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

[PaulSB]

Thanks @bluenotebob after some consideration my Lunacy climbing target will be 13 x 4000+ feet. I had six rides at this level in 2025, not a huge challenge as individual rides but doing enough of them will be. 4000+ is about 65 miles round here so they're a decent distance as well. I'll sign up for the various challenges in the threads when they appear. This will all help towards the final goal of 5000 and 200,000 feet. It sounds a lot but should be achievable. This year I rode 3159 and 114,693 = 35 feet for every mile. 200,000 feet is only 40 feet per mile, a 15% increase. It's about achievable targets and managing the risk of failure...........failing is a big deal for me, it's only personal and no competition from others.

Excuse all this chat to myself..................I'm talking myself in to achieving these targets.............

 

[geocycle]

Like others I’m working out my challenges for 2026. I’ve settled on:
1. 50 miles/50 km each month
2. 100 km each month
3. 13 x 1300m of climbing as per lunacy climbing challenge.

I’m most concerned about doing both the 50s and the 100 km again at the ends of the year, simply because I’ll need enough weekends free from other activities or weather. It was really quite a stretch this year. Adding the lunacy climbing should give me an alternative target if I have to drop out of one of the distances. Thanks to all the organisers!

 

[Andy in Germany]

I'm pretty sure I made my own challenge: my goal of 40k was the distance to work and back, and with that, shopping in Tübingen, and going on bike rides, I reckon I managed 13 rides; I just forgot to count them; as usual.

 

[Sea of vapours]

Today's Lunacy ride is definitely my last for 2025. That one only happened since the Met Office assured me that it would be a relatively toasty 4C at ten this morning, rising to 7-8C by early afternoon. Combined with a drop in the wind speed and no rain, that sounded good. It wasn't quite that warm though: it was minus 1C soon after I set off, peaked at 5C, briefly, and dropped to minus 1C again about 13km from home. Still, good to have got out for another imperial century, making eighteen for the year. I suppose I could thank the Met Office for their 'misleading' forecast, and hence my bonus ride, though I probably won't :-)

Next year I intend to stick to my previous pattern of declaring 150km but actually aiming for 161km, or 100 miles, in practice.

 

[steverob]

Since doing my 17th Lunacy ride of this year back in October, I have done one more qualifying ride, but I didn't bother logging it as it didn't make a difference to my final total. There's an outside chance I might do one more, but given I'm recovering from a cold over Christmas, even if I do it'd be a bare minimum ride, which would therefore end up featuring outside my top 13 distances.

 

[FrothNinja]

Well, I'm off the mark, albeit somewhat unwillingly.
I shouldn't complain. No choice but there was no rain. Sadly I missed the aurora due to cloud - and possibly being home before it kicked of properly.

 

[FrothNinja]

Another one down - one of my quicker times for the distance (sub 4 hours) - aided by miles of traffic jams and trying to stay warm.
No rain, but a bit more wind than I was expecting, really quite cold. Still cold all over after 20sh minutes back indoors - fingers, toes & shoulders coldest.
Also useful not having to bother about the sun blinding me

 

[FrothNinja]

2 out of 3 over my stretch and one of those over my extra stretch.
Would be quite nice to do a long run for fun rather than a means of getting from A to C. Last two rides have had Bs thrown in by way of variation.

 

[13 rider]

Throwing my hat in the ring , I've joined this challenge to up my mileage as I have a habit of just riding a metric half century when out for a general ride so I've chosen a target of an Imperial half century . As is my normal approach I will not be cross posting rides in different challenges so these ride will be kept separate to my half century a month challenges

 

[bluenotebob]

Throwing my hat in the ring , I've joined this challenge to up my mileage

Welcome to the challenge @13 rider !

Does that mean that you've now signed-up for four distance challenges in 2026? Or have you pulled out of one of the others?

Either way, good luck.

 

[13 rider]

Welcome to the challenge @13 rider !

Does that mean that you've now signed-up for four distance challenges in 2026? Or have you pulled out of one of the others?

Either way, good luck.

No daft enough to be doing 4 and possible the climbing challenge as well

 

[bluenotebob]

I’m finally off the mark in this year’s challenge with an 86km ride yesterday. It was my first ride over 80km since mid-October last year – and I’m feeling it today.

I’ve increased my target in this challenge every year since 2019 and I’ve come to the realisation that I can’t carry on doing that. I had a good year last year (12 metric centuries and 20 rides over 90km) and I think I’ve reached my limit.

I’ve decided to set my target for 2026 at 70km. That allows me some scope to do meaningful rides in the range of 70km to 75km. I planned a few of these over the winter months but then rejected them as they’re below 80.49km thus only qualifying for 1 point – and also because they don’t improve my Eddington Lifetime Numbers (as of this morning, I need 1 more ride over 83km to reach E Metric 83).

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing a 70km ride but for years now, I’ve avoided them. Setting a Lunacy Distance target of 70km will give these rides some value, even if they’re only worth 1 point and don’t help my Eddington Lifetimes.

As an aside, I tend to agree with @13 rider ’s comment elsewhere and I won’t do rides in the 77km to 80.48km range.

 

[ColinJ]

Hi. My name is Colin and I am a cyclist. Sometimes a cyclist... I am also forgetful. I forget things like February only having 28 or 29 days. That is how I forgot to do my February 50+ km ride for the 50/month challenge on Saturday and have just discovered that it is now March!

So, here I am, dragging my one decent January ride in with me to use for this challenge instead...

 

[Alex321]

Keeping mine the same as last year, since I didn't actually make it last year - 60Km (37.3 miles), with a stretch target of 40 miles.

First qualifying ride of the year today, in sunny but cold weather. First time this year I've done more than 31 miles in a day, never mind a single ride, and my legs know it now.