The 2019 Half Century a month Challenge chatzone

[Domus]

Picked up Ridley Helium X Di2 Ultegra from Berganti Bikes this morning and managed a very nice 71 Km ride in warm sunshine with a stiff breeze. Hard work against the wind but a lovely ride.
Thunder storm forecast for tomorrow

 

[Domus]

Thunder storm arrived before breakfast, very overcast when we set out to climb the 500 plus metres to the café on top of Cura. Superb views all across the island from the top.
A very fast and cold descent to Randa was followed by a lovely gentle descent back to Palma in very warm sunshine.
All in all a very nice 64 Km ride on very well surfaced roads.

 

[Domus]

We rode into Palma and took the very efficient train to Inca. Had a nice coffee in the market then rode to Alaró for lunch in the very hot town square. The ride to Bunyola after lunch was into a stiff headwind before a gentle downhill to join in with Palma traffic. Lovely area between Alaró and Bunyola reminded me of Tuscany. Cracking day out and 65 Kms completed.

 

[gavgav]

April is bagged, with a gloriously Sunny, but baltically cold and windy 55k in Wales.

 

[13 rider]

April is bagged, with a gloriously Sunny, but baltically cold and windy 55k in Wales.

I had to check my calender I thought it might be the end of the month You surprised me and got a ride in early

 

[gavgav]

I had to check my calender I thought it might be the end of the month You surprised me and got a ride in early

Yes, it feels good to get it in early!

 

[Domus]

One of our party baled out this morning due to discomfort in the saddle area.
So we decided to have a “rest day ride” however this ended up at our favourite café near Cala Pi and so we finished on 68 Kms and 300 metres of climbing.
Back in hotel resting after our rest day.
Still warm and sunny.

 

[Domus]

Big day today. Coffee in Bunyola before big climb up and over to Soller for lunch. Spectacular views from the col. Market day in Soller so the main square was buzzing, sandwich and ice cream before long drag back over the col.
1,116 metres of climbing in very warm sunshine and 76 Kms. A well earned point
I was passed on the climbs by lots of people turning much bigger gears than I could possibly manage. Must work on my stamina. Is it just a case of more practice or are there other things I can work on?
Answers on a postcard please.

 

[Domus]

After yesterday’s big ride we decided to go out towards the west for a change.
We still managed to climb over 700 metres in 68 Kms but the coffee stop in Espories and the lunch in Puigpunyent made it all worthwhile. Found my new favourite road, the Ma-1041 from Puigpunyent to Palma, the smoothest tarmac ever with an ever so slight descent all the way.
I suspect it was laid by Riley’s ( the snooker table people )
Still very warm and sunny.

 

[PeteXXX]

I prostrate myself at the feet of my peers..

Today, 51 miles.. 3 points, yes??
Ahhh. Maybe. Maybe not!
Approximately 5 of those miles, around Grantchester, was a walk with my sister whilst my bike was locked up at The Orchard Tearooms..
So, 46 miles in the saddle, from St Ives to Cambridge, and 5 on the feet around Grantchester Meadows.

2 points or 3 ???

Before I log the ride, I await your merciful desicion

https://strava.app.link/9W1jMzHEUV

 

[13 rider]

I prostrate myself at the feet of my peers..

Today, 51 miles.. 3 points, yes??
Ahhh. Maybe. Maybe not!
Approximately 5 of those miles, around Grantchester, was a walk with my sister whilst my bike was locked up at The Orchard Tearooms..
So, 46 miles in the saddle, from St Ives to Cambridge, and 5 on the feet around Grantchester Meadows.

2 points or 3 ???

View attachment 462413

Before I log the ride, I await your merciful desicion

https://strava.app.link/9W1jMzHEUV

50 miles is only 2 points anyway 3 is for a100km
As the points total is a totally personal target you can decide . It's just one more point you need to beat next year . Personally Id claim 1 point for a 50km ride

 

[Domus]

Back home after a fabulous week away, final ride yesterday before handing the bikes back. After saying goodbye to John who is taking the long way home by sea and train the three of us had a hot and sticky long drag up to our favourite café for a leisurely lunch before a long fast descent to do some last minute gift shopping. Berganti Bikes were very good, as they were last year, and informed us they are opening a shop in Benidorm later in the year.
Plans are already afoot to return next year when hopefully I will be fitter than this year with the trip coming just a few weeks after my prostate surgery.

Back to reality today, follow up at hospital and two lawns to cut.

 

[aferris2]

April ride done. I thought being retired would make it super easy to get a ride in, but until today I have been making the excuse that it was too cold. Couldn't find any excuses today so got out quite early. Headed off towards Maldon with the aim of continuing to the Abberton resevoir all more-or-less against the wind, then have an easy wind assisted return. I think in the end the wind died down to almost nothing so no help provided for the return.
Took a quick detour to Layer Marney Tower which should get me a couple of extra veloviewer squares. Was going to stop at the resevoir visitor centre, but there were flies everywhere. Glad I was wearing specs.
My Garmin is starting to play up. I got the low battery warning after 3.5 hours (from fully charged), but the map was very laggy all the way, so something isn't happy. The low battery warning gave me the perfect excuse to stop somewhere comfortable for lunch while the battery pack topped the Garmin up. This was the best time of the day weather-wise so really nice to be able to sit outside soaking up the sun and yes, I should have brought sun-block too!

 

[Domus]

To celebrate my follow up at the hospital showing no cancer in the prostate tissue taken, I went to visit my mum in her Chorley care home. A different route to the A6 took a little longer to get there so I had an early lunch at Fredericks, couldn't find any beans on toast last week in Mallorca so really enjoyed them today.
After mum's I was into the wind all the way home so was more than pleased with my 61.92 Kms. I need one last PSA blood test next Tuesday so no bike 'till Wednesday when I am booked on a 100K Audax.
Joy of joys a weekend of garden tidying.

 

[bluenotebob]

Last week was a disappointing one on the bike - a total of five rides, resulting in only 54.13km in total (and one of those rides was once around the hamlet with my neighbour's six-year old son - we measured the circuit as 325 metres...). A mixture of other commitments, bad weather and a sore throat (either from my very wet ride on 6 April, or an allergic reaction to rapeseed flowers, which are everywhere here) meant that I hardly got out on the bike.

This has been a much better week, with already a couple of rides over 50km - and it's still only Wednesday, and some even better weather to come at the weekend. I explored an interesting new loop yesterday (59.73km) and today's ride saw me repeat my route of 6 April (with a very minor variation in the middle) in thankfully much better (dry and sunny) conditions (57.38km).