The 2018 Half Century a month Challenge chatzone

[bruce1530]

Lovely day today. It was only last week I got rid of the winter gloves and base layer - today it was shorts, no jacket, and proper shoes rather than the goretex boots!

Along local country roads from saltcoats to kilwinning, cunninghamhead, kilmaurs and into Kilmarnock. Through the town and on to Hurlford. Never cycled past there before.

Joined the “Sir Chris Hoy Cycleway” and followed it to Galston. Mostly a nice surface, flat, along an old railway route, but ironically, the “Sir Chris Hoy Cycleway” has a 200m “cyclists dismount” section , a couple of gates in the middle, and a barrier that you’d struggle to get a trike or trailer through....

Turned there and back to Kilmarnock. Through the town, coffee, then Crosshouse, Springside, back to cunninghamhead and then home. 45 miles. I had a squeak from one of my pedals, so greased it, and had to do a 5 mile test to check it was OK - so just over 50 miles!

 

[13 rider]

My cycling routine has been something of a disappointment thus far. As is usual, there's lots of different reasons and now I'm about to fly out for two weeks holiday and unlikely to add more points this month unless I hire something. I did manage a 50K on Sunday but it was just a glorified commute ride as I did stop at work but for no longer than an extended cafe stop. (although if anyone asks, I was there for some time.) I know this has been discussed, but I don't think it goes against the ethos of the challenge as if it weren't for this challenge I would have just taken the car.

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There seems to be a number of cyclists using the flat section around Houston to Inchinnan as i met more bikes than cars which is always nice and the sun was shining for the first time in a long time.

Just 7 points so far. Hoping May will be the start of bigger things.

If your happy it counts then I say it counts

 

[Slick]

If your happy it counts then I say it counts

Excellent. I'm happy as in the spirit of the challenge it's an extra ride I wouldn't normally have done.

 

[ColinJ]

I try to do the bulk of a challenge ride in one go (maybe with a cafe stop or two mid-ride) but in the past I have ridden to a station, caught a train, done a ride, caught a train back, then ridden home. I just added all the various ride segments up. It would be a weird challenge that put people off doing interesting rides because they 'would not count and would be wasted'. My personal rule is "total distance ridden between bedtimes"!

There are other artificial rules such as 'no home visits'. Well, I was riding past my house on one 100 km ride on a cold day and I got a puncture. I was not going to shiver on the pavement fixing a puncture next to my front door so as not to disqualify myself. I just opened the door and wheeled the bike in, had a quick pee break, and then wheeled my spare bike out and carried on with my ride.

I know that I can do rides up to (say) 250 kms with minimal stops so the distance ridden in one ride isn't important to me. What matters to me is making the effort to do a bigger overall distance than I would otherwise have done.

 

[Elysian_Roads]

Another metric half century ride for this month but achieved in two parts. Met up with a friend, and seven or so miles into our ride, he is ahead on a short twisty downhill section. Coming round a corner I see him on his back in the middle of the road, a black cat scooting off, not to be seen again. Luckily the cars around stopped and the drivers provided great support.

Rang 999 and after going through a series of questions, and because by that point he could stand, albeit with a little difficulty, they asked for him to get taken to the hospital. His wife turns up and we discover he can't bend to get into the front seat, so an ambulance is duly called for, and he is whisked off to hospital, wife following. Upshot is several broken ribs and a broken collarbone.

So after a 90 minute break (no pun intended), which was unexpected and hopefully never repeated, I decided to carry on with the ride. Mainly to maintain confidence, but have to be honest I avoided the big downhill we had been planning to use on our route.

Ride safely.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

Another metric half century ride for this month but achieved in two parts. Met up with a friend, and seven or so miles into our ride, he is ahead on a short twisty downhill section. Coming round a corner I see him on his back in the middle of the road, a black cat scooting off, not to be seen again. Luckily the cars around stopped and the drivers provided great support.

Rang 999 and after going through a series of questions, and because by that point he could stand, albeit with a little difficulty, they asked for him to get taken to the hospital. His wife turns up and we discover he can't bend to get into the front seat, so an ambulance is duly called for, and he is whisked off to hospital, wife following. Upshot is several broken ribs and a broken collarbone.

So after a 90 minute break (no pun intended), which was unexpected and hopefully never repeated, I decided to carry on with the ride. Mainly to maintain confidence, but have to be honest I avoided the big downhill we had been planning to use on our route.

Ride safely.

I’m sorry to hear about that. I hope your friend feels better and heals quickly.

 

[Elysian_Roads]

I’m sorry to hear about that. I hope your friend feels better and heals quickly.

Cheers, @RealLeeHimself.

 

[NorthernDave]

After yesterdays metric half, the idiot inside me decided to do an imperial half with a mate today as part of his triathlon training regime.
It wasn't without incident...
You know they say things happen in 3s? That's lies.
I'll post the full report on 'Your Ride Today' shortly, but lets say it was hard blooming work, the weather forecast was completely wrong (again) and that's not the half of it.
That said, the imperial half was completed, so it's another 2 points in the bag

 

[Lilliburlero]

Another metric half century ride for this month but achieved in two parts. Met up with a friend, and seven or so miles into our ride, he is ahead on a short twisty downhill section. Coming round a corner I see him on his back in the middle of the road, a black cat scooting off, not to be seen again. Luckily the cars around stopped and the drivers provided great support.

Rang 999 and after going through a series of questions, and because by that point he could stand, albeit with a little difficulty, they asked for him to get taken to the hospital. His wife turns up and we discover he can't bend to get into the front seat, so an ambulance is duly called for, and he is whisked off to hospital, wife following. Upshot is several broken ribs and a broken collarbone.

So after a 90 minute break (no pun intended), which was unexpected and hopefully never repeated, I decided to carry on with the ride. Mainly to maintain confidence, but have to be honest I avoided the big downhill we had been planning to use on our route.

Ride safely.

That sounds like a bad one @Elysian_Roads .... Hope your mate heals quickly and it does not effect you too much, it must have been horrible experience

 

[Elysian_Roads]

That sounds like a bad one @Elysian_Roads .... Hope your mate heals quickly and it does not effect you too much, it must have been horrible experience

Thanks @Lilliburlero, he is already texting and hopes to be out in a couple of days, which is good. Luckily I didn't see the actual accident, which I guess also helped as I didn't end up plowing into him!!!!

 

[ColinJ]

Another metric half century ride for this month but achieved in two parts. Met up with a friend, and seven or so miles into our ride, he is ahead on a short twisty downhill section. Coming round a corner I see him on his back in the middle of the road, a black cat scooting off, not to be seen again. Luckily the cars around stopped and the drivers provided great support.

Yikes - I hope he heals quickly and is back on his bike before too long.

Funnily enough, I was doing a rapid twisty-turny descent next to a terrace of cottages locally a week or so ago when it occurred to me that it would be a bit dodgy if a cat** ran out from behind one of the vehicles parked in front of them. I slowed down until I was clear of the houses.

I've had a few Kamikaze sheep and rabbits run in front of me in the past and a friend nearly got knocked off by an irate badger!



** Or child

 

[lane]

Very enjoyable and interesting ride yesterday. I had some time available late afternoon so decided to do a loop I hadn't done for a while. Cycled to Kegworth and then on the road towards Long Whatton; past some road closed signs which I ignored assuming I would be able to get past whatever road works were taking place. I was surprised when I arrived at the road closure because the lane I was cycling on had been removed to make way for what is apparently going to be the Kegworth bypass! Being someone who does not like to turn back I did manage to get round the fencing and across the new bypass and eventually back onto the lane. Then a really nice ride via Shepshed up to Beacon Hill country park, a quick stop in Barrow upon Soar for a snack and home via Sutton Bonnington and Kegworth. Great weather and good to see the leaves on the trees and all the vegetation coming to life. Thoroughly enjoyable 75km ride and starting to feel a bit stronger after a winter layoff.

 

[13 rider]

Very enjoyable and interesting ride yesterday. I had some time available late afternoon so decided to do a loop I hadn't done for a while. Cycled to Kegworth and then on the road towards Long Whatton; past some road closed signs which I ignored assuming I would be able to get past whatever road works were taking place. I was surprised when I arrived at the road closure because the lane I was cycling on had been removed to make way for what is apparently going to be the Kegworth bypass! Being someone who does not like to turn back I did manage to get round the fencing and across the new bypass and eventually back onto the lane. Then a really nice ride via Shepshed up to Beacon Hill country park, a quick stop in Barrow upon Soar for a snack and home via Sutton Bonnington and Kegworth. Great weather and good to see the leaves on the trees and all the vegetation coming to life. Thoroughly enjoyable 75km ride and starting to feel a bit stronger after a winter layoff.

We went past that closed road on Sunday on wondered if you could get through . I will avoid it for now . Did you go down the Beacon to Quorn wheeeeee

 

[Domus]

Happiness is riding in Mallorca
Short pootle into Palma after collecting bikes on Sunday. This morning a very nice ride of 54 Kms on smooth roads mainly courteous drivers and hundreds of bikes.

Love it

 

[lane]

We went past that closed road on Sunday on wondered if you could get through . I will avoid it for now . Did you go down the Beacon to Quorn wheeeeee

It's not at all easy to get through a not recommended. Best to avoid. I knew nothing about the bypass and hence had a google when I got home. Once the bypass is complete there will apparently not be a direct route down that lane between Kegworth and Long Whatton. You will need to cross the bypass and what's more it won't be a crossroads but will require a left turn and then a right turn across the traffic. There will be no traffic lights. There will be a pavement / cycle path but that would then require crossing the bypass. All in all it's a shame because it's a nice lane to cycle down and there are no really good alternatives. Also I imagine that linking the bypass to Kegworth it will become a rat run.

Yes In went straight down the hill to Quorn.