The 2018 Half Century a month Challenge chatzone

[ianmac62]

My first year of committing to a challenge and so the "halfer" it is!

 

[Sbudge]

My first year of committing to a challenge and so the "halfer" it is!

Great to have another on board. Might I suggest if you think you *can* do a 100km in January that you give it a try? My first challenge year I missed doing a January century by only a few km because I thought it was beyond me...turned out I did them every other month. Once you've lost a month that's it for that distance for the year.

 

[ianmac62]

Hi @Sbudge - thanks for the words of encouragement; much appreciated. I'm committing to the "halfer" because I'm just coming to the end of a bout of pneumonia. My consultant at the local hospital chest clinic says that exercise will be much better than antibiotics. But I know I'm not up to 100km in January or February. Maybe March; definitely April. Happy to go for the metric century challenge in 2019.

If you've never had pneumonia (and I thought it was a disease I'd never get), it's a bugger. One week, I finished an imperial century ride (the Velo Birmingham last September); the next week - that's early October - I can't ride five miles home from the football on a utility bike without stopping twice because I'm completely out of breath. Eventually doctor, quickly hospital, x-rays, CT-scans, large antibiotic doses and still, in January and February, regular appointments at the chest clinic.

You weren't to know all of that nonsense. It's just that I know a metric century will be beyond me but I need to do something!

Thanks again for your encouragement.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

Hi @Sbudge - thanks for the words of encouragement; much appreciated. I'm committing to the "halfer" because I'm just coming to the end of a bout of pneumonia. My consultant at the local hospital chest clinic says that exercise will be much better than antibiotics. But I know I'm not up to 100km in January or February. Maybe March; definitely April. Happy to go for the metric century challenge in 2019.

If you've never had pneumonia (and I thought it was a disease I'd never get), it's a bugger. One week, I finished an imperial century ride (the Velo Birmingham last September); the next week - that's early October - I can't ride five miles home from the football on a utility bike without stopping twice because I'm completely out of breath. Eventually doctor, quickly hospital, x-rays, CT-scans, large antibiotic doses and still, in January and February, regular appointments at the chest clinic.

You weren't to know all of that nonsense. It's just that I know a metric century will be beyond me but I need to do something!

Thanks again for your encouragement.

Hope you feel better soon. I’ve had pneumonia. It’s an absolute bar steward.

 

[Sbudge]

Hi @Sbudge - thanks for the words of encouragement; much appreciated. I'm committing to the "halfer" because I'm just coming to the end of a bout of pneumonia. My consultant at the local hospital chest clinic says that exercise will be much better than antibiotics. But I know I'm not up to 100km in January or February. Maybe March; definitely April. Happy to go for the metric century challenge in 2019.

If you've never had pneumonia (and I thought it was a disease I'd never get), it's a bugger. One week, I finished an imperial century ride (the Velo Birmingham last September); the next week - that's early October - I can't ride five miles home from the football on a utility bike without stopping twice because I'm completely out of breath. Eventually doctor, quickly hospital, x-rays, CT-scans, large antibiotic doses and still, in January and February, regular appointments at the chest clinic.

You weren't to know all of that nonsense. It's just that I know a metric century will be beyond me but I need to do something!

Thanks again for your encouragement.

Ouch, no fun at all. Glad you're on the mend, I've a couple of friends who've had pneumonia recently it's no fun at all. I've been specializing recently in non-life threatening but disruptive conditions (Bell's Palsy, Labyrinthitis, Uveitis etc). They're much more entertaining, you get to pull funny faces (for weeks) and wobble around like a drunkard for free!

 

[ianmac62]

Ouch, no fun at all. Glad you're on the mend, I've a couple of friends who've had pneumonia recently it's no fun at all. I've been specializing recently in non-life threatening but disruptive conditions (Bell's Palsy, Labyrinthitis, Uveitis etc). They're much more entertaining, you get to pull funny faces (for weeks) and wobble around like a drunkard for free!

I’ll stay with paying for beer, wine and whisky. Hope this thread isn’t turning into an illness comparison one (as so many of my face-to-face conversations are starting to). Keep pedalling!

 

[Tal]

This sounds like a lot of fun! I wish we could do one for those of us in the US but would leave out the snow months. That may sound wimpy and I guess it is but I dont want to catch pneumonia. We could use blue, red and white stars for our distances. Maybe do it from April until October. I know that is only 7 months but at least it is something. And it is safe.

The Wimp

 

[Noodle Legs]

This sounds like a lot of fun! I wish we could do one for those of us in the US but would leave out the snow months. That may sound wimpy and I guess it is but I dont want to catch pneumonia. We could use blue, red and white stars for our distances. Maybe do it from April until October. I know that is only 7 months but at least it is something. And it is safe.

The Wimp

Anything’s better than nothing, it’s all about getting out there!

 

[Tal]

Anything’s better than nothing, it’s all about getting out there!

Thank you, Chris! I really do need to keep that in mind.

I know this seems off topic but it really isnt. I go to a dietician. She has this saying that goes:

"MODERATION - Doing better, most of the time!"

meaning that you can have your cake and eat it, too, and yes, you are going to mess up but it isnt the end of the world. I know me ... I will plan all of these bike rides per week, a goal that will be practically unattainable. And before, I would have gotten mad at myself if I missed one and then would have missed another one and maybe another one and then would have become frustrated and quit. But not now. I will make my plans, set my goals, and do what I can. Having this attitude keeps me from stressing about it. I am naturally pretty hard on myself. A perfectionist. But I am learning to loosen up. It sure does make life more enjoyable!

 

[Noodle Legs]

Thank you, Chris! I really do need to keep that in mind.

I know this seems off topic but it really isnt. I go to a dietician. She has this saying that goes:

"MODERATION - Doing better, most of the time!"

meaning that you can have your cake and eat it, too, and yes, you are going to mess up but it isnt the end of the world. I know me ... I will plan all of these bike rides per week, a goal that will be practically unattainable. And before, I would have gotten mad at myself if I missed one and then would have missed another one and maybe another one and then would have become frustrated and quit. But not now. I will make my plans, set my goals, and do what I can. Having this attitude keeps me from stressing about it. I am naturally pretty hard on myself. A perfectionist. But I am learning to loosen up. It sure does make life more enjoyable!

Great post this. I’m sure a lot of us on here can relate to this-I know I do! I have my goals for the year- in my mind achievable- and it’s just a case of getting on and doing it! Invariably at some stages things will come up in life that gets in the way of said goals - they always do - but for me it’s a case of doing what I can when I can, the rest is irrelevant! That said, I believe this challenge is doable for me, and it’s quite addictive too, like zwift!! But good luck with your goals and I hope you’ll smash the miles in!

 

[Tal]

Great post this. I’m sure a lot of us on here can relate to this-I know I do! I have my goals for the year- in my mind achievable- and it’s just a case of getting on and doing it! Invariably at some stages things will come up in life that gets in the way of said goals - they always do - but for it’s a case of doing what I can when I can, the rest is irrelevant! That said, I believe this challenge is doable for me, and it’s quite addictive too, like zwift!! But good luck with your goals and I hope you’ll smash the miles in!

Again, thank you, Chris! I wish the same for you!

BTW, I love your signature!

 

[NorthernDave]

No points for me this weekend (although I nearly got a metric quarter century in - now there's an idea! ).
far too icy to risk going out this morning and then not enough time for a half this afternoon.

Still, every ride beats sitting on the couch. Well done to anyone who did get a qualifying ride in.

 

[EasyPeez]

Phew....finally got some points on the board this weekend.

Given an unlikely back injury (trampolining!) and the constant ice on weekend mornings I was starting to worry that I might fall at the first hurdle, but I managed to get a 50 miler in on Saturday morning, based around a visit to a far flung library that had a book I've been dying to read for a while.

It was pretty damn cold, had to take lots of care on the descents due to spots of ice here and there, and the lanes were filthy, but it felt great to get out. Packing a flask of coffee with brandy and some of my wife's lovely flapjack definitely paid dividends.

These might be the only points of the month for me given my upcoming commitments, but I don't mind that, I'm just glad to be off and rolling on the challenge.

Hope everyone else who ventured out this weekend had a good ride.

Andy

 

[Noodle Legs]

Been a crap week for me, due to work commitments I have not got out at all and been restricted to the odd half hour of zwift here n there. Hopefully that will change this week (although I will still be zwifting!) and well done to everyone who got out and did a bit. Big kudos to @13 rider and @Supersuperleeds who I know managed to get out yesterday in awful conditions. Well done chaps!

 

[dickyknees]

After a break in the weather, recovering from the latest cold virus doing the rounds and getting close to the end of the month I managed a new route, new sights along the NCR 5 along the North Wales coast

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