The Metric Century (100KM) A Month Challenge ChatZone

[KingswayRider]

Crazy times...looking forward to getting some 100k's in together & Gwendraeth is definitely on the list to do.
Having got back from Tortworth not so long ago with just a right hand crank, I figured I'd manage to get home on Saturday morning if a mechanical did strike.
I'm still working each day, so mixing with others is unavoidable...although govt advice on the 2m is "where possible". It is the only contact I have with other though. Fed up of seeing other flout rules & have regular visitors. I've also been looking at what others are doing on strava / social media, before I ventured out on my 100k.
Hope bikes are now both mechanical free & you're able to ride regularly. Whatever ride we do get to do coming out of lockdown needs a beer stop!

 

[Donger]

Crazy times...looking forward to getting some 100k's in together & Gwendraeth is definitely on the list to do.
Having got back from Tortworth not so long ago with just a right hand crank, I figured I'd manage to get home on Saturday morning if a mechanical did strike.
I'm still working each day, so mixing with others is unavoidable...although govt advice on the 2m is "where possible". It is the only contact I have with other though. Fed up of seeing other flout rules & have regular visitors. I've also been looking at what others are doing on strava / social media, before I ventured out on my 100k.
Hope bikes are now both mechanical free & you're able to ride regularly. Whatever ride we do get to do coming out of lockdown needs a beer stop!

No.1 bike currently has both pedals pointing south simultaneously. I'm hoping it is not a repeat of my torn axle. Will take a look tomorrow or the next day and see if perhaps it just needs bolts tightening on one of the cranks. I had only just replaced the saddle after a tension bolt snapped!. No.2 bike being ridden as a 9-speed now, as I got so frustrated with the front mech that I removed it entirely!

 

[tallliman]

I'm out of the challenge. To ride 100km for me is about exploring and a nice cafe stop along the way. So in the current climate, I've not done one.

Note this is my reasoning and I have no issue with anyone doing them.

 

[Sbudge]

Everyone has to follow their own conscience...and government guidelines of course. I've decided to stick to the monthly challenge but take extra precautions to make sure I can safely social distance and avoid the need for any assistance if at all possible (carrying extra tools, spares etc) . I'm also only going to do a single 100km a month until it's over. The roads and cyclepaths around here are pretty quiet and cycle-friendly which helps, particularly if you avoid the weekends.

Yesterday's ride was particularly quiet probably because there were waves of heavy showers blowing through, I dodged some but the rest were 'refreshing'! It was the first ride of the new gravel/tourer, a Kinesis AT frame with Shimano GRX mechs. So far so good, it rides well and I had no particular aches or pains by the end.

 

[Sbudge]

Been out today and done a ride for April basically did my standard 50km loop twice so I was never more than 12 miles from home . Just enough 62.3 miles
Stay safe everyone

In theory you could easily do a 100km loop while remaining no more than 10 miles from home at all times...assuming the right road layout. A 'perfect' loop 10 miles from home would equate to a 132km ride.

 

[Sbudge]

No.1 bike currently has both pedals pointing south simultaneously. I'm hoping it is not a repeat of my torn axle. Will take a look tomorrow or the next day and see if perhaps it just needs bolts tightening on one of the cranks. I had only just replaced the saddle after a tension bolt snapped!. No.2 bike being ridden as a 9-speed now, as I got so frustrated with the front mech that I removed it entirely!

Well 1X bikes are the height of fashion at the moment!

 

[ColinJ]

In theory you could easily do a 100km loop while remaining no more than 10 miles from home at all times...assuming the right road layout. A 'perfect' loop 10 miles from home would equate to a 132km ride.

I was about to be a smartarse and say that the loop would only be 101 km but I had forgotten to add the rides to the loop from home and back again!

If you did a circular loop of radius 12 km (7.5 miles) that would total almost exactly 100 km including the outward and inward legs.

 

[Donger]

Well 1X bikes are the height of fashion at the moment!

They might well be, but I doubt many of them have 36 tooth chain rings! It is working wonders for raising my cadence.

 

[Sbudge]

I was about to be a smartarse and say that the loop would only be 101 km but I had forgotten to add the rides to the loop from home and back again!

If you did a circular loop of radius 12 km (7.5 miles) that would total almost exactly 100 km including the outward and inward legs.

Yep, I may need to convince the council to do a little road-building to get that perfect circle but I'm sure they'll be fine about it. I mean, they don't seem to mind driving HS2 right through an AONB here. Funny enough they decided not to put it through the much more obvious next valley along, maybe because that would mean demolishing Chequers?

 

[Sbudge]

They might well be, but I doubt many of them have 36 tooth chain rings! It is working wonders for raising my cadence.

ROFL, stick an 11-46 on the back and you'd be able to cycle up walls!

 

[KingswayRider]

They might well be, but I doubt many of them have 36 tooth chain rings! It is working wonders for raising my cadence.

Am I to presume the damaged crank has nothing to do with the huge torque you put through it?

They might well be, but I doubt many of them have 36 tooth chain rings! It is working wonders for raising my cadence.

No triple?

 

[Donger]

Am I to presume the damaged crank has nothing to do with the huge torque you put through it?

No triple?

LBS seems to think I've torn another axle on No.1 bike. That sort of thing just happens to me every now and again.
As to No.2 bike, I Just removed the front mech altogether out of sheer frustration. If I hit a big hill (of which there aren't many within my self-imposed 10 mile radius), I could always get off and manually drop the chain onto the granny ring.

 

[Sea of vapours]

25 May: 102km + 1690m: Exmouth, Stoke Cross, Whitestone, Ploughill, Exmouth (looking for hills - first and last 40km 'flat')

That middle 22km must have been quite exceptionally lumpy then !

 

[ColinJ]

That middle 22km must have been quite exceptionally lumpy then !

Indeed - if 11 kms of it were climbing and 11 kms descending then the climbing part averaged 6.5% 15%. Something is wrong there!

 

[ColinJ]

I got the calculation upside down originally! Even allowing for some climbing in the flatter parts of the ride, then nearly all of the main climbing would have to be at about 10%. It would be difficult to achieve that without repeatedly climbing and descending one steep hill, or finding several long steep hills very close together.

I'd be interested to have a GPX file of the route so I could upload it to Memory Map and check it out.