The 2017 Half Century (50 KM or 50 Mile) A Month Challenge - Chatzone

[ColinJ]

I just add up the distances of all the rides that I do in a day. The 51 km that I claimed on Christmas Day was actually made up of a morning ride to see friends, and an evening ride back after spending the day with them.

I know that I can do long rides so there isn't any point in forcing myself to ride 50 km without stopping (though I often do). I have done several 230 km rides in the past and could probably do 300 km if I put my mind to it - my problem is with consistency! Without the various challenges that I set myself I get lazy and don't do much. So, for me the 50 km and 100 km challenges are intended to get me out on the bike more often and for longer rides than I tend to default to otherwise. As far as I am concerned 4 separate 25 km rides in a day is a 100 km ride day, and so on!

I am doing the metric century challenge this year as well as the half century challenge. I have decided that I will count the first 100 km ride in a month on the longer challenge but if I do any more 100 km/100 mile/200 km rides then they will be counted on the half century challenge because I am going for 100+ points this year and realistically will need quite a few longer rides to achieve that.

As @13 rider posted above, (within reason) set your own rules. The important thing is to stick to them. It's a personal challenge - we aren't competing with each other.

 

[Salty seadog]

Ok Col, thanks, so if you take it as a distance ridden in a day then I will do the same. I usually cover 50k in one go when I'm out so can feel good about that. In light of that I'm going to refit my first qualifying ride to add a few extra km.

I assume the easiest way to find your last post in the results thread is to search your own user name in that thread?

 

[kapelmuur]

It's just as well we can decide our own rules as I take the opposite view with regard to split rides!

For me a ride has to be continuous to count. In summer I have a 45 mile route I ride in the morning, then in the evening I get out my pub bike and ride 2.5 miles to a nice pub with a beer garden, have a pint and cycle home.

That's 50 miles for the day, but I wouldn't claim an imperial half for it.

 

[ColinJ]

It's just as well we can decide our own rules as I take the opposite view with regard to split rides!

For me a ride has to be continuous to count. In summer I have a 45 mile route I ride in the morning, then in the evening I get out my pub bike and ride 2.5 miles to a nice pub with a beer garden, have a pint and cycle home.

That's 50 miles for the day, but I wouldn't claim an imperial half for it.

Where do you draw the line though ...? Pee stops must be ok. What about 20 minutes in a cafe mid-ride for a slice of cake and a can of Coke? A longer break with a cooked meal on a really long ride?

Still, it IS a personal choice how we view our own rides.

I do think that it is slightly odd for audax riders to call 600s one ride when they usually stop somewhere for a kip overnight! (Audax rules are pretty straightforward - stick to the route, go faster than THIS and slower than THAT, and that is it. So, a 600 IS a 600, NOT (say) a 340 on day 1 followed a few hours later by a 260 on day 2!)

I wouldn't use sleep as the determining factor either though because I have nodded off for 5 mins or so mid-ride before now; fortunately at cafes, NOT actually on the bike!

 

[tallliman]

@kapelmuur, in the same way, my commute is a 40mile round trip but I don't count them in this challenge as I see them as 2 rides of about 20 miles. They only get counted if i extend one leg to 50km (or one day last year, 100km!) However, that's my choice!

I guess my deliniating feature is getting changed between being on the bike. If I don't, then it's one ride! :-)

 

[Osprey]

A cold wind today, I kept on the peninsula today to avoid any icy conditions though it turned out frosty on the commons away from the coast. It would of been easy to cut the ride short today but the half century challenge motivated me to stay out for the 50km. https://www.strava.com/activities/831475689

 

[GuyBoden]

It was a nice sunny day (20th Jan), if a bit foggy near the meres, so I got in another 100km ride to Jodrell Bank on my old Raleigh, using my old legs.

 

[kapelmuur]

Where do you draw the line though ...? Pee stops must be ok. What about 20 minutes in a cafe mid-ride for a slice of cake and a can of Coke? A longer break with a cooked meal on a really long ride?

Still, it IS a personal choice how we view our own rides.

I do think that it is slightly odd for audax riders to call 600s one ride when they usually stop somewhere for a kip overnight! (Audax rules are pretty straightforward - stick to the route, go faster than THIS and slower than THAT, and that is it. So, a 600 IS a 600, NOT (say) a 340 on day 1 followed a few hours later by a 260 on day 2!)

I wouldn't use sleep as the determining factor either though because I have nodded off for 5 mins or so mid-ride before now; fortunately at cafes, NOT actually on the bike!

This is a discussion about the half century, so the challenge for me is to ride the distance with as few stops as possible. I only allow myself to stop to obey the rules of the road and the call of nature.

I used to be a distance runner and ride 50 miles in about the same time as it used to take me to run a marathon. I would never have considered stopping for cake during a marathon!

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, for some people it is about 'half century rides' and for some (like me) it is about 'half century days'.

When I ride alone I don't stop at cafes. For a solo 50 mile ride I wouldn't stop at shops either. I would carry enough to last me the ride and just get it done.

If I have business to attend to a 25 mile ride away then the fact that I stop halfway through my 50 mile ride doesn't bother me. I consider it a 50 mile ride with something to do mid-ride.

There is no right or wrong answer. Obviously, if we were competing, then that would not be true. A 100 mile time trial is not the same as four 25 mile time trials on the same day - I am sure that I could complete four 25 mile rides with recovery in between in a total time significantly less than a 100-miler.

 

[steverob]

A cold ride today, but because of a thankfully light wind, as long as I kept moving, it wasn't too bad. Was aiming for over 50 miles, but for quite a lot of the ride I was having to calculate my total distance in my head, as my Garmin reset itself about half of the way through the ride and so I was working with two totals, the first one of which I wasn't 100% sure on (I knew I was over 25 miles at that point, but how much more than that, I wasn't clear on). Added on a little extra on my way home to make sure I reached my target and ended up with 51.8 miles in the end.

Thankfully was able to recover the file of the first part from the device once I got home - the route was okay apart from a short quarter mile stretch round where the device failed, but I lost things like elevation, cadence and temperature from the first half as they were completely corrupt.

 

[NorthernDave]

Another metric half century today, which despite being over the same route as the last qualifying ride was oddly 0.08 of a km shorter...
Just glad to get out there and get one in - still really struggling for fitness although I've upped the weeknight training a notch now so hopefully it will start to come back. Being 10kg heavier than I was in September probably won't help either. Bloody Christmas....

Reports, etc in the usual places.

 

[kapelmuur]

For the information of @GuyBoden and anyone else following the Chapel Lane saga, I spoke to a contractor yesterday who said the road should reopen by the end of next week.

However, there are notices advising closures of Mereside Road from tomorrow and Mill Lane (Tatton to Rostherene) from the 30th, so we're not free from having to find alternative routes to follow the Cheshire Cycleway.

 

[13 rider]

Welcome to the challenge @Houthakker

 

[13 rider]

22nd January 2017 - 50 km https://www.strava.com/activities/840450743 1 point

I am off the starting blocks

But only the 22nd of the month there a whole week to spare

 

[Effyb4]

But I am working for the next 12 days. So this was really my last opportunity for this month. It was minus 6 when I left the house and very icy.