The 2023 Half Century (50km or 50m) Challenge Chatzone

[bluenotebob]

Out of the door before 7.45am on La Rossa (the road bike) – dry but already quite windy. Did just over an hour (Kerminy/Plaisance loop) and back home for a slurp of cold coffee and a bike change. Another 40 minutes on the Urban Shaper took me to 30.7km for the day and still not 10.30am. So a large glass of milk and back out into the wind for another 80 minutes (a sort of reverse of the route of my first ride). 52km in the bag before lunch – I’ve not done that for a while.

An unplanned 50+km ride this morning but another welcome point. I expect I’ll go out into the wind again this afternoon – but with one eye on the dark clouds coming in from the west.

 

[13 rider]

Just back from a nice standard Wymeswold 50km loop ,Had waited for a weather window to dodge the showers . Pushed the bike out the door at 2pm just as it starts to spit with rain . I thought I will see how bad it gets and make my mind up . 1 mile from home it stops raining and I've got a tailwind pushing me along which is forecast to drop . Out to Wymeswold and looped my way back and yes the now headwind had dropped lovely timing . Back home only got a bit damp from surface spray but the bikes dirty !! . So glad I got out could have easily been a day I rode indoor again
Just realised it's been 20 days since my last 50km !!

 

[Domus]

Another blooming cold wind from the NE this morning. Crosswind off the West Pennine Moors on the quick, (for me) descent to Abbey Village nearly did for me, serious wobble at 50 Kph. Still not in shorts but a compromise in the Spring/Autumn bib longs. 61 Kms and another point.

 

[Osprey]

Managed a 50km ride yesterday. I’ve been Zwifting primarily over the winter and I seem to have lost my road confidence. Maybe it’s the shocking condition of the roads. Any way enjoyed my ride yesterday even though it was windy. Hopefully the weather will improve through April. Stay safe all.

 

[bluenotebob]

March summary

5 qualifying rides completed in March – 6 points added

Total points: 13

13 points by the end of March is as good as I’ve ever achieved but it would have been bettered if we’d had more good weather.

I was out today cycling in 40+mph winds and heavy showers (the remnants of Storm Mathis) and I have kept up my record of cycling every day this year (90 days cycled/90 days elapsed). I have had to deal with some pretty vile conditions but I suppose that’s what my personal challenge is all about.

1102km cycled in March (105km less than March 2022) but OK, considering the circumstances.

Only 285 of the 1102km was on my road bike – the two hybrids and the two mountain bikes picked up the strain and did the rest.

2633km cycled in total this year (305km less than at the same time last year).

Current forecast for the first half of April looks promising – mostly dry and mild – I can’t wait!

 

[13 rider]

I'm seem to back to leading from the front being the first to post a ride for April . Nice loop up the Wreake valley across the A607 loop around and back up the Valley . Bit nippy but stayed dry could do with the wind dropping now

 

[13 rider]

Marchs update . We have 29 riders posted up for March (@ColinJ can you update the challenge thread thanks ) . Unfortunately we have had a faller in the form of @tallliman who found a month of illness ,back injury and awful weather just a bit too much to get over the line .
Good luck everyone your 1\4 of the way there already

 

[ColinJ]

We have 29 riders posted up for March (@ColinJ can you update the challenge thread thanks ) .

I hear and obey, master!

 

[C R]

April in the bag with an incursion into Warwickshire via Evesham. It was supposed to be dry, but past Evesham a heavy drizzle started coming down, which coupled with a cold northerly made for a bit of a miserable ride up to the turn back to Worcester. Still, felt good to be out.

@Eribiste, looking at your route I think we passed each other in Rebecca Road, by the Crabbe Ln turn.

 

[Noodle Legs]

April done ✅.

As I’m in Dorset visiting my good friend Kelly and by some strange coincidence happened to have my bike with me, we had a very leisurely pootle into Bournemouth and Poole. Originally planning it for yesterday, the weather was bloody awful and so we hung out until today when the weather was cool but dry and not as blowy. Quickly knocking up a 30 mile loop on Strava, we set off mid to late morning, rolling steadily along the mainly flat roads around Wimborne and Bournemouth Airport. Peeling off the roads for a short while we hit a gravel track for a couple of miles which was something akin to a cyclocross course! Eventually we got back to civilisation and found ourselves along Bournemouth sea front, stopping for the obligatory cake and coffee.

Then ice cream!

From here we rolled into Poole and along millionaire’s row at Sandbanks admiring how the other half live! All the climbing came pretty much in the last 4 miles some of which I’ve done before but the last climb back into Corfe Mullen from Broadstone was a new one maxing out at 11.1 %!

As we got to the end of Kelly’s street I was on 30.1 miles and so she peeled off home while I did the necessaries to get the point.

A very leisurely paced ride but no less enjoyable- 31.6 in 3:12.

 

[ColinJ]

I got my April qualifier in today (Sunday). The forecast was good so I had toyed with doing my first metric century of the year but I had a late night and then overslept. I had a guest coming at 5 pm so I didn't have time for that long ride. I decided to do a '50' instead...

This was going to be a 'proper' singlespeed ride - no manual conversion to an easier climbing gear this time. I had looked at a route which I thought might be too hard but after looking more closely at the climbs, I thought I might just be able to get up them in my 52/19 gear. I did get up the Cragg Vale climb which has 700 metres at an average of 7% above Cragg Vale (with one section a couple of percent steeper than that). I also managed a 250 m ramp at 9% on the way to Lighthazles. The climb that was going to really push me though was up from Cotton Stones (Otter Lee Lane). It is similar to the 700 metre ramp on the Cragg Vale climb but the mid-section on this one is more like 12-13%. I was busting a gut trying to get up it. I risked a catastrophic dead stop and failure-to-unclip crash... Blow that! I hopped off and walked 80 metres up round a steep bend then remounted and rode everything else. If I lost another few kgs of flab and did a lot more riding I might just get fit enough to tackle that climb singlespeed, but that would probably be my limit.

I could lower the gear slightly to make the climbs easier, but then I would not have my ideal 25-30 kph cruising ratio.

It was quite a tough ride in that gear - 750+ metres (2,500 ft) of ascent, including some testing ramps. My legs felt fairly tired when I got home.

 

[Eribiste]

April in the bag with an incursion into Warwickshire via Evesham. It was supposed to be dry, but past Evesham a heavy drizzle started coming down, which coupled with a cold northerly made for a bit of a miserable ride up to the turn back to Worcester. Still, felt good to be out.

@Eribiste, looking at your route I think we passed each other in Rebecca Road, by the Crabbe Ln turn.

Could well be, I was out quite early, on my black and yellow Boardman sporting a lurid orange jacket. I got back to Eckington just in time for the morning drizzle at about half past eight.

 

[C R]

Could well be, I was out quite early, on my black and yellow Boardman sporting a lurid orange jacket. I got back to Eckington just in time for the morning drizzle at about half past eight.

Yes, it must have been you, I was on a black triban, wearing a blue jacket. I said good morning and you waved as you were about to turn.

 

[Domus]

Forecast WRONG, again, dry after 06.00 they said, light winds, they said.
Another wet and windy point earned the first for April. Hopefully 2 more over the weekend, if I dry out.

 

[13 rider]

Forecast WRONG, again, dry after 06.00 they said, light winds, they said.
Another wet and windy point earned the first for April. Hopefully 2 more over the weekend, if I dry out.

My forecast was also wrong but the other way round ,Forecast rain all day I chose to ride indoors and guess what dry and sunny after 10 ,