Three 30-minute rides each week of the year Challenge 2024

[bluenotebob]

Week 39: 16 local rides over 30 mins; distance cycled 225.56km

Weeks 1 to 39: total distance cycled 10391km

A difficult week … September has been complicated with so many other things to do and it was only on Tuesday afternoon that I finally had a run of five days without major distractions so that I could concentrate on getting some kilometres cycled. At which point the weather deteriorated .. one named-storm (not mentioned by the UK weather forecast surprisingly as it whacked the south of England as well as northern France) followed by days of cold, wet and windy weather. Despite all that, I managed to drag myself over 200km for the week (and over 1000km cycled in September). I’m hoping that October will be a calmer month both weather-wise and on the house renovation front.

One thing that I’ve been monitoring out of interest is total hours cycled per bike this year – and wondering if I can get all six bikes over 100 hours in 2024. Three bikes have made it so far: La Rossa (209 hours), the MASSI (117 hours) and Katie-Mae (103 hours). The Princess is nearly there with 96 hours and the RAID on 90 hours isn’t far away.

I’m not sure if the Urban Shaper will make it though – only 73 hours so far – but she often comes into her own on wet winter roads: the 32mm tyres seem to be much safer than the thinner ones on La Rossa and the Princess. Anyway, that’s her challenge for the last three months of the year – do another 27 hours on the roads before New Year’s Eve. Do-able, I think, as it’s only just over an average of two hours a week.

Continuing with the food theme – here’s a loaf I made this afternoon. I’ve not made any bread for a few weeks and it shows … the loaf looks a tad anaemic and it’s almost certainly under-proved – but it’ll be OK. The next one will be better..

 

[ColinJ]

** UPDATED/CORRECTED **

Week 39: 5 qualifying rides, 101 km, 7½ hrs.

• Ride 1 (Mon): 17 km. ELLL. 1 hr.
• Ride 2 (Tue): 15 km. ELLL. ¾ hr.
• Ride 3 (Wed): 17 km. ELLL including Harvelin Park, Mankinholes, Lumbutts. 1 hr.
• Ride 4 (Thu): 13 km. ELLL. ¾ hr.
• Ride 5 (Sun): 39 km. From Benderloch (near Oban) to Castle Stalker cafe on NCN 78 with my niece, then back. 4 hrs.

Rides #1-4 on 6-er (as usual only using lower gears for longer/steeper climbs). Ride #5 on a road bike borrowed from my cousin.

Success rate: 39 weeks out of 39.

144 qualifying rides so far this year. Weekly target 100 km; total to date: 4,033 km. Average progress now = 103.4%; last week = 103.5%. Total ride time approximately 241¼ hrs.

PS Special characters to copy and paste for ride durations - ¼ ½ ¾ !

 

[annedonnelly]

Four rides for me. The friend I'm staying with does school drop-off and pick-ups for some children living in rural spots so a couple of times I've headed out on his route and he's picked me up on the way back - one of the bonuses of using the Brompton. So I've been able to explore a bit further along the very quiet country roads.

@FrothNinja I wish I was confident enough to forage mushrooms. I do love them and that one looks tasty.

 

[annedonnelly]

Five rides this week, including a few linking up with the "school bus" to get a lift in one direction or the other. Did the loop both sides of the A7 this morning and managed to ride up the bank for the first time!

 

[FrothNinja]

W40R1- CX 31 mins - local miles.
W40R2 - CX 1 hour 11 mins - Clarion run
then home before lunch, got changed did various things in the sure knowledge I had beaten the rain then realised I hadn't done 3 rides. And so....
W40R3 - Centurion 37 mins - local miles & the heavens opened as I made my post ride cuppa
Paucity of pics however... ...doesn't say anything about bicycles

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 40: 17 rides over 30 mins, including one Lunacy Distance ride; distance cycled 313.43km

Weeks 1 to 40: total distance cycled 10705km

Three rides today and I got wet every time. That’s enough for one day.

It’s not very often that I exceed 300km in a week in October. Pleased that I did it as next week looks like being a shocker weather-wise.

Crossing the river Oust south of Ploërmel on Friday afternoon – and, yes: @FrothNinja , per your comment in the other thread, some hints that autumn is approaching

 

[ColinJ]

Week 40, in Bonnie Scotland: 3 qualifying rides, 147 km, 9¾ hrs.

Ride 1 (Tue): 66 km. Benderloch to Creagan on NCN 78, anti-c/w Loch Creran loop, Appin loop, back to Barcaldine, Gleann Salach climb/descent, road along side of Loch Etive, NCN 78 back to Benderloch. 4 hrs.
Ride 2 (Wed): 36 km. MTB ride with my cousin... Benderloch, NCN 78 to Sutherland Grove, forest trails up and down, back and forth, eventually up to Ben Lora, then descent to Benderloch. 3½ hrs.
Ride 3 (Thu): 45 km. Benderloch to North Connel, Loch Etive road, Gleann Salach climb*** in opposite direction to Tuesday, NCN 78 to Creagan, c/w Loch Creran loop, back to Benderloch on NCN 78. 2¼ hrs.

Rides #1 and #3 on my cousin's road bike, ride #2 on his spare hardtail MTB.

Success rate: 40 weeks out of 40.

147 qualifying rides so far this year. Weekly target 100 km; total to date: 4,180 km. Average progress now = 104.5%; last week = 103.4%. Total ride time approximately 251 hrs.

*** My cousin pointed out that his road bike had power meter cranks fitted so I paired them to my Wahoo GPS and watched what I did on the ride. It was windy and I was typically doing around 200 W on the flat sections with the wind against me. On short ramps I stood and sprinted up them at around 350 W, which I could sustain for about 10 seconds. I was quite pleased with that until I read that it is about what Tadej Pogacar averages for 5 hour training rides - ha ha! I was mainly interested in what I could do on the Gleann Salach climb which is a pretty steady 8-10% from the South. I did the first quarter at around 275 W but started to run out of breath so Q2 was done at around 260 W, Q3 a gasping 250 W, and I started to crack on Q4 so the power fell to 230-235 W! I think if I had paced myself I could just about have maintained 250 W for the climb.

PS Special characters to copy and paste for ride durations - ¼ ½ ¾ !

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 40, in Bonnie Scotland

Envious !

I'm struggling to follow your rides because I don't have a decent paper map of that area .. but I recognised Benderloch, Appin and Connel immediately. Spent a couple of summers back in the early 1960s on the island of Lismore which you would know, I'm sure. There used to be a small ferry between Port Appin and Lismore - I've no idea whether it still exists.

My paternal grandfather ran the hotel at Ballachulish in the 1950s - and we also spent a holiday or two in the 1960s in Onich. Did you cycle as far as Ballachulish? It was a ferry crossing when I knew it - I'm pretty sure there's a bridge there now.

My knowledge of Bonnie Scotland is of the country further north - Sutherland - where both my siblings live.

Any photos of your rides last week that you can share?

 

[ColinJ]

Any photos of your rides last week that you can share?

I did post some of them elsewhere, but I'll repost them below...

I recognised Benderloch, Appin and Connel immediately. Spent a couple of summers back in the early 1960s on the island of Lismore which you would know, I'm sure. There used to be a small ferry between Port Appin and Lismore - I've no idea whether it still exists.

The Lismore ferry definitely still exists - my sister and niece used it last week! They drove up to Port Appin with their dog and then caught the ferry across to the island to explore. At first they thought that the fares were incredibly low, but then they discovered that those were discount rates, only for the 200-odd residents of the island!

When I cycled up I checked to see if I would encounter them getting off the return ferry. I saw one coming in but they didn't get off it. 4 e-bikers and some walkers did. You can see the little ferry returning in the distance in this picture...

The womenfolk hadn't done their homework... They didn't realise quite how long the island was and would have struggled to walk both ways along it in the time between the outward and return ferries. They had only walked a few minutes when a driver stopped and asked if they were walking to the museum at the far end, and if so, would they like a lift? Ans: Yes, and yes please! It turned out that the driver had come to the island 25 years ago from Tiverton in Devon, just up the road from where my sister now lives. They had a good natter in the short, scenic drive.

I spotted my sister's car in the car park, and left an empty cereal bar wrapper wedged in its driver-side door handle. I thought that she would moan about litter louts when she got back, but she recognised as one of the type that I had been scoffing on the holiday.

My paternal grandfather ran the hotel at Ballachulish in the 1950s - and we also spent a holiday or two in the 1960s in Onich. Did you cycle as far as Ballachulish? It was a ferry crossing when I knew it - I'm pretty sure there's a bridge there now.

I didn't ride that far north this time but I will on a future visit. NCN 78 is excellent as far as I rode it, all the way from North Connel to Castle Stalker just beyond Appin. My cousin says that the path remains just as good to Corran, beyond Ballachulish. Cyclists can cross on a ferry at Corran and ride north on the other side of Loch Linhe, eventually crossing back over to Fort William on another ferry. Alternatively, turn right at Ballachulish and ride to a good cafe at Glen Coe.

Yes, there is a bridge there now, which avoids the long detour round the loch through Kinlochleven.

My family is Scottish on my mum's side, which is why we have holidayed in that area so often. One of her uncles used to work in Fort William, staying in lodgings during the week, and cycling home on Fridays after work. One time he missed the last ferry so he had to add an extra 30 km round the loch on his way back. He got caught out in a terrible thunderstorm and eventually limped back suffering from hypothermia to the anxious family at the croft. They had to thaw him out in front of an open fire!

Some may not know the name of Castle Stalker, but Monty Python fans will know it from the closing scenes of Holy Grail...



Here is my cousin's bike at a viewpoint at the nearby cafe, with a view down over the castle...

Loch Etive from Gleann Salach...

Sea view from Ben Lora. Mull in distance, to the right...

 

[bluenotebob]

Fantastic photos @ColinJ .. it really is a beautiful part of the world.

I've been over the Corran ferry a few times. Once we went as far west as Ardnamurchan which, I think, is as far west as you can go on the British mainland.

Does NCN 78 follow an old railway line? I had (for years) a photo that I'd taken from Onich looking towards South Ballachulish, with a steam train heading up from Oban. No idea where that photo is these days.

I also had a photo taken on the Port Appin to Lismore ferry. Good to know that it's still going. I envy your sister visiting Lismore .. it's well over 60 years since I was there - but I'd love to go back there somehow/sometime.

I'd no idea that there was a museum now on Lismore - I'll have to Google it. All I can remember of the southern end is the lighthouse - which was still manned in those days, and I remember climbing up many stairs to see from the top - a magnificent view over Loch Linnhe.

The only (fairly recent) connection that I have with that area now is that my nephew worked as an apprentice deer-stalker on one of the big estates near Ben Nevis a few years back. Not any more though - he's looking after a golf course near Dornoch these days (although he's never short of venison on the table - he's not lost his stalking skills..).

 

[ColinJ]

Does NCN 78 follow an old railway line? I had (for years) a photo that I'd taken from Onich looking towards South Ballachulish, with a steam train heading up from Oban. No idea where that photo is these days.

The road from North Connel to Ballachulish used to be narrow, twisty, and turny. And yes, there was an old railway line going over Connel bridge and north through Benderloch. I remember catching the steam train a few times as a child.

When the railway line closed, some of its length was used to widen and straighten the road.

Some parts of that stretch of NCN 78 follow the old railway line though.

Other parts of the path go off into nearby forestry. When I first cycled up there the forestry sections were gravel tracks but now they are a good tarmac surface. Here is one of those forest sections, with my niece admiring a huge tree...

I'd no idea that there was a museum now on Lismore - I'll have to Google it.

Ah, the museum/gaelic heritage centre is only about one third of the way along the island.

 

[bluenotebob]

The road from North Connel to Ballachulish used to be narrow, twisty, and turny. And yes, there was an old railway line going over Connel bridge and north through Benderloch. I remember catching the steam train a few times as a child.

When the railway line closed, some of its length was used to widen and straighten the road.

Some parts of that stretch of NCN 78 follow the old railway line though.

Other parts of the path go off into nearby forestry. When I first cycled up there the forestry sections were gravel tracks but now they are a good tarmac surface. Here is one of those forest sections, with my niece admiring a huge tree...

Thanks for all this, Colin.

I read a bit about that old railway line (your link) and am curious as to why it was ever built. I wonder if the longer-term intention was to carry on north to Fort William?

NCN 78 sounds like a great project. Doing the whole thing in one go - Dumbarton to Inverness - would be a major undertaking .. but perhaps it lends itself to doing bits at a time (as I do with long-distance French trails). Another of my nephews (based in Edinburgh) is a keen mountain-biker and I'll ask him if he's done any of it.

The museum on Lismore was only opened in 2007 which is why I didn't know about it. I watch quite a lot of BBC ALBA in the evenings and apparently it featured on one of their documentaries - so I'll keep an eye out for that (ALBA repeats lots of stuff - and almost all of it is worth watching repeatedly).

My memory of the Lismore/Port Appin ferry is that it was "on demand". There was some method of signalling that you needed it. But that was decades ago...

My sister is the family photo archivist and I'll ask her if she's come across any photos of Lismore, Port Appin or Onich/Ballachulish from the early 60s.

Thanks for bringing back memories of a couple of childhood summer holidays.

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 41: 10 rides over 30 mins, including one HMCAM multi-bike ride; distance cycled 148.52km

Weeks 1 to 41: total distance cycled 10853km

A difficult week with lots of non-cycling activities, bad weather (Hurricane Kirk) and fatigue. I ended up missing a couple of days on the bike (Tues + Wed) and it was hard to get going again … but I did (eventually).

A little treat on BBC2 last night @FrothNinja .. 45 mins of John Martyn, live (solo) from 1978, recorded at Reading Uni .. apparently lost in the BBC archives for over 40 years. Did you see it? If not, perhaps you can find it on i-Player?

 

[FrothNinja]

Week 41: 10 rides over 30 mins, including one HMCAM multi-bike ride; distance cycled 148.52km

Weeks 1 to 41: total distance cycled 10853km

A difficult week with lots of non-cycling activities, bad weather (Hurricane Kirk) and fatigue. I ended up missing a couple of days on the bike (Tues + Wed) and it was hard to get going again … but I did (eventually).

A little treat on BBC2 last night @FrothNinja .. 45 mins of John Martyn, live (solo) from 1978, recorded at Reading Uni .. apparently lost in the BBC archives for over 40 years. Did you see it? If not, perhaps you can find it on i-Player?

Thanks for that - it's a better quality image than my copy.
I have also got Steve Hillage, Robin Trower, and a couple others from the series. I ditched the Stranglers one because it was a bit of a non event ruined by idiots in the audience.
I assume it was BBC2 back in the day, and a cheaper way of doing SIght And Sound. I was a schoolkid in Aus at the time but I still found out about them - can't recall how

 

[FrothNinja]

Another week with two Sunday rides - went for a couple of walks too, so knew Sunday would have to be a double header.
W41R1- Centurion36 mins - local miles.
W41R2 - CX 2 hour 26 mins - Clarion run massively extended to include Whitemoor, Grey Stones, Padiham, Rose Grove etc, including stopping in on the chap trying to get my 23 year old CRV through its MOT ( 31.6 miles / 50.8 km, plus 579 m / 1,900 ft ascent)
W41R3 - Centurion 36 mins - local miles, dark by the time I finished