The 2026 Half Century (50km or 50 mile) a month challenge chatzone

[VinSumRox]

Tricky conditions in Suffolk today lads…..

**Does 50km worth of wheel-spinning on the spot count ?

View attachment 796880

It's not MX5 weather either!

 

[sevenfourate]

It's not MX5 weather either!

Oh I don’t know. Mine seems to do ok in the ice / snow. If nothing else a small cabin heats up super quick ! And the heated seats work a treat…..

 

[VinSumRox]

Oh I don’t know. Mine seems to do ok in the ice / snow. If nothing else a small cabin heats up super quick ! And the heated seats work a treat…..

We wouldn't be able to get ours back up to the house if was icy!

 

[Jon George]

And I'm off and running!
The new saddle did not provoke any 'adverse' reactions - which is more than a literal relief: I don't know what I'd do if I had to curtail my riding. And it's also been a day of note for a quite different reason. In all the years I've been doing this challenge, apart from nature breaks, photos and mechanicals, I've never paused for a hot drink. Well, today, at about three-quarters through the ride, I stopped for a cappuccino. It was so special, I took a photo for you all.

 

[13 rider]

And I'm off and running!
The new saddle did not provoke any 'adverse' reactions - which is more than a literal relief: I don't know what I'd do if I had to curtail my riding. And it's also been a day of note for a quite different reason. In all the years I've been doing this challenge, apart from nature breaks, photos and mechanicals, I've never paused for a hot drink. Well, today, at about three-quarters through the ride, I stopped for a cappuccino. It was so special, I took a photo for you all.

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Well done @Jon George ,thanks for not going into details of "adverse reaction " 😁
Poor sprinkle coverage on the coffee
Also well done to @steverob on the 10th and @teeonethousand for getting the challenge rolling again after a pause due to the lovely British winter ❄️☔❄️

 

[teeonethousand]

Well done @Jon George ,thanks for not going into details of "adverse reaction " 😁
Poor sprinkle coverage on the coffee
Also well done to @steverob on the 10th and @teeonethousand for getting the challenge rolling again after a pause due to the lovely British winter ❄️☔❄️

I was pleased to get it done but the temps were lower than forecast (they got it wrong..who knew😂). My knees are the first to complain at the cold and they have not yet warmed up a few hours later. I shall experiment with additional knee covering either Inside it outside my bib tights......or......stay in😂😂

 

[Jon George]

I forgot to add ... just before I turned into my home road, the thorn that I suspect I'd picked about halfway through the ride when passing a tractor hedge-trimming, decided to make itself known. Just enough wriggle room on the distance, that I decided to walk home and replace the tube at my leisure.

 

[Jenkins]

I forgot to add ... just before I turned into my home road, the thorn that I suspect I'd picked about halfway through the ride when passing a tractor hedge-trimming, decided to make itself known. Just enough wriggle room on the distance, that I decided to walk home and replace the tube at my leisure.

Kirton/Bucklesham Road (that dip where the stream is)? If so then I managed to negotiate that without problem while on a shopping trip today having picked up a slow puncture on a planned 50k on Saturday. That one got abandoned as it happened within a short distance of the Westerfield Railway so I had a pint and got the train home rather than fix the flat in the cold.

 

[Jon George]

Kirton/Bucklesham Road (that dip where the stream is)?

To be honest, I can't quite remember, except that it wasn't there!

 

[Spartak]

Icy start to the day so didn't venture out until after 10:30.

Still lots of ice about on lanes
Headed out to Bath via Bitton, Swineford & Kelston and then back along the B2B cycle lane, a little extension to bring up the 50 !

 

[Domus]

Cold but ice free in Sunny Radcliffe this morning, tough ride over and around the West Pennine Moors, the low cloud on Winter Hill was blown away just as I crested Sheephouse Lane. Was it the breeze or my lung bursting wheezing? Egg and bacon sandwich in the Barn at Rivington fuelled me (just) back home with 55 Kms done and 770 metres of upness. Please tell me it's doing me good.

 

[bluenotebob]

Cold but ice free in Sunny Radcliffe this morning, tough ride over and around the West Pennine Moors

A "like" for getting out - an extra "like" for dropping down into Harwood and Bradshaw (past my old junior school) - a third "like" if you went past Anglezarke (site of teenage night-time frolics) - and a fourth "like" if you came back from Horwich on Chorley New Road (past my old secondary school).

As you regularly do so much upness, why not also post some of these rides in the Lunacy Climbing challenge? Getting over Winter Hill will always qualify for one of those rides in my book.

 

[Domus]

Sorry Bob, I use The Old Road up to The Blundell but I go down through Heaton and past Bolton School along Tudor Avenue (boyhood home of a certain Amir Khan). Did you go to Bolton School? I went to Thornleigh.
Do you ever come back? If so give me a shout.

 

[bluenotebob]

Sorry Bob, I use The Old Road up to The Blundell but I go down through Heaton and past Bolton School along Tudor Avenue (boyhood home of a certain Amir Khan). Did you go to Bolton School? I went to Thornleigh.

We moved to Heaton from Harwood in 1964 and lived there until 1968 (in the Markland Hill area). It’s a very long time ago now but I still have many fond memories.

Yes – I was at Bolton School from 1963 to 1968.

I remember Thornleigh School but I can no longer recall if I knew anyone who went there. My younger brother (born in 1955 – so your age, I guess) was at school not far away in Smithills … Smithills Tech?

I haven’t been back in Bolton since the mid-1990s. I spent a couple of hours there one morning and got hopelessly lost in the centre. I remember crossing Newport Street and looking both ways before realising it had become traffic-free.

It’s over 20 years since I last set foot in the UK – reasons to return became less and less … but if I ever do go back to the Bolton area, I’ll definitely let you know.

 

[Domus]

Small world, I lived on Lonsdale Road from '58 to '66 (primary school was St Thomas of Canterbury and used Heaton Library on New Hall Lane) then moved to Egerton