I've done a couple 200 mile days... but RAMROD (~150mi, ~10kft elevation gain) is what I'm proudest of. Pulled my dad across the finish line. That was back in my testosterone-soaked youth... I think I rode about 400 miles that year. I liked to tell my dad that "training is for sissies." Yikes.
These days, my legs are just as strong and they want to go go go, but I've had a few lower back injuries, and I can't get on my bike without putting myself out of commission for a month. I can ride slowly for a few miles at a time... but I'll see a bus or another cyclist or a bird or... and I'm suddenly on the chase... everything feels amazing until my back cools down and I'm in tremendous pain for a month.
Hopefully now that I'm out of college I'll be able to afford a physical therapist to get my lower back into shape so that I can ride without killing myself or feeling like a grandma on training wheels.
Okay, see... I have a
problem. I just thought "oh I know, I can just pull a trailer full of bricks! That will slow me down!" Uh... torque is the problem, dummy.