# Annual Simplified Climbing Lunacy Challenge chatzone



## FrothNinja (27 Jul 2022)

This chatzone thread is for discussion of your Annual Simplified Climbing Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Complicated") Challenge rides and supporting other riders in theirs. There will be a new rides thread every year where you should post details of that year's qualifying rides.
This intro may grow.
Please record your rides and check the rules by clicking here 
*2023 Annual Simplified Climbing Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Complicated") Challenge*
Many thanks and I hope everyone enjoys the challenge. 
2022 Annual Simplified Climbing Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Complicated") Challenge.


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## FrothNinja (27 Jul 2022)

I have posted my rides to date that qualified for my target - I have done fewer qualifying rides than I thought 😢
My new pyschy jersey arrived today so I might try and give it some hill work as an initiation. I think it's an elaborated lion, which would be appropriate


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## ColinJ (27 Jul 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> Could a mod please add a link to the ride recording thread?



Type in the text you want for your link (something like LINK TO RIDES), highlight it, and either type CTRL-K ('K' as in lin*K*) or click the link icon (looks like 2 chain links looped together, next to smilies icon) above the text entry box, then paste your ride recording thread link into the space provided in the box which pops up.


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## ColinJ (27 Jul 2022)

That worked!


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## FrothNinja (27 Jul 2022)

ColinJ said:


> That worked!



Thanks for the pointer - should I stick a point 7 in the rules & mention the wonderous moon over the mountain


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## ColinJ (27 Jul 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> Thanks for the pointer - should I stick a point 7 in the rules & mention the wonderous moon over the mountain



It wouldn't hurt to _mention _it, but it isn't a rule to _use _it!


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## Dogtrousers (28 Jul 2022)

Best of luck with the challenge! I may join in this year ... Or maybe next.

I may add some personal extra complicated rules in just so that I have my own degree of complexity 

PS ... I'm in. And no extra personal rules this year, at least.


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## Sea of vapours (28 Jul 2022)

Yes, best of luck with the challenge and people joining it. 

I'm trying to decide whether to post mine at all or not, and if I do where to choose the 'target'. Using ''round numbers', I've either comfortably done thirteen already or don't have a hope at this point in the year (2,000m versus 3,000m). I'll try and post in the interest of getting the challenge thread to look 'busy' :-)


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## Dogtrousers (28 Jul 2022)

I won't be displaying the badge in my signature. That's already crowded enough with metric and imperial stars. But I will be using the challenge for motivation to prevent me from doing easy flat routes!


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## steverob (28 Jul 2022)

I am tempted to enter, but I am not much of a climber, so if I do I'll probably have one of the lowest targets out of anyone who joins.

And it's not as though I have the excuse of living in a completely flat area of the country either - it's mildly rolling hills to my north and the Chilterns to my south and east. I'm just lazy and prefer routes that are flat-ish or just have one big climb and that's it. But entering this would give me the motivation to increase my ride elevation at least and I suppose that's the main aim.

What I set that target at though is another matter. I think 2000ft (~610m) sounds a nice round number. I've already done 7 rides above that figure this year, plus looking up previous year's figures, I would have got my 13 rides qualifying rides in 2021 (but only just) at that elevation. However the two years prior to that I would have fallen way short (admittedly lockdowns and injuries probably did affect those numbers), meaning it's not an easy target but at the same time it's still achievable.


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## Ridgeback Roller (28 Jul 2022)

I'm in. I need some additional motivation to seek out some hillier local routes, which isn't too difficult with the South Downs on my doorstep. I've taken it a bit too easy over the last couple of years, net result I just didn't have the legs needed to make the climbs on this year's trip to the Massif Central as enjoyable as on previous trips.
I'm still old school, miles ridden and feet ascended, so I'm going for an achievable rather than over ambitious target for this year, 3000ft. Checking my records, there's 9 in the bag to date this year. I'll post them up when I have time.


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## Alex321 (28 Jul 2022)

Not sure whether to join this one or not.

If I did, and set a target of 600m (or 2000 feet), then I would have exactly the same set of qualifying rides so far this year (6 of them) as in the general lunacy challenge.

If I set it even 50m or 150ft higher, then it is down to 2 qualifying rides and I'm not sure I'd manage another 11 this year.

I already do tend to try and seek out fairly hilly routes, to complete the monthly strava climbing challenge (7500m in a month) as often as I can.


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## Sea of vapours (28 Jul 2022)

Alex321 said:


> Not sure whether to join this one or not.


I thought much the same for much the same reasons and finally decided that it's good to get some posting on the thread to bring it to the fore, garner interest, and all such good stuff. I may try and do a Lunacy Challenge ride that's flatter than the others to differentiate the two lists, though that's quite tricky around here.


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## Dogtrousers (3 Aug 2022)

Just a note. @FrothNinja You should edit the title of this thread to remove the 2022. Chatzones aren't broken down by year, they just go on ... and on.

To honour this challenge I piled on the climbing for this month's Imperial Century challenge ride and ended up with 2,314m. And my legs were unusually fine. Taking it slow works!

I've been double posting my rides from the Imperial Century challenge into this challenge. I don't see this as a problem, esp as I'm just using this as extra motivation to keep me honest and avoid "unethically flat" routes and I'm not planning to display the moon thingy in my sig. Others may disagree.


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## Sea of vapours (3 Aug 2022)

I'm double posting too, triple in fact, since most of my rides are Metric Centuries, Lunacy Challenge and now Simplified Lunacy Climbing Challenge. Oh! And one a month is an Audax AAA brevet for my on-going AAA round the year (which is my 'main thing' really), so that's a splendid four for the price of one :-) 

As I may have said before, it's all about personal motivation anyway, and I see keeping threads active as useful in its own right, to encourage people to 'sign up' for challenges and get some use out of the threads' existence. That seems especially true of the climbing challenge as, at least historically, such things don't get much traction for reasons discussed at length in the past. 

Oh, and I did try and split my Lunacy Challenge and Simplified Lunacy Climbing Challenge lists by doing a somewhat flatter ride last Friday, but failed. It would have worked, but on the way back I couldn't face the relatively flat route around the Forest of Bowland so I popped over the Cross of Greet and hence exceeded the 2,500m 'climbing budget' quite comprehensively. I may have a go at approaching it from the other end once the Lunacy Challenge is done. i.e. plan a route which is less than my 150km Lunacy target but with more than 2,500km climbing. That'll be somewhat painful though.


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## Dogtrousers (3 Aug 2022)

It might be worth putting a note in to the "rules" to say that this challenge welcomes rides that are also posted in other challenges. Or might that be unnecessary poking of a hornets' nest?


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> It might be worth putting a note in to the "rules" to say that this challenge welcomes rides that are also posted in other challenges. Or might that be unnecessary poking of a hornets' nest?



Hahahaha ... for a guy who died last night from eating unpeeled potatoes, you seem to be in fine form today. 

One of my favourite expressions on this forum (from 2019?) was "to obsessively de-hill" when route planning - I wonder who said that? 

Seriously though - could someone please explain in very simple terms how to measure elevation when riding. 

All my bikes have simple SIGMA _compteurs_ fitted which tell me precisely the time and distance travelled on a ride (plus total distance for the bike and a clock). What would I need to buy to tell me the elevation achieved on a ride - and what sort of price would it be? 

Thanks


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## Dogtrousers (3 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> Hahahaha ... for a guy who died last night from eating unpeeled potatoes, you seem to be in fine form today.
> 
> One of my favourite expressions on this forum (from 2019?) was "to obsessively de-hill" when route planning - I wonder who said that?
> 
> ...


That's a real can of worms. There are various ways:
- Plan the route in a route planner that tells you the elevation gain
- Look at the total elevation number on your GPS at the end of your ride (If it has such a thing - my Garmin 530 does)
- Upload the ride to a site like Strava or RideWithGPS and see what it says.

They will all give you different numbers. And Strava will even give you different numbers for the same ride on different types of GPS. And the same ride uploaded to both Strava and RideWithGPS will give you different numbers. Generally similar, but different.

So to avoid this minefield I just stick with one method. That is - what does RWGPS say after I've uploaded it? I use that because it's my permanent record.

To get a measure of total ascent on the GPS device, the best thing to look for would be a GPS with a _barometric altimeter._


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## Sea of vapours (3 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> Seriously though - could someone please explain in very simple terms how to measure elevation when riding.


[Deleted comments which are much the same as @Dogtrousers ' ]

I concur on the above so I've removed my version of the same. The key thing is to choose a method and stick to it if you want to be able to compare your own rides over time. 

In practice, absolute simplest would be to buy a gps device, ideally with a barometric altimeter, and read the number it gives you (either on its screen or from any on-line service, such as Strava, you choose to upload your recorded track to). Equally good, and a different sort of simplicity, would be to plan each route on any of numerous web-based route planners and read that number, something you can also do retrospectively provided you know where you've been. 

And if you do start doing this, don't get involved in arguments, as distinct from debates, about what's 'correct'. It's true that some methods are better, in the sense of more accurate, but ultimately most are close enough for 'record my bike ascent' purposes. Plus, what constitutes 'correct' is at some levels rather philosophical. For example: whether a descent and ascent of 1m on an otherwise pan flat road should be recorded is very much open for debate (suppose it's a hundred, one centimetre dips, rather than a single one metre dip; what is 'flat'? ...).


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> That's a real can of worms. There are various ways:
> - Plan the route in a route planner that tells you the elevation gain
> - Look at the total elevation number on your GPS at the end of your ride (If it has such a thing - my Garmin 530 does)
> - Upload the ride to a site like Strava or RideWithGPS and see what it says.



Thanks very much for that - I really appreciate it. 

I currently don't have any form of GPS (not even a smartphone - and I don't want one). 

I'll start a conversation with my LBS about a Garmin attachment for my road bike (probably in September - it's hopeless trying to do anything in France in August). Not sure that I would want to upload rides to Strava or RWGPS - I imagine it would all be in French based on my IPS location - and I really struggle with French websites (I speak French all the time - but 'internet-speak' drives me crazy and I generally just give up). 

I don't think I'm doing anything significant in terms of height gain on my rides - but it would be interesting to know. So far, all I've been able to do is compare spot heights on a map - and that's really just a waste of time.


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## Dogtrousers (3 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> Thanks very much for that - I really appreciate it.
> 
> I currently don't have any form of GPS (not even a smartphone - and I don't want one).
> 
> ...



Probably easiest would be to use a route planner like Strava or RWGPS or Komoot maybe. I doubt they'd be in French.


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> In practice, absolute simplest would be to buy a gps device, ideally with a barometric altimeter, and read the number it gives you (either on its screen or from any on-line service, such as Strava, you choose to upload your recorded track to). Equally good, and a different sort of simplicity, would be to plan each route on any of numerous web-based route planners and read that number, something you can also do retrospectively provided you know where you've been.



Thanks ! 

I've not investigated web-based route planners mostly because I rarely, if ever, plan where I'm going to go - I usually make it up as I go along. But I do know (and note in detail) where I have been .. so that's a great suggestion .. if I can find one that covers France, but in English. 

I completely understand your point about using one method and sticking to it. 

I really have no interest in uploading rides to Strava (or any other online service) - I much prefer to keep my rides private (and I really dislike having to be too specific when it comes to posting ride details on CC). 

As I said in my reply above to @Dogtrousers , this is just to satisfy my curiosity .. I don't live in an area like the Pennines or the North Downs, so significant ascents are few and far between.


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## Sea of vapours (3 Aug 2022)

https://ridewithgps.com/
Free, in English, gives elevation data in France. Given that you know where you've been, it's a very simple solution :-)

*EDIT*: if it comes up in French based on your IP-derived location you can change that under 'Preferences' once you've set your account up.


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## Dogtrousers (3 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> I really have no interest in uploading rides to Strava (or any other online service) - I much prefer to keep my rides private (and I really dislike having to be too specific when it comes to posting ride details on CC).


I'm not saying you *should* use these, it's entirely up to you, but all of my uploaded rides are private. Only I can access them. Just sayin'


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> all of my uploaded rides are private. Only I can access them. Just sayin'



That's interesting - I didn't know. 

Strava's a subscription service? or it's free but you have to pay for a 'privacy option'? 

After your ride, you post evidence of your ride on CC as a link to Strava - which only you can access? 

I had always assumed that all CC-posted Strava links were available to anyone also on Strava who was curious to know the ride details - but apparently that's not the case .. ?


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> Free, in English, gives elevation data in France. Given that you know where you've been, it's a very simple solution :-)



Thanks ! I'll check it out a bit later this afternoon. No chance of going out on my bike as it's over 30C again here.

I'd ignored RideWithGPS earlier because of its name - as I said before, I don't have a GPS device. So .. if I don't need one, then that's a perfect solution.


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## Dogtrousers (3 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> That's interesting - I didn't know.
> 
> Strava's a subscription service? or it's free but you have to pay for a 'privacy option'?
> 
> ...



On Strava, with a free account you have 3 options. 





I rarely post to Strava, when I do it's to let the few people I'm connected with on Strava know I'm still alive. So I set it to "followers" and then after a week or to I set it to only me. You can also choose a default that newly uploaded rides take.

Similar applies to RWGPS. RWGPS also has a handy "make everything private" button, in case you've left something shared.

I don't post strava or RWGPS links on CC, except occasionally routes that I've planned. People just have to take my word that it happened. I suppose you could post a link that only you can access, but that would defeat the object of CC a bit.


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> I rarely post to Strava, when I do it's to let the few people I'm connected with on Strava know I'm still alive. So I set it to "followers" and then after a week or to I set it to only me. You can also choose a default that newly uploaded rides take.
> 
> Similar applies to RWGPS. RWGPS also has a handy "make everything private" button, in case you've left something shared.
> 
> I don't post strava or RWGPS links on CC, except occasionally routes that I've planned. People just have to take my word that it happened. I suppose you could post a link that only you can access, but that would defeat the object of CC a bit.



OK - that's all clear now. 

Thanks for your help and patience.


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## steverob (3 Aug 2022)

I'm definitely double posting - most of my Climbing Lunacy rides are also Metric Century rides, but as one challenge is distance and the other is elevation, in my mind it is justifiable!

You could possibly say triple posting as well, as I always put all of my rides in the Half Century thread in order to claim my points, but I make sure I do at least one ride in each month that is just over 50km and hasn't been posted anywhere else, before I can say that month is "completed". Usually it's the first ride of the month, but not always.


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## FrothNinja (3 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Just a note. @FrothNinja You should edit the title of this thread to remove the 2022. Chatzones aren't broken down by year, they just go on ... and on.
> 
> To honour this challenge I piled on the climbing for this month's Imperial Century challenge ride and ended up with 2,314m. And my legs were unusually fine. Taking it slow works!
> 
> I've been double posting my rides from the Imperial Century challenge into this challenge. I don't see this as a problem, esp as I'm just using this as extra motivation to keep me honest and avoid "unethically flat" routes and I'm not planning to display the moon thingy in my sig. Others may disagree.



Your wish is my command, alakazam - the title is changed whilst I listen to hard bop.
I also post my rides too, also helps me push a bit more and quite literally go the extra mile/km/metre


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## FrothNinja (3 Aug 2022)

Actually it maybe posting as I seem to be the only one doing the 30 mins x 3 per week (currently three rides into week 30 weirdly enough)


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## bluenotebob (3 Aug 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> as I seem to be the only one doing the 30 mins x 3 per week (currently three rides into week 30 weirdly enough)



No - you're not the only one. I'm still in - I've only missed two days on the bike since the end of February but I just couldn't be bothered to keep posting every other day in that challenge.


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## FrothNinja (3 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> No - you're not the only one. I'm still in - I've only missed two days on the bike since the end of February but I just couldn't be bothered to keep posting every other day in that challenge.



I will concede that bit does feel a bit like a chore at times


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## bluenotebob (4 Aug 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> I will concede that bit does feel a bit like a chore at times



Exactly.

I decided (around week 12 or 13, I think) that I was only going to post again in that challenge if I failed in any one week – and that I would therefore have to pull out.

It’s obviously up to you as to whether you want to keep posting three times a week but you might consider ‘block booking’ your rides once a week (or just once a month).

Incidentally, I grew up a bit south from where you and @ColinJ live – and I have enjoyed seeing your photos of Pennine moorland, the Leeds-Liverpool canal – and one of a railway line (near Burnley?) – they brought back some happy teenage memories of being out on my Raleigh bike and exploring.


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## ColinJ (4 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> Incidentally, I grew up a bit south from where you and @ColinJ live – and I have enjoyed seeing your photos of Pennine moorland, the Leeds-Liverpool canal – and one of a railway line (near Burnley?) – they brought back some happy teenage memories of being out on my Raleigh bike and exploring.



My new phone has a really good camera but I usually carry it in a dry bag inside a backpack when out on the bike. It is a bit of a faff to fish it out so I don't take as many photos as I used to. (It is also a pain answering mid-ride calls.) 

I should buy a small bag to fit to the front of the bike and put the phone in that.


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## FrothNinja (4 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> Exactly.
> 
> I decided (around week 12 or 13, I think) that I was only going to post again in that challenge if I failed in any one week – and that I would therefore have to pull out.
> 
> ...



Glad you have enjoyed the pics, and yes, the railway was near Burnley


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## Fiona R (4 Aug 2022)

This looks interesting, need to find some time to invest in calculating what my target should be.


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## Ridgeback Roller (11 Aug 2022)

A near miss on yesterday's ride. Joined the midweek group for what looked like a surefire climbing qualifier but 3300ft elev. gain indicated on Garmin ended up as 2881ft when downloaded and adjusted, for the 67 miles. TBH I was cooked in the 31C temperatures, to the extent I was going easier in the shady sections to make them last, so missing out on a qualifying ride was the least of my worries!


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## Supersuperleeds (11 Aug 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> That's interesting - I didn't know.
> 
> Strava's a subscription service? or it's free but you have to pay for a 'privacy option'?
> 
> ...



If you want to plan routes on Strava, then you have to be a subscriber. If you want to just upload rides from a device then it is free.

Ridewithgps, both route planning and uploading rides is free. I’ve no idea what extras subscribers get.


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## Fiona R (24 Aug 2022)

ColinJ said:


> I should buy a small bag to fit to the front of the bike and put the phone in that.


One of my best purchases ever has been a Velopac (mine is teal) Takes your phone in a padded/waterproof wallet and a zipped section for bank cards/cash. Can also fit a mask in there (remember those day!) small pencil and brevet card for audax. I use mine as my everyday purse. Zip is still OK but my teal one has had a lot of use, bought another one in orange for backup. Fits in a back pocket very neatly. A friend had a horrific crash in Ireland and luckily his phone was in his pocket, cycling alone bike was away from him and it was night time. He managed to call himself an ambulance. I was assaulted once on the B2B and as they tried to wrench my seatpost bag off I remember thinking "glad my phone is on me if they do steal my bag/bike"


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## Fiona R (24 Aug 2022)

My 13th ride yesterday, 1800m. Now to see what I can do to improve. Nowhere near SOV's impressive numbers


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## Sea of vapours (24 Aug 2022)

Cranky Knee Girl said:


> My 13th ride yesterday, 1800m. Now to see what I can do to improve. Nowhere near SOV's impressive numbers


Congratulations and thanks for the reminder to post in the climbing challenge thread. 

Thread duly updated and now my Lunacy Simplified Climbing Challenge and Lunacy Challenge lists are no longer identical, so that's pleasing.


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## Fiona R (24 Aug 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> Congratulations and thanks for the reminder to post in the climbing challenge thread.
> 
> Thread duly updated and now my Lunacy Simplified Climbing Challenge and Lunacy Challenge lists are no longer identical, so that's pleasing.



It took me ages updating everything this morning. 50km x 2 last weekend for 50km then triple counted yesterdays for Imperial, Lunacy distance and lunacy climbing!


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## FrothNinja (24 Aug 2022)

Cranky Knee Girl said:


> My 13th ride yesterday, 1800m. Now to see what I can do to improve. Nowhere near SOV's impressive numbers



Congratulations! I have some work to do too. Mind you my knees are still sore from Sunday


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## FrothNinja (26 Aug 2022)

Squeezed 800sh metres into 20 miles but knees playing up a bit so wimped out on chasing the last 200


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## Ridgeback Roller (4 Sep 2022)

Added a couple of qualifying rides during a short camper van/cycling break in Mid-Wales. Also added a couple of BCQ answers to the tally, but I'm not really chasing those. A few photos posted in the monthly 50km/50mile challenge chatzone. 
Still need 3 more qualifying rides this year, I'm enjoying the cooler weather, so hope to rattle them off fairly soon.


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## Dogtrousers (4 Sep 2022)

Added yesterday's imperial century. It just sneaks over the 2,000m mark which is my real personal target. I'm not going to manage 13 of them but I'm aiming for as many as possible.

Maybe a target for next year.


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## Fiona R (7 Sep 2022)

A "streeeetttccchhhhhhhhh" target no less


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## FrothNinja (11 Sep 2022)

In spite of only getting beyond Zone 2 for 1min 59sec (mayhap my heart monitor is shagged) my knees are really giving me gip tonight.
Think I will be doing half hour stints on the towpath for the rest of the week - or hoping for rain though that hasn't stopped me lately.


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## FrothNinja (25 Sep 2022)

Today I was never more tha 10 miles from home and did only a smidge over 42 km, yet I still hit my 1000m target for the day. 
Pendle - tis a hilly place.

*Ride 13, September 25 *- Burnley, Higham, Ridge, Dean, Sabden, Stainscomb, Sabden Fold, Jinny Lane, Clarion, high rocky road to Barley, Newchurch, Sabden Fold, Stainscomb, Sabden, Dean, Ridge, Higham, Guide Lane, Spen Brook, Jinny Lane, Roughlee, Noggarth, Fence, Burnley * (total 26.2 miles plus 1030 m of ascent)*
_Quite a sizeable % was off road_


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## Sea of vapours (25 Sep 2022)

Congratulations on completing :-)


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## Fiona R (14 Oct 2022)

I've been a bit remiss in updating but I'm complete so I need to see if I can stretch to 1750m by the end of the year. No way can I stretch to @Sea of vapours very very impressive totals achieved very modestly, it's a good job it's a competition with nobody except your self. A very good challenge not concentrating on distance.


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## Fiona R (16 Oct 2022)

What a mess. I added my original entry, updated and added another , then last time edited the first entry....

Think I have sorted it out now so my latest update should be right. I'm now on 15 after yesterday's ride around the Mendips and Cotswolds with the most refreshments stops ever! Original target was 1500m Actual currently 1658m


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## Sea of vapours (16 Oct 2022)

That was an awful long time in the saddle yesterday for mid October ! Congratulations on an abundance of achievements, including RRTY.


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## Fiona R (17 Oct 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> That was an awful long time in the saddle yesterday for mid October ! Congratulations on an abundance of achievements, including RRTY.



There was an awful lot of out of the saddle time in there  As in off the saddle totally, not the powering up hills sort, just a bit of that out of the saddle time.


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## Dogtrousers (17 Oct 2022)

I think I may be out of this. I've had a bit of a cycling hiatus due to one thing and another. I did my October imperial century at the weekend - it was 1,343 m, so short of my 1,500m target and I found it very tough going. I don't think I'll be fitting in three 1,500m rides between now and the end of the year.


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## Ridgeback Roller (19 Oct 2022)

Yesterday was unseasonably warm here in the south east, so an ideal day for another qualifying ride, although there were unexpected patches of mist early on. Usual route out of West Sussex into Hampshire and the Meon Valley, where I had a change of plan. Initially I thought I'd loop back home via Wheely Down/Exton /Old Winchester Hill , a route which would have just scraped 3000ft ascent, but it was such a nice day that I pushed on further north to Four Marks before taking the hilly route home via Newton Valence and Hawkley. Ended up just shy of 80 miles with 4000ft plus ascent. Legs are feeling it today!


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## FrothNinja (30 Oct 2022)

Today I did a sort of inverted climbing challenge. I tried to see if I could leave the house and do a half century with minimal climbing. I managed 50.5 miles with only 24 metres ascent before being overwhelmed by boredom. I also got some odd looks from people who I assume thought I was some flavour of nutter - can't blame them really.


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## steverob (19 Nov 2022)

Completed my thirteenth ride in the challenge today, which was also my shortest qualifying ride by distance - actually tried to pack the climbs in on this one for once.

However I'd like to do one more hilly ride before the end of the year because that way I can get my lowest value to drop off the bottom of my list and that would mean my actual achievement could be updated to 2,300 feet / 700 metres, which sounds a little more impressive (but not much compared to some of you other peeps!)


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## Sea of vapours (19 Nov 2022)

Congratulations :-) Definitely worth bumping it to 700 if you get the chance. Metric round-ish numbers are good, as is slight overachievement !


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## FrothNinja (20 Nov 2022)

steverob said:


> Completed my thirteenth ride in the challenge today, which was also my shortest qualifying ride by distance - actually tried to pack the climbs in on this one for once.
> 
> However I'd like to do one more hilly ride before the end of the year because that way I can get my lowest value to drop off the bottom of my list and that would mean my actual achievement could be updated to 2,300 feet / 700 metres, which sounds a little more impressive (but not much compared to some of you other peeps!)



Congrats! Climbing warms you up on the bike too


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## Ridgeback Roller (20 Nov 2022)

steverob said:


> Completed my thirteenth ride in the challenge today, which was also my shortest qualifying ride by distance - actually tried to pack the climbs in on this one for once.
> 
> However I'd like to do one more hilly ride before the end of the year because that way I can get my lowest value to drop off the bottom of my list and that would mean my actual achievement could be updated to 2,300 feet / 700 metres, which sounds a little more impressive (but not much compared to some of you other peeps!)


I'm thinking I may need to come up with a shortish route packing in the climbs too - I'm one short of target and finding that my cycling is very social this time of year and my riding buddies don't take to unnecessary hills just to suit me 
Although it goes against the grain, I might have to include a couple of hill repeats. Just need a reasonably dry day............


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## steverob (21 Nov 2022)

I thought I'd try and do a little icon for this challenge in case anyone wanted to put it in their signature. I tried to draw a crescent moon over a mountain range, but once I'd scaled it down to the right size, some of the details maybe weren't quite as visible as maybe they were previously!

Trouble is I can't actually put it in MY signature, because when I try to do so, it tells me my signature is now 1 line too long and has 34 characters too many in it!

Anyway, here is the icon if anyone wants it (or wants to try to make a better version):






It's also saved within the "Media" section of the forum as well, so you can link directly to it if you type in the URL "https://www.cyclechat.net/media/climbing-png.11695/full"


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## FrothNinja (21 Nov 2022)

steverob said:


> View attachment 668812



Comes up as:
Page not found​Sorry, the requested page or resource could not be found.
Try *SEARCHING* to see if you can find it.
Or maybe *BROWSE OUR FORUMS* to see if what you are looking for is mentioned in any of our discussion threads.


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## steverob (21 Nov 2022)

Try that link again. I did have to go back and edit it when it appeared incorrectly first time, so maybe you caught it just as I was editing.


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## FrothNinja (24 Nov 2022)

How does one load it under one's name?


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## ColinJ (24 Nov 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> How does one load it under one's name?
> View attachment 669067


Click on your _FrothNinja _link (above right) to edit your details. Click on _Signature _and add it in the edit box there.


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## ColinJ (25 Nov 2022)

@Sea of vapours - I see you made good your promise to come back over here and hit the local hills today! 

Did you get a stiff headwind when doing that steepish climb before Widdop? I had one once on that climb many years ago when wearing a HRM and hit 199 bpm on the second ramp. 

I was out today too but only did about 10% of what you did... (18 km/340 m)


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## Sea of vapours (25 Nov 2022)

I did. Well spotted ! A very fine ride it was too. I spontaneously made it into an imperial century by going the wrong way around Ingleborough at the end, thereby adding 25km. 

I had a sidewind at that point. Most of the day in fact. Since it was 15mph and gusting 30mph, I'd probably not have done that route today had the wind been adverse either way. As it was, it blew me up the hill out of Hebden Bridge towards Oxenhope quite nicely :-) 

That Widdop road really is excellent in either direction. It's a bit far for me to actually get to and sadly involves traversing Colne, but I'll do it again sometime, I'm sure. At least I spotted that my 'avoid Colne' planned route went through this ford on Cockhill Lane before I set off. I don't think I'd go along there in dry conditions, and it is far from dry !

I did wonder whether I'd see you but thought it would be too restrictive to try and meet as it was a pretty long day anyway. 

Oh! Why did you do that huge zig zag on your recent Hebden Bridge triangle forum ride; the one going up to Watersheddles Reservoir from Haworth? I wondered if there was an issue with the direct road but it seemed fine.


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## ColinJ (25 Nov 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> I did. Well spotted ! A very fine ride it was too. I spontaneously made it into an imperial century by going the wrong way around Ingleborough at the end, thereby adding 25km.





Sea of vapours said:


> I had a sidewind at that point. Most of the day in fact. Since it was 15mph and gusting 30mph, I'd probably not have done that route today had the wind been adverse either way. As it was, it blew me up the hill out of Hebden Bridge towards Oxenhope quite nicely :-)


It is often handy in that direction. I encountered the _headwind-from-hell_ when riding in the opposite direction in a few editions of the _Spring Into The Dales_ audax.


Sea of vapours said:


> That Widdop road really is excellent in either direction. It's a bit far for me to actually get to and sadly involves traversing Colne, but I'll do it again sometime, I'm sure. At least I spotted that my 'avoid Colne' planned route went through this ford on Cockhill Lane before I set off. I don't think I'd go along there in dry conditions, and it is far from dry !


I also managed to avoid that ford having wisely checked a new route on Streetview before setting out to ride it.

I got caught out by a different ford in pre-Streetview days (_*HERE*_) and crashed. That is the one I was telling my pal Carrie about when pleading with her not to ride through fords anymore! (There is also a shorter ford further up that lane but I walked the bike through that one!)


Sea of vapours said:


> I did wonder whether I'd see you but thought it would be too restrictive to try and meet as it was a pretty long day anyway.


In mid-summer, maybe, but you wouldn't want to be hanging about for me at this time of year!


Sea of vapours said:


> Oh! Why did you do that huge zig zag on your recent Hebden Bridge triangle forum ride; the one going up to Watersheddles Reservoir from Haworth? I wondered if there was an issue with the direct road but it seemed fine.


The same reason as you going round Ingleborough - to add distance. Even with the extra zigzag, our route only came to 52-53 km. Also, I like the views from the higher road.


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## FrothNinja (26 Nov 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> went through this ford on Cockhill Lane before I set



I decked out on that ford/stream last year (first time through it on that type of bike) and caught it on vid 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYQ2fDPqEMY&list=PLs1NkSMbl_WYpmmt6wXvYMaH6PsXuH-ug&index=5&t=70s


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## Sea of vapours (26 Nov 2022)

Yep - that convinces me of my choice to never go anywhere near it. I wasn't aware there was a path along the side, but that is a) pretty rubbish, b) quite possibly under water in vaguely wet conditions !


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## FrothNinja (26 Nov 2022)

Sea of vapours said:


> Yep - that convinces me of my choice to never go anywhere near it. I wasn't aware there was a path along the side, but that is a) pretty rubbish, b) quite possibly under water in vaguely wet conditions !



Dry is the rarity - only closed to traffic in last 12 months or so. It is actually a road that shares a path with a stream. When the water has been low for a long period it is at its most slipper because of the algae on the stones. I left streaks on them and did the next 20 miles or so with a green left leg. Nearly everyone who rode through around that time came a cropper - that family had already watched a few hit the deck in the previous hour or so. I was unhurt because I slid along the deck. Been through a few times since without incident on that bike, but the water has been higher and the road is now closed to vehicular traffic - assuming the barriers were there when you checked it out


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## Sea of vapours (26 Nov 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> assuming the barriers were there when you checked it out


I noticed a closure on the one.network site and went to look at what the issue was. I could see on the OS map that a stream ran along the road. Once I could also see that there was also no raised path I scratched the thing from my route and all future routes ;-) I don't ride through any ford ever for reasons of slipperiness as I value the integrity of my bones ! 

Glad you survived your fall OK :-)


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## ColinJ (26 Nov 2022)

It's a shame, because otherwise that would be a very nice road!



Sea of vapours said:


> I don't ride through any ford ever for reasons of slipperiness as I value the integrity of my bones !


Ditto, after crashing on the one time that I tried doing so!

As for Carrie riding through fords - she is as likely as anybody else to crash, and given that her leg now looks like this after an encounter with a length of slippery Swiss railway track...






... I reckon that would be a *VERY BAD* thing to happen!


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## Alex321 (26 Nov 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> I decked out on that ford/stream last year (first time through it on that type of bike) and caught it on vid
> View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYQ2fDPqEMY&list=PLs1NkSMbl_WYpmmt6wXvYMaH6PsXuH-ug&index=5&t=211s




Your timestamp is after you picked it back up and got onto the path.


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## FrothNinja (26 Nov 2022)

Alex321 said:


> Your timestamp is after you picked it back up and got onto the path.


Due to total lack of knowing what I was doing 
If you go back to the start you can see the approach from the Colne side and subsequent re-alignment of the horizon at about 1:20


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## Alex321 (26 Nov 2022)

FrothNinja said:


> Due to total lack of knowing what I was doing
> If you go back to the start you can see the approach from the Colne side and subsequent re-alignment of the horizon at about 1:20



Yeah, I found that. If you go back and edit the link in your post, and change the 211 to say 70, that will start about 10 secs before said realignment.


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## FrothNinja (26 Nov 2022)

Alex321 said:


> Yeah, I found that. If you go back and edit the link in your post, and change the 211 to say 70, that will start about 10 secs before said realignment.



Pa, I learnt a 'new thing' today!!


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## bluenotebob (8 Dec 2022)

steverob said:


> It's also saved within the "Media" section of the forum as well,



@steverob ... a general question unrelated to this thread .. how did you load the image to the Media section? Do you use "Add Media"? and is it simply a case of creating your own (unique) filename to make it sharable? 

If you have a couple of spare minutes in the next week or so to reply, I'd be grateful - thanks !


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## steverob (8 Dec 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> @steverob ... a general question unrelated to this thread .. how did you load the image to the Media section? Do you use "Add Media"? and is it simply a case of creating your own (unique) filename to make it sharable?
> 
> If you have a couple of spare minutes in the next week or so to reply, I'd be grateful - thanks !


Pretty much, yes.

I already had an album created within the Media section of CycleChat (cause I was sharing some photos), so just went into Add Media there and then uploaded the picture I had already created from my PC.

Once that was done, I clicked on the file on the site and on the page that opened there was a section called Share This Media which had links that you could use to post the image elsewhere. The name given to the file by CC is based upon the name I gave it originally on my PC, but the system adds on the number at the end that makes it unique I guess.


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## bluenotebob (8 Dec 2022)

steverob said:


> Pretty much, yes.
> 
> I already had an album created within the Media section of CycleChat (cause I was sharing some photos), so just went into Add Media there and then uploaded the picture I had already created from my PC.
> 
> Once that was done, I clicked on the file on the site and on the page that opened there was a section called Share This Media which had links that you could use to post the image elsewhere. The name given to the file by CC is based upon the name I gave it originally on my PC, but the system adds on the number at the end that makes it unique I guess.



Thanks very much - that's all really helpful ! 

I've not used the Media section at all so now's the time to learn a bit more


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## Dogtrousers (8 Dec 2022)

Squashing things into signatures can be tricky. Each my lines of stars are individual images (one five silver stars, one five gold ones) are individual images that I made and uploaded to the media section.




and


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## steverob (9 Dec 2022)

On a similar note I actually did a three bronze star image for the same reasons, then decided to go down the "number X star" route in my signature the next year. But I'll put it here in case anyone wants to use it.


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## bluenotebob (9 Dec 2022)

steverob said:


> I'll put it here in case anyone wants to use it.



Duly copied - thanks !


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## Dogtrousers (25 Dec 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> I think I may be out of this. I've had a bit of a cycling hiatus due to one thing and another. I did my October imperial century at the weekend - it was 1,343 m, so short of my 1,500m target and I found it very tough going. I don't think I'll be fitting in three 1,500m rides between now and the end of the year.



Doing a countback I see that if I'd set my target to 1,462m instead of 1,500 I would have succeeded. So I'll be back next year with a 1,500m target. It won't be my primary aim - but as I'm downgrading from the imperial to the metric century a month it should make for some "ethical" rides. Better get route planning ...


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## Ridgeback Roller (29 Dec 2022)

I'm failing this challenge at the last hurdle. Today was realistically my last chance to fit a ride in this year but I'm struggling to shake off a heavy cold that's developed into a cough. It's my own fault to fall 1 qualifier short, I had plenty of opportunities earlier in the year but tempted fate by opting to leave the final one until December, to make it more of a personal challenge. I won't be doing that again........


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## FrothNinja (29 Dec 2022)

Ridgeback Roller said:


> I'm failing this challenge at the last hurdle. Today was realistically my last chance to fit a ride in this year but I'm struggling to shake off a heavy cold that's developed into a cough. It's my own fault to fall 1 qualifier short, I had plenty of opportunities earlier in the year but tempted fate by opting to leave the final one until December, to make it more of a personal challenge. I won't be doing that again........



Real sorry to hear that


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## Fiona R (3 Jan 2023)

Ridgeback Roller said:


> I'm failing this challenge at the last hurdle. Today was realistically my last chance to fit a ride in this year but I'm struggling to shake off a heavy cold that's developed into a cough. It's my own fault to fall 1 qualifier short, I had plenty of opportunities earlier in the year but tempted fate by opting to leave the final one until December, to make it more of a personal challenge. I won't be doing that again........



I was lucky I was already done as Nov/Dec have been write offs due to weather, illness, visitors and incompetence on my part (who forgets a 50km ride in Nov?) so 50km challenge failed, 100 miles as weather/illness commitments meant Nov didn't happen. At least I managed the two lunacy ones!


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## FrothNinja (4 Jan 2023)

Hoping I have got this right - the following is a list of those who successfully completed the 2022 Simplified Climbing Lunacy Challenge.
Congratulations @Cranky Knee Girl, @Sea of vapours, me, @steverob ,
Commiserations to those who got so close - always 2023 to have a go at


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## FrothNinja (Sunday at 13:50)

2023 Challenge thread at 2023 Annual Simplified Climbing Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Complicated") Challenge


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## bluenotebob (Sunday at 13:54)

FrothNinja said:


> 2023 Challenge thread



You might want to ask a mod to 'pin' your new thread (conversation elsewhere refers - perhaps in the HMCAM chatzone?)


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