The Imperial Century A Month Challenge Chatzone

[Sea of vapours]

March done. I'm looking forward to feeling happy to start imperial centuries an hour or two later. Today was 0920, which is pretty much 'crack of dawn' for me.

I decided to get up Great Dun Fell as I've not been up it since November and the new, second radome is now finished; and very shiny it is too. (New one on the left, for anyone who's not familiar with GDF.)

In all probability it will look less white and shiny most days. Today featured clear, blue sky all day to sunset and the wind speed at the top of GDF was a mere 'indiscernible', which is very rare indeed.

I approached via Kirkby Lonsdale, then northwards via Tebay and Orton to cross the excellent 'main' road across the Westmorland Dales to Appleby-in-Westmorland. The lanes from then on, to reach Knock and the beginning of the ascent, were pretty muddy, though surprisingly dry, which was a bonus. The ascent itself featured one opportunistic walker, near the top, and no-one else. In fact I saw very few cyclists all day; three perhaps. It was even warm up there; 7C according to my head unit. Later on was less so; the temperature had dropped to a bracing minus 3C by Newby Head and remained below zero until I arrived home. A really fine day out, with some great long views and some very pleasant light of the unaccustomed 'full-on sunshine' variety, even in Mallerstang (below), which is often somewhat dark and shadowed.

 

[13 rider]

March,s done 107 miles Markfield to Kettering then a loop around the countryside beyond and back .Weird weather day set of under blue sky's temp 4C rode for an hour dipped into a valley into fog climbed out and it didn't clear was under this blanket for 3 hours temp went down to -2C according to my wahoo . I hadn't dressed for this as I was expecting it to warm up and me be shedding layers . The downhills chilled me to the bone was quite thankful for some uphills to warm up on

 

[robjh]

Got March's done on Thursday 19th, on a one-way ride from home near Cambridge down to Portsmouth, ready for a trip round the Isle of Wight the following day. I took a route round the north-west of London, going through Hatfield and Slough to Windsor, then down to Guildford and the wonderful car-free Devil's Punchbowl, before crossing the equally wonderful South Downs on a minor road south of Petersfield.
I only touched the true London suburbs briefly south of Watford, but a lot of that area feels like extended suburbia with chunks of urban sprawl, busy arterial roads and constant traffic throughout the day, but the last stretch over the various downs more than made up for it.
It was a chilly start at 5am, and I needed to take ample storage for all the items that came off as the sun warmed up, until I was riding in bare legs and arms by the afternoon, only for the temps to suddenly plummet again at 5pm as the sun got low in the sky. Still, I was approaching Portsmouth by that time and was checked into my modest airbnb room in Fratton before 6.

(The Isle of Wight was a fantastic ride the next day too, but that's another day and another ride)

Distance 135.8 miles / 218.5 km
strava here
My 182nd imperial century ever, and 87th consecutive month.


Sup up your beer and collect your fags, that's Eton College in the distance

Windsor. The crowds and police presence are waiting for something.

weaving along the 'cycle path' beside the A3 to get to the Devil's Punchbowl

Devil's Punchbowl

Langstone Harbour, just before Portsmouth

IOW ferry leaving Portsmouth - photo taken later that evening

 

[ianrauk]

Also got March's ride done today.
To the sea to see the sea then on to Sandwich for a Sandwich but I didn't have a Sandwich and Wye? Because, thats why?
A fab days cycling. A nice Kent loop taking in some fabulous roads, climbs, descents and views.
Perfect cycling conditions, topping out at 16° for a while.
Scores on the doors 121 miles for the day. 8 hours graft in the saddle.
Imperial Century #364 Imperial Century Month 184 in a row.

 

[ianrauk]

April's qualifying ride done with today's cycling shenanigans.
I fancied a bit of hill climbing and wanted to see the sea. So a lumpy old route south through the Kent lanes down to the Romney Marshes where I had a bit of respite from the hills, on to see the sea at St Mary's Bay in Dymchurch then back north through more rolling terrain. My legs are complaining, buggers.
So, scores on the doors.
120 miles for the day.
Imperial Century #365
Imperial month in a row #185
5 more 120+ to reach that Eddington number.

 

[13 rider]

Aprils done 104 imperial miles from Leicester south skirting round Daventry and back ,chill start but turned out nice had to delayer a bit thankfully I taken a pair of mittens so I could swap out of my full finger gloves buff and ear warmer also became luggage as it warmed up
Ride was notable for the first time I've had to use a tubeless plug to seal a puncture which was a bit too much for just the sealant ,considering I've done 37000 miles on tubeless I think I'm doing quite well

 

[Sea of vapours]

April completed. 124 miles and the second of a pair of rides to get me to Scarborough and back. It was a lovely, sunny day with a tailwind, a great improvement on the outbound trip, which was dry, but dull, with a 10mph headwind throughout. Arguably, up the coast of Yorkshire north of Scarborough and then across the North York Moors is not an ideal start to a long ride (1,550m in the first 58km / 40 miles), but the tailwind and unbroken sunshine made up for that rather tiring first bit :-) This photo, looking down on Robin Hood's Bay, is actually at the murkiest part of the day.

 

[robjh]

Got April's ride done on Wednesday 29th.
Duxford (near Cambridge) to Bristol - 167.9 miles / 270.2 km.

I'll post a bit more detail when I've got more time...

 

[robjh]

Got April's ride done on Wednesday 29th.
Duxford (near Cambridge) to Bristol - 167.9 miles / 270.2 km.

I'll post a bit more detail when I've got more time...

Proper ride report :

Date Wednesday 29th April.

It was getting to the end of the month, the weather was excellent with a strong easterly wind, so I set off on a two-day trip heading westwards, and this was the first day.

It was already half light when I set off at 4.40 am, and by 7 the sun was high enough for me to start removing layers. I crossed Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire through Woburn and the Brickhills (Little and Great), where I found some unexpectedly lovely roads through bluebell woods with some climbing and wide views over the Vale of Aylesbury. By chance my route passed close to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road so I detoured there for some breakfast and a look at the exhibits, but then ran into trouble with modern railway works in the form of HS2 which was completely blocking some of the smaller roads, calling for more diversions from my original route.

I passed through Oxford around midday, stopped again in Faringdon, and skirted the Swindon suburbs on the way to Malmesbury. Some very quiet roads then took me under the M4, and after some good descending finally to the edge of Bristol. I finished on around 270km and toyed with the idea of riding on to Avonmouth and back to bring it up to 300km for the day, but by this time - 7pm - the temperature was dropping, I was hungry, and I decided instead to go in search of food and retire to my bed in the Youth Hostel before another good ride tomorrow.

Distance : 167.9 miles / 270.2 km
My 184th ever century, and 88th consecutive month.

Early sun near Ashwell

Quainton Road railway centre

HS2

My village's namesake near Oxford

Old station on the cycleway into Bristol

Bristol Temple Meads station

 

[robjh]

I did May's century on Saturday 9th, on a ride organised by one of our cycle clubs from Cambridge to Brighton, going round the western side of London via Windsor. While the main gang set off from town at 6 am, I left from home at the same time to intercept them. I joined the route slightly ahead of them and rode on alone in lovely, but still chilly, morning sun, and we finally met up at Spokes cycle café at Codicote as it opened at 8.30.
The next section was a mix of wooded lanes and busy quasi-urban highways and congested suburbs with far too much traffic, and these were the least enjoyable part of the ride, showing often the downsides of riding in a group of 13 in these conditions (and tempers frayed slightly as members disagreed on the best riding strategies). But these travails were soon forgotten by the time we rolled across the Thames to Eton and Old Windsor, with only a few frustrations around Woking until we were climbing over the North Downs near Dorking.
It was a warm clear day, and the stretch from here to the coast was the best, with sweeping views glimpsed through the trees, and seemingly endless short steep ramps over the next wrinkle of the hills. We topped the Devil's Dyke, with its magnificent views, at about 7 and stopped for a quick celebratory beer at the pub at the top, then zoomed down into Brighton - IMV this far beats the more classic route over Ditchling Beacon. There was just time for a bowl of chips on the front, before we piled onto the 9.15 pm train for the journey back to Cambridge. I had another 10 miles at the other end, and got through the door just after midnight.

Distance 145.9 miles / 234.8 km.
My 186th ever imperial century, and 89th consecutive month.

Breakfast at Spokes

Devil's Dyke

Brighton

Long train for a long journey home