The Metric Century (100KM) A Month Challenge ChatZone

[ColinJ]

Crisp snow looks nice, but I could do without all this slushy stuff!

I prefer blue skies and a temperature of 18-22 degrees. (I get frazzled if it is too warm. 25-26 would be ok if I had a week to get used to it, and there were cooling breezes.)

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Crisp snow looks nice, but I could do without all this slushy stuff!

I prefer blue skies and a temperature of 18-22 degrees. (I get frazzled if it is too warm. 25-26 would be ok if I had a week to get used to it, and there were cooling breezes.)

No snow here, we missed it completely. The Cheshire gap had a totally different weather system and the Delamere Hills are odder still. All around us has had it, but we haven't.

 

[ColinJ]

No snow here, we missed it completely. The Cheshire gap had a totally different weather system and the Delamere Hills are odder still. All around us has had it, but we haven't.

Most of the Ribble Valley seemed much clearer of snow than this side of Pendle Hill. It just shows how hills and mountains create microclimates.

We can be having quite a nice day down here in the valley, while a storm rages on one of the nearby hills.

 

[jefmcg]

Sorry to hear that. How did it happen?

That's sweet of you to ask. If I had your injury, I wouldn't be thinking about something like my injury.

I was just popping out to get something for dinner on my folding bike. Telling at less than 10 mi./h, the front wheel came out of the fork(part of the fold) and I crashed to the tarmac.

It hurt like hell to start, but I'm already down to 1 dose of painkillers a day

Somehow I suspect I am also out of this years running as well I don't yet had a bike trike I can ride let alone do 100km on!

I can almost walk 1km in one go now, but it totally exhausts me for the day and leaves me shattered. It also take me well over half an hour and requires crutches!

I agree with the others, 1 km on crutches is along way. Good luck with your trike shopping. Even though I'm only going to be off the bike for a month or two, I was looking covetously at that scorpion :-)

Edit: I'm thinking of getting a turbo trainer. Can you do the challenge on a stationary? And what would be the equivalent of 100 km?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Edit: I'm thinking of getting a turbo trainer. Can you do the challenge on a stationary? And what would be the equivalent of 100 km?

IMO 100k (or the equivalent thereof) on a stationary bike would be an amazing achievement, with boredom the main enemy. I don't know anything about turbos so I don't know what info they provide. I don't see why you shouldn't, esp as you have a good reason.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm thinking of getting a turbo trainer. Can you do the challenge on a stationary? And what would be the equivalent of 100 km?

Hmm ... the thing is that distance is meaningless on a turbo trainer. I have a gym bike with a big, heavy flywheel. It has a friction brake to set the resistance level. I can set the resistance so low that one quick rotation of the cranks spins the flywheel for about a minute. If I tighten the brake up enough then I can't get the thing to move at all.

The only way it would make any kind of sense would be to work out what power you averaged on a typical ride and what average speed you did at that power, then measure your power output on the tt and work at your normal power for the normal duration of your century ride.

That is bad enough, but I assume that a metric century takes you 5-7 hours? A session of that duration on a turbo trainer would not be good for your mental health!

Just keep yourself fit on the tt, and pick up the challenge again when you get back on the road. You wouldn't get a virtual star award for this year, but you would have the satisfaction of not having let the injury defeat you because you'd have done what you could.

GWS!

 

[jefmcg]

That seems reasonable. I just decided that the equivalent for me would be about six hours on the turbo. I find stationery equipment really boring, so I doubt I can manage that even spaced over 24 hours. If I did manage I'll post on this thread, but I know it doesn't count for the year.

(when I used to row, I happily do 30 km. On the concept ii, I am going crazy within 10 minutes)

 

[jefmcg]

That is bad enough, but I assume that a metric century takes you 5-7 hours? A session of that duration on a turbo trainer would not be good for your mental health!

Unfortunately I've already finished Breaking bad but binge watching is probably the way to go. And no, suffer fest videos are not for me

 

[Tim Hall]

I echo Colin's sentiments about 1km. I remember once being on crutches and overestimating my capabilities, that was about 1km. I well remember leaning against a wall half way and the remaining 500m seemed like miles.

Yesterday I did my first ever Audax. Hills and Mills from Hailsham.

Met @Tim Hall and chatted for a while. Nice café stop at Mayfield. Then lots and lots of grinding and slogging up hills and descending steep examples of Sussex's finest disintegrating road surfaces with brakes on full. I'm glad the organiser asked us to check our brake blocks, replacement was definitely due.

Good to see you @Dogtrousers too. Sorry I didn't hang around after the cafe, I had a mate coming round in the afternoon for plumbing assistance and had to crack on. Some of those roads were mostly holes, weren't they.

 

[jayonabike]

Got my first one under my belt for the year, 101.96 km in 3:59:35 with 998 metres of climbing. All things considered I'm pleased with that.
Ride report here

 

[Dogtrousers]

Good to see you @Dogtrousers too. Sorry I didn't hang around after the cafe, I had a mate coming round in the afternoon for plumbing assistance and had to crack on. Some of those roads were mostly holes, weren't they.

I spent rather a long time queuing to get my card stamped, then rather a long time queuing to get a cup of tea, then rather a long time queuing for the toilet. Then I did some unnecessary faffing. Then recalled that I had read that one shouldn't spend too long faffing at controls.

I was further delayed by Things I Needed to Photograph for nerdy reasons: A Victorian postbox and an old tractor which after trudging through some mud to examine it turned out to be the right make, but the wrong model to satisfy my nerdy impulses (I have friends who have a Fordson Dexta, I like to photograph them, but this turned out not to be a Dexta).

I went slightly off route on the return to Mayfield, pulled over to check my GPS and as I did so three riders shot past. I doubled back to the proper route feeling a bit guilty at having lured them off the straight and narrow, but when I arrived at Mayfield for the second time they were already there, having probably taken a slightly longer, less potholey route.

I did beat the cutoff though, so I have my stamped Brevet card. Hooray!

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/4016908

 

[jefmcg]

2015
January
31/01/2015 - 103km - Cycling in the snow - Richmond park - https://www.strava.com/activities/248459266 - 1point

Was it snowing in Richmond Park today? Dammit, I love Richmond Park in the snow.

Nice work, sneaking this in On the last day

 

[Rustybucket]

Was it snowing in Richmond Park today? Dammit, I love Richmond Park in the snow.

Nice work, sneaking this in On the last day

Was it snowing in Richmond Park today? Dammit, I love Richmond Park in the snow.

Nice work, sneaking this in On the last day

Thanks!

Yes and was blooming freezing, trust me to leave the challenge to the last day of jan when it was snowing and raining!

 

[nickyboy]

Go on, I'll give this a go. Managed to sneak it in today. Way too snowy up here in Glossop but son#2 was at school in Stockport for rugby and cricket training from 9am to 3pm so I had the opportunity to go out to @SatNavSaysStraightOn country. It's surprisingly hilly around Delamere

https://www.strava.com/activities/248608735

 

[ColinJ]

Go on, I'll give this a go. Managed to sneak it in today. Way too snowy up here in Glossop but son#2 was at school in Stockport for rugby and cricket training from 9am to 3pm so I had the opportunity to go out to @SatNavSaysStraightOn country. It's surprisingly hilly around Delamere

https://www.strava.com/activities/248608735

Well done!

It always amused me when people described the Manchester 100 route (which heads out that way) as 'flat as a pancake', given that it has about 3,000 ft of climbing ... (Yes, very slim/fit riders would hardly notice the climbs, but they used to hurt me most years when I tried to keep up with the whippets ahead of me!)