The Metric Century (100KM) A Month Challenge ChatZone

[Sbudge]

February done, that was pretty grim though. The forecast was for brisk (20mph+) winds all day so, with great cunning, I carefully planned a route that avoided roads/traffic as much as possible and was headwind out, tailwind back.

Turned out I was pretty daft. The promised headwinds were certainly there but as soon as I reached halfway they dropped to nothing so no tailwind home.
My careful choice of canal and river paths also didn't take into account the weeks of wet weather so it was 6 hours of mud and puddles (at least until I finally got onto some roads towards the end). OK, grumbling over. :-)

 

[cosmicbike]

February done, that was pretty grim though. The forecast was for brisk (20mph+) winds all day so, with great cunning, I carefully planned a route that avoided roads/traffic as much as possible and was headwind out, tailwind back.

Turned out I was pretty daft. The promised headwinds were certainly there but as soon as I reached halfway they dropped to nothing so no tailwind home.
My careful choice of canal and river paths also didn't take into account the weeks of wet weather so it was 6 hours of mud and puddles (at least until I finally got onto some roads towards the end). OK, grumbling over. :-)

You should have said you were out my way, I'd have put the kettle on (you were about 1 miles from my door when you paused for a photo at Staines Bridge. Mind you, I was out doing my metric century today too...

 

[cosmicbike]

February done with a very lumpy ride out to the Surrey Hills. Some of the roads were better suited to MTB's, but the Van Nic coped admirably. Pleased to say I didn't stop, or walk up any of the hills.
106km with 1468m of up-ness. Probably my slowest one to date too....

 

[Sea of vapours]

February done with a complete tour through and around the Forest of Bowland. Lovely day and lots of sheep fettling going on; I encountered a new record, for me anyway, of four flocks of sheep being moved along roads from assorted sheep fettling stations to fields, or vice versa.

That's now fifty contiguous months of at least one 100+ km audax AAA ride per month. The prospect, or vague intent anyway, of getting to a hundred seems somewhat daunting (unlike the first fifty, which wasn't daunting at all since I didn't think of it when I started....).

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, it was a nice day today so I went out and did a 1.00 km ride - note the decimal point! I still have a cold and feel wobbly so it wouldn't have been sensible to do much. I just nipped down to the railway station for today's Metro and then limped home to sip hot coffee while doing its cryptic crossword puzzle.

The cold has moved on to phase 3 now (phase 1 being shivering and headaches, phase 2 being the streaming nose) - a cough like someone who has smoked 40 Woodbines a day for 70 years, which wouldn't be surprising if I were 85 and had, but I am 63 and haven't!

Fingers crossed for a recovery in time to do a planned 100 km ride on the 21st to avoid an end-of-Feb panic.

 

[Sbudge]

You should have said you were out my way, I'd have put the kettle on (you were about 1 miles from my door when you paused for a photo at Staines Bridge. Mind you, I was out doing my metric century today too...

I could have done with a cuppa that day too! When are you coming out to the Chilterns? We've hills there and cake!

 

[cosmicbike]

I could have done with a cuppa that day too! When are you coming out to the Chilterns? We've hills there and cake!

Funny you should say that. I have a copy of the GPX from an Evans Ride It event which starts in Windsor and goes out to Watlington/Aston Rowant which I'm keeping for an imperial century. It's 75 miles, but by the time I get to the start and home I can stretch it a bit.

 

[Sbudge]

Funny you should say that. I have a copy of the GPX from an Evans Ride It event which starts in Windsor and goes out to Watlington/Aston Rowant which I'm keeping for an imperial century. It's 75 miles, but by the time I get to the start and home I can stretch it a bit.

Could be a very nice ride, of course they won't have included some of the more *interesting* hills like Grey's or Colstrope but a little tweaking could soon fix that.

 

[13 rider]

Febs done a 73 miler to grab a veloviewer square I had missed on last month's ride . What great weather for Feb

 

[Noodle Legs]

Feb done.

A 77 mile loop over to Cafe Ventoux only to find out it was closed!

“Shall we stop half way to Ventoux for a cheeky coffee? I know just the place,” will said.

And that was closed too!

So, after 50 miles and going 15 miles off course we settled for a Caffè Nero stop in Melton Mowbray town centre, sitting outside in the cool weather with the bikes sipping on coffee and only eating a Millionaire Shortbread watching the world go by. This was after Will getting a puncture en route to Melton and Gaz trying his damndest to put full pressure back in the tyre with just my hand pump!!

The sun never fully materialised which made for cool conditions until early afternoon by which time we were nearly back anyway.

77.5 miles/124.72km in just shy of 5 hours.

Despite all the mishaps it was a good laugh nonetheless and what these rides are really all about!

D’oh!

Feeling strong!

Whoops

“How do I use these?”

“Take the summer bike,”they said, “it’ll be dry,” they said!

Summary

 

[Lilliburlero]

February done today. Very stiff legs for some reason....

 

[Sbudge]

Feb done. My annual visit to the world of Sportives, with the Hell of the Ashdown (extremely hilly 100k). I started early, so my day consisted of being repeatedly overtaken by ludicrously fast people wearing Rapha. I'd be grinding up a hill in survival mode breathing heavily and riders would cruise effortlessly past chatting casually.

As with audaxes, I didn't stop (I don't get punctures, I don't stop to pee, I don't faff around, I ride solo so I never stop to wait for anyone) so sometimes I'd leapfrog a group and be casually passed by the same set of riders several times.

It took me 40 minutes longer than last year. But on the positive side, I didn't have to walk up Hogtrough Hill ... but some riders did.

Hogtrough is a nice hill, did it last year. Just the right balance of length and gradient. :-)

 

[Sbudge]

It always comes very late in my rides, when I'm shagged. Today I was weaving all over the shop and puffing like Thomas the Tank engine. Several Rafa boys and girls cruised by, but several were walking.

To date I've never had to walk a hill...though frequently it would be quicker!

 

[ColinJ]

According to RideWithGPS I've been up Hogtrough 23 times. I think yesterday was probably my slowest non-walking one.

It doesn't get easier. You just get a bit slower.

Unless one started off as an Olympic gold medal winner or world record holder, then there is always room for improvement!

I am certainly climbing better now than I did 10 years ago. Mind you, I weigh 25-30 kg less now than I did then.

 

[Sbudge]

According to RideWithGPS I've been up Hogtrough 23 times. I think yesterday was probably my slowest non-walking one.

It doesn't get easier. You just get a bit slower.

That prompted me to look at which hills I've done most often. Perhaps unsurprisingly it's Swain's Lane (45 times) as I can do that with a slight detour as part of my commute home. Out in the Chilterns it's Whiteleaf (32 times) that gets the nod.