Thanks for replying,
@ColinJ
If this challenge has got you out of the house and on your bike when previously you’d have stayed inside in the warm – watching TV or whatever – then that’s great. I read somewhere that fear of failure is one of the most powerful motivating factors .. and this challenge has an edge over other CC challenges in that there’s simply no let-up. You have to keep going if you want to avoid the ignominy of letting yourself down and failing to complete all 52 weeks.
When Ming started this challenge back in Jan 2022, I joined up as I thought it would give me a little extra push to keep me going in Jan/Feb – and it did. But for most of the year, it’s just downright tedious reporting the rides each week. I have no difficulty in doing the rides 52 weeks a year so it doesn’t represent a challenge to me at all.
From March to September there are about 80/100 hours of daylight a week (I think) and to only commit to doing a minimal 1.5% of that on your bike – as a single retired cyclist – seems really unchallenging.
Your comments about terrain and choice of rides .. I guess I’m fortunate in that, within 150m of home, I’m in open countryside with lots of quiet and fairly undemanding route options. I also have a choice of five newish and well-maintained bikes so I can vary my rides depending on local conditions .. weather, time available, whether the local
chasse is active etc.
I don’t understand why you aren’t on the local canal more often .. is that because your MTB is out of action again? Is that the CAADX you refer to above?
In terms of making this challenge a bit more difficult .. well, there’s time to consider some options … and some input from
@FrothNinja would be nice.
One possibility I was pondering yesterday (as I was splashing through puddles) is a ‘Lunacy Weekly Distance’ challenge. Set yourself a minimum weekly distance and either do it as one ride or as a combination. I had a quick look back through my rides this year and my ‘worst week’ was 119km. I’d be happy to set something like 125km as an absolute weekly minimum for 2024.
The attraction of this is that, as with the Lunacy challenges, you set your own target .. but of course, that’s where the comparison ends as ‘13’ doesn’t feature. It might also attract a bit more interest/entrants from within the forum.
On the subject of Lunacy challenges, I’ll create the 2024 Lunacy Distance challenge thread at the end of this year (if you don’t have any objection) and I’ll try to make it a bit more distinctive from the Lunacy Climbing challenge.
Also on Lunacy Distance targets .. I’ve never understood why you set yourself a 100km target – why not go for something a bit more achievable – such as 70km? And if you succeed at that, step it up to 80km the year after. Get yourself back into the habit of doing 13 decent (and mostly solo) distance rides between March and September. Just a thought…
Anyway, I’m pleased that you replied and that this 3 x 30 mins a week challenge has been worthwhile for you in 2023.
