2014 Metric Century Challenge

W12_Lad

Fat Cat wrote:

I might have fallen (literally) at the last hurdle, as I managed a spectacular face plant on Tuesday, and whilst the cut above my eye which initially caused me concern was superficial, albeit scary when I saw blood running down my glasses, I then realised my right arm was sore.

A trip to hospital as a precaution I thought has revealed it's broken in 2 places. Currently in plaster with a trip to the fracture clinic lined up for next Tuesday. Hopefully will be Ok to ride before the end of the month because I'll be gutted otherwise.

Fuk me, I thought I had a high pain threshold!

I've broken many, many bones over the years (at least 15 incidents) but I've never felt little enough pain to not think it was broken/cracked.
I love that you only went to hospital as a precaution 8)

Get well soon mate.

fat_cat

W12 lad wrote:

Fat Cat wrote:

I might have fallen (literally) at the last hurdle, as I managed a spectacular face plant on Tuesday, and whilst the cut above my eye which initially caused me concern was superficial, albeit scary when I saw blood running down my glasses, I then realised my right arm was sore.

A trip to hospital as a precaution I thought has revealed it's broken in 2 places. Currently in plaster with a trip to the fracture clinic lined up for next Tuesday. Hopefully will be Ok to ride before the end of the month because I'll be gutted otherwise.

Fuk me, I thought I had a high pain threshold!

I've broken many, many bones over the years (at least 15 incidents) but I've never felt little enough pain to not think it was broken/cracked.
I love that you only went to hospital as a precaution 8)

Get well soon mate.

Cheers fella, I think the expression in no sense no feeling!

charlie_potatoes

Good luck on getting it finished Fatcat.

I got my December ride in today so that's my second year in a row.
I wasn't really feeling it today but made the effort in case the weather turns

Best Regards Everyone!


Thanks for organising it Durrin.

JamesB

Well done Charlie P

Have yet to do my Dec ride, had to cancel a 200 km Audax due to headcold / fluey feeling; away next w/e, busy w/e after so not sure when I`ll get a 100in for December

bikergirl17

Have a question on the rule about the continuous ride ... So for an 600+ km audax -- even with sleep stops -- that is considered continuous even if the stops break up the ride into partial 100 km sections, right? Is there a cut off in terms of the length of the rest stop?

For example I did the raid alpine which has a seven day limit in six days -- but since I slept each night I counted each section independently. Same with lands end to john o groats in ten days with 9 at 150 km, with one 200 km day, so I counted it as 11 metrics ... But overall it was 1500 km or 15 metrics. I am not looking to add "points" - I just want to understand whether if I start long audaxes and can manage 5 hours sleep how they would be counted.

And good luck fat cat -- hope you heal quickly. I still support a broken bone papal dispensation that allows one to miss a month rather than risk further injury cycling too soon or being forced to drop out.

marcusjb

As it's only a bit of fun I have never thought about it really.

Luckily it would only affect one ride this year, a 1300km on which I slept - everything else I did this year had no sleep breaks as I've been on a pretty quiet year all in all.

Sure, if I looked at it, I would probably see that on day X I rode (let's say) 280km, so that should count as 2 points. Sleep on these things is hardly real sleep - most riders will be getting 4-6 hours a night tops and many will be getting considerably less (and then there are those &*^%ers who get 8 hours a night cos they are mighty fast).

As I said, never really thought about it - always just treated these things as a 1300km bike ride that involves a small amount of sleep.

You'd probably overtake me if I worked it out, or if you counted your Raid etc. - so it all sounds like a really bad idea!

durrin

Wrt. rules, I think the intent has been that an "event" counts as one, so let's say a multi-day sportive, with days of 160, 160, and 190, would count as 5 points, as it is one event. Marcus' 1300km brevet is the same.

The raid ride I'm not sure: how does it work exactly?

Jogle/Lejog: yeah, I think that's even more tenuous... I guess it depends on how it's ridden. I never count my long tours as one event, just take the individual days. Of course, they are certainly not events, in that I organize them myself for myself.

Perhaps for these events there should be a condition that no day is less than 100km, and/or the days must average, say, 150km... I'm not sure. The rules have just been copied from year to year for quite a while. Clarifying them might be good. Input welcome.

JamesB

I have for the two years that I`ve entered this FUN challenge worked on basis that it is number of whole metric centuries completed within a 24hr time period. So on Raid Dolomites last year on most days I rode more than a 100km daily route but although cumulative ride length was 1100km or so I felt that it was correct to only claim whole `100`km sections---so several days of 130, 150, 190 km just got me one point each rather than accumulate them over the whole 9 day trip to maximise points.

So let`s also say for an 600km Audax I ride 390 km day 1---in a full 24 hour period (which may not be a calendar day but 0600 to 0600 next day) and then finsih day 2 with 220km I would count just 3 points day 1, 2 points day 2 even though cumulative is 610 km = 6 points.

AND that`s how I think it should stay>>>> count number total metric centuries within a 24 hr time period

wallace_and_gromit

JamesB wrote:

AND that`s how I think it should stay>>>> count number total metric centuries within a 24 hr time period

That seems sensible. I'd add the proviso that only "reasonable" mid-ride breaks are allowed. So a café stop or a cup of tea at a friends house is fine. Stopping after 50k for a shower, massage, hot meal, fresh kit and a long recovery before heading out for the remaining 50k isn't. (I don't imagine too many people do this, though I've had to return home after 85-90k several times due to domestic commitments, and have been tempted by popping out for the remaining distance later in the day!)

In my years of trying for a century every month, the real challenge has always come in the winter months where there are limited hours of frost-free daylight and just being out for the 3.5/4 hours that is required represents an achievement in itself.

JamesB

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

JamesB wrote:

AND that`s how I think it should stay>>>> count number total metric centuries within a 24 hr time period

That seems sensible. I'd add the proviso that only "reasonable" mid-ride breaks are allowed. So a café stop or a cup of tea at a friends house is fine. Stopping after 50k for a shower, massage, hot meal, fresh kit and a long recovery before heading out for the remaining 50k isn't. (I don't imagine too many people do this, though I've had to return home after 85-90k several times due to domestic commitments, and have been tempted by popping out for the remaining distance later in the day!)

In my years of trying for a century every month, the real challenge has always come in the winter months where there are limited hours of frost-free daylight and just being out for the 3.5/4 hours that is required represents an achievement in itself.

W&G amendment seems very sensible too

has to be a `continuous` 100km with just reasonable breaks, so 2 x 50km commutes also won`t count !!

durrin

I don't quite agree... No one rides a 1200km brevet in 24 hours, but it seems to me that it should be registered as 12 points regardless of whether you ride it 3-3-3-3, 4-4-4, or say: 399-399-402. Also, when one is riding a long brevet (say 600+) time sort of just flows together. You ride 390 in 18 hours, sleep for 4, ride 290, take a 30 minute nap, ride etc. My understanding is that this has been accepted practice for the MCC.

I also feel on some level, that if one can manage to put together a century interrupted by a work day, one deserves the point. Personally, it helps me motivate myself for rides after work (I realize this hasn't been accepted practice for the MCC). And of course, where should the border be? 20 minutes? an hour? One frequently stops on a long brevet for dinner, can one count the 4 points if the service is fast, and it only takes an hour, but not if the service is slow, and it takes 90 minutes?

bikergirl17

Fwiw I do jamesb method.

But a 1300 km brevet should be 13 points regardless given the sheer insaneness of that ride (and it isn't like you are changing out of Lycra -- perhaps that's the deciding point? If you stay in Lycra & keep your cycling shoes & helmet on (or at least nearby!)).

on raid alpine each leg length was specified to a hotel even if it was technically a randonee within a specified time limit -- so I am not comfortable taking more pts even if I move up the leader board (and I actually wouldn't!). Same with raid dolomite or Pyrenees.

I don't think 50 km, working for a few hours, 50 km should count. Otherwise I could accumulate 100 km between my commute & after ride loops in the summer. But a 2 hour cafe break while you are sitting around in Lycra next to the bike? Fair game I guess if you like to faff (drives me batty!).

And for me the challenge is also getting in each month. December was touch & go -- first weekend got caught in pouring rain from start so cut it short; last weekend I was caught out freezing & unable to feel hands with crap lights after dark but couldn't face another attempt so pushed on, trapped in the big ring. Plus reading what you guys do (who put descriptions) is awesome.

JamesB

maybe bg17 has hit on a really good solution--staying in lycra is deciding factor --even if changing to fresh gear on longer rides---once out of lycra = end of ride continuity !

durrin

How about this: I ride 7km to a ½IM, swim 1,9km, ride 90, run a half-marathon, and ride 12km afterwards... isn't that worth a point!? On that particular day I changed after the first 7km, the swim, and shoes before and after the run...

I like the simplicity (+the motivational factor) of a ride within a waking period, or a multi-day event of at least 200km/day (just picking a number here, could also be 250 or 300). So, riding Sverigetempot (a 2100km brevet in Sweden, with ACP-brevet rules giving you about 7 days to ride it) would give you 21 points, regardless of how many times you slept, ate, or changed clothes on the way, as long as you finished within the time limit. Or maybe just any event held under the auspices of the ACP.

Allowing a ride that is within a waking period increases the accessibility of the challenge, and in case you guys haven't noticed, it's not like there are a hundred people completing, or even entering. Of course, I suppose if there were, it would be a handful to administer. Wrt. the "lycra rule": um, what if you don't wear lycra!? From what you guys so far have written, it seems as if you don't think a 100km ride with 5 hours in the saddle and 3 out should count. That cuts out most days touring, especially in the mountains.

I'd like to hear from some other participants, especially W12 lad and Runner2cycling... I could imagine one or both of them have included rides that were partially commuting. I know I have.

bikergirl17

I think a five hours in saddle three out counts if it is a day's ride -- when the day is spent cycling. Breaking it up for work or a nap before nipping out for the final 20 km then no -- but that's a personal decision as I don't feel that is the same effort as a 100 km ride. But if one feels it is so be it. This is a personal challenge; no one is auditing or checking GPS files!

The current rules work for me -- sorry if threw a wrench in it. I just wondered about multi day audaxes. I think the raid alpine is 7 days limit for 1000 (but as said we did in 6 & that still allowed full nights sleep) -- so 2100 km in same period should get full points since that is just insane. Insane.

The Lycra rule would be awesome especially if someone stayed at work in full kit & posted a photo. That's worth 2 points !!!

JamesB

bikergirl17 wrote:

I think a five hours in saddle three out counts if it is a day's ride -- when the day is spent cycling. Breaking it up for work or a nap before nipping out for the final 20 km then no -- but that's a personal decision as I don't feel that is the same effort as a 100 km ride. But if one feels it is so be it. This is a personal challenge; no one is auditing or checking GPS files!

The Lycra rule would be awesome especially if someone stayed at work in full kit & posted a photo. That's worth 2 points !!!

Indeed it is a fun challenge and unaudited, I stick to what I see as `the rules` and what I feel has been OK for me eg I have not ridden 90km early in a day, got changed then later in day ridden another 10km to get 100km in---that for me is against spirit of event !
Maybe `lycra rule` :roll: can be modified to include `any other athletic activity` :?:

However at end of day I`m happy with it as it is, a friendly `competition` and whatever Durrin, as moderator feels, should go

wallace_and_gromit

JamesB wrote:

However at end of day I`m happy with it as it is, a friendly `competition` and whatever Durrin, as moderator feels, should go

This debate does highlight the difficulties of setting formal rules for even a "simple" situation.

After some thought, I'll go with Durrin's view as well. It's a personal challenge, and I recall that I claimed a ride to and from a race and the race itself as a century earlier this year despite two separate bouts of off-bike faffing either side of the race, so I don't want this scenario excluded. (It was a "schoolnight" century as well!) So on this basis, the triathlon scenario must count. And anyone who does 100k on a work day, however it's split, deserves a point!

If we get too rule based then there will be hardcore types wanting to exclude rides where food and water are involved before we know it!

JamesB

----and after all as a fun challenge the only person being `cheated` is oneself if go outside of what one feels appropriate parameters

charlie_potatoes

As I'm not a Randonneur it doesn't really affect me. From my perspective it seems a shame that we don't benefit from doing a 100 mile ride over a 100 km. Maybe award half a point per 50 kms over a 100km ride?

As others have said though it is only a fun challenge

durrin

@Charlie: I've thought about that, but the biggest advantage of the current format (esp. from my viewpoint) is that it's easy to tally... For myself, usually once I'm past the 160.95km mark, I feel I may as well ride the last 40. This doesn't apply when on tour.

The last two years I've ridden 47 statute centuries, and only eight of those weren't also double metrics (or more).

charlie_potatoes

durrin wrote:

@Charlie: I've thought about that, but the biggest advantage of the current format (esp. from my viewpoint) is that it's easy to tally...

That's a good enough reason durrin

bikergirl17

At the 140 km point I'm ready to bag -- not do another 60!!! Durrin did I see you did ironman Wisconsin? What did you think of that part of the us (I'm american -- east coast).

But yes this challenge is still motivational. In the last day in the pseudo raid Pyrenees as everyone put their feet up for a celebratory champagne I was trudging up hills in a head wind to hit the sacred 100 km mark.

stanthomas

How about a minimum average speed over the claimed distance of 15kph (same as audax)

But I'm with W&G here:

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

In my years of trying for a century every month, the real challenge has always come in the winter months where there are limited hours of frost-free daylight and just being out for the 3.5/4 hours that is required represents an achievement in itself.

it's all about the motivation to get a longer ride in when I might prefer to stay somewhere warm and dry.

What do points mean? All together now .....

JamesB

bikergirl17 wrote:

But yes this challenge is still motivational. In the last day in the pseudo raid Pyrenees as everyone put their feet up for a celebratory champagne I was trudging up hills in a head wind to hit the sacred 100 km mark.

that`s as bad as me doing a couple of laps during lunch stop ---literally--of a small French / Swiss town to get the 198 km up to 200 during Raid Dolomites :roll: :roll: :shock:

bikergirl17

I don't use a garmin usually and in Mallorca I was driving everyone batty asking every 30 or so minutes with "have we hit 100 km or 2000m yet" and also got them to do an extra climb to get our ascent up on another day.

And with pbp in 2015 looking forward to some impressive stats on the leader board next year. I have admittedly planned two trips on which we do at least 100 km per day -- that and climbing were the two criteria.

durrin

bikergirl17 wrote:

Durrin did I see you did ironman Wisconsin? What did you think of that part of the us (I'm american -- east coast).

Yeah, I did. The last 2km on the run were the best 11 minutes (or so) of my life! And the whole experience was fantastic, an incredible rush. IMNZ next, and after that, in June I should be in Scotland for Celtman!

I'm from the states originally too, Chicago. I chose IMWI because family lives close by, and I made an agreement with my brother-in-law that we would both do it. The roads were absolutely terrible for riding, at least with narrow tires, with frost heaves every ... 8 meters or so on a large portion of the ride. I also went for a ride a few days later, that was mostly the same. Drivers were more courteous than expected though.

JamesB

bikergirl17 wrote:

And with pbp in 2015 looking forward to some impressive stats on the leader board next year. I have admittedly planned two trips on which we do at least 100 km per day -- that and climbing were the two criteria.

I do hope your trips incl BCM too

As for getting impressive stats I`m not sure that PBP year will add that much as I`ll probably ride less 100km rides....and at moment am struggling to finish a 100km for December as been unwell, been away long w/e without bike and weather looking very windy....so on current form ?????

mikeeye

I'm just glad that my total distance ridden on MCC rides doesn't contain enough excess kilometers to make me feel like I missed out on another century :-)

My feeling is that we should keep things simple to administer, so half points seems like more trouble that it's worth. On the rare occasions that I ride an imperial century then I make the effort to take the ride up to 200km so that's a good incentive.

I also feel that the century should be "one ride". So if you're doing a crazily long audax that takes multiple days then I don't have a problem with that being considered "one ride". When I did Lejog in 2011, I counted each day as a separate ride - that seemed fair to me. I think it's fine for it to be up to us as individuals to decide what we each consider to be "one ride" - though I would not agree that riding to work, doing a days work and then riding home can be considered as one ride. This is supposed to be a challenge to ride metric centuries - not just to ride a long distance throughout the year.

One thing I would suggest though is that the table should include everyone who has dropped out along the way - even those that sign up in January and don't even complete one ride. As it is now, there is the implication that the person at the bottom of the table is the least successful at the challenge. Clearly they are not, since they are still in it. And no, it's not (quite) me at the bottom this year. ;-)

davep1

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

JamesB wrote:

However at end of day I`m happy with it as it is, a friendly `competition` and whatever Durrin, as moderator feels, should go

This debate does highlight the difficulties of setting formal rules for even a "simple" situation.

After some thought, I'll go with Durrin's view as well. It's a personal challenge, and I recall that I claimed a ride to and from a race and the race itself as a century earlier this year despite two separate bouts of off-bike faffing either side of the race, so I don't want this scenario excluded. (It was a "schoolnight" century as well!) So on this basis, the triathlon scenario must count. And anyone who does 100k on a work day, however it's split, deserves a point!

If we get too rule based then there will be hardcore types wanting to exclude rides where food and water are involved before we know it!

Just catching up on this debate! I don't think I have done 100k on a work day this year, but it should be easy enough for me next year...

W12_Lad

This is all very interesting with lots of good points from all sides.

FWIW I agree that mega long Audaxes (is that the plural?) should be counted on the total mileage as they are pretty special things in their own right.
When you're entire event is purely ride, eat, sleep (when you're knackered) and more riding, it seems to me that what most of us would consider to be a "day" is immaterial in that context.

I think other multi-day events where there is a definite "day" that you finish and then rack up to the hotel and eat/drink/sleep should only have the mileage per day included.
Although it certainly wouldn't bother me if it was decided otherwise.
(I'm shooting myself in the foot here as I'm doing LEJOG in 2015 and those days that are just shy of 200km will be really annoying!)

As for breaks in the rides, I like the "Lycra" rule. (Or any other sporting attire during multi sport events).

I don't think commuting rides should be included and I haven't included any on my tally.

Personally, I can't think of any of my "points" this year that have had a break of more than half an hour ... apart from one where there was 4 or 5 hours in a pub.
I'll happily take it off if it's decided to be not allowed.

EDIT - I've just checked that ride and it was 54 miles so I didn't get a point anyway!