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

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Supersuperleeds

Legendary Member
Location
Leicester
Chapeaux to you both! All done and dusted in 2/3 of the year. As for "only" 765km in a month :wacko:

Now for stretching?
Don’t we have to do 13?
 

bluenotebob

Veteran
Location
France
I've just done my 13th ride - a little more info about it in the HMCAM thread (including a photo of my new bike)

I reckon I've got until the end of October to do a few more distance rides and relegate some of my shorter ones. And then I'll start thinking about setting myself a more challenging target for 2020.

I passed 6000km for the year last week and bought a cake to celebrate - photo of the cake below - it was shared with neighbours and it disappeared very quickly. I hope to get to 7000km before the end of October, with just an outside chance of reaching 8000km by Christmas .. I guess that will be another of my targets for next year. 8000km and eight Black Forest gateaux...


Forêt noir gateau pic 1.jpg
 

lazybloke

Considering a new username
Location
Leafy Surrey
Haven't updated the main thread yet, but did another qualifying ride this weekend.
Have already achieved my 13 x 50 km but am now just 3 rides from achieving 13 x 60 km. The calendar is looking very busy so it could be November or later, that's really pushing my luck with weather/temperature. Plus I've been getting complaints from management about how much time I'm on the bike!
 

Supersuperleeds

Legendary Member
Location
Leicester
13th one done today, a road closure pushed 4 miles onto my original route to take it to 113 miles, a 4 mile ride back from the station only left me 7 miles short of hitting 200km for the day, so as soon as I got back home I went back out to the shops and did another 9 miles to take me to 204km for the day :wacko:
 

Fiona R

Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
Location
N Somerset
I've just done my 13th ride - a little more info about it in the HMCAM thread (including a photo of my new bike)

I reckon I've got until the end of October to do a few more distance rides and relegate some of my shorter ones. And then I'll start thinking about setting myself a more challenging target for 2020.

I passed 6000km for the year last week and bought a cake to celebrate - photo of the cake below - it was shared with neighbours and it disappeared very quickly. I hope to get to 7000km before the end of October, with just an outside chance of reaching 8000km by Christmas .. I guess that will be another of my targets for next year. 8000km and eight Black Forest gateaux...


View attachment 484818

I'm liking this idea, pick a cake we can treat ourselves with every 1000km too?! I never lose weight as it is! I've never done 8000km in a year and I am about to pass that this month, was my overall target for year so well chuffed.

Brilliant achievement, and it just shows how effective this challenge is.
 

Fiona R

Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
Location
N Somerset
13th one done today, a road closure pushed 4 miles onto my original route to take it to 113 miles, a 4 mile ride back from the station only left me 7 miles short of hitting 200km for the day, so as soon as I got back home I went back out to the shops and did another 9 miles to take me to 204km for the day :wacko:
Very well done, you beat me! Grrr Not that it's a competition or anything :rolleyes:
 
OP
OP
ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
As the nights are drawing in and the temperatures are starting to drop, I remember why I suggested this challenge! I am still 2 rides short and am feeling the time pressure building up.

I lost several rides in the first part of the year due to suffering a couple of prolonged heavy colds. Without the illnesses, I think that I would have been finished by now.

I hope to get one of the rides done in the next week, and then it will be a case of getting the final one done ASAP in October. 100 km suits me as my maximum ride length from early October to early March so I just want to chalk up these final 2 rides and then ease off.

I can't see me upping my distance next year. What I WILL try to do is to 'recycle' fewer of my Lunacy rides in the sister Metric Century a Month challenge. Ideally, I would do 13 161+ km Lunacy rides PLUS 12 100+ km MCaM rides.

I would also like to try to do some faster rides. Not super-fast, just at a brisker pace than I normally manage - say 6 hours overall for a hilly 100 km ride and 8 hours for an undulating 161 km ride.
 
OP
OP
ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I did ride #12 yesterday.

I wanted to take advantage of lovely sunny conditions which had been forecast several days in advance. I did get the all-day sunshine. I also got an all-day blustery wind! My route was a meandering figure-of-eight so I would be getting a great tailwind for a few minutes, make a couple of turns, and then hit a wall of wind. It made for a very tiring day, even though my route was 'undulating' rather than 'hilly'.

It was one of my rides from Rose Grove station on the fringes of Burnley. It is only a 20 minute rail journey from Todmorden and it saves 10 miles each way on the lumpy and often busy A646.

I got a puncture early in the ride. I was just starting to fix it when a very friendly dog walker wandered over and asked if I needed any help. I didn't, but we got into a long chat which actually delayed the repair by over 30 minutes! Eventually, he realised that he was stopping me getting on so he took his dogs home, but not before telling me where he lived in case I needed any of his spare tubes... Nice man!

That delay became very significant at the end of the ride...

I cycled past a field teeming with (metal) detectorists! It was a big field, and I don't mean just 5 or 6 people - there were scores of them. I have no idea what was going on, whether it was some sort of competition, or whether someone found something exciting in the field and word had got around?

Despite the windy conditions I was making reasonable progress so I thought about putting a big effort in to get back to Rose Grove in time for the 17:34 train home. There is only one train an hour and I didn't want to risk just missing the train because I would then be faced with (say) a 50 minute wait for the next one, a 20 minute train journey, and then another 5 minutes back to my house; I can do it in under an hour on the bike...

I decided to aim for the 18:34 train instead, so I slowed down for a relaxed ride back over the climbs of Longridge Fell, from Whalley up the Old Roman Rd, and then the final long drag up Padiham Greenway.

I eventually got back to Rose Grove feeling spent, the windy conditions had used up what energy I had for the day. The station at Rose Grove is just a platform passing below the road above. No lift, no escalator, just a flight of stairs - NOT disabled, families with kids in buggies, OR tired cyclist-friendly! I staggered down to the platform at 18:15, and was preparing to have a rest and make a few phone calls while waiting for my train when the platform P.A. speaker crackled into life - "Northern regret that the 18:34 train to Wigan via Todmorden [etc.] has been cancelled due to unavailability of a driver. The next train due is the 19:34..."

Aaaaargh!

"... which is delayed by at least 15 minutes!"

Oh, FFS!!!! :cursing:

So, wait 20 minutes for a train which wasn't coming, 60 minutes more for the next one, at least 15 minutes more because it was late, then 20 minutes on the train and 5 minutes back from the station to home. A minimum of 2 hours hanging about, or 1 hour on the bike. I chose life...

I really did NOT enjoy having to lug my bike back up those damn stairs. Nor did I enjoy the drag up Rossendale road leading to the stiff climb up to the Manchester Rd lights. More ups and downs until I got to Holme Chapel. One last drag took me to the summit in Cliviger Gorge, and then I was ok - a nice 6 km downhill to Todmorden.

One more to go!
 
OP
OP
ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Oh, the point of the time wasted on the puncture repair was that if I had fixed it in a more typical 15-20 minutes then I wouldn't have slowed down and would have got back to the station in time for the 17:34, which I assume DID run!

PS Another lumpier-than-expected 'flattish' route - 1,800 m (~5,900 ft) in total.
 
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OP
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I have just been on the Northern rail website to claim compensation for my non-running train. I filled in the blurb and await the payment. I'm not sure if it will be a full refund.

What inspires confidence in the company is that afterwards they suggested that I register with them so as I can complete my future compensation claims more quickly! :wacko: :laugh:
 

Fiona R

Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
Location
N Somerset
I did ride #12 yesterday.

I wanted to take advantage of lovely sunny conditions which had been forecast several days in advance. I did get the all-day sunshine. I also got an all-day blustery wind! My route was a meandering figure-of-eight so I would be getting a great tailwind for a few minutes, make a couple of turns, and then hit a wall of wind. It made for a very tiring day, even though my route was 'undulating' rather than 'hilly'.

It was one of my rides from Rose Grove station on the fringes of Burnley. It is only a 20 minute rail journey from Todmorden and it saves 10 miles each way on the lumpy and often busy A646.

I got a puncture early in the ride. I was just starting to fix it when a very friendly dog walker wandered over and asked if I needed any help. I didn't, but we got into a long chat which actually delayed the repair by over 30 minutes! Eventually, he realised that he was stopping me getting on so he took his dogs home, but not before telling me where he lived in case I needed any of his spare tubes... Nice man!

That delay became very significant at the end of the ride...

I cycled past a field teeming with (metal) detectorists! It was a big field, and I don't mean just 5 or 6 people - there were scores of them. I have no idea what was going on, whether it was some sort of competition, or whether someone found something exciting in the field and word had got around?

Despite the windy conditions I was making reasonable progress so I thought about putting a big effort in to get back to Rose Grove in time for the 17:34 train home. There is only one train an hour and I didn't want to risk just missing the train because I would then be faced with (say) a 50 minute wait for the next one, a 20 minute train journey, and then another 5 minutes back to my house; I can do it in under an hour on the bike...

I decided to aim for the 18:34 train instead, so I slowed down for a relaxed ride back over the climbs of Longridge Fell, from Whalley up the Old Roman Rd, and then the final long drag up Padiham Greenway.

I eventually got back to Rose Grove feeling spent, the windy conditions had used up what energy I had for the day. The station at Rose Grove is just a platform passing below the road above. No lift, no escalator, just a flight of stairs - NOT disabled, families with kids in buggies, OR tired cyclist-friendly! I staggered down to the platform at 18:15, and was preparing to have a rest and make a few phone calls while waiting for my train when the platform P.A. speaker crackled into life - "Northern regret that the 18:34 train to Wigan via Todmorden [etc.] has been cancelled due to unavailability of a driver. The next train due is the 19:34..."

Aaaaargh!

"... which is delayed by at least 15 minutes!"

Oh, FFS!!!! :cursing:

So, wait 20 minutes for a train which wasn't coming, 60 minutes more for the next one, at least 15 minutes more because it was late, then 20 minutes on the train and 5 minutes back from the station to home. A minimum of 2 hours hanging about, or 1 hour on the bike. I chose life...

I really did NOT enjoy having to lug my bike back up those damn stairs. Nor did I enjoy the drag up Rossendale road leading to the stiff climb up to the Manchester Rd lights. More ups and downs until I got to Holme Chapel. One last drag took me to the summit in Cliviger Gorge, and then I was ok - a nice 6 km downhill to Todmorden.

One more to go!
Lunacy is all about the stories you have to tell, the more extreme the tale the more memorable it is! very well done on 12. You only HAVE to do 1 more
 
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