The Metric Century (100KM) A Month Challenge ChatZone

[ColinJ]

And there's always room to set a few Personal Worsts too.

I managed a Personal Worst up Kidd's Hill on Saturday.

That's also true... I have lungs full of (residual) lurgy at the moment so my hardest rides for 2 weeks have been slow, flat 3 km ones!

 

[steverob]

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.

If I only count those climbs that have actually been categorised on Strava, rather than anything *I* think is a hill (but most people would just call glorified speed bumps!), then my most frequent climbs are the one up to Wendover Woods (22 attempts), over Ivinghoe Beacon (17) and up Wigan's Lane (11) - all classic Chilterns climbs.

 

[ColinJ]

If I only count those climbs that have actually been categorised on Strava, rather than anything *I* think is a hill (but most people would just call glorified speed bumps!), then my most frequent climbs are the one up to Wendover Woods (22 attempts), over Ivinghoe Beacon (17) and up Wigan's Lane (11) - all classic Chilterns climbs.

I wonder how many times I have done this one over the past 30 years...?!

(The sign is correct - the little downhill blips shown on that profile do not actually exist. The road is slowly climbing up the edge of a steep hillside in several places so a very slight lateral discrepancy makes the mapping software think I am riding up the stream below!)

PS I would be very surprised if I tackle it less than 20 times in a typical year so that probably means I have done it many hundreds of times!

 

[cosmicbike]

Only just noticed @Rob and Alison seem to be doing the challenge on a tandem, fair play

 

[Sbudge]

Only just noticed @Rob and Alison seem to be doing the challenge on a tandem, fair play

That's brilliant...but does it mean they need to do two per month?

 

[Sbudge]

I wonder how many times I have done this one over the past 30 years...?!

View attachment 453245

View attachment 453246
(The sign is correct - the little downhill blips shown on that profile do not actually exist. The road is slowly climbing up the edge of a steep hillside in several places so a very slight lateral discrepancy makes the mapping software think I am riding up the stream below!)

PS I would be very surprised if I tackle it less than 20 times in a typical year so that probably means I have done it many hundreds of times!

I'm very jealous!

 

[ColinJ]

I'm very jealous!

For a non-climber like me it is almost perfect. It only averages about 3.4%, though there is a steeper section in the middle at about 8% but that is only a few hundred metres long. I can get up the climb on my singlespeed bike so that give you an idea of how easy it is.

Most of it is just steep enough that you know you are climbing but not steep enough to hurt unless...

• You really go for it. Fit riders do it in less than 20 minutes Very fit, more like 15 minutes. Rumour has it that Wiggo did it in about 13 minutes when training for the time the TdF went up it! My PB is about 24 minutes and I aspire to 20 but I don't know if my body can take that level of effort any more.
• You get a bad headwind. The top 4 kms are exposed moorland and there is normally a cross-headwind from the right. It is often not much more than a nagging breeze, but is occasionally hellish. One time it took me over an hour to get to the summit!

 

[Rob and Alison]

Only just noticed @Rob and Alison seem to be doing the challenge on a tandem, fair play

Ah, that wasn't really intentional, but as you have pointed it out I guess we will have to now.

We did actually manage a solo 100km ride in January too, with Stig our Border Terrier, but didn't get round to posting it to the thread, and it is very doubtful that we will get him out for that distance every month - he can stick to the half century challenge.

Maybe we will manage a solo and a tandem 100km each month, but don't hold us to that one!

 

[Sbudge]

For a non-climber like me it is almost perfect. It only averages about 3.4%, though there is a steeper section in the middle at about 8% but that is only a few hundred metres long. I can get up the climb on my singlespeed bike so that give you an idea of how easy it is.

Most of it is just steep enough that you know you are climbing but not steep enough to hurt unless...

• You really go for it. Fit riders do it in less than 20 minutes Very fit, more like 15 minutes. Rumour has it that Wiggo did it in about 13 minutes when training for the time the TdF went up it! My PB is about 24 minutes and I aspire to 20 but I don't know if my body can take that level of effort any more.
• You get a bad headwind. The top 4 kms are exposed moorland and there is normally a cross-headwind from the right. It is often not much more than a nagging breeze, but is occasionally hellish. One time it took me over an hour to get to the summit!

Reminds me of Mt. Teide in Tenerife. Uphill, non-stop, for 40km at a pretty steady 6%. Never passed 8% but never flat either. I only got a chance to do it once but it was wonderful. I got passed by a couple of pros doing winter training, I might as well have been standing still. :-)

 

[ColinJ]

Reminds me of Mt. Teide in Tenerife. Uphill, non-stop, for 40km at a pretty steady 6%. Never passed 8% but never flat either. I only got a chance to do it once but it was wonderful. I got passed by a couple of pros doing winter training, I might as well have been standing still. :-)

A friend of mine lived on Tenerife, near the airport on the south side. He used to ride up Teide about once a month, and said similar things about it. I never got out there to visit him and he is living back in Yorkshire so I won't be going now.

 

[Ajax Bay]

January: 1 Point

Detail?

17th Feb 100km loop from m Norwich to Loddon and back.

No January ride shown on that post.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...-100km-a-month-challenge.243509/#post-5474775

 

[ColinJ]

I'm busy tomorrow and my sister is visiting on Thursday so that only leaves Tuesday and Wednesday for me to get metric and half-metric centuries in for February. Fortunately, the forecast looks good for both days.

I don't like leaving the rides this late, but illness nobbled me this month.

I've chosen an easy route for the metric century. It only has about 1,500 m of ascent rather than the 2,000+ m typical for my 100 km rides round here. Similarly, the 50 km ride will only have about 800 m rather than 1,000+ m. A normal degree of Yorks/Lancs lumpiness will be restored in March!

 

[Fiona R]

February metric 100km officially done. so all three challenges have at least one separate ride still. Plus lunacy.

What a glorious weekend, crackers/perfect weather. My 200km this month was the new Gospel Pass/Efenegyl 200 Audax on Saturday from Filton/Bristol (as opposed to the 150km version from Chepstow next weekend that I have done twice before) I had made myself do a DIY 200 two weeks ago so my imperial did have a ride already, so this one is my 100 metric as if the weather had been at all risky, or I had not made it, I would have been down and out of imperial.

The route looped south after the bridge to Caerleon/Usk/Hay on Wye but after having to cross bridge on southbound side due to north side being shut) I managed to get wrong exit at roundabout as pack just about disappeared, thinking Garmin was lagging on it's "off course" statement. Got mostly down the hill to Chepstow/Budgens and realised the trace was the return route. Some other idiot working from paper route followed me. Added 5km/15minutes and 150m extra climbing. Duh!! Basically on my own all day, seeing the same groups at the controls but on my own on the road. Control;s were quite hard to find but the fast lot generally cleared so by riding solo cut faff time, ate enough and was fine up Gospel from Hay and the descent was a dream.

So much better on my new bike, that I have been accused of wearing out too quickly. Chunky 32 touring tyres and disc brakes. However, I also went out for a stretch on Sunday to Bath (just flat 60km) and pumped the tyres up, they were on 40. I think Gospel would have been a tad easier at 80, I had deliberately left them soft but I think a tad too soft, the ascent seemed harder even though ideal conditions but at least I made it in one go!

So everything marvellous and 75% done by Abergavenny left control 16.45 knowing light would run out totally by 6. Raglan then the drag back to Chepstow but a nightmare route hanger left off the main road that was pitch black, vertical, grass/gravel track and no way could I ride it so I hiked the lot. I was fairly sure I could have stayed on the main road long drag hill as per the 150 but not totally sure the route was exactly the same after. so I followed official route, lost a good half hour plus. Heard owls. Absolutely no way could I get this far and give in now.

Eventually back to the Budgens I should not have visited this morning back up t'hill and over bridge, another audax rider caught me and he very kindly stayed with me to the end, I wasn't sure about getting the diversion right and not ending up on the motorway in the dark. Once past the big roundabouts I guided him back to The Swan (8pm/10 hours riding time for me) as his Garmin had failed earlier in the day and he was doing it via paper. I missed a turn and after interminable hills suddenly we were opposite the pub. What a relief. This 200 lark is not getting any easier! I don't get faster hopefully eventually I'll have fewer stupid mistakes!

it was Feb last year I broke my 25 month 100km streak (the bloodied smashed face pics came up on Amazon ), so back to 12 in a row now.

 

[Sea of vapours]

Should have worn shorts ... very nearly did ... but I wimped out on that 'just in case'. Result: decidedly too warm on the upward bits; comfy on the downward bits. This faux-summer thing is tricky on longish rides!

That's February's metric century thoroughly done anyway, and on a route I'd not remotely consider suitable for 'winter' usually. Today would have been a very fine day for May, or indeed practically any month in spring / summer. That route was winter-unsuitable, at least for me, in just about every respect (length, steepness, altitude, number of sizeable chunks of landscape to surmount), yet this peculiar weather made it perfectly tolerable. Admittedly, I had to abandon the briefly-held thought of extending it for a 150km Lunacy Challenge starter ride since I'd have run out of daylight; you don't' get that in May/June.

 

[Noodle Legs]

JANUARY

6th: Coalville-Derbyshire Dales-Hatton- Willington and back 105.25km 1 Point

Month Total: 1 Point
Challenge Total: 1 Point

Detail?
No January ride shown on that post.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...-100km-a-month-challenge.243509/#post-5474775

That do?