I've moved away from rides that long. I think it becomes almost counterproductive, or perhaps to say it better, it opens the door to other issues that might make the gains not worth it. My 50+ rides were very therapeutic for my noggin rehab. One of the strangest symptoms of the [bleep] injury was a very tangible anxiety that I wasn't actually ME. Weird stuff, but it was as real as it gets at the time, as in for many months, and actually if you've BTDT, it makes some sense. I dissolved for several hours. I can't remember any of it. When I re-assembled (that's what it felt like, coming to in the ER) I was very different. Was I still Jeff? It was certainly questionable. ANYWAY, I can report that there ain't nothing like suffering in a body, to re-anchor your "self" in that body. So I suffered, a lot, and it was awesome.
But now I'm doing much more intense but shorter rides. My 27 miler is a brutal route. I'll try to put up a chart of it. It's not for the faint of heart, literally, but it's "only" takes 2+ hours. 50 miles takes forever and I question whether that kind of endurance training is actually net-positive in the long run.
