The Annual Lunacy (aka "I Don't Do Winter") Challenge Chatzone

[SpokeyDokey]

Not me. That's @MontyVeda. That said, I am a bit east and near said barn!
Disappointing, in that I'm heading that way, to Kendal, shortly and it's beautifully sunny here on the side of Ingleborough.

Sorry about the confusion!

I vaguely remembered someone having their cottage for rent in their sig' line.

Not been out that way for a while - we have people we know in High Bentham & Clapham but not seen them for a while.

Sun trying to break through here.

 

[MontyVeda]

It's my sister's cottage.

 

[lazybloke]

Finally did my first lunacy ride of 2025 with the rather challenging "Kent Invicta Grimpeur 100".
Not quite as hilly as my Tour of the Hills audax in Surrey last summer, but my fitness has decreased over winter and the climbs were a real struggle. Finished with an average moving speed of 18.5kmh, so not too horrific; was sore last night, but feel pretty good today.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Finally did my first lunacy ride of 2025 with the rather challenging "Kent Invicta Grimpeur 100".
Not quite as hilly as my Tour of the Hills audax in Surrey last summer, but my fitness has decreased over winter and the climbs were a real struggle. Finished with an average moving speed of 18.5kmh, so not too horrific; was sore last night, but feel pretty good today.

Sorry I couldn't join you. I may give the route a bash later in the year. I can pretty much guarantee that I won't be as fast as that if I do!

 

[lazybloke]

Sorry I couldn't join you. I may give the route a bash later in the year. I can pretty much guarantee that I won't be as fast as that if I do!

It was a gorgeous route ; loads of hill-top views; many rural lanes with minutes passing between sightings of a car.
Felt lucky to see it on a bright sunny day, but a bit more spring growth would make it better still.

 

[Sea of vapours]

My first Lunacy of 2025 on the board.

The last 40km or so of that felt quite hard, despite my having planned a relatively flat route (for the Dales!). It's a bit of a leap from 'just over 100km' for the last six months to 'an imperial century with big, lumpy bits'.

Pleasing to get a first Lunacy ride in on the last day of winter; almost a first for me. The beautiful weather today was too good to miss though. It does add to the challenge, in terms of kit choice, when the ride starts at 3C and ends at 1C, but with a peak of 14C just at the start of the two big hills.

 

[bluenotebob]

It does add to the challenge, in terms of kit choice, when the ride starts at 3C and ends at 1C, but with a peak of 14C just at the start of the two big hills.

Short of carrying a day bag on my back, the only solution that I’ve found for this problem is to position my van at (or better, just after) the mid-point of my planned ride. The van will contain lots of food, plenty of water and a change of clothes.

It means a ride of two halves – the first carrying a minimum of food but fully-dressed before returning to the van. Chance to eat more than I’d usually carry on the bike, top up the bidon and change socks if caught out in a heavy shower (everything else dries quickly – but socks seem to stay wet all day). If it turns into a warm day, then I can divest a layer or two for the second part of the ride and leave the excess in the van.

For the second half of the ride, I’ll carry a minimum of food and a full bidon, wear less clothes if necessary – but still have warm and dry clothes waiting in the van for my return later (and even more food, if needed).

I’ve done this twice in the last 12 months and it’s worked out well. I realise it doesn’t suit everyone .. but I can recommend it.

 

[Sea of vapours]

A good plan if the road logistics allow it. My long rides are motivated by wanting to get to places a long way away without driving though, so I'd be in the 'doesn't suit' camp. Come to think of it, the challenge for me very much involves being unsupported, and returning to a vehicle is a sort of half way support scenario. In this case I opted to be too warm in the middle of the day, rather than too cold at the ends. That said, I did do what you're describing once and it's a very enabling method in some situations :-)

 

[bluenotebob]

Come to think of it, the challenge for me very much involves being unsupported, and returning to a vehicle is a sort of half way support scenario.

A late reply … your intention to do your rides as unsupported as possible is an admirable ambition – and I hope you can continue that way for many years to come.

But I’ll take any support I can get – whether it’s Tony at the LBS servicing my bikes regularly, my friends at the local market supplying me with ‘food for the bike’ (sausage rolls, brownies, shortbread millionaires etc … anything small enough to squeeze into my sacoche) or a neighbour sorting out my wheely-bins in the evening because I’m late home from a ride … anything that means that I can just concentrate on cycling without having other distractions.

We’ve had an E wind here for the last two weeks (which has been difficult) and it now appears that we’ll have a N wind for the next ten days – it makes route-planning very tricky (because of the local geography). My ideal support would be for a friend to drive me and the bike about 105km north, drop me and let me cycle home with a tailwind all the way … just a dream – it’ll never happen …but that would be the best support ever.

 

[FrothNinja]

A late reply … your intention to do your rides as unsupported as possible is an admirable ambition – and I hope you can continue that way for many years to come.

But I’ll take any support I can get – whether it’s Tony at the LBS servicing my bikes regularly, my friends at the local market supplying me with ‘food for the bike’ (sausage rolls, brownies, shortbread millionaires etc … anything small enough to squeeze into my sacoche) or a neighbour sorting out my wheely-bins in the evening because I’m late home from a ride … anything that means that I can just concentrate on cycling without having other distractions.

We’ve had an E wind here for the last two weeks (which has been difficult) and it now appears that we’ll have a N wind for the next ten days – it makes route-planning very tricky (because of the local geography). My ideal support would be for a friend to drive me and the bike about 105km north, drop me and let me cycle home with a tailwind all the way … just a dream – it’ll never happen …but that would be the best support ever.

I tend to ride, albeit far less ambitiously, as @Sea of vapours , but have been trying to persuade Mrs FN to drop me upwind of home on a sunny dry day.
Managed a bit of it a few weeks ago (Brough Shap etc) for some shorter rides where the family drove between attractions while I rode. I got lucky with low traffic levels on the A6, but I wouldn't want to repeat it on a naturally propelled bike once the traffic levels build up.

 

[Ridgeback Roller]

1st Lunacy ride of the season done in glorious warm sunshine on the south coast and Downs. I initially intended to do a longer 120km route but realised very quickly that I'm lacking a bit of fitness , so slowed up and simply enjoyed the ride. Had to add a couple of small loops near the end to hit the 100km target.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Finally did my first lunacy ride of 2025 with the rather challenging "Kent Invicta Grimpeur 100".
Not quite as hilly as my Tour of the Hills audax in Surrey last summer, but my fitness has decreased over winter and the climbs were a real struggle. Finished with an average moving speed of 18.5kmh, so not too horrific; was sore last night, but feel pretty good today.

Yesterday I did my version of the route - different but similar: No Yorks Hill (too horrible), or River Hill (too trafficy) added in Toys hill (why not?), Ide Hill and Fakenden lane (navigation error, oops) plus multiple other changes giving a total of 2,140m according to my Garmin. I managed a less impressive 14.5 kmh moving average, and would have been OTL if it had been an Audax.

 

[lazybloke]

Yesterday I did my version of the route - different but similar: No Yorks Hill (too horrible), or River Hill (too trafficy) added in Toys hill (why not?), Ide Hill and Fakenden lane (navigation error, oops) plus multiple other changes giving a total of 2,140m according to my Garmin. I managed a less impressive 14.5 kmh moving average, and would have been OTL if it had been an Audax.

Sounds hilly, a tiring day out?
Beautiful weather though, must have caught some stunning views.

 

[Ridgeback Roller]

2nd qualifying ride done. Hardly a cloud in the sky but stayed very breezy all day. Only 718m ascent in 117km, a flatish cycle for my part of Sussex.

 

[Alex321]

I'm in. Although I didn't meet this year's target, due to my accident in August, I' still going to set it slightly higher this year, at 40 miles, on the basis that I'm going part time in work from the start of the year - down to 3 days a week, so twice as many days on which I theoretically can do a longish ride.

I still haven't recovered fitness yet after the accident though, as every time I've got up to doing 20 mile+ rides, something else has got in the way, the latest being this chesty cough that has hung around for almost a fortnight now.

I'm going to reset that back to the same as last year - 60 Km or 37.28 miles (stretch target 40 miles).

It has taken FAR too long to get my fitness back to anything near, and today was the first time this year I have managed even that lower target - almost exactly at 37.34 miles!

That was the first time this year I have managed 30+ miles, and my legs know it now., although it was a mostly enjoyable ride in spite of beig a bit windier than forecast. The most exposed part of the route is the coastal section between Llancardle and Ogmore, and I deliberately chose the clockwise route to have a tailwind in that bit.