The Metric Century (100KM) A Month Challenge ChatZone

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Fiona R

Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
Location
N Somerset
OK, I'm off the mark for 2019 with a pretty windy but flat(ish) ride on Sunday. Due to poor planning in 2016 I didn't do a metric century in January of that year. Therefore this ride makes exactly 3 years of monthly centuries. :-)
Brilliant achievement!! I'm STILL hacked off about February last year as I would have managed 36 months in Dec too but it's a long haul to get back up to those numbers now.
 
Brilliant achievement!! I'm STILL hacked off about February last year as I would have managed 36 months in Dec too but it's a long haul to get back up to those numbers now.
Yes, that's the frustration with some of these challenges, one tricky month can wipe out years of effort...that's what made me do that idiotic (34 degree) desert ride last year. It was fun but in hindsight pretty daft and dangerous. (Of course I'm sure I'd do the same this year if required. :-) )
 

Fiona R

Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
Location
N Somerset
I must be mad. Already done the half and imperial rides this month, and today is my sole day off work until Monday. So I went off and did the metric century:smile: No guarantees I'll manage the triple again this year, but I'll jolly well have a go
I hadn't thought to gloat over having done all three so far, normally I'm scraping in a 100km last possible day, new leaf and all that! Very well done.
 

13 rider

Guru
Location
leicester
I must be mad. Already done the half and imperial rides this month, and today is my sole day off work until Monday. So I went off and did the metric century:smile: No guarantees I'll manage the triple again this year, but I'll jolly well have a go
I still have to do a metric century this month not sure if I'm up for the triple again .The legs can manage it but it seems like every ride is a challenge ride not sure I'm up for it again ? . But who knows ?
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
My (first) metric 100 for January was round the Isle of Purbeck (Dorset). Rode right out to the edge of Poole Harbour at Arne, with a panoramic view across to Poole and round to Brownsea Island (of first ever scouting fame). Later, after riding through the Wych Farm oil wells (the oil being pumped up by 'nodding donkeys') and across the 'private' Rempstone Estate, the icing on the cake was the bonus of the Lulworth Ranges being shown as open (on the notice board in Corfe Castle, despite the internet 'notice' saying they were closed) so rode across them (much nicer than the main road from Corfe to Wareham).
While I'm on, I thought I share Velominati Rule #24 which is particularly applicable to this challenge. Pleased that nearly all participants are adherents. On the Imperial Century reporting thread I convert my rides to imperial measurements (miles and feet) out of respect for the challenge.
Rule #24
  1. Speeds and distances shall be referred to and measured in kilometers (sic).
    This includes while discussing cycling in the workplace with your non-cycling coworkers, serving to further mystify our sport in the web of their Neanderthalic cognitive capabilities. As the confused expression spreads across their unibrowed faces, casually mention your shaved legs. All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden.
ETA: There is one exception: the one cycling metric that should be in miles is the Eddington Number
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Noooooo........ that makes it archaic as well as arcane. [My idea of] The sole exception is that imperial century rides should be referred to in miles and not have kilometres inelegantly imposed upon them.
I have inelegantly entered the first Annual Lunacy Challenge with an attempt at 13 x 161 km (an imperial century plus 216.5 ft)! :okay: :laugh:

All of my maps use kms, my GPS devices are set to kms, and the rest of the rational world uses kms, so I am doing my best to stop converting back into miles.

I was using miles for my entries on MyCyclingLog and often found myself doing awkward mental arithmetic at the end of rides trying to work out how many times to ride 'round the block' to complete the last mile!
 
I have inelegantly entered the first Annual Lunacy Challenge with an attempt at 13 x 161 km

My solution to that conundrum was to select a Lunacy target of 150km. It just may be that some of my rides may marginally exceed your 161km target, but that will be entirely coincidental and in no way related to those peculiar 'mile' things people speak of :-)
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Pah - I rejected that option on the grounds that ...




... I didn't think of it! :smile:


At some point, after a few successful 150/161 km Lunacy Challenges, I suppose 200 km might start to seem possible? I could play the age card and say that I am getting a bit too old for that (63 this month! :eek:), but I'm sure that it wouldn't be long before somebody came up with a list of 70+ year olds who complete audax RRTY ...
 
Nooo! There is so much fun to be had in subtly adjusting the "base" of Eddington.
A quick dump of RWGPS data reveals
If I take the base to be 10 metres of ascent, instead of miles, I find I have done 104 rides of at least 104 x 10m (ie 1040m) ascent.
If I take 10 minutes I find I have done 47 rides of at least 47 x 10 min (7hr 50min) moving time (moving time being the only easily available time metric from RWGPS)
Or I have done 23 rides at at least 22km/h moving average.

There's endless fun to be had. None of it very meaningful.

I can't match the distances of many here (and rarely get to do the full Imperial century) however I do agree on the fun of playing with my Eddingtons. During 2018 I managed 50 x 50km+ which seemed a particularly satisfying one.
 

Fiona R

Formerly known as Cranky Knee Girl
Location
N Somerset
It pains me to agree with the Velominati nobbers but I do in this case.

Kilometres are faster. And a metric century is such a more civilised distance. I had to think long and hard before I decided to carry on with the ICaM challenge because for an old slow coach like me it wipes out a whole day.

I've got a 100k audax planned for weekend after next, but if - weather permitting - I can squeeze in 100k this w/e I may give it a miss as it is really awkward to get to the start.

I took a quick glance at the rest of the Velominiati nobbery and worryingly there are a few more that I agree with. As time goes by and my car becomes more of a worthless rust heap/money pit, I may now also be compliant with Rule #25 // The bikes on top of your car should be worth more than the car. I don't take milk in coffee so that's #56 dealt with. Oh, and #40 tyre maker's name over valve stem, yeah I do that.
Kilometres are much more civilised, and for Eddington too. My lunacy I sat and debated, was going with 162km to make sure I was always past the 100 miles, but backtracked to 161 as it looked silly. A for Velominiati I absolutely hate the concept but many of the rules make sense except silly ones like socks. and shoe colour. And...

Anyhow my blogger header is "I ride a bike, I am a cyclist. Adhere to Velominati rules #5 #6 #9 #10 #24 on my terms. 0-200 in 2 years...onwards and upwards." But I'd have to go and look them all up to remember what they are! No longer allowed to drive so no car of my own so should my bikes be worth £1000s or pennies?

From http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/#24 Getting hacked off with #10 it does not seem I am ever going to get faster!

Rule #5 //

Harden The F**k Up.

Rule #6 // Free your mind and your legs will follow.
Your mind is your worst enemy. Do all your thinking before you start riding your bike. Once the pedals start to turn, wrap yourself in the sensations of the ride – the smell of the air, the sound of the tires, the feeling of flight as the bicycle rolls over the road.

Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
Fair-weather riding is a luxury reserved for Sunday afternoons and wide boulevards. Those who ride in foul weather – be it cold, wet, or inordinately hot – are members of a special club of riders who, on the morning of a big ride, pull back the curtain to check the weather and, upon seeing rain falling from the skies, allow a wry smile to spread across their face. This is a rider who loves the work.

Rule #10 // It never gets easier, you just go faster.
As this famous quote by Greg LeMan tells us, training, climbing, and racing is hard. It stays hard. To put it another way, per Greg Henderson: “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.” Sur La Plaque, farktards.4

Rule #24 // Speeds and distances shall be referred to and measured in kilometers.
This includes while discussing cycling in the workplace with your non-cycling coworkers, serving to further mystify our sport in the web of their Neanderthalic cognitive capabilities. As the confused expression spreads across their unibrowed faces, casually mention your shaved legs. All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden.
 
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