Three 30-minute rides each week of the year 2026 challenge

[FrothNinja]

W2R1 - 53 mins - Mon - Icey above Sabden
W2R2 - 39 mins - Thu - local miles giving it some beans
W2R3 - 38 mins - Sun - local miles (rain squalls but no ice). Steady above average effort (for me) zone 0 1%, zone 1 4%, zone 2 64%, zone 3 31%. As opposed to Thursday, no sprints, just under 31 kph max but I maintained an average of over 25 kph. Almost a km less distance travelled. Not planning on listing this sort of info on a regular basis, but adding it here will give me a comparative baseline for the year going forward.

 

[FrothNinja]

Got in another ride that counts for this week. The first past took me through The Docks (now renamed The Waterfront, but I can remember when it was a working environment) and was able to use one of the newly installed 'binoculars' dotted around town. These are interactive and as you pan around, you are treated to what you might have seen in Victorian times (I tracked a barge sailing past heading for the upper part of the docks - similar to one berthed here).

View attachment 797540

Those sound like a lot of fun!

 

[Jon George]

It seems this extra challenge is proving to be an unexpected incentive. I'm only about a 10 mins cycle ride (or perhaps less) away from my local Sainsbury's, but I've now begun (as I did this morning) taking a long detour out to Nacton village and approaching the store from the other direction - just to claim a ride.
(I'm going to have to triple check my times for this route - I went to make an identical note from today's excursion and felt that 55 mins I've been recording was a tad too long.)
Oh, and I missed the rain.

 

[Jon George]

I didn't miss the rain today!
Surprised to find that a ride that is only 8 miles can be achieved in 50 mins, whilst another - extended out by another couple, avoiding a built-up area, and completed in the reverse direction - can be done in the same time! I live and learn.

 

[bluenotebob]

I didn't miss the rain

It was a horrible morning here too - it took me 27 mins to do the first 5km of my ride because of the strength of the wind. In the end, I managed 17km which was enough for a wet day. That was my third ride of the week so I'm relaxed.

The next 3 days look a bit better so I hope to get a few more rides done this week (assuming my van passes its MoT, due tomorrow afternoon).

 

[Jon George]

So far, this week, I've been out and achieved a qualifying ride every day (mostly 50 mins in duration and mostly East of Ipswich in the Nacton and Levington area). At least three of these would have been shorter, if it had not been for this challenge.
If previous months are any indication, I should finish off the week with a Sunday morning pottle around town that will also tick the box.

 

[bluenotebob]

I should finish off the week with a Sunday morning pottle around town that will also tick the box.

All I know of Ipswich comes from a visit to Portman Road over 50 years ago. If it's not raining tomorrow, any chance of some photos of the town?

It's good to know that the challenge is making you ride a bit further every day.

 

[Jon George]

If it's not raining tomorrow, any chance of some photos of the town?

I like a mission.

 

[FrothNinja]

W3R1 - 37 mins - Mon - local miles
W3R2 - 4 hours 59 mins - Tues -Brierfield to Whalley to Preston to Blackburn to Accrington to Cliviger to Brierfield (total 62.6 miles / 100.7 km, plus 1,115m / 3,658ft)
W3R3 - 35 mins - Thu - local miles
W3R4 - 34 mins - Sat - local miles
May do a ride later, but probably not over 30 mins.

 

[Jon George]

I suppose I could say that the sun shines down on the righteous, or that The Devil looks after his own (I've had my feet in either camp at one time or the other. ), but when I left my house this morning it was overcast, it then brightened for an hour, and then became overcast again just as I got back. All of which to say is that I was able to get some have decent photos of parts of Ipswich for @bluenotebob.

What I still continue to call The Docks - even though it has been rebranded as The Waterfront - is now a marina.

The Willis Building (designed by Norman Foster and Wendy Cheesman) at the end of Civic Drive reflecting St Francis Tower.

The town centre now has a portal. It is sculpture that connects with identical structures in other countries - Vilnius in Lithuania, Lublin in Poland and Dublin in Ireland - to name just three. You can pause and wave at strangers.

And the view of what other nationalities must see of the Cornhill from their respective portal. (The Town Hall and the old Post Office building .)

And finally, Ipswich is extremely lucky is having a large number of quality parks, the main one being Christchurch Park that has an Elizabethan mansion set in about eighty odd acres of rolling parkland and is only a five minute walk from the town centre. It was gifted to the town in the late nineteenth century and, to their credit, the council decided not to make use of it as an opportunity to build houses.

I'm sure I'll be providing more tourist pics for everyone as the year progresses.

 

[bluenotebob]

I'm sure I'll be providing more tourist pics for everyone as the year progresse

Yes, please !

It's much nicer than I'd imagined. Who knew? (well, you did obviously). That's come as a complete surprise to me.

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 3: 7 local rides over 30 mins (including one HMCAM ride); 12.3 hours on the bike; distance cycled 185.29km (1045m of Ascent)

A reasonable week for mid-January, despite missing a couple of days. Six bikes got at least one ride so the cycling was equitably shared around.

Ride 1: Monday 12th Jan – local ride on the RAID: 16.22km, 69 mins
Ride 2: Tuesday 13th Jan – HMCAM ride on the Crosshill: 66.35km, 4hrs 8 mins
Ride 3: Thursday 15th Jan – local ride on the MASSI: 17.34km, 83 mins
Ride 4: Saturday 17th Jan (1) – VV ride on the Princess: 25.48km, 99 mins
Ride 5: Saturday 17th Jan (2) – local ride on the Urban Shaper: 15.25km, 64 mins
Ride 6: Sunday 18th Jan (1) – Brignac loop on Katie-Mae: 33.37km, 2 hrs 6 mins
Ride 7: Sunday 18th Jan (2) – short local loop on the RAID: 11.28km, 49 mins

Photo below from Tuesday’s ride and described in the ‘My Picture of the Day’ thread:

 

[FrothNinja]

Week 3: 7 local rides over 30 mins (including one HMCAM ride); 12.3 hours on the bike; distance cycled 185.29km (1045m of Ascent)

A reasonable week for mid-January, despite missing a couple of days. Six bikes got at least one ride so the cycling was equitably shared around.

Ride 1: Monday 12th Jan – local ride on the RAID: 16.22km, 69 mins
Ride 2: Tuesday 13th Jan – HMCAM ride on the Crosshill: 66.35km, 4hrs 8 mins
Ride 3: Thursday 15th Jan – local ride on the MASSI: 17.34km, 83 mins
Ride 4: Saturday 17th Jan (1) – VV ride on the Princess: 25.48km, 99 mins
Ride 5: Saturday 17th Jan (2) – local ride on the Urban Shaper: 15.25km, 64 mins
Ride 6: Sunday 18th Jan (1) – Brignac loop on Katie-Mae: 33.37km, 2 hrs 6 mins
Ride 7: Sunday 18th Jan (2) – short local loop on the RAID: 11.28km, 49 mins

Photo below from Tuesday’s ride and described in the ‘My Picture of the Day’ thread:

View attachment 798093

Is that a genuine menhir or landscaping?
I would like it to be the former but suspect the latter...

 

[FrothNinja]

Do we include stops in ride time (photos not lunch for instance). Or am I over thinking this?

Its moving time - I just use the moving time shown on my device. That would include pushing the bike over ice or places where riding was forbidden (or up boring hills)

 

[bluenotebob]

Is that a genuine menhir or landscaping?
I would like it to be the former but suspect the latter...

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/my-picture-of-the-day-wheres-yours.117414/post-7563018