The Imperial Century A Month Challenge Chatzone

[sittingbull]

After the weather last March I'm not taking any chances. So it was off to the Cat & Fiddle mid-way between Macclesfield and Buxton. The Cat & Fiddle is the name generally given to the road (the A537) as well as the pub. The road is renowned amongst bikers (the engined type) for it's twists and turns as it rises and falls as it climbs. It's popular with cyclists too, not least for the tough climb.

I've ridden it on both types of bike and prefer riding under my own steam, it's too much of a hand-full with added horsepower. I usually descend into Buxton but I'm short of miles in the legs this year - my last 3 rides have been in this challenge, so thought it best to avoid the climb back to the pub

It was cold but there wasn't any snow on the tops like last May when I was there. The gritters were out and I was pebble-dashed, once again

 

[ianrauk]

Knocked out March's century ride. To Ashford, Kent and back with Mista Preston and martint235 of this parish. The weather reports yesterday was for no rain until at least 4pm but upon waking up this morning at 6am I could hear the rain pattering against the windows. Great. I expected a text or FB message from Martin saying he wouldn't come out to play. By about 7am the rain had stopped, it wasn't heavy rain anyway. And no message from Martin, so the ride was on. I met Martin at the normal meeting point for this ride at Polhill. As per usual, Mista Preston was late. But glad to see nothings changed and great to see him after such a long time. He was only 5 minutes or so late so not bad for him. We haven't seen Mr P for a good long while as we have lost him to his club runs. So we were on our way and once again we encountered a little drizzle but not for long and not enough to get us any where near wet. But with the wind chill it was a little cold. The route was our normal 100 miler ride to Ashford Station and back. Some good climbing in the first 3rd of the ride with nice and flat country lanes for the run in to Ashford. So before long we were supping tea or/and Coke and munching on the various foodstuffs that the cafe in Ashford Station supplies and back on our bikes for the return. This time with a little help from the tailwind gods. Once again, the flat country lanes disappeared under rubber quite quickly with the climb back up the North Kent ridge causing thigh burn and pain in all of us. So 104 very enjoyable miles for the day. The rain kept off, the bike and rider stayed relatively clean and it was great to be out on the bike with 2 people I do really enjoy riding with. Cheers Chaps.

The only downer... An old duffer in a car who overtook me so closely that his wing mirror brushed my arm. Absolutely no excuse for the overtake as I was pulling in to let him pass. Obviously his need to pass was far more important then my safety.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Well done @sittingbull and @ianrauk for getting March done so quickly. Not planning on doing my attempt until the 13th or 14th when I have a couple off days of work.

 

[BigGee]

Well I decided not to be Mr lastminute.com this month and got my ride out of the way a lot earlier. If you ever wonder why we all like cycling so much, then go out and ride on a day like today and it will no longer be a question you need to ask. It was a glorious day, hitting 19.5 degrees around the time I got home. That actually proved to be my main problem as I ended up somewhat overdressed and got cooked for the last few hours. I knew it was going to be warm but not that warm. It was 6 degrees when I left and I had allowed a layer to be discarded, but even that was not enough and I looked in envy at all the riders whizzing past me in shorts and short sleeved shirts!

For my 50th birthday last week I got treated to a new pair of wheels, a pair of open pro's on dura ace hubs which my LBS built up for me. This was their first outing and they proved to be lovely. Probably partly because of them I got a bit carried away and blasted out the first 50 miles at nearly 17mph. I paid the price for it on the back leg, especially as the heat and the wind got up and then I began to bonk a bit as well. I stopped in Stock for a snack and a can of coke and then made it home at a more steady pace homeward, making a note to myself to eat and drink a bit more next time!

Because I work every other weekend and tend to do FNRttC's on the weekends that I do ride it was actually a real treat to get out on a sunday. I left home at seven and hardly saw a car for the first three hours. What I did see were lots and lots of cyclist, in groups and solo's like myself. There are still lots of quiet roads around if you plan it well, which make the rides enjoyable and clearly the cycling revolution in this country continues apace.

 

[HLaB]

Snip - If you ever wonder why we all like cycling so much, then go out and ride on a day like today and it will no longer be a question you need to ask. It was a glorious day, hitting 19.5 degrees around the time I got home. - Snip

I got mine in yesterday when it turned nice, it was even better today, so I got another in

 

[StuAff]

Got mine done and dusted today. First couple of the year were both Brighton and back, last month's on account of all the flooding in this part of the world making routing problematic. This time though, I felt the need to go elsewhere, so with the aid of Hampshire County Council's list of flooded roads, I drew up a loop of Hampshire. My usual route NW, through Hambledon, was a no-go due to the road through the village being submerged, so I opted to go NE on my usual route towards Guildford, then headed NW from Liphook through Bordon and Alton, then up to Whitchurch, before turning back south (for the most part my usual route from there, though again, not via Hambledon, and with a few extensions to make up the ton). I decided the Trek's mudguards might be a good idea, and so it proved- the road north from Rowlands Castle had a fairly lengthy waterlogged stretch- passable with care, but without guards I'd have been soaked. A shorter but equally wet bit at Kilmeston on the return leg too. Garmin had one of its strops and stopped giving me prompts even when I was on course (as so often happens, the route proved to have a few 'invisible turns' through hedges and such like anyway). Fortunately, I'm familiar enough with these roads for that not to cause me too many problems. Hard work though- well over 4k feet of climbing (Strava reckons 5,663ft, Garmin Connect 4,259..) and a headwind for the southward leg, 9 1/2 hours door to door. Good warm-up for the night IOW run though....

 

[Supersuperleeds]

March done and to double gloat pushed it to a double metric.

Had three routes planned, one a straight 100 miler and two 125 milers but with escapes to cut them to 100 miles.

Got up at five and it was very dense fog, after much debate with myself I set off at 6am. First 39 miles were my current morning commuting run, was foggy the whole way. After that it was out of Leicester and onto Oakham, on roads that I have never ridden on before and was still very foggy. When I hit Oakham - around 60 miles, the fog had gone and it was warming up. Stopped at a Tesco and grabbed a couple of sandwiches and headed out to Rutland Water. Stopped on the Peninsula and ate my sarnies and then did an anti clockwise loop of the reservoir. Back into Oakham and across country towards Husband Bosworth (on the old A50 for those that know the area.)

Confession time, at around 90 miles I hit Launde and walked up the last 50 yards or so of the hill, I was absolutely knackered and considered bailing, half a mile or so later walked up the last bit of another hill. Gave myself a stern talking to and at 100 miles stopped for a celebratory piece of cake that I had carried with me all the way. Couple of miles later found a lovely village store and downed a can of coke and I seemed to get all my energy back. Then I learnt another lesson. Don't just click on places miles apart on ridewithgps when planning a route. The route I had done wanted me to go on the tow path of the Grand Union canal and around there it is not tarmac. So I ditched following the planned route and used the map by this time I had around 20 miles to go and was getting back into roads that I knew and those last 20 odd miles flew by.

Time for a cup of tea

http://www.strava.com/activities/120272747

 

[Trickedem]

Up early today and left home at 6.30am. Forecast was for dry weather and the possibility of some sun so I took my Trek Domane. Aka the summer bike. I'd plotted a quiet route along the Pilgrims Way and I didn't see hardly any traffic for the whole ride. Just as I hit 50 miles I was riding past Beryl's cafe on the road into Rye. I had pkanned to go somewhere else, but I thought I'd give this one a go and it turned out to be a good choice. As I turned for home there was a bit of a headwind, but it wasnt too bad. However I started losing power in my right leg and it started to hurt so badly I had to get off the bike and walk. Strangely it wasn't too bad going up hills and with a bit of grit and determination I made it home. I was in a lot of pain when I got home, but after 2 ibuprofen and a short walk everything was fine. I think a bit of saddle adjustment may be needed. Overall though a great ride and this is a route I'd do again.
http://app.strava.com/activities/120826072

 

[Sharky]

After the weather last March I'm not taking any chances. So it was off to the Cat & Fiddle mid-way between Macclesfield and Buxton. The Cat & Fiddle is the name generally given to the road (the A537) as well as the pub. The road is renowned amongst bikers (the engined type) for it's twists and turns as it rises and falls as it climbs. It's popular with cyclists too, not least for the tough climb.

I've ridden it on both types of bike and prefer riding under my own steam, it's too much of a hand-full with added horsepower. I usually descend into Buxton but I'm short of miles in the legs this year - my last 3 rides have been in this challenge, so thought it best to avoid the climb back to the pub

It was cold but there wasn't any snow on the tops like last May when I was there. The gritters were out and I was pebble-dashed, once again

View attachment 39053

Great photo, brings back memories of club runs from Prescot to Buxton & back - too many years ago. Great descent on the way back though.
Keith

 

[sittingbull]

Great descent on the way back though.

Absolutely! 25-30mph most of the way down even whilst feathering the brakes. I haven't got the bottle to go any quicker

 

[sittingbull]

We've all done the March qualifying ride but I'm enjoying the buzz from riding centuries so I kept going each weekend.
3 down for the month so far but the forecast's not looking too good for the coming weekend
I know some of you guys have done more but 3's the most I've done and I was hoping to reach 5............

 

[ianrauk]

We've all done the March qualifying ride but I'm enjoying the buzz from riding centuries so I kept going each weekend.
3 down for the month so far but the forecast's not looking too good for the coming weekend
I know some of you guys have done more but 3's the most I've done and I was hoping to reach 5............

Nice one.. it is very hard to get out every weekend for a 100+ miler. Last year I managed 11 in a row. The 12th was curtailed by vile wet weather, I just thought it wasn't worth it.

For March I am on 3 so far, this weekends will be the FNRttC and next weekend I have a 200k with @jayonabike and others in Herts.
I am going to try keep it going for as many weekends as I can.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

We've all done the March qualifying ride but I'm enjoying the buzz from riding centuries so I kept going each weekend.
3 down for the month so far but the forecast's not looking too good for the coming weekend
I know some of you guys have done more but 3's the most I've done and I was hoping to reach 5............

Nice one.. it is very hard to get out every weekend for a 100+ miler. Last year I managed 11 in a row. The 12th was curtailed by vile wet weather, I just thought it wasn't worth it.

For March I am on 3 so far, this weekends will be the FNRttC and next weekend I have a 200k with @jayonabike and others in Herts.
I am going to try keep it going for as many weekends as I can.

Hat off to the pair of you. I'm happy getting one a month in

 

[ianrauk]

Hat off to the pair of you. I'm happy getting one a month in

I am in the very lucky position of only working a (extended hours) 4 day week.
Friday is daddy/son day, saturday is family day, sunday is cycling day.

 

[rhm]

New member here! I'm in New Jersey, USA and have been riding an imperial century every month for over three years now.
Here's a photo from my February century, in the hills about fifty miles north of my home:

And one from my March Century, in New Jersey's pinelands. Yes, we have very straight roads.