The 2016 Half Century (50 KM or 50 Mile) A Month Challenge - Chatzone

[MikeW-71]

Man, I've been slacking off lately, and I felt it in this ride. I figured I needed to push towards 50 miles again on my usual terrain, so I plotted a route to visit the Long Meg druids circle near Penrith.

The full loop was 42 miles, up and down all the way, with some steeper stuff on the way back. Armathaites' Station Hill is hard work for me at the best of times and I had to settle for slowly dragging myself up it this time (well, it does peak at 13%).

https://www.strava.com/activities/676969226

In this pic you may be able to make out the radar station at the top of Great Dun Fell, and there is a nasty little voice in my head saying I should climb it


And at the stone circle:

 

[kapelmuur]

@Katherine - looking at Strava flyby I see we passed each other on Cann Lane this morning.

Chapeau on your 80 mile ride!

 

[Saluki]

Sounds great, have a good day today.

I had the best day. We had mystery shoppers in on Sunday and they 'mystery shopped' my ride, a little roller coaster. I was marked at 100% so will get a £50 bonus in my wages in a fortnight. I will also have part time work over the winter and will go back in spring for the season
Better get some Autumn and winter rides in.

 

[Katherine]

I had the best day. We had mystery shoppers in on Sunday and they 'mystery shopped' my ride, a little roller coaster. I was marked at 100% so will get a £50 bonus in my wages in a fortnight. I will also have part time work over the winter and will go back in spring for the season
Better get some Autumn and winter rides in.

That's great, well done. Sounds like you are enjoying your new job.

 

[Saluki]

That's great, well done. Sounds like you are enjoying your new job.

I love it. I applied for tons of jobs when we moved here but I was constantly told that I was too old. The local places want kids so they can pay them less. Never even got an interview, sometimes not even an application form. There are quite a few over 40s at CC, they value experience with people. Very refreshing attitude.

 

[Katherine]

@Katherine - looking at Strava flyby I see we passed each other on Cann Lane this morning.

Chapeau on your 80 mile ride!

Thanks, very tired now but feeling great for breaking the 80. 83.9 miles to be precise! Three weeks until the Manchester 100!!!!!
I decided to do the lovely ride out to Anderton Boat Lift but it wouldn't have been enough, so I repeated the best bits, which were between High Legh and Anderton. There is a scarecrow festival in Great Budworth which slowed me down as lots of pictures were needed.
I enjoyed the afternoon more than the morning somehow, apart from suddenly at 74 miles, my legs wanted to give up. I was fine after another quick snack stop.

 

[Katherine]

@Katherine - looking at Strava flyby I see we passed each other on Cann Lane this morning.

Chapeau on your 80 mile ride!

Just had a quick look and it looks like you had a good ride too.

 

[kapelmuur]

Just had a quick look and it looks like you had a good ride too.

Thank you. I'm trying to pluck up the courage to enter the Manchester 100 but I'm concerned that I will not make the distance as I rarely ride more than 45 miles and have never ridden more than 60.

You saying you're tired after 83 miles has added to my worries!

 

[NorthernDave]

My biggest ride ever coming up on Saturday, as I'm entered in the 81 mile Wiggle Yorkshire Tour.
My previous best has been 63 miles, so just a few extra miles...it will get me my imperial half / metric century for the month though!
Really looking forward to it, even if the weather forecast looks a bit damp.

 

[Sbudge]

Thank you. I'm trying to pluck up the courage to enter the Manchester 100 but I'm concerned that I will not make the distance as I rarely ride more than 45 miles and have never ridden more than 60.

You saying you're tired after 83 miles has added to my worries!

Just don't be shy about taking a break and having a stretch when you need it...it can really help.

 

[Sbudge]

My biggest ride ever coming up on Saturday, as I'm entered in the 81 mile Wiggle Yorkshire Tour.
My previous best has been 63 miles, so just a few extra miles...it will get me my imperial half / metric century for the month though!
Really looking forward to it, even if the weather forecast looks a bit damp.

Good luck, should be a really good'un.

 

[Sbudge]

Well, I did something decidedly daft yesterday. I just took a day off and rode as far as I could and back in a day. The choice was either due South (Brighton) or due East (Bramwell), in the end the wind made up my mind. 12 mph from the East meant a headwind on the way out but a tailwind all the way back (much better than 200km of crosswinds). I pretty much ran out of land/road at Bradwell-on-Sea, it seems someone stuck a nuclear power station in the way at Bramwell point!

Definitely tired and sore this morning but it was nice (in a rather warped way). Two things stood out though, firstly just how many villages no longer have any sort of local shop and secondly that there's a big difference between theoretical cycle paths and actual cycle paths ... A127 I'm talking about you (yes, I should have paid more attention to the route plotting on the way out).

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks, very tired now but feeling great for breaking the 80. 83.9 miles to be precise! Three weeks until the Manchester 100!!!!!

Thank you. I'm trying to pluck up the courage to enter the Manchester 100 but I'm concerned that I will not make the distance as I rarely ride more than 45 miles and have never ridden more than 60.

You saying you're tired after 83 miles has added to my worries!

Make sure you eat and drink plenty, and pace yourself. It isn't a difficult route, but don't listen to fit riders who tell you that it is "pan flat". It isn't - it has a total of nearly 1,000 metres of climbing. Most of that is fairly gentle, though there are one or two short, steep hills, notably the one at Styal towards the end. Have your climbing gears ready as you drop down into the dip because you turn right at the bottom and head straight back up again. I was caught in the big ring and came to a dead stop before I could get into a suitably low gear ...

Assuming that the route has not changed from when I used to do the ride ... don't get caught out by the fact that the halfway stop is actually after 55 miles! It did my head in the first time I rode the event because I had run out of drink and had not paced myself for the extra 5 miles. I had got to about the 49 mile point and then started going as fast as I could, thinking it was only a mile until I could rest and refuel. I ended up grovelling for those extra 5 miles!

They added the 100 km version of the event after I had ridden the 100 mile edition several times. The 100 km riders set off on the same route after the 100 mile riders have gone, but take a shortcut to rejoin the main route further on. The result is that slower 100 mile riders (such as me!) start to encounter groups of tired, wobbly and (sometimes) inexperienced riders on the run back in to Manchester. BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN OVERTAKING THEM! I saw riders stop dead in the middle of the road to answer the phone, eat a sandwich, or take a rest. A bit scary ...

Have fun!

 

[Katherine]

Make sure you eat and drink plenty, and pace yourself. It isn't a difficult route, but don't listen to fit riders who tell you that it is "pan flat". It isn't - it has a total of nearly 1,000 metres of climbing. Most of that is fairly gentle, though there are one or two short, steep hills, notably the one at Styal towards the end. Have your climbing gears ready as you drop down into the dip because you turn right at the bottom and head straight back up again. I was caught in the big ring and came to a dead stop before I could get into a suitably low gear ...

Assuming that the route has not changed from when I used to do the ride ... don't get caught out by the fact that the halfway stop is actually after 55 miles! It did my head in the first time I rode the event because I had run out of drink and had not paced myself for the extra 5 miles. I had got to about the 49 mile point and then started going as fast as I could, thinking it was only a mile until I could rest and refuel. I ended up grovelling for those extra 5 miles!

They added the 100 km version of the event after I had ridden the 100 mile edition several times. The 100 km riders set off on the same route after the 100 mile riders have gone, but take a shortcut to rejoin the main route further on. The result is that slower 100 mile riders (such as me!) start to encounter groups of tired, wobbly and (sometimes) inexperienced riders on the run back in to Manchester. BE EXTRA CAREFUL WHEN OVERTAKING THEM! I saw riders stop dead in the middle of the road to answer the phone, eat a sandwich, or take a rest. A bit scary ...

Have fun!

Thanks for your advice. I'll definitely be stopping for all the snacks and drinks.

 

[tallliman]

Good luck @Katherine!