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

[ColinJ]

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...

It seems to run at regular intervals now. I think hourly, numerous times a day.

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?

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.

I found a series of 3 excellent articles which I am sure that you will be interested in... The first article is HERE and it contains links to parts 2 and 3. Note that part 3 is slightly out of date with regard to NCN 78. It refers to having to use a short stretch of the A-road between North Connel and Benderloch. That is no longer the case... An agreement has been reached with the owner of a large caravan site to run the cycle path through there. As I mentioned above, the forestry sections have also been resurfaced.

 

[bluenotebob]

I found a series of 3 excellent articles which I am sure that you will be interested in...

Thanks, Colin

I've just read all three of Roger Farnworth's articles. All very interesting and with some excellent photos.

My father had a huge collection of "The Railway Magazine" .. I wonder what happened to them all? Probably ended up in a paper recycling skip somewhere ... a shame.

I also really liked the ornate metalwork that is used in places on NCN78. What a great (if somewhat expensive) idea!

 

[ColinJ]

Week 41, back in Todmorden: 5 qualifying rides, 106 km, 5½ hrs.

Ride 1 (Mon): 19 km. ELLL to Summit and back. 1 hr.
Ride 2 (Tue): 18 km. ELLL to Cliviger traffic lights and back. 1 hr.
Ride 3 (Fri): 28 km. Up and down the A646! 1½ hrs.
Ride 4 (Sat): 22 km. ELLL to Calderbrook & back. 1 hr.***
Ride 5 (Sun): 19 km. To Calderbrook & back. 1 hr.

Rides 1-4 on my 6-er; ride 5 on my CAAD5, on one of the last rides before it is hibernated.

*** Bad timing on that ride! Sunny conditions disappeared while I prepared for my ride. I went out under threatening clouds which dumped large volumes of chilly rain on me shortly afterwards! I kept thinking that I desperately did NOT want to have to fix a puncture out in that. Well, it turned out that I DID puncture my front tube, but it was slow enough to hold pressure to get me home. I noticed this morning that ths tyre was flat so today's ride was done on my best bike. The culprit was a tiny sliver of glass in the tyre, which was very hard to find.

Success rate: 41 weeks out of 41.

152 qualifying rides so far this year. Weekly target 100 km; total to date: 4,286 km. Average progress now = 104.5%; last week = 104. 5%. Total ride time approximately 256½ hrs.

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

 

[annedonnelly]

Three rides for me, the third one slightly cut short as I spotted a hedge cutter heading towards me. I really didn't want to get behind that so I turned round and headed back at that point.

Back home now so I'll be mainly on cycle paths rather than quiet country roads.

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 42: 10 rides over 30 mins, including one Lunacy Distance ride; distance cycled 200.59km

Weeks 1 to 42: total distance cycled 11054km

A mostly wet week but Monday’s ride from Cadoret to St Caradec (and back) before the rain arrived was one of my most enjoyable rides of the year.

More details (and photos) of that ride here, if you’re interested

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/your-ride-today.173254/page-2257#post-7287294

 

[annedonnelly]

Three rides again this week. I'm back home so they were all on the Dawes. I've now done enough comparable rides on the Brompton and Dawes to know that it's the Dawes setup that sets off my back pain and not just distance ridden on any bike. So I've started by rotating the bars on the Dawes a bit to see if that helps. Now just need a day with less wind to try it out.

 

[FrothNinja]

W42R1- Centurion 39 mins - local miles
W42R2 - Centurion 35 mins - local miles
W42R3 - CX 55 mins - local work commute
W42R4 - CX 1 hour 4 mins - Colne loop

 

[ColinJ]

Week 42: 3 qualifying rides, only 63 km ('stuff' distracted me!) in 3¼ hrs.

Ride 1 (Mon): 17 km. ELLL. ¾ hr.
Ride 2 (Thu): 26 km. To Hebden Bridge and back, plus another loop from Todmorden. 1½ hrs.
Ride 3 (Sun): 20 km. Littleborough via Calderbrook and Caldermoor, back via Summit. 1 hr.

All rides on my 6-er.

Success rate: 42 weeks out of 42.

155 qualifying rides so far this year. Weekly target 100 km; total to date: 4,349 km. Average progress now = 103.5%; last week = 104. 5%. Total ride time approximately 259¾ hrs.

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

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 43: 13 rides over 30 mins, including one HMCAM ride + one HMCAM multi-bike ride; distance cycled 234.57km

Weeks 1 to 43: total distance cycled 11288km

At some point this afternoon, I passed 11,266km in 2024 – that’s exactly 7000 miles. 7000 miles seems to be a lot more than 11,266km – I’m not quite sure why: perhaps it’s because cycling here is measured in kilometres and they tick over very quickly, whereas when I lived in the UK, I was a long-distance walker and miles … well, they take a little bit longer to walk than kilometres take to cycle.

A photo from Wednesday’s ride around Pontivy (I took loads of photos on that ride - and most them have been posted in various places on the forum. This is one of the better ones):

 

[ColinJ]

Week 43: 5 qualifying rides, 203 km in 11 hrs.

Ride 1 (Mon): 20 km. ELLL to Summit and back, plus a bonus hill back in Tod. 1 hr.
Ride 2 (Tue): 23 km. To Hebden Bridge and back, plus a ride round the shops in Tod. 1¼ hrs.
Ride 3 (Thu): 37 km. To Littleborough, then up to Craggies cafe via Blackstone Edge. Back via Hebden Bridge. 2 hrs.
Ride 4 (Sat): 103 km. Tod to Southward Bottom, eastern backstreets of Burnley (!), Fence, Padiham Heights, Sabden, Whalley, Mitton, loop round Longridge Fell, Chipping, Cow Ark, Waddington, Bashall Town and back to Whalley. Then Old Roman Road, Read, Padiham Greenway, Rose Grove and A646 back to Tod. 5¾ hrs.
Ride 5 (Sun): 20 km. Tod to Littleborough directly, and back via Caldermoor and Calderbrook. 1 hr.

All rides on my 6-er.

Success rate: 43 weeks out of 43.

160 qualifying rides so far this year. Weekly target 100 km; total to date: 4,552km. Average progress now = 105.9%; last week = 103.5%. Total ride time approximately 270¾ hrs.

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

 

[FrothNinja]

W43R1- Centurion 33 mins - local miles
W43R2 - Centurion 37 mins - local miles
W43R3 - CX 41 mins - Barrowford loop
W43R4 - CX 3 hour 46 mins - Burnley, Cliviger, Rose Grove, Padiham, Read, Sabden, the Ridge, Sabden Fold, Barley, Clarion, Roughlee, Colne, Barrowford, Fence, Burnley (total 36.4 miles / 58.6 km plus 1036 m / 3399 ft ascent).

 

[annedonnelly]

Three rides for me. Not enough to be sure whether the adjustments have made any difference to my back. Need to get in a few more rides to see before I start fiddling any more.

 

[FrothNinja]

W44R1- Centurion 30 mins - local miles
W44R2 - CX 44 mins - Gannow run
W44R3 - Hybrid 3 hours 48 mins - Burnley, Nelson, Haggate, Thursden valley, Widdop, Slack, up High Gate and back (doh, no cash for shop), Blackshaw Head, loop down to Hey Head Lane, back along Eastwood Rd, Kebs, Shore, Cliviger, Crown Point, Rose Hill, Cliviger, Brunshaw, Burnley (total 42.8 miles / 68.8 km plus 1,436 m / 4,711 ft ascent).
W44R4 - Centurion 39 mins - local miles

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 44: 15 rides over 30 mins, including one HMCAM ride; distance cycled 274.45km

Weeks 1 to 44: total distance cycled 11563km


A photo from Friday’s ride in the Lié valley (on a footbridge over the river Lié)

 

[ColinJ]

Week 44: 4 qualifying rides, 127 km in 7½ hrs.

Ride 1 (Wed): 21 km. A646 to Walk Mill and back, calling in at bike shop in Cornholme on return leg. 1¼ hrs.
Ride 2 (Fri): 23 km. Tod to Hebden Bridge station to pick up Metro, back to Tod, then one steep climb. 1¼ hrs.
Ride 3 (Sat): 23 km. ELLL including Harvelin Park, Mankinholes, Lumbutts, Walsden, Old Toll House then back to Tod. 1¼ hrs.
Ride 4 (Sun): 60 km. Tod, Hebden Bridge, Oxenhope, Stanbury, Laneshaw Bridge, Trawden, Haggate, Worsthorne, Southward Bottom, and A646 back to Tod. 3¾ hrs.

Ride #4 on CAAD5, rest on my 6-er.

Success rate: 44 weeks out of 44.

164 qualifying rides so far this year. Weekly target 100 km; total to date: 4,679 km. Average progress now = 106.3%; last week = 105.9%. Total ride time approximately 278¼ hrs.

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