The 2025 Half Century (50km or 50 mile) Challenge Chatzone.

[13 rider]

If you keep quiet about it, I won't mention the 58 miler I did midweek

What you rode 58 miles !!! and didn't do a metric century oh my god my cycling OCD
Told you I was a hypocrite 🤣

 

[ColinJ]

I am letting my lunch go down while catching up with my backlog of pro races, then I will go out and do 50+ km. I have a very lumpy route in mind, coming back through Hebden Bridge. If I feel like I have energy to spare at that point I can ride up to Blackshaw Head to add more ascent and distance.

I changed my mind about my route but still ended up riding 'on the tops' around Blackshaw Head. The only problem was that I had dressed for the sheltered sunny valley rather than the hilltops 300 metres higher which were exposed to very chilly easterly winds!

So... I felt cold! I got a good ride in before dropping back down into Todmorden and heading home to get warm.

52.5 km with nearly 900 m of ascent.

2 hours later I can feel my fingertips again!

 

[sevenfourate]

My riding buddy with the dodgy knee decided to ignore 3 days of Bank Holiday sunshine. And at short notice - asked if I wanted to go out in the lashing rain 🙄

Lacking brain-cells or forethought - I just replied ‘Yes please’ with a suitably dopey Suffolk smile…..

**Knowing he’d only mange perhaps 20 miles - I did some before meeting him. And continued some of the same loop accompanying him home after……to boost my ride to 50km.

Interesting place I found here in Corton, Suffolk:

Thus is ‘Corton Hut’. Used to be THE place to be when I was a teenager. Despite its remote location. I may have been sick in the car park / smoked out the back / snogged a random girl here more times than I care to remember. ***Not for 35+ years however 🙄

Amazing Easter PostBox topper. With my bike, phone box, old School and railings in shot for good luck. 5 pointer surely ??? 😁

Never pictured my bike outside a drinking establishment I don’t think (?). So here we have Hopton White Hart.

A dreary and deserted looking Lowestoft Seafront - heading back home.

The local Village sign just up the road:

31.16 miles / 50.15km of damp riding. That I really enjoyed to be fair. Temperature was lovely !

 

[kapelmuur]

Ok I'm a hypocrite I'm about to post a ride of 58 miles ,yes 58 miles well within 90% of the next point at which point I would call out any poster not rounding it up to the next point ,The reason this ride was to mark my 58th birthday in the week and I try and ride my age in distance each year obviously this will keep getting harder with each passing year

There will come a time when you switch to your years in Kms!

 

[ColinJ]

There will come a time when you switch to your years in Kms!

That wouldn't be so bad though, would it?

I will feel pretty chuffed if I can still cope physically and mentally with a metric century when I am 100 years old!

I never forget that my dad couldn't even walk his age in metres after he retired so I am grateful for every ride that I am still able to do.

 

[bluenotebob]

A gentle late afternoon/early evening amble today down from Mauron to the canal at the Pont-des-Deux Rivières. To my surprise, the section of canal towpath west of the bridge (to the écluse de Blond) that had been closed for work (the day the school holidays started) had re-opened (the day that all the kids went back to school).

Having ridden this stretch of towpath (which is also Eurovelo #1) in March before they closed it and been appalled at the state of it, I decided to have a look. It’s much better – but it’s still not appropriate for a road bike. I was on the Princess with 28mm tyres but we managed – something we certainly couldn’t have done a couple of weeks ago.

Back to the van on a completely deserted Voie Verte ... the French are rarely outside after 19.30 ... no dog walkers, joggers or other cyclists - just me and a few swallows enjoying the peace of the evening (before the next batch of rain arrived).

Here's the Princess (LaPierre/Shaper 200) showing off her new mudguards and new 5L sacoche (saddle bag).

By the écluse de Blond

 

[13 rider]

Well I think that's a first , nudge list cancelled this month as all 23 of us are fully posted up for April , Well done everyone

 

[PaulSB]

Here's a bit of detail on yesterday's ride. I'm not sure how many local, north-west, gravel riders there are on here but this might interest people anyway. I'm staying near Radcliffe this week, childminding, so took the chance for some gentle non-tarmac (gravel, off road, whatever you call it) round Manchester. This was the route:

Radcliffe >Outwood Trail >Prestwich Clough >Heaton Park >Middleton >Rochdale Canal >New Islington Basin (Ancoats) >Ashton Canal >Fallowfield Loop Line >Bridgewater Canal > Monton >Swinton Greenway >Victoria Park >Lumm's Lane >Drinkwater Park >Phillips Park >Whitefield >Radcliffe. Somewhere or other we were on the TPT but I can't recall exactly where - or find it on the route!!!!

I know for purists this isn't real gravel riding. What we look for is to get off the roads using towpaths, greenways, railway lines, country parks, back streets etc. 44 miles round Manchester perhaps 3-4 miles of tarmac at most, green, trees, peaceful and yet we can pop up in Ancoats, grab a great cup of coffee at an artisan bakery with pastries to match! Heavenly

 

[Willd]

Some towpaths are better than others ...

 

[sevenfourate]

Some towpaths are better than others ...

View attachment 770274

Dear Lord. That’s amazing. Or not…. 😳

**I think you’ve got a bit of bike stuck to that mud 🤣

 

[FrothNinja]

Here's a bit of detail on yesterday's ride. I'm not sure how many local, north-west, gravel riders there are on here but this might interest people anyway. I'm staying near Radcliffe this week, childminding, so took the chance for some gentle non-tarmac (gravel, off road, whatever you call it) round Manchester. This was the route:

Radcliffe >Outwood Trail >Prestwich Clough >Heaton Park >Middleton >Rochdale Canal >New Islington Basin (Ancoats) >Ashton Canal >Fallowfield Loop Line >Bridgewater Canal > Monton >Swinton Greenway >Victoria Park >Lumm's Lane >Drinkwater Park >Phillips Park >Whitefield >Radcliffe. Somewhere or other we were on the TPT but I can't recall exactly where - or find it on the route!!!!

I know for purists this isn't real gravel riding. What we look for is to get off the roads using towpaths, greenways, railway lines, country parks, back streets etc. 44 miles round Manchester perhaps 3-4 miles of tarmac at most, green, trees, peaceful and yet we can pop up in Ancoats, grab a great cup of coffee at an artisan bakery with pastries to match! Heavenly

I count it as gravel - most towpaths are fairly rough even when paved. Been on some silky smooth easy rolling gravel roads and they count.