The Imperial Century A Month Challenge Chatzone

[StuAff]

Aiming to start on the ninth star on Wednesday…

 

[13 rider]

And the madness begins again . January's ride done again the company of @Supersuperleeds . 104 miles for me and of cause a few more for him . A question to ponder when we split I had done 99.3 and @Supersuperleeds had done 99.2 . I had 5 tenths of a mile up hill at 12.5 mph then a quick 2 tenths downhill at 19mph . @Supersuperleeds had basically a flat 8 tenths at around 17mph . Who got to the ton first ? ,Not that were competitive or anything

 

[Supersuperleeds]

And the madness begins again . January's ride done again the company of @Supersuperleeds . 104 miles for me and of cause a few more for him . A question to ponder when we split I had done 99.3 and @Supersuperleeds had done 99.2 . I had 5 tenths of a mile up hill at 12.5 mph then a quick 2 tenths downhill at 19mph . @Supersuperleeds had basically a flat 8 tenths at around 17mph . Who got to the ton first ? ,Not that were competitive or anything

14:01 I hit 100. Finished on 108 miles, I went around the climb at Wigston Lane

 

[Fiona R]

Righto, I think all those that were still in the challenge in December have done their qualifying rides.
So congratulations to everyone. That's 17 finishers that earned a coveted View attachment 498313 . 2 up on last year.
4 riders @Cranky Knee Girl , @robjh @Ice2911 and @Broadside getting their first View attachment 498314 . Welcome to the club.

2020 is just around the corner so hopefully see you all back in the challenge again.
For myself, @rb58 & @Trickedem , it's a special year as it's our 10th year of the challenge. Most of the qualifying rides done in each others company. Where have the years and the cycling miles gone?

For us three, our challenge starts again on Sunday and I am hoping that some of you will be out bagging qualifying rides too.
I've generated the new 2020 Challenge thread and it will be opened on the 1st of Jan.

See you on the roads good people.
Ian

Thank you for collating, organising, cajoling and keeping us on track.

Pretty pleased with 18 century rides in 2019, 15 of which were over 200km. I seem to be contemplating another in a couple of weeks! Up to this year I had only ridden a century a few times, certainly nowhere near monthly. I also thought 1x200km ride a year was my limit. It's a bit of an addiction. Even if I say pretty much after every one "I can't do that again"

Thank you to everyone for your company on the wild imperial ride

 

[13 rider]

14.00.58 for me ,I honestly didn't look at the time

 

[StuAff]

Aiming to start on the ninth star on Wednesday…

And I did. An anti-clockwise loop. Originally had Brighton in mind, but keeping that old trope for later in the year. East to Barnham, then rather than carrying on to Littlehampton north, via Ford, Arundel, Bury Hill (rather faster than the other way!) to Pulborough. Then back west on the A272, all the way to the junction with the A32, then south to Wickham, up Portsdown Hill, back to Havant, and the usual squiggles for the last few miles on Portsea Island.

 

[Trickedem]

Tomorrow I am off out for a mini-tour around the M25 with @rb58 and @ianrauk We are doing this over 2 days with a night's stay in the Slough Travelodge. The weather looks reasonably kind for Jan, with little chance of rain and temperatures hovering around 7 degrees. Day 1 will be a century and day 2 might be, depending on route etc.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm in again. A relatively hilly slog down to the Ashdown Forest then a return to London via some Fridays favourite locations such as Lindfield, Faygate and Lonesome Lane.

 

[ianrauk]

Well that's myself, @rb58 and @Trickedem on the board. 100+ miles for the three of us on our mini 2 day tour around the outside of the M25. Currently in lovely Slough ready to head out to spoons for a beer and a bit of nosh.
Part 2 of the ride tomorrow.

 

[ianrauk]

So myself, @rb58 and @Trickedem continued on day 2 of our mad jaunt around the outside of the M25,
2 days, 2 Imperial centuries in the bag and January's qualifying ride done and dusted.

Route map

On reflection I would have done the trip differently.
If I did the ride again I will do it over a weekend, rather then a Sunday and Monday and also in the warmer months. I don't think the temperatures got above 7° over the 2 days.
Monday's riding through the northern part of the trip was plagued at times with horrendous traffic and far too many close passes to count.
I would have also reversed the route. The north side of the journey was far bumpier then the south with the only hill of note being Ranmore Common. The north was just seemed to be a continual up and down with not much respite. So would have got the tougher day over and done with first.


South Profile

North Profile

But it was a great trip. Especially day 1. We just flew along making it a really enjoyable days riding.
Day 2 the 3 of us each had our own problems to deal with and unfortunately one of us had to retire due suffering from a bad back.

Would I do it again? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[StuAff]

Two thoughts on that:
Rerun in the summer months…you could have a few more takers....
Also, a smaller version could work quite well for a single day- something along the lines of a (roughly NESW extremities) Enfield-Barking- Mitcham- Hayes, for example

 

[rb58]

Two thoughts on that:
Rerun in the summer months…you could have a few more takers....
Also, a smaller version could work quite well for a single day- something along the lines of a (roughly NESW extremities) Enfield-Barking- Mitcham- Hayes, for example

The lovely thing about the day one route was that it was almost entirely through countryside. Day two was far less so and probably needs a re-think.

 

[Trickedem]

The lovely thing about the day one route was that it was almost entirely through countryside. Day two was far less so and probably needs a re-think.

I would go for an even further out route for the Northern section. We were on the A1000 near Potters Bar for a while and it was horrendous. I would also do anything to avoid the B186 which is a rat run as it runs parallel to the M25

I would also highly recommend using the Tilbury ferry. But it isn't open on Sundays

 

[ianrauk]

Doing the ride in the summer months would be a complete game changer. Winter riding can turn into a grind at times.

 

[robjh]

How do you get the stars (yes, I've earnt one now) to display as a footer in the posts, below that dotted line? I added it in the text but it looks different to everyone else's. What's the secret?

eg. what mine currently looks like