Three 30-minute rides each week of the year Challenge 2025 [NB Starts 30/12/24!]

[bluenotebob]

"You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever" ... seems appropriate after the January we had.

For many years, I'd assumed that was written by Pete Brown .. (Piblokto etc) .. turns out it was by one of your countrymen @FrothNinja

Have you forgotten to update your signature ? Just not got round to it?

Anyway, I noticed that it's out-of-date

 

[FrothNinja]

"You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever" ... seems appropriate after the January we had.

For many years, I'd assumed that was written by Pete Brown .. (Piblokto etc) .. turns out it was by one of your countrymen @FrothNinja

Have you forgotten to update your signature ? Just not got round to it?

Anyway, I noticed that it's out-of-date

He also did the cover pics for Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire.
Keep meaning to do the updates.....but....done now.
Very much looking forward to the violence of the sun...

 

[FrothNinja]

Longest weekly distance of the year so far. Saturdays ride was probably a bit OTT. Woke up with sore knees, lower back and left shoulder. Only some easy flat miles today - longest time in years without a Clarion run
To worried about the traffic to think about stopping for pics - took a couple from the saddle but didn't manage to even get my Garmin in shot Was glad to get away from the heavy traffic near Gregson Lane. Think I may have got a touch of the Sun, not expecting that in March!
W9R1 - 4 hour 36 mins - Burnley to Preston return. (total 47.4 miles / 76.3 km, plus 846 m / 2,775 ft ascent)
W9R2 - 1 hour 38 mins - Wriggly ride taking in (in alphabetical, not ride, order) Barrowford, Brierfield, Burnley, Higham, Marsden, Nelson, Quaker Bridge, Wheatley Lane.
W9R3 - 2 hour 41 mins - slow ride - coz I was gossiping with friends en route who don't usually cycle - to local bike shop and local guitar shop and back (average 4.8 mph / 7.7 kph)
W9R4 - 5 hour 52 mins - Burnley, Whalley, Brown Hill, Mellor, Salmesbury, Middleforth, scary roads to Much Hoole, Tarleton, up through Hesketh Bank, cake binge (1x choc, 3 x ginger), back through Tarleton, then South and North Roads, Moss Side, terrifying roads to and past the Muddy Moss Centurion, Farington Moss, Bamber Bridge, Gregson Lane, Hoghton, Salmesbury Bottoms (rough road with bags of gravel wash), Further Lane (fun), Mellor, then more or less reversed route out. (total 70.2 miles / 113.0 km, plus 1,196 m / 3925 ft ascent)
W9R5 - Centurion 37 mins - local miles

Pic from W8R2 near Higham

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

Four qualifying rides with distances, as usual, barely worth mentioning, so I won't. Plus the app I used on my phone quit working on me a few days ago and I thought, I don't really need to know how far it is, so I deleted it. But all rides were around an hour, sometimes longer, but with idle time sitting on a bench in the rare sunshine and watching the river flow, included.

Nice to see some blue sky and sunshine again, still pretty cold first thing, and I tend to wear too many layers, but the distance I ride and speed I go, it doesn't really make a lot of difference. I'm just happy to still be getting out and still turning the pedals. I used my Carrera Inter city folding bike for a couple of rides, made a nice change, it's kind of the perfect bike for aimless meanderings.

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 9: 7 rides over 30 mins, including one Lunacy Distance ride and one HMCAM ride; distance cycled 247.89km

Weeks 1 to 9 (2025): total distance cycled 1763.59km

Raining Monday through Wednesday then dry for the rest of the week but with a brutally cold NE wind.

I squeezed another Lunacy Distance ride in this week so I’m on track to have done 8 or 9 rides in that challenge by the end of May. That should reduce any pressure to get long rides done in the heat of the summer. One MCAM ride in each of July and August is all that I’m planning to do if/when the temperature gets silly.

Also got my HMCAM qualifying ride for March done today.

The canalised river Blavet at the écluse de Poulhibet on Thursday – a few km south of the barrage at Guerlédan. This is the furthest west that I’ve been on Eurovelo #1 but I hope to push on in the coming weeks/months.

 

[ColinJ]

A better week... Not spectacularly so, but more like what I want to average this year!

Week 9: 5 qualifying rides, 113.7 km in 5.70 h.

Total qualifying rides: 29. Distance to date: 654.4 km (vs 990 km; 9 x weekly target of 110 km). Time to date: 33.90 h (vs 63 h; 9 x weekly target of 7 h).

Ride 1 (Mon): 20.1 km. ELLL + HB roadworks & back (to check - road reopened with TL). 1.15 h.

Ride 2 (Tue): 16.6 km. HB and back. 0.80 h.

Ride 3 (Thu): 50.6 km. Cgr and back, then clockwise CV loop. 2.50 h.

Ride 4 (Fri): 12.5 km. ELLL. 0.65 h.

Ride 5 (Sun): 12.0 km. ELLL. 0.60 h.

All rides on my 6-er.

Abbreviated local place names (now sorted alphabetically):

• BE = Blackstone Edge, BH = Blackshaw Head, Bp = Bacup, By = Burnley
• Ce = Cornholme, Cgr = Cliviger, Ck = Calderbrook, Cn = Colden, CP = Crown Point, Cr = Caldermoor, CV = Cragg Vale
• HB = Hebden Bridge, HC = Holme Chapel, HG = Hubberton Green, Hl = Heptonstall, HP = Harvellin Park
• JB = Jack Bridge
• Lh = Littleborough, Ls = Lumbutts
• MR = Manchester, Ms = Mankinholes
• Re = Rochdale, Royd = Mytholmroyd
• SB = Sowerby Bridge, SBm = Southward Bottom, Sd = Sharneyford, St = Summit
• Tod = Todmorden
• WM = Walk Mill, Wn = Walsden

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 10: 15 rides over 30 mins; distance cycled 268.28km

Week 1(2025) to week 10: total distance cycled 2031.87km

A bitty week with lots of short rides fitted in around other activities.

I was pleased/relieved this weekend to have cycled over 2000km since the start of the year. All six bikes have exceeded 250km this year so, as you can see, the cycling has been shared about between the bikes.

I got messed around on Thursday afternoon waiting in vain for someone to arrive to finish a job. Rang his boss at 6pm to be told that he wasn’t coming so I headed for Mauron to cycle down the Voie Verte. Started cycling at 6.25pm – I think that’s the latest time that I’ve started a ride this year. Thoroughly enjoyable … only on the bike for about 70 mins but it was a lovely evening and a good chance to test out Katie-Mae’s new front light (it worked perfectly).

Not many photos taken this week (and they weren’t very good). Here’s an unused photo from week 9: La Rossa on the Voie Verte, south of Mauron (a reminder that occasionally the sun does come out to play – it won’t be much in evidence in week 11 though: the forecast is pretty gloomy).

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

Five rides over thirty minutes, most over ninety minutes, with pauses for photographs and occupying various benches to watch the world go by. Nice to have a few consecutive days of actual sunshine; lambs in the fields, blue bells, snow drops, all kinds of things growing. My mile count not particularly being one of them, but still, I'm content enough with what I do.

Rode the Cube tour bike once, then it was back to my long ignored but recently rediscovered fifteen speed Mustang. The back brake still not working too well, but.. maybe tomorrow..

Here it is with my friend Mr. Thomas Walker at Blackrock near Chepstow. Mr. Walker doesn't say a lot but he makes an excellent bike rest.

 

[ColinJ]

Week 10: 4 qualifying rides, 80.8 km in 4.25 h.

Total qualifying rides: 33. Distance to date: 735.2 km (vs 1,100 km; 10 x weekly target of 110 km). Time to date: 38.15 h (vs 70 h; 10 x weekly target of 7 h).

Ride 1 (Wed): 20.6 km. ELLL to St & back. 1.05 h.

Ride 2 (Fri ): 11.0 km. ELLL. 0.65 h.

Ride 3 (Sat): 14.2 km. ELLL to Wn & back. 0.75 h.

Ride 4 (Sun): 35.0 km. Clockwise CV loop with timed climb (27 m 56 s). 1.80 h.

All rides on my 6-er except for Sunday on CAAD5.

Abbreviated local place names (now sorted alphabetically):

• BE = Blackstone Edge, BH = Blackshaw Head, Bp = Bacup, By = Burnley
• Ce = Cornholme, Cgr = Cliviger, Ck = Calderbrook, Cn = Colden, CP = Crown Point, Cr = Caldermoor, CV = Cragg Vale
• HB = Hebden Bridge, HC = Holme Chapel, HG = Hubberton Green, Hl = Heptonstall, HP = Harvellin Park
• JB = Jack Bridge
• Lh = Littleborough, Ls = Lumbutts
• MR = Manchester, Ms = Mankinholes
• Re = Rochdale, Royd = Mytholmroyd
• SB = Sowerby Bridge, SBm = Southward Bottom, Sd = Sharneyford, St = Summit
• Tod = Todmorden
• WM = Walk Mill, Wn = Walsden

 

[FrothNinja]

Got to the Clarion!! 35km into 50km loop.
On the whole its been a good week to get out - and I even remembered to take a pic or two.
W10R1 - 1 hour 17 mins - local lumpy miles
W10R2 - Hybrid 1 hour 11 mins - extended gravel loop
W10R3 - 1 hour 47 mins - local lumpy miles
W10R4 - 1 hour 54 mins - local lumpy miles
W10R5 - Hybrid 2 hours 48 mins - 50km Clarion loop (incorporating Laneshawe Bridge, Lothersdale, Higham, Burnley) (total 36.3 miles / 58.4 km, plus 867 m / 2,844 ft ascent)

Blacko Tower from nearish Stang Top

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 11: 9 rides over 30 mins, including one Lunacy Distance ride and one HMCAM ride; distance cycled 315.78km

Week 1(2025) to week 11: total distance cycled 2347.65km

A cold, quite windy and often wet week … but it was also my best week of the year so far – and my best week since August last year. I wonder what I might have achieved if we’d had some nice weather …?

The Princess passed a lifetime total of 13,000km earlier in the week – she’ll get some new mudguards soon as a reward.

Four bikes over 350km this year. Katie-Mae is way out in the lead with 635km cycled followed, in a rather distant second place, by La Rossa on 447km.

A photo from Friday’s mostly canal towpath ride

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

Three more edge of the seat rides over thirty minutes. Probably ninety-ish minutes per ride, and not too many miles.

Still enjoying the old Raleigh and I did actually tinker with the rear rear brake this morning after putting it off again and again. Is it better? I don't know, might find out tomorrow. It will probably need new tyres soon. Soon-ish.

I don't think there's a lot more to say. The weather has been kind, dry and cold with some actual sunshine. Would have enjoyed a couple more rides but it wasn't to be. I did think I was perhaps getting a little bit fitter, but it was probably a tail wind.

 

[ColinJ]

Well, today's planned ride was cancelled due to lack of sleep! 3.5 hours wasn't enough so I conked out again after breakfast and didn't get up until mid-afternoon. It looked like it was going to rain then and that was enough to put me off altogether.

Anybody seen my cycling mojo - it seems to be skiving off somewhere!

So, yet another qualifying but feeble week...

Week 11: 3 qualifying rides, 68.7 km in 3.8 h.

Total qualifying rides: 36. Distance to date: 803.9 km (vs 1,210 km; 11 x weekly target of 110 km). Time to date: 41.95 h (vs 77 h; 11 x weekly target of 7 h).

Ride 1 (Tue): 25.9 km. Tod to cafe in HB to meet a pal, then back to Tod via Ls and Wn plus local Tod bonus. 1.45 h.

Ride 2 (Thu): 26.9 km. Tod to HB roadworks, Ls, Wn, St, Wn, Tod. 1.45 h.

Ride 3 (Fri): 15.9 km. ELLL to Wn & back. 0.90 h.

All rides on my CAAD5.

Abbreviated local place names (now sorted alphabetically):

• BE = Blackstone Edge, BH = Blackshaw Head, Bp = Bacup, By = Burnley
• Ce = Cornholme, Cgr = Cliviger, Ck = Calderbrook, Cn = Colden, CP = Crown Point, Cr = Caldermoor, CV = Cragg Vale
• HB = Hebden Bridge, HC = Holme Chapel, HG = Hubberton Green, Hl = Heptonstall, HP = Harvellin Park
• JB = Jack Bridge
• Lh = Littleborough, Ls = Lumbutts
• MR = Manchester, Ms = Mankinholes
• Re = Rochdale, Royd = Mytholmroyd
• SB = Sowerby Bridge, SBm = Southward Bottom, Sd = Sharneyford, St = Summit
• Tod = Todmorden
• WM = Walk Mill, Wn = Walsden

 

[FrothNinja]

W11R1 - 1 hour 15 mins - local lumpy miles
W11R2 - 2 hour 44 mins - Burnley to Clitheroe return
W11R3 - 1 hour 14 mins - 20km Clarion loop

View from the Clarion

 

[bluenotebob]

Week 12: 9 rides over 30 mins, including one MCAM ride and one HMCAM ride; distance cycled 264.95km

Week 1(2025) to week 12: total distance cycled 2612.6km

I hoped to get out again today on my bike but it’s plain ugly out there .. cold and drizzly. I’ve done enough cycling this week anyway so I’m having a day off.

Line of the old railway that ran from Ploërmel to Pontivy (the line closed in the 1940s, I think). I cycled the stretch between Rouvray and Canfroux back in 2017 but I hadn’t revisited it again until Thursday. It’s a further 9km from Canfroux to Réguiny (I’ve never been there) and I’m hoping to do at least that section, if not more, as part of an HMCAM ride on one of my mountain bikes in April. I don’t know how much of it will be cyclable but there’s only one way to find out…