My own opinion is that 4 hours isn't an endurance event, if you had to complete a certain distance within 4 hours then maybe it would ... but just riding for 240 minutes at whatever pace you see fit, na.

4 hours is a Sunday road ride. I think 12 hours is an endurance ride.

I think it depends who you are doing the event with. There are some people that you might find 4 hours of quite an endurance event.

It also depends on fitness and pace - your average trail centre weekend rider may find 4 hours riding a real test. For many on this forum, we're keen on the longer rides, and may even find that 4 hours is the beginnings of a good ride.

Usually just getting warmed up after 4 hours

I tend to think of 100miles and 10-12 hours being where it crosses into endurance and then up to about 24hours.
Any thing longer than that I tend to think of it as ultra racing or bikepacking racing.

I'm sure there is a lot of us on here that do 4 hours as a quick blast after work.

Like slarge says, it's all about pace. Spending all day meandering around bridleways is less of an endurance test than pedalling like mad for 4hrs.

Like slarge says, it's all about pace. Spending all day meandering around bridleways is less of an endurance test than pedalling like mad for 4hrs.

That's why I said it would be different if you had to cover a certain distance in 4 hours ... flat out for 4 hours would certainly be a test.

That's a sprint.

My "normal wee" ride is about 3 hours - plus any photo/snack stops. If anything, I find I can't be arsed going out for shorter rides. I'd rather go for a run.

s8tannorm wrote:

Like slarge says, it's all about pace. Spending all day meandering around bridleways is less of an endurance test than pedalling like mad for 4hrs.

That's why I said it would be different if you had to cover a certain distance in 4 hours ... flat out for 4 hours would certainly be a test.

Is a "test", endurance though? An hour and half flat out XC pace is a test, but I wouldn't call that endurance.

EDIT: OK thinking about things further. I reckon endurance starts when it's not just about fitness but starts being a "test" of your mind as well. Where that happens... I dunno.

s8tannorm wrote:

Like slarge says, it's all about pace. Spending all day meandering around bridleways is less of an endurance test than pedalling like mad for 4hrs.

That's why I said it would be different if you had to cover a certain distance in 4 hours ... flat out for 4 hours would certainly be a test.

Which is why I think a race over 4 hours is endurance (assuming you are going for it) whereas a 4 hour ride probably isn't. Also, your average xc race is 90mins? Having said all of that people at work are amazed I do 10 miles each way on my ride in. It's all relative!