The 2017 Half Century (50 KM or 50 Mile) A Month Challenge - Chatzone

[L Q]

Cheers all, I will add some rides on, I will include my commutes for now purely for targets for myself.

 

[Sbudge]

Well, just to confuse things my 50km ride this month was a 100km! I'd already posted one for the century challenge thread so I put the second one here. I *was* planning to do a gentle half this weekend but weather and bikes conspired against a riding buddy so we did his century instead. Given the wind I *definitely* appreciated being able to draft for some of the time though. March is going to be a nightmare though, I reckon I'll only manage to do both if I do the half on a weekday afternoon and the century right after a transatlantic flight, madness.

 

[13 rider]

Another one crosses the line @Rustybucket . Still 2 riders to post 1 day to go

 

[Spinney]

I get you, I like the idea of targets for myself as that's what I failed on last year, 2015 was a decent year, 2016 was a disaster, 2017 is a kick up my arse year.

It's working quite well for me this year. I'd like to beat last year's points total, and I find myself, instead of going for a 20ish mile bimble, working out if I can make it 31 miles instead. Good luck with it!

 

[Rustybucket]

Another one crosses the line @Rustybucket . Still 2 riders to post 1 day to go

I made it, just!

 

[ColinJ]

I finally forced myself to go out this afternoon and do my ride!

The weather was pretty bad this morning so I waited until the afternoon. It was still raining at 2 pm but the forecast was that it would dry up at around 3 pm. I took the forecasters at their word and started getting ready at 2:45 pm. I left the house at 3 pm and the rain had stopped. At 3:02 pm, the wintry showers started!

Things looked iffy 'on the tops' so I decided to stick to the valley roads on my singlespeed bike.

Fortunately, after a few minutes of sleet and light hail, the weather quietened down again. I managed to get about an hour in before the rain returned and then I had about 40 minutes of alternating spells of rain and drizzle. All of this accompanied by a nagging, chilly wind and leaden skies. I wasn't really enjoying the ride but it had to be done.

I rode as far as the fringes of Burnley and then u-turned, rode back down through Todmorden and continued as far as Littleborough. As I was approaching the town, the sun started to peep out from behind the clouds and the sky turned blue. It is amazing how quickly a blue sky can lift my spirits and make me forget the old S.A.D.

I did another u-turn and headed for home. I had already worked out that I would be a couple of km short so I dropped my cycling bag off and picked up the rucksack that I use for shopping, plus my heavy-duty u-lock. I then headed off to Lidl to annoy customers at the trolley storage area. (I lock the bike up next to the trolleys and somehow managed to obstruct 3 shoppers who all politely told me that my bike was in their way. It WAS, so I had to move it over a bit.)

After doing my shopping and riding home I had done a total of 51 km.

I will NOT be so lazy in March! I have a long ride planned on Saturday but that will be counted for the metric century challenge. I'll do my best to get a 50+ km ride in soon after that.

 

[Bazzer]

Was starting to get twitchy about failing at month 2, as leg surgery at the end of last month and a host of other crap going on in my life meant an enforced absence of a month off my bike and most other cycling related stuff. Managed a boring 16km a week last Sunday, doing 7 circuits of roads surrounding a field at the front of our house, (mainly to satisy Mrs B the surgeon's efforts were not going to be destroyed by me rashly riding miles from home ). So the next step was obviously upping it to 50km . Luckily got it in yesterday before the weather started to turn bad.

 

[Katherine]

Was starting to get twitchy about failing at month 2, as leg surgery at the end of last month and a host of other crap going on in my life meant an enforced absence of a month off my bike and most other cycling related stuff. Managed a boring 16km a week last Sunday, doing 7 circuits of roads surrounding a field at the front of our house, (mainly to satisy Mrs B the surgeon's efforts were not going to be destroyed by me rashly riding miles from home ). So the next step was obviously upping it to 50km . Luckily got it in yesterday before the weather started to turn bad.

Well done!

 

[13 rider]

Bingo full house everyone done 38 still in
Well done everyone it appears to have been a tough month for some with bad weather and health but you all did it
It should get easier now

 

[StuartG]

Yep - this challenge is so unfair. Deepest winter is still confined to north of Watford. Whereas us southern softies can just go out for a ride anytime when the road isn't white and rain ain't forecast (and Feb was unusually dry and mild here) with just a few more layers than high summer whilst our colleagues may have to choose between failing or skating on ice. Plus being blown anyway but from behind on evil hills.

So while I hope to wear this year's stars with pride - they ain't the equal of many riders efforts here. Chapeau!

 

[ColinJ]

Yep - this challenge is so unfair. Deepest winter is still confined to north of Watford. Whereas us southern softies can just go out for a ride anytime when the road isn't white and rain ain't forecast (and Feb was unusually dry and mild here) with just a few more layers than high summer whilst our colleagues may have to choose between failing or skating on ice. Plus being blown anyway but from behind on evil hills.

Evil hills ... WHAT evil hills?

Oh, yeah, THOSE evil hills!

That is the profile of the ride planned for Saturday. It is a bit on the lumpy side ... Several ramps exceeding 15% and long stretches at 8-10%.

 

[Sbudge]

Oooh, that looks like a nice one. What's the total planned elevation? And any chance of the GPX? I can't ride it this weekend as I have to fly to Canada but it looks worth a trip when I get back.

 

[ColinJ]

Oooh, that looks like a nice one. What's the total planned elevation? And any chance of the GPX? I can't ride it this weekend as I have to fly to Canada but it looks worth a trip when I get back.

I could get my software to tell me the total but I think it overstates it so I always knock about 20% of that figure, and usually go by what I can see on the profile. I reckon it is about 2,000 metres.

I'll check the software anyway ... Yes, it says 2,426 metres, so 2,000 metres is about right. The other 400-odd metres would be due to minor undulations which I wouldn't count as actual climbs. You still have to ride over them, but I prefer to know the total for the significant climbs. If you include those bumps, then about 2,400 metres.

I have now edited my route to get it down below 500 trackpoints so it fits my old Garmin's track memory limit, and tidied up the autorouted points to fit junctions better. I have attached the GPX file below.

If you are going to come up to do one of my hilly routes, why not come up for another of my hilly forum rides? There is currently a list of 2017 rides in the signature under my posts. (The Cheshire and Waddington routes are much flatter, but most of the others would be as hilly as the one illustrated above.)

 

[Domus]

Got my March ride in early this month. Went to visit mum in her Chorley care home, took the hilly way back over Rivington and Horwich.
Vicious side winds had me all a wobble. And relax

 

[Renmurew]

I love it when the first of the month falls on my mid week day off and the weather plays ball by being really sunny with very little wind and lovely dry roads! I am trying to up my climbing over the next few weeks to get ready for the Etape Loch Ness so today I headed into the Angus hills and covered the 50K route of the first sportive I ever attempted back in 2015. I started from Edzell and headed out towards Kirkton of Menmure before turning towards Tannadice and then starting the first climb up Glen Ogil. Pleased to get up the hill despite being overtaken on the steepest part (about 8%) by three tractors, one after the other. Better yet when I got home I found I had a PB on the hill so perhaps I should ask them to meet me at the bottom of the hill next time! From there I had an undulating run towards the last climb of the route. Slow but steady got me to the top, although again with a PB, so really pleased about that and delighted to see an improvement in my hill fitness climbing abilities. I finished off with a really fast decent down the other side of the hill and a max speed just over 30mph before heading back towards Edzell.

All in all a lovely day in the sunshine enjoying some amazing countryside, 1669ft of climbing and lovely views and managed to cut 14 mins off my best time for this route last year.

Got home, walked the dogs, cut the grass, cooked tea and now have my feet up with a coffee in hand.

Good luck to everyone for March.