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

[ColinJ]

Hmm, 15 kg would be pushing it!

I sometimes carry that much back from shopping at Lidl but that is only 1.5 km and almost a flat route. I wouldn't fancy doing a hard ride with that much extra weight to carry!

I know it isn't a 'proper' camera, but I'd like to start carrying my little Canon Powershot S120 on some of my rides. It can take reasonable pictures in good light. I used to have a small bar bag which fitted my old camera but it is slightly too small for this one. I can't be bothered to keep stopping to take a camera out of my backpack. I'll have a look on eBay later to see if I can spot anything suitable

 

[Sea of vapours]

There's also the minor detail that I tend to spend something measured in hours wandering around looking for just one composition ... Not really compatible with cycling in lots and lots of ways! Not that making landscape images is at all the same thing as carrying a small camera or phone to capture scenery and people on a route of course, for which your small bar bag approach has always sounded very good to me.

 

[Sea of vapours]

That's unfortunate. Good thing there's plenty of very light kit around now which is also extremely capable. (I'm still not carrying it around on a bike though!)

 

[steverob]

One more ride to go!

Bit longer in terms of distance than I'd anticipated - original plan was only just over 50 miles; then added a few on to that by doing loops around my home town before setting out on one of my standard routes (but in reverse), only to find halfway round that one of my usual cut-throughs had been closed off by a security gate with cameras and a numeric keypad for entry.

Now to be fair, I believe the road in question (which cuts through a country estate) was always officially private, but they've never closed the gates before, or have at least left a side gate open for walkers and cyclists. A real disappointment because there's a lovely little climb at the end of it and now it looks (especially from the signage) that this will no longer be an option.

What it did mean for today was that I had to take a ten mile detour, which pushed me into metric century territory for only the second time this year. Now yes, I could have used these extra miles as an excuse to cut back the later part of my route short to bring me back towards my initial planned distance, but I felt that as the weather was good for November and my legs didn't feel too bad, why shouldn't I take advantage of that?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The new lockdown came along just at the wrong moment when I'd already planned round the forecast weather window. Since outdoor exercise is still allowed (nay, encouraged) and no limits have been imposed I got out yesterday to complete ride number 12 while that situation lasts. Route planned to stay fairly local (I thought 12 miles radius was fair), to avoid as many towns as possible and to not cross the border. Obviously it was a solitary ride and since I don't generally organise my big rides around cafe stops anyway the fact they are closed wasn't a problem.

It was pretty good weather-wise and I got on reasonably well. 107.9 miles at 12.2 mph average and the write up is here: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/your-ride-today.173254/post-6189927

 

[steverob]

2020 Lunacy Challenge completed!

Well, completed for now anyway - I know the ethos of this challenge means it isn't ever actually completed until the 31st December, as you can carry on riding and make your 13th longest ride longer yet. And as I only need two more rides to up it from 50 miles to 51, I thought I might as well try (a further three on top of that to get to 52 might be a bit too far).

As for the ride itself, I'd set myself a route to do on Thursday that took me out to a particular road in Oxfordshire that I love riding along, but due to circumstances I didn't get time to go out and do it. Come today I intended on revisiting that route, but as the wind conditions had changed massively in the last two days, the original would have left me with a horrendous headwind for the last 15 miles, so I had to make a few revisions first thing this morning. But I got it done and thoroughly enjoyed myself as part of it.

 

[ColinJ]

2020 Lunacy Challenge completed!

Well done! (And to everybody else who stuck 2 fingers up to coronavirus and carried on regardless.)

I'm already looking ahead to next year, and (hopefully?) some long non-coronavirus-threatened forum rides. I'd rather not fail this challenge for the 3rd year on the trot!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Got my thirteenth ride done yesterday. Mostly the same as the lockdown route I came up with for the last ride but with some variations for a bit of a change of scene. 109.21 miles which makes it my longest ride of the year. Started off well but I could feel the strain as I went round.

The ride write up is here for those who like them: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/your-ride-today.173254/post-6207041

 

[lazybloke]

One more ride to go!

Bit longer in terms of distance than I'd anticipated - original plan was only just over 50 miles; then added a few on to that by doing loops around my home town before setting out on one of my standard routes (but in reverse), only to find halfway round that one of my usual cut-throughs had been closed off by a security gate with cameras and a numeric keypad for entry.

Now to be fair, I believe the road in question (which cuts through a country estate) was always officially private, but they've never closed the gates before, or have at least left a side gate open for walkers and cyclists. A real disappointment because there's a lovely little climb at the end of it and now it looks (especially from the signage) that this will no longer be an option.

What it did mean for today was that I had to take a ten mile detour, which pushed me into metric century territory for only the second time this year. Now yes, I could have used these extra miles as an excuse to cut back the later part of my route short to bring me back towards my initial planned distance, but I felt that as the weather was good for November and my legs didn't feel too bad, why shouldn't I take advantage of that?

Might be worth checking on PROW or other Right of Way maps.

 

[steverob]

Might be worth checking on PROW or other Right of Way maps.

I had already checked that out and it looks like there was never any official public right of way over the road section, it was just never enforced. There is a public footpath that bypasses the gated part of the road (see https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/136077981) but that is basically across a muddy field in winter and even on a dry summer's day would not be passable on a road bike (plus you would have to lift your bike over a stile at both ends).

 

[steverob]

So with a month to go, let's just have a quick look at the numbers for this year compared to last time. It seems futile to try and compare any previous year to the trash-fire that has been 2020, but I'll give it a go anyway!

Last year we (appropriately) had 13 people enter the Lunacy challenge; and by enter, I mean post at least one ride of their chosen qualifying distance on the thread; and 10 people managed to complete it. This year we are up to 15 entrants, although given the prevailing circumstances, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that we will have fewer people completing - indeed there were three people who have only logged one ride, with all of those occurring before the first lockdown started I think.

As of 1st December, we have four finishers already - in order: @Sea of vapours, @Tribansman, myself and @Rickshaw Phil - with @aferris2 only one ride away from being the fifth. Got a handful of people on 8-10 rides who may still be able to complete if December's riding weather is kind, but beyond that it's looking unlikely we'll see many other finishers this year unfortunately.

 

[aferris2]

I'm done! Last ride of the challenge completed today. Last year I had the advantage of being in the southern hemisphere for the last part of the year. Then the problem was too much heat. This year its back to the cold North half and its been really difficult to summon up the enthusiasm to get out. Of course, once you're wrapped up in the extra layers its fine.
Kept more or less to my standard route with a slight variation to the end to miss out some of the essex hills. Little sunshine today and no wind either so that was good.
Now, just need to work out how to add another moon to the signature and work out what distance to aim for next year.

 

[bluenotebob]

Congratulations on finishing this year @aferris2 .. and congratulations too for being our only Multi-Continental Lunatic

If there were 13 continents, we could have another truly epic Lunacy challenge ...

 

[aferris2]

Congratulations on finishing this year @aferris2 .. and congratulations too for being our only Multi-Continental Lunatic

If there were 13 continents, we could have another truly epic Lunacy challenge ...

Thanks!
The Australian adventure was meant to give me about 18 months of summer - going north in the colder months and south in their summer. It didn't work out that way with fires and the virus... Never mind!
Maybe the next challenge could be each ride in a different country. Bonus points awarded for getting outside Europe of course.
Sadly I don't think I'm going to be able to return to Australia for a year at least.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Well unsurprisingly it looks like I'm not going to make it. My challenge was 100km (with an ethical requirement of 1,500m climb) and I managed 9. During lockdown I've just been doing local rides with lots of hills (up and down, up and down at Crystal Palace)

If I do a retrospective lunacy assessment - which I realise is against the spirit of the challenge - then I did 13 rides of greater than or equal to 83.3 km. (Or 92.2 km if I cheat and include turbo rides).

If I were to impose a personal ethical climbing limit then I managed 13 rides of 62.6 km or more with at least 1,000m of climb. (or 71.8 with turbo cheating)

I doubt I'll improve on those but for a brief inter-lockdown period it gave me something to aim at, so thanks for that.