The Annual Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Winter") Challenge Chatzone

[ColinJ]

Thanks - that looks like it will make keeping track easier.
Will give it a shot

You are doing well. So well in fact, that I reckon you have been a bit pessimistic in your target distance - you will blitz it with months to go!

Unlike some of us, who haven't even started yet...

 

[lazybloke]

I'm in. 57km only, which is deliberately chosen to be slightly more than my 2019 achievement.
Not sure if it's realistic to be honest ; I rarely have time for the long rides, but i know I'll do a few.... will see how I get on.

Have got 2 so far. I'll update the other thread.

 

[FrothNinja]

you will blitz it with months to go

Hope so, would be good to over achieve in something this year

 

[Fiona R]

I suppose achievement is subjective. I didn't achieve Brevet Cymru 400km audax on Saturday. 4am alarm, 6am start from Chepstow. Riding to New Quay (Ceredigion not Cornwall) and back in 27 hours. I reckoned 6 hrs per 100km and 3 hrs wiggle room for the night. Lovely ride to the first control in Hay on Wye via Monmouth and an eerily beautiful Wye Valley with fog lifting. 3 degrees at 6am!, fortunately Drovers Cycles replaced a gear cable whilst I ate. It made my stop rather long but better than snapping in mid Wales in the middle of the night as I was losing my granny gear. TBH I thought it was a quick tune job. Left 75 minutes later having lost some time I'd gained over plan. hilly over to Llandovery and not at the back so I was seeing people for a change. Jacket beans and cheese and pot of tea fuelled me over more hills to half way point at Tregaron. I'd convinced myself the café shut at 6 so I'd have to find a shop and snack but it was open until 7. I arrived 6.20 just 20 mins over target. Then it went a bit pear shaped. i ordered more food as the ride out of New Quay is steep and fish and chips there perhaps not the best. I couldn't get my Garmin to stay attached to my battery bank, moved it to handle bar bag as forecast rain coming in early. Layered up and eventually got away at 7.15 made a mess of getting out of town, realised at the next village that realistically I wasn't going to finish the 400 by 9am Sunday morning. Called it a day and dragged poor husband out over 2 hours to pick me up. I rode those two hours back towards Llandovery and made it through Lampeter and up the huge hill. This added the distance and hills that would have been Tregaron-New Quay so honour done. Well I managed 240km and 3000m climbing. Strava Beacon is useful! My speed was slightly better even with a pannier and I fuelled better. I need those stops to keep going, I'm not fast enough to have the time for the decent meal stops. Great experience, not the easiest 400 for my first bash at this distance. Riding solo is tough too.

 

[Sea of vapours]

That's an awfully long way and sounds like a valiant first attempt; plus one which also sounds educational, in the entirely positive sense. You also achieved one Lunacy ride more efficiently than over-achieving with that extra 160km would have been :-) Good call to retire too as the night bit really would have been pretty miserable if you weren't going to make the cut-off.

 

[ColinJ]

Better luck next time!

As for this attempt...





PS As in I am not worthy, not you!

 

[Fiona R]

Sorry, rushed off to cook dinner. What a long waffly post with bad grammar! I knew it was a big ask as my first 400, esp with no motivational ride buddy. I was v concerned about rain overnight (vision wise) and I’m lucky my husband is so supportive as it was over 2 hours each way (and he’d dropped me off in Chepstow at 5.30am) Luckily I was not banking on it for RRtY either. More learning curves. Fuelling was better. Legs kept going, perfectly fine today.

 

[FrothNinja]

240km

Better that I could do, reckon that would take me 2 days - and only if the weather was reasonable

 

[lazybloke]

Did the Isle of Wight randonnee for my 3rd lunacy ride. 108km, which is well over my modest target.
The distance wasn't the problem, but the hills were really punishing.

I've cycled the island before but this was my first go on the randonnee route; whilst there's some nice scenery I do wonder why they've chosen such a long and hilly route! Just for fun?

Anyway, three qualifying rides done.
Only have one other long ride planned in the rest of the year: Ride London, less than 4 weeks away.

 

[lazybloke]

Got my 4th qualifying distance today; 109 km which was mostly a ride into London early this morning, and a little extra to go out for beers tonight.

Wanted to cover the distance as quickly as possible, which meant I'd planned a flat route. But might have pushed a bit hard; my legs were getting v tired towards the end, and my knees are a little sore.

 

[ColinJ]

I am still planning to start planning the plan to start doing longer rides again...

 

[Andy in Germany]

I am still planning to start planning the plan to start doing longer rides again...

I've been considering the merits of starting this process as well...

 

[lazybloke]

Only a week until RideLondon so I went out for a long early ride this morning to see how the legs were doing. Knew it would be tough as I've only done about 500 miles in the last 7 months. I'm also half a stone heavier than I should be. Struggled towards the end.

Managed 73 miles/118 km in 4 hours 43 minutes which is quicker than expected, but extrapolating to 100 miles... oh, I was much fitter for my last RideLondon 6 years ago.

Anyway, that's my 5th lunacy ride in the bag.

 

[ColinJ]

I am still planning to start planning the plan to start doing longer rides again...

Plan complete, and implementation commenced!

In case any of the more observant among you wonder why that route was 1 km further this year than last... I missed a couple of turns onto tiny side roads and didn't hear the GPS 'off route chirp' because of traffic noise.

I hope to get a lumpier Devon metric century in before I go back to Yorkshire. I have 2 more trips down here planned this year and aim to do 2 metric centuries on each of them. I have 3 flat qualifying forum rides in the pipeline already. If I can get fit enough, I hope that @Sea of vapours and I can organise one of our hilly Dales forum rides again. We have had early discussions but I need to get some long hilly rides done before I am up for 2,000+ metres of ascent in 100+ km. I am also planning to organise a hilly forum ride from Todmorden which would be 100 km if completed, but I am sneakily including an easy bailout option for that which would cut out about 20 km and about 500 m of ascent.

IF I manage all of those, I would only have to add another couple of qualifying rides to achieve my target of 13, but I can't help thinking that it is a BIG 'if'! Still, one can but try...

 

[Dogtrousers]

IF I manage all of those, I would only have to add another couple of qualifying rides to achieve my target of 13, but I can't help thinking that it is a BIG 'if'! Still, one can but try...

And have fun trying, too. So even failure is success.