Three 30-minute rides each week of the year Challenge 2023

[bluenotebob]

Do a minimum of three outdoor rides per week for each week of the year. Indoor rides do not qualify.

Each ride to last a minimum of 30 minutes. It’s preferable that each of the three rides takes place on a different day of the week – but that’s not mandatory (two rides on the same day will qualify – but they must be distinctly separate rides).

Try and post in this thread at least once a week if you can – ride details to include week#, ride#, day, length of time on the bike – plus a ride description (if you want). Photos welcome!

Week 1 starts on Sunday 1st January 2023 and runs to Sunday 8th January. Thereafter each week will run from Monday to Sunday (so Week 2 will be 9th January to 15th January – and Week 52 from 25th December to 31st December).

Start by posting your Week 1 rides below … and good luck!

 

[Gibbo9]

I'm in!

 

[kapelmuur]

I was in until I saw ‘no indoor rides’. The older I get the less motivated I am to ride in wind and rain.

The antidote to foul weather is a turbo ride following a video route filmed in high summer when the skies are blue and the trees in full leaf!

 

[ColinJ]

I suggest making it (say) a nice round 50 weeks of the 52 total. It would be really annoying to do 51 weeks worth but then catch flu and be bed-ridden for the final week of the year, or really unwise to attempt to do the final week despite being ill! I would have lost 2 weeks this year - 1 to Covid, and one to a heavy cold. A 50 week target would be more realistic to allow a little leeway for illness or work/family commitments?

It's the kind of thing that I would like to have a go at on my singlespeed bike. I have a hilly little local loop which I do most weekdays to pick up a Metro from the station and/or go to the shops. I would do 25 minutes, shop, 5 minutes rather than 30 minutes in one hit. If I absolutely had to, I could do another 2.5 minutes up the main road before going to the shops, then u-turn and come back but that seems a bit artificial. I would just call the 25+5 a 30 minute ride.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I suggest making it (say) a nice round 50 weeks of the 52 total. It would be really annoying to do 51 weeks worth but then catch flu and be bed-ridden for the final week of the year, or really unwise to attempt to do the final week despite being ill! I would have lost 2 weeks this year - 1 to Covid, and one to a heavy cold. A 50 week target would be more realistic to allow a little leeway for illness or work/family commitments?

It's the kind of thing that I would like to have a go at on my singlespeed bike. I have a hilly little local loop which I do most weekdays to pick up a Metro from the station and/or go to the shops. I would do 25 minutes, shop, 5 minutes rather than 30 minutes in one hit. If I absolutely had to, I could do another 2.5 minutes up the main road before going to the shops, then u-turn and come back but that seems a bit artificial. I would just call the 25+5 a 30 minute ride.

I wouldn’t let the thought of missing the odd week put you off trying it. I created the 2022 version and managed 47 weeks. I don’t ride my bike on holiday , so knew I wouldn’t hit 52 weeks anyway, before you take into account any illnesses.

 

[bluenotebob]

A 50 week target would be more realistic to allow a little leeway for illness or work/family commitments?

I understand the point you're making - but I'm not persuaded to change the rules.

This is a really easy challenge for most of the year - the only difficulties arise when there's a prolonged spell of bad weather. It requires a bit of grit and determination to go out in the cold, the rain and the wind .. and as far as I'm concerned that's what makes it a challenge.

Getting cold and wet for 30 minutes is really not a hardship. I find it quite stimulating actually - rejuvenating and even life-affirming (if that doesn't sound too pretentious). I'm 70 now and I want to go out on my bike every day for several hours - whatever the weather. I've cycled for 908 hours so far this year - I've only missed 15 days of the year - and my 'daily average' is just over 35km. So I've put in the equivalent of roughly 3 hours per day on the bike - this challenge only requires 1.5 hours per week.... and if, at my advanced age, I can do it, then I'm sure lots of others could too.

Join us, @ColinJ ... and see how you get on. Please post some photos too - I'd love to see one of 'The Great Wall Of Tod' .. I caught a glimpse of it on TV (Canal Boat Diaries, or something like that) and I was amazed - I'd not known about it before.

If there's a consensus at the end of 2023 among those taking part in this challenge to reduce it to 50 weeks, then we can change it for 2024.

But I'd actually prefer to make this challenge harder - not easier..

 

[Saluki]

I’m in. I need a bit of motivation at the moment.

 

[ColinJ]

I'd love to see one of 'The Great Wall Of Tod' .. I caught a glimpse of it on TV (Canal Boat Diaries, or something like that) and I was amazed - I'd not known about it before.

There are a number of photos on Street View taken along that stretch of towpath - HERE.

(There is a strange jump back to the road when I try to access some of them, but there are at least a couple of good shots of the wall.)

 

[bluenotebob]

There are a number of photos on Street View taken along that stretch of towpath

Thank you !

Four million bricks..? wow.

 

[ColinJ]

Thank you !

Four million bricks..? wow.

It IS a huge wall, but I reckon that the number of bricks must be exaggerated! If it is 1 km long then that would be 4,000 bricks per metre... I suppose it might be more than one layer of bricks deep, but even so...

I just found this...

 

[FrothNinja]

I'm already on 6 qualifying rides this week and there are 2 days left!!
I feel a Beatles song approaching...hope it's enough to show I care...

 

[figbat]

OK, hat in the ring time…

W1R1
Monday, 1h33m. Kicking off 2023 with a ride that was longer than planned due to a small navigational error. Turned out well though.

W1R2
Wednesday, 1h54m. Weekly evening MTB ride with a group from my village. Mudfest.

W1R3
Friday, 1h12m. Combined the itch to have a ride with a shopping trip to a garden centre. Took the retro Saracen commuting mule for its panniers - great old steed!

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 1 qualifying rides (1st January to 8th January)

A busy week on the bike …

Week 1 – ride 1 (Sun) – 42 mins – the gale-force winds had eased back a bit but it was still raining hard. I got out for a short and wet ride on the MASSI mountain bike. Stayed close to home – only saw one car and heard (but didn’t see) a crow. A very, very quiet start to 2023 ..

Week 1 – ride 2 (Mon) – 1 hr 6 mins – Pontmenard, Esquiniac and Raserais – on the Urban Shaper hybrid.

Week 1 – ride 3 (Mon) – 57 mins – Out again after lunch before the rain arrived – SBdM, la Plaisance and la Ville Geffray – on the Sensium 300 road bike.

Week 1 – ride 4 (Tues) – 51 mins – strong winds again and a leaden sky. Out on the MASSI – Devison and Pontmenard, with some offroad .. taking advantage of it being a non-chasse day. Horizontal drizzle by the time I got home.

Week 1 – ride 5 (Tues) – 40 mins – had a bite to eat then went back out into the rain. The wind was even stronger. Another loop around Pontmenard – this time on the RAID mountain bike. Got home just before the school bus arrived and, in the wintertime, that’s usually my signal to stop for the day.

Week 1 – ride 6 (Wed) – 44 mins – on the Urban Shaper again. SBdM and Pontmenard. Still very windy.

Week 1 – ride 7 (Thurs) – 4 hrs 54 mins – Mauron to la Tayée and back, on the road bike. Got this year’s Lunacy Challenge up and running

Week 1 – ride 8 (Fri) – 39 mins – out in the wind and rain again. Very local ride on the MASSI mountain bike.

 

[annedonnelly]

I read last year's thread enviously back in January 2022 while housebound. I hoped I'd be able to join in by the end of the year. I did start riding again but towards the end of the year I really struggled to get motivated even to ride to the shops.

But I did manage to use the bike this week to ride to meet up with a walking group. It doesn't really qualify - probably 10 minutes there and maybe 20 coming back as I deliberately took a longer way home. But at least I did it and I'm glad to put a watch on this thread and hopefully it will motivate me to get back out more often.

 

[ColinJ]

Ok, I'm in. I will change my GPS setup so that one of the data fields shows the time spent moving rather than the time elapsed since setting off.

Week 1 qualifying rides (1st January to 8th January)

That should be the 1st to the 7th (for Sun to Sat), or the 2nd to the 8th (for Mon to Sun)! I'm working on the basis of a Mon to Sun week.

Singlespeed** rides highlighted.

Week 1: 3 rides, 28 km, 1 hr 36 mins

• Ride 1 (Mon): (Singlespeed) First ride for 31 days! 12 km - 6 km up 2% drag towards Burnley, then 6 km back down. 35 min.
• Ride 2 (Fri): (Singlespeed) My lumpy 8 km local loop. 31 min.
• Ride 3 (Sat): (Singlespeed) My lumpy 8 km local loop. 30 min.

Success rate: 1 week out of 1.

3 rides so far this year, totalling 28 km, and taking 1 hr 36 mins.

** Actually now a two speed bike but most of the riding is done in one gear