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

[FrothNinja]

Today’s route was: Loyat, Ploërmel, Pleucadeuc (gare), D112, Pleucadeuc (town), D774, D112, le Menhir du Bonnet Rouge, le Pont d’Arz, D774, Rochefort-en-Terre, D777a, D777, le Clos de Bas, le Guernet, la Muterne, D149, Pleucadeuc (town), D112, Pleucadeuc (gare), Ploërmel, Loyat

Very pleased to have done this ride today. I’d been quite close to Rochefort-en-Terre several times since last October but I finally made it there today. It’s stunningly beautiful – so many old buildings steeped in history. I only saw a fraction of it – and I’ll definitely return. It needs more than the scant 30 mins I spent there this afternoon.

I managed to fall off the bike on the way there .. I’d pulled into the aire de pique-nique by the old railway station at Pleucadeuc. I was on solid sand then turned (without realising) onto soft sand. Came to a grinding halt and fell over. More angry than injured .. the air was blue for a couple of minutes. Phone and camera were fine but the bike wasn’t happy. I found I couldn’t go from the small ring up to the larger one – I had to do it by hand … which was a real PITA for the next 60kms. The bike will go to the LBS tomorrow for some TLC.

Photo of the centre of Rochefort-en-Terre below

View attachment 770384

Hope the bike gets well soon.
I think a Tati postie would fit in there.

 

[bluenotebob]

Hope the bike gets well soon.

Thanks.

I dropped her off this morning. Tony will have a look at her next week and also make a couple of modifications.

I'll get her back on Friday. That would have been a problem as I'd hoped to do another long ride on Wed 30th but as the latest forecast is for 27C that day, I think an evening HMCAM ride is more likely on Wednesday .. and it's also a good chance for the other bikes to catch up a bit.

 

[Ridgeback Roller]

An 'accidental' 100km today. Plan was to meet up with some mates at a cafe just over the county border in Hampshire but this got changed to incorporate a longer ride. No crossing and re-crossing of the South Downs today, no breeze to speak of, so a relatively flat and easy 100kms.

 

[lazybloke]

Just posted my 5th Lunacy distance ride of the year, the 400km London-Wales-London audax with a link to the ride description. Have wanted to do this ride for years, and it certainly didn't disappoint.

My distances have been way in excess of my lunacy target so far this year, but that's all been training for LWL. I don't have any other long rides planning in my calendar, save for a Fridays night ride here and there. Maybe I'll have a quick nose on the Audax UK planner, but my wife is keen that I now refocus on DIY tasks that have been mounting up, so cycling takes a back seat for a while.

 

[bluenotebob]

ust posted my 5th Lunacy distance ride of the year, the 400km London-Wales-London audax with a link to the ride description. Have wanted to do this ride for years, and it certainly didn't disappoint.

A fantastic achievement - well done!

How many hours of cycling was that? I'd be pleased to have done it in 4 days ...

 

[lazybloke]

A fantastic achievement - well done!

How many hours of cycling was that? I'd be pleased to have done it in 4 days ...

Thanks BNB. Had quite a few stops and a snooze, finishing within 24 hours, so had 3 hours in hand. Thought I might have been a bit faster, so was definitely challenged. Would like to consider a 600, maybe...
18 and half hrs of cycling.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just posted my 5th Lunacy distance ride of the year, the 400km London-Wales-London audax with a link to the ride description. Have wanted to do this ride for years, and it certainly didn't disappoint.

Huge congrats!

LWL was an aim of mine during the 20-teens. I entered twice but bottled out both times. (I gave the orgs plenty of notice so my place didn't go to waste).

I did manage a 400 eventually (a flatter one, which still took me over 25hr) and my aims are considerably more modest these days.

 

[lazybloke]

Did another lunacy ride yesterday, but i'm back to having time as my enemy so this was just my target distance 61km, instead of another all-day ride. Will update the other thread later.

I do want to try a 600 but am pretty sure two days on my current bike will break me. Have got plans for longer distances in the future, but they're a pipe dream currently.

 

[Alex321]

Longest ride of teh year so far, at 48 miles. Met up with a group from Pontyclun Flyers club in Miskin, and we rode from there to Merthyr Tydfil and back (21 miles each way, plus 3 miles home to Miskin and same return).

An enjoyable morning's riding. I hadn't previously realised Merthyr was that close, and when it was suggested at the start of the ride I was slightly dubious, thinking it was going to be 50 miles+, rather than the expected 30-40, but at 42, it was close enough.

 

[Alex321]

Warm one today!

31-33C for pretty well the whole ride, but I didn't actually feel uncomfortably hot. Did go through two complete 750ml bottles of water though - the first with electrolyte tablet, the second just water from a tap on a garage wall.

Probably chose the wrong direction, as although the wind wasn't strong, it was headwind for the most exposed part of the ride.

 

[steverob]

Completed the 10th ride in my Lunacy Challenge today and with any luck should finish it later this week.

At present I am doing a mini-tour, riding around north Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and south Cambridgeshire for eight straight days, all to test my suitability to tackle longer tours, with the final aim being to do LEJOG next summer. I know that I am capable of doing the daily distances required, it's just that I've never tested what I'm like doing them on back to back (to back) days - think the problem is more likely to be my bum than my legs!

Tomorrow will be a shorter day (only 50 miles planned) so you won't see that entry on this thread, but Wednesday, Friday and Saturday should hopefully all be enough to get me over the line. Then after that I'll start thinking about stretch goals.

 

[bluenotebob]

I know that I am capable of doing the daily distances required, it's just that I've never tested what I'm like doing them on back to back (to back) days - think the problem is more likely to be my bum than my legs!

Good stuff!

Doing significant daily distances over the course of a week or so is great training anyway - and might bring your next Eddington numbers (Imperial and Metric) a bit closer.

I can flip in and out of distance riding fairly easily - a spell of decent weather and good legs are all that I need.

But all my distance rides will be prefaced by a good night's sleep at home and 'home food' (dinner, breakfast and food for the road). I've occasionally looked at spending a few nights away from home and doing a long (possibly Eurovelo) stretch. What freaks me out are the logistics involved, the dietary complications, the need to carry much more on the bike than normal and the probability of fractured sleeping.

How do you train for all that? It seems to me to be much harder than the actual cycling ...

 

[Sea of vapours]

It seems to me to be much harder than the actual cycling ...

I concur! Starting from home, and finishing at home, I find it pretty easy to make sure that everything is ready, meaning the bike's prepared and I've eaten and slept appropriately. Starting or finishing elsewhere and all the non-cycling aspects assume an aspect far more daunting than the actual pedalling bit. My two week trip down Italy in April was supported by luggage transfers, with most accommodation and many meals pre-booked. Even so, I was considerably more stressed about all the off-bike aspects than the actual cycling, which really felt quite easy, despite there being no rest days. In other words, do as much as you can to simplify the off-bike stuff !

 

[Dogtrousers]

I took my bike with me to France last week. I just did a few day rides, not touring. But away from my regular routine, I kept forgetting little annoying things like my power bank (ok I didn't need it) and the key for my lock (shared my friend's lock when necessary). I should have made a list.

 

[steverob]

This is why when I do LEJOG it'll be an organised tour with a specific company who do this sort of thing all the time. That way I don't have to worry about routes, luggage, accomodation, meals, etc. and can mainly concentrate on the ride aspect.

This mini-tour I'm doing is based out of two hotels and they're both less than an hour's drive from my home, meaning I was able to get my other half to drop off my luggage at the first one by car while I cycled there and then she'll pick me up from the second at the end of the week. Tomorrow is the transfer day, but I've only got to get me and my luggage to the station (1 1/2 miles, mainly downhill) then at the other end the second hotel is not far from the station at all. Even then I'm sure I'll forget something...