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

[FrothNinja]

W10R1 - 2 hours 59 mins - Mon - Preston to Brockhall to Ridge to Brierfield, should have done some diversions to bump it up to 50km
W10R2 - 50 mins - Thurs - local miles (zone: 0 - 2%; 1 - 5%; 2 - 82%; 3 - 11%)
W10R3 - 34 mins - Fri - local miles

Pic is from Thursday's local ride. All of a sudden there are flowers everywhere.

 

[FrothNinja]

Just finished my second qualifier of the week.
Less than 2 km from home I stuck a big dig in and managed a smidge over 5 seconds above 1000 watts if Strava is to be believed, and topped 60 kph on a more or less flat stretch. My heart rate didn't peak until after I stopped riding though my lungs beg to differ. Dragged my average kph for the ride over 32 - which means my wind dodging must have been more efficient than it felt.
Very warming...

 

[FrothNinja]

W11R1 - 3 hours - Mon - Langho, Salmesbury, Preston, Osbaldeston, Barrow, Nick Of Pendle, the Ridge, Brierfield (total 34.6miles / 55.7 km, plus 655m / 2,150ft)
W11R2 - 41 mins - Fri - local miles (zone: 0 - 2%; 1 - 5%; 2 - 82%; 3 - 11%)
W11R3 - 1 hour 29 mins - Sat - Noggarth loop. Was out for 4sh hours!
Was planning on another ride today but not convinced I will bother - bit bored with the wind and supposedly 95% chance of piddling down.

Pic is from yesterday

 

[bluenotebob]

A difficult week – a combination of tiredness, rain and other distractions meant that I failed to maintain the progress of last week.

I have high hopes for next week though when we should get some decent cycling weather (and hopefully I can keep my diary as empty as possible).

Week 11: 6 local rides over 30 mins, including one HMCAM ride; 12.88 hours on the bike; distance cycled 182.01km (906m of Ascent)


Ride 1: Tuesday 10th March – HMCAM ride on La Rossa: 62.22km, 4 hrs 7 min
Ride 2: Thursday 12th March – VV ride on the Crosshill: 22.24km, 1 hr 31 mins
Ride 3: Saturday 14th March (1) – local ride on the RAID: 24.12km, 1 hr 53 mins
Ride 4: Saturday 14th March (2) – VV ride on the Crosshill: 27.34km, 1 hr 51 mins
Ride 5: Sunday 15th March (1) – local ride on the MASSI: 22.62km, 1 hr 50 mins
Ride 6: Sunday 15th March (2) – VV ride on the Princess: 23.47km, 1 hr 41 mins

I didn’t take any photos this week so here are three photos from a few years back – an atmospheric view of Mauron, a local farm track and the Nantes-to-Brest canal between Josselin and Montertelot.

 

[Jon George]

Mon 9th 50 mins Nacton Via Gainsborough Road and Ravenswood - Sainsbury’s
Tues 10th 50 mins Levington
Weds 11th 130 mins Around the outskirts of Ipswich (Nacton, Foxhall, Kesgrave, Rushmere St Andrew) doing The Quiz
Fri 13th 50 mins Sainsbury’s – Nacton – Gainsborough Road
Sat 14th 70 mins Around town. Quizzing.
Sun 15th 55mins Around town - Westerfield.

A pic of the fog on the 9th near Nacton

 

[FrothNinja]

Split my commute today as it was two very different runs.
First day of the year in shorts on the bike this year. Sufficiently pleasent on the way in to stop and take pics for the first time in yonks.
Cloudless blue sky!! So here's a bonus pic.

 

[bluenotebob]

First day of the year in shorts on the bike this year.

Aye, it was nice here today too.

Stopped to chat several times on this afternoon's ride - and the general topic of conversation was "don't forget that it's still winter: spring doesn't start until Friday".

Bumped into an 83-year old cyclist (who regularly does 60km rides) - he had a hernia operation only 3 weeks ago and today was his first day back on the bike .. he was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts and whilst it was warm in the sun, it was nippy under the trees. Foolhardy for a man of his age who's still recovering, I reckon - but I'm sure he'll be fine (some of the Mauronnais are made of rock).

I'm off to light the fire - because it's still winter

 

[Jon George]

Mon 16th 50 mins Nacton Via Gainsborough Road and Ravenswood - Sainsbury’s
Tues 17th 50 mins Around town. Quizzing
Wed 18th 120 mins Ipswich (train) then Wickham Market – Ufford – Melton – Woodbridge
Fri 20th 50 mins Levington
Sat 90 mins mins The Strand beside The Orwell
Sun 22 50 mins Around town and Westerfield

A view from Stoke Bridge of The Waterfront I took on Wednesday.

 

[bluenotebob]

Another decent week, even if it didn’t quite hit the heights that I’d hoped for.

I managed to stick to my plan of two ‘daily totals’ over 50km (Monday and Saturday) each week. If I stick with this plan then, by week 32, I should have got my Annual Metric Eddington (AME) up to 50. I’m hoping to get my AME up to 56 this year – so lots more rides needed before the end of October to get there (although it can slip into November).

My current AME is 31 (31 daily ride totals this year over 31km) and it’s already becoming increasingly challenging to keep pushing upwards. It makes me cycle further every day … which can only be a good thing.

Week 12: 10 local rides over 30 mins; 20.62 hours on the bike; distance cycled 280.93km (1362m of Ascent)

Ride 1: Monday 16th March (1) – local ride on the RAID: 25.52km, 2 hrs 2 mins
Ride 2: Monday 16th March (2) – Mauron/Lézonnet (V3) on the Princess: 35.77km, 2 hrs 25 mins
Ride 3: Tuesday 17th March – VV ride on the Urban Shaper: 25.09km, 1 hr 48 mins
Ride 4: Wednesday 18th March (1) – local ride on the MASSI: 18.27km, 1 hr 28 mins
Ride 5: Wednesday 18th March (2) – VV ride on the Urban Shaper: 24.14km, 1 hr 47 mins
Ride 6: Thursday 19th March – VV ride (plus some off-road) on the RAID: 27.22km, 2 hrs 20 mins
Ride 7: Friday 20th March – Mauron/Lézonnet (V3) on the Crosshill: 37.23km, 2 hrs 33 mins
Ride 8: Saturday 21st March (1) – local ride on the MASSI: 17.07km, 1 hr 18 mins
Ride 9: Saturday 21st March (2) – Mauron/Lézonnet (V3) on La Rossa: 36.12km, 2 hrs 22 mins
Ride 10: Sunday 22nd March – Mauron/Loyat (V3) + extra loops on Katie-Mae: 34.5km, 2 hrs 34 mins

Photo below from Thursday’s ride – cycling the fishermen’s path along the east bank of the river Yvel south of També. I wrote about this elsewhere in the forum – suffice it to say that I’m pleased that I did it but I’m not sure that I’ll do it again, unless it’s on foot as part of a longer walk.

 

[FrothNinja]

W12R1 - 1 hour 37 minutes - Tues - Brierfield to Prestonthe shortest way
W12R2 - 2 hours 26 mins - Tues - Preston via a devious route to Brierfield (total 33.3miles / 53.6 km, plus 435 / 1,425ft)
W12R3 - 1 hour 43 mins - Thurs - Preston to Brierfield the shortest way

Pic of coltsfoot from one of my sub 30 minute coastal outings in Cumbria this week.