The Metric Century (100KM) A Month Challenge ChatZone

[Goonerobes]

10am & the sun is shining so after a warm sunny week where better to go than the beach..............unfortunately the weather had other ideas & just half an hour in the clouds come over & by the time I'd got to the coast at Lepe Country Park there were spots of rain in the air & the temperature was on the fall.

Thankfully the rain held off & with most of the 62 miles through the beautiful New Forest, including an ice cream stop, it wasn't a bad day out.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1522168553

 

[Katherine]

Only needed to add a 2 mile loop on the club ride today, to make another 100k!

 

[Ajax Bay]

Completed the 'Heart of England' 300 audax yesterday, from Cirencester. Controls at Alchester, Atherstone, Daventry and Tackley. Started at sunrise (0602) and finished just after sunset (2021): The low sun lit up the hard hills of the Cotwolds early on, then a bit of cloud but application of sunscreen necessary once the arm warmers came off. Rode mostly in company of various riders (Bristol/Weston/Andover/Amersham) and stopped for an hour with an aged aunt at the 90km point. Roads pretty dry (though the ford on 'Watery Gate Lane' near Thurlaston looked too deep so we took the footbridge) Fifteen minutes after sitting down at the finish to a cup of tea and cake the thunder started, fairly quickly followed by increasingly heavy rain and lightning. The thunderstorm passed right overhead (as in no time to count one 'tween lightning and thunder). For me it was a very pleasant final two hours heading west, with the sun dropping beneath the cloud at the end. But with the storm it suddenly went all 'dark' so the front lights of a succession of drowned rats were full on (as opposed to the 'be seen' light I had switched half an hour earlier).

And at 100k the village of Meriden styles itself as 'the very heart of England' and is home to the Cyclists' War Memorial

 

[Fiona R]

Finally a bit more productive this month, and finally a fairly dry ride. 304km total last week inc 104km club ride to Mendips and levels yesterday/Sunday.

 

[Sbudge]

Just got back from North America on Saturday evening and went for a ride yesterday...utterly beautiful! Took the canal paths most of the way out to Windsor and then back along the Thames. Apart from an exceedingly grumpy swan it was a pretty perfect cure for Jetlag! :-)

 

[13 rider]

Completed the 'Heart of England' 300 audax yesterday, from Cirencester. Controls at Alchester, Atherstone, Daventry and Tackley. Started at sunrise (0602) and finished just after sunset (2021): The low sun lit up the hard hills of the Cotwolds early on, then a bit of cloud but application of sunscreen necessary once the arm warmers came off. Rode mostly in company of various riders (Bristol/Weston/Andover/Amersham) and stopped for an hour with an aged aunt at the 90km point. Roads pretty dry (though the ford on 'Watery Gate Lane' near Thurlaston looked too deep so we took the footbridge) Fifteen minutes after sitting down at the finish to a cup of tea and cake the thunder started, fairly quickly followed by increasingly heavy rain and lightning. The thunderstorm passed right overhead (as in no time to count one 'tween lightning and thunder). More me it was a very pleasant final two hours heading west, with the sun dropping beneath the cloud at the end. It suddenly went all 'dark' as well so front lights of a succession of drowned rats were full on (as opposed to the 'be seen' light I had switched half an hour earlier.
View attachment 405606
And at 100k the village of Meriden styles itself as 'the very heart of England' and is home to the Cyclists' War Memorial
View attachment 405605

The ford at Thurlaston is local to me I always take the foot bridge if not too deep it's slippery

 

[ColinJ]

The ford at Thurlaston is local to me I always take the foot bridge if not too deep it's slippery

I don't cycle through fords any more - I crashed HERE!

 

[Sea of vapours]

And here is another ford not to cycle through from our upcoming 7th July Dales forum ride, Colin. Those cobbles always look distinctly slippery to me as I walk across the footbridge.

 

[ColinJ]

And here is another ford not to cycle through from our upcoming 7th July Dales forum ride, Colin. Those cobbles always look distinctly slippery to me as I walk across the footbridge.

Ha ha - yes, I'll be walking it too!

There are several overspills similar to that across the Rochdale canal towpath down to the River Calder below. I was okay riding through them on my 2.25"- tyred MTB but I've had a couple of near misses on my CX bike because its 35 mm tyres are narrow enough to get caught in the gaps between the cobbles.

 

[GuyBoden]

Another ford to avoid is at Swettenham, you pass it on the @ColinJ marvellous Cheshire ride.

Never ride through this ford, always walk around over the bridge (Seen on the right in the pic.). Also, the road is very steep on the way in and out.

Found a picture of cyclist who came off in the Swettenham ford.
http://drunkcyclist.pbworks.com/w/page/18322117/TNR 10-07-2008 "All bikes are good" A B rides

(Another easy Cheshire ride on Thurs, with the bonus of April showers.)

 

[Sea of vapours]

Gosh - that ride was rather busier than I anticipated. Generally, it's pretty quiet around here, even on a weekend, but not today.

Firstly, there was the West Riding Classic sportive, which it seems had three routes of varying length, which explains why there was an abundance of cyclists on every loop of my rather complex route (I was notionally drawing a cat), and travelling, it seemed, in all directions. At least that explained the bizarrely huge number of cars in Clapham as I set off (it started and finished there).

Secondly, it was the annual Three Peaks fell race too. That finishes in Horton in Ribblesdale and features the game of 'see how many people you can fit into a relatively small, Yorkshire Dales village'. I seemed to be passing through there at peak finisher time too, and the audience really was remarkably large for a fell race.

And finally, it was the annual Fellsman Race, which is a lovely, 61 miles and 3,000+ metres of ascent fell race. That starts just up the road from me but was well away by the time I set off, though there were still considerably more cars in assorted places several hours later.

So that's all the local excitement for the year done in one day then ....
https://www.strava.com/activities/1537089745/

 

[Osprey]

Didn't think I was going to get a qualifier in this month. First a bad back then a cough and chest infection but managed to get out today. Rode back from Cardiff, through Bridgend, Cowbridge, Pyle, PortTalbot, Swansea ad Llanelli all in an energy sapping head wind. Bitter cold too so didn't enjoy it too much. Allways enjoy it more looking back on the ride after. Wel done to everyone racking up lots of rides.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1536989989

 

[Fiona R]

Did the Merry Monk Audax today. Fantastic route in South Somerset and Dorset, so pretty, perishing cold (7 degrees) and a strong north easterly. Great day.

 

[GuyBoden]

It was a bit breezy out there today on my last 100km ride for April.

A third of the year has gone by already........

 

[cosmicbike]

Well done to all of you still going, all starters have recorded rides into April with the exception of @gbs , you still going?

Got the May ride ticked off today, great weather, nice-ish route to Henley on Thames and back with a good few new roads in. Bit of a rush job as I had to be home to take dog #1 to the vet, no time for tea and cake or a photo stop...