2018 Metric Century Challenge
Comments
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I will sign up but I might not get as far as February as I could end up a shoulder repair which will mean 6 weeks in a sling.
Jan 13th 102.65K 1 point
Jan 30th 108.16K 1 point total 2 points
Feb 18th 105.32K 1 point total 3 points
Feb 22nd 102.31K 1 point total 4 points
March 6th 103.2K 1 point total 5 points. Shoulder op 8th March, I might have few days at the end of April to get a ride in if I’m given the all clear to ride when my arm comes out of the sling.0 -
Can anyone explain to me how to overwrite a http link wit a word? - for example I've put in a Strava link in my post above, but would prefer to use the title Alresford It would save some space on the post as it (hopefully) gets longer.0
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mrfpb wrote:i'm in. If it's the only point I score I'll still be proud.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1385033501/overview
31 Jan: 110km, 1 point (Alresford)
Horrible ride - muddy and gritty most of the way around, making fast relaxed descents impossible. Things can only get better.
That’s the point in structuring the challenge the way it is. These first 2 months are typically the most horrendous, as far as conditions are concerned. If it was structured to just be 12 century rides in a year, or allow Turbo miles ( like bloody Strava are allowing for their ‘challenge rides’ now) most people would do all 12 in the nicer months, and / or use a Turbo when it gets a bit cack out there. That’s just not Cricket, or indeed cycling, or cyclocricket, which is a game a bit like ‘Quidditch’ that I think I’ve just invented, or something.0 -
Agreed, which is why I have failed miserably at the first hurdle. Longest Jan ride as 82 KM so I am an abject failure
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jan total 9 Milemuncher1 (1) 7 Runner2Cycling (1) 6 Svetty (1) 4 Dish_dash (1) 4 Manx Shred (1) 4 Exumanewbie (1) 4 Super_Davo (1) 3 Charlie Potatoes (1) 3 diplodicus (1) 3 Dorset Boy (1) 3 Pedylan (1) 3 Kirkee (1) 2 ugo.santalucia (1) 2 Davix (1) 2 Fat Cat (1) 2 dandrew (1) 2 Mike Eye (1) 2 Webboo (1) 2 Cruff (1) 1 Durrin (1) 1 Pollys Bott (1) 1 whitehart (1) 1 Wind700 (1) 1 Leedsmjh (1) 1 Jdee84 (1) 1 Shoulder of lamb (1) 1 ajdobbin (1) 1 TriggersBroom (1) 1 Stanthomas (1) 1 Mrfpb (1)
First table of the new year shows us that Runner and Milemuncher have continued where they left off at the end of 2017. New challenger Svetty slots into third place - welcome . Well done everyone for getting on the board despite some pretty crummy weather, let's see how long we can keep a full complement of riders this year... 0 -
Milemuncher1 wrote:mrfpb wrote:i'm in. If it's the only point I score I'll still be proud.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1385033501/overview
31 Jan: 110km, 1 point (Alresford)
Horrible ride - muddy and gritty most of the way around, making fast relaxed descents impossible. Things can only get better.
That’s the point in structuring the challenge the way it is. These first 2 months are typically the most horrendous, as far as conditions are concerned. If it was structured to just be 12 century rides in a year, or allow Turbo miles ( like bloody Strava are allowing for their ‘challenge rides’ now) most people would do all 12 in the nicer months, and / or use a Turbo when it gets a bit cack out there. That’s just not Cricket, or indeed cycling, or cyclocricket, which is a game a bit like ‘Quidditch’ that I think I’ve just invented, or something.
Nothing in the rules in the OP about virtual centuries not counting! 3.5 hours on a smart trainer is bloody tough too, but in a different way, especially doing the epic Pretzel!
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Dorset Boy wrote:
Nothing in the rules in the OP about virtual centuries not counting! 3.5 hours on a smart trainer is bloody tough too, but in a different way, especially doing the epic Pretzel!
Not my understanding. However, certainly against the spirit of the rules.
A bit of background: the challenge was born as a BR version of the Randonneur Round the Year Award of Audax UK, where the goal is to ride at least one 200 km AUK validated event per calendar month for 12 consecutive months. It also replicates the AUK points challenge. In order to be validated, events need to be ridden on open roads, cycling paths or bridleways (and can't be done lapping circuits, no matter how big the circuit is).
The BR challenge is a watered down version (only 100 km), but otherwise retains the same spirit and rules (1 point every 100 km etc... )left the forum March 20230 -
Am I too late to join this as only just found it. If I'm too late please delete..
27/01/18 103km 1336mtrs 1 Point
07/02/18 104km 835mtrs 1 Point Total 2 Points0 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:Dorset Boy wrote:
Nothing in the rules in the OP about virtual centuries not counting! 3.5 hours on a smart trainer is bloody tough too, but in a different way, especially doing the epic Pretzel!
Not my understanding. However, certainly against the spirit of the rules.
A bit of background: the challenge was born as a BR version of the Randonneur Round the Year Award of Audax UK, where the goal is to ride at least one 200 km AUK validated event per calendar month for 12 consecutive months. It also replicates the AUK points challenge. In order to be validated, events need to be ridden on open roads, cycling paths or bridleways (and can't be done lapping circuits, no matter how big the circuit is).
The BR challenge is a watered down version (only 100 km), but otherwise retains the same spirit and rules (1 point every 100 km etc... )
I'm not here to change the rules, but suggest that the OP is editted to confirm this.
Presumably when the challenge was set up virtual centuries didn't exist!0 -
Dorset Boy wrote:
I'm not here to change the rules, but suggest that the OP is editted to confirm this.
Presumably when the challenge was set up virtual centuries didn't exist!
IMO no need to clarify in the rules... what is a bike ride?
https://www.ldoceonline.com/Bicycles%2C ... pic/ride_1
According to Longman It involves the act of travelling, which you are not doing if you are sitting on a stationary bike. But this is semantics, ultimately the challenge is very different... I give you the two main reasons why I think it is not the same thing
1) The first challenge is to find the time... much easier at home, if you can multitask, pedal while you supervise kids or do a laundry, read work emails or catch up on the latest series on TV. You can't do any of that outdoors.
2) The second challenge, especially in winter, is to find a window of suitable weather within the time you have already found... this can be tricky and it's typically the reason many do not succeed. It's down to how much you are prepared to compromise... some find 4 hours of rain acceptable, some don't. For instance, I am 8 months in an RRTY attempt (see previous post) but I am struggling to find a 9 hour window free of ice/cold heavy rain to complete my February 200 Km... I am crossing fingers that the second half of February will be milder, I only have two days when I can cycle for 9 hours.left the forum March 20230 -
Dorset Boy wrote:
Nothing in the rules in the OP about virtual centuries not counting! 3.5 hours on a smart trainer is bloody tough too, but in a different way, especially doing the epic Pretzel!
It's bad enough seeing all the 17mph ave riders suddenly becoming 26mph Zwift pro's on Strava without having them here
"You really think you can burn off sugar with exercise?" downhill paul0 -
The racers are the best. Watching their bullshit power numbers get hung out to dry when they're tempted into doing an IRL race and get dropped out of the second corner...Charlie Potatoes wrote:Dorset Boy wrote:
Nothing in the rules in the OP about virtual centuries not counting! 3.5 hours on a smart trainer is bloody tough too, but in a different way, especially doing the epic Pretzel!
It's bad enough seeing all the 17mph ave riders suddenly becoming 26mph Zwift pro's on Strava without having them hereFat chopper. Some racing. Some testing. Some crashing.
Specialising in Git Daaahns and Cafs. Norvern Munkey/Transplanted Laaandoner.0 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:Dorset Boy wrote:
I'm not here to change the rules, but suggest that the OP is editted to confirm this.
Presumably when the challenge was set up virtual centuries didn't exist!
IMO no need to clarify in the rules... what is a bike ride?
https://www.ldoceonline.com/Bicycles%2C ... pic/ride_1
According to Longman It involves the act of travelling, which you are not doing if you are sitting on a stationary bike. But this is semantics, ultimately the challenge is very different... I give you the two main reasons why I think it is not the same thing
1) The first challenge is to find the time... much easier at home, if you can multitask, pedal while you supervise kids or do a laundry, read work emails or catch up on the latest series on TV. You can't do any of that outdoors.
2) The second challenge, especially in winter, is to find a window of suitable weather within the time you have already found... this can be tricky and it's typically the reason many do not succeed. It's down to how much you are prepared to compromise... some find 4 hours of rain acceptable, some don't. For instance, I am 8 months in an RRTY attempt (see previous post) but I am struggling to find a 9 hour window free of ice/cold heavy rain to complete my February 200 Km... I am crossing fingers that the second half of February will be milder, I only have two days when I can cycle for 9 hours.
Quite right, it has to be in the spirit of the challenge, and personally, I don’t see stuff done on a Turbo, as being in the spirit that was intended.0 -
I got a second point on the board! I was running out of days and the way my shifts fell I had today and Monday as my last days off in Feb. Without the motivation of the challenge, today would have been a rest and recover day.
Here's to the Lantern Rouge contest.0 -
mrfpb wrote:I got a second point on the board! I was running out of days and the way my shifts fell I had today and Monday as my last days off in Feb. Without the motivation of the challenge, today would have been a rest and recover day.
Here's to the Lantern Rouge contest.
That’s the fun, February is a short month.0 -
Charlie Potatoes wrote:Dorset Boy wrote:
Nothing in the rules in the OP about virtual centuries not counting! 3.5 hours on a smart trainer is bloody tough too, but in a different way, especially doing the epic Pretzel!
It's bad enough seeing all the 17mph ave riders suddenly becoming 26mph Zwift pro's on Strava without having them here
The wonders of hooking a washing machine motor up to a Turbo.0 -
jan feb total 9 10 19 Milemuncher1 (1,=) 7 10 17 Runner2Cycling (2,=) 6 2 8 Svetty (3,=) 4 2 6 Manx Shred (4,=) 3 3 6 diplodicus (4,+4) 2 4 6 Fat Cat (4,+8) 2 4 6 Cruff (4,+8) 4 1 5 Dish_dash (8,-4) 4 1 5 Super_Davo (8,-4) 3 2 5 Charlie Potatoes (8,=) 3 2 5 Dorset Boy (8,=) 2 3 5 Kirkee (8,+4) 2 3 5 Davix (8,+4) 3 1 4 Pedylan (14,-6) 2 2 4 dandrew (14,-2) 2 2 4 Webboo (14,-2) 2 1 3 ugo.santalucia (17,-5) 2 1 3 Mike Eye (17,-5) 1 2 3 Pollys Bott (17,+3) 1 2 3 whitehart (17,+3) 1 2 3 ajdobbin (17,+3) 1 2 3 TriggersBroom (17,+3) 1 1 2 Durrin (23,-3) 1 1 2 Wind700 (23,-3) 1 1 2 Leedsmjh (23,-3) 1 1 2 Jdee84 (23,-3) 1 1 2 Stanthomas (23,-3) 1 1 2 Mrfpb (23,-3) 1 1 2 TonySJ 4 4 Exumanewbie (30) 1 1 Shoulder of lamb (31)
Two casualties this month whilst Runner and MileMuncher already look to make 2018 a two horse race. Plenty of competition for third spot, let's see what some milder weather and longer days do for the table this month...0 -
Racing has started for me, so I'll probably only get a couple in a month (tend to ride shorter during race season so as not to ruin me legs even more!)Fat chopper. Some racing. Some testing. Some crashing.
Specialising in Git Daaahns and Cafs. Norvern Munkey/Transplanted Laaandoner.0 -
Anyone else found this March a particulalry horrible month to ride
Apart from snow, the week I had off work was taken up with caring for a post-viral child and ferrying around another child who damaged her leg in the snow.
By some mysterious divine provenance however, all of todays usual activities requiring dads taxi were either cancelled or moved to yesterday so I had the opportunity of another wet and windy century. My OH even seemed happy to let me disappear on my bike for most of the day.
Three months, three points. Very pleased with myself. That's as many metric centuries as I've managed in the previous three years combined.0 -
Yep, tough month. I had work travel, the got a cold when I got back taking me out for 2 more weeks. Part of the challenge!0
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March is always a sod of a month. I try to put some big rides in, so I don’t have to do so many different smaller rides. The weather at this time of the year, tends to make the rides, relatively slow, and much more risky, so the fewer individual rides, the better.0
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jan feb mar total 9 10 12 31 Milemuncher1 (1,=) 7 10 3 20 Runner2Cycling (2,=) 6 2 5 13 Svetty (3,=) 2 4 3 9 Cruff (4,=) 3 2 4 9 Charlie Potatoes (4,+4) 2 3 4 9 Kirkee (4,+4) 4 2 2 8 Manx Shred (7,-3) 3 3 2 8 diplodicus (7,-3) 2 4 2 8 Fat Cat (7,-3) 2 3 3 8 Davix (7,+1) 4 1 2 7 Dish_dash (11,-3) 4 1 2 7 Super_Davo (11,-3) 2 1 4 7 ugo.santalucia (11,+6) 3 2 1 6 Dorset Boy (14,-6) 2 2 2 6 dandrew (14,=) 3 1 1 5 Pedylan (16,-2) 2 2 1 5 Webboo (16,-2) 1 1 3 5 Durrin (16,+7) 2 1 1 4 Mike Eye (19,-2) 1 2 1 4 Pollys Bott (19,-2) 1 2 1 4 whitehart (19,-2) 1 2 1 4 ajdobbin (19,-2) 1 2 1 4 TriggersBroom (19,-2) 1 1 1 3 Leedsmjh (24,-1) 1 1 1 3 Stanthomas (24,-1) 1 1 1 3 Mrfpb (24,-1) 1 1 2 Wind700 (27,-4) 1 1 2 Jdee84 (27,-4) 1 1 2 TonySJ 4 4 Exumanewbie (30) 1 1 Shoulder of lamb (31)
Last month some plonker wondered what milder weather and longer days would do for the table... :roll: ... clearly I didn't count on #BeastfromtheEast and other meteorological joys. Only scraped my ride in on the 28th whilst the ankle biters were at a sports club for the day: wet/breezy/mucky all the way round, very Flandrian; terrain included.
In other news, Milemuncher does a Terpstra in De Ronde and surges clear, taking advantage of Runner's long holiday to warmer climes. Svetty's grip on third tightens whilst a determined chase group is strung out behind...0 -
I'm scratching my head wondering why, when three people have slipped out of contention and below me on the table, that I have slipped from 23rd to 24th.
Answer. It's that Durrin climbing away from the Lantern Rouge group.0 -
I managed to pick the coldest, wettest day of an unseasonalbly hot April to do my Century. Added in my first clipless fall in years while climbing Butser Hill.
How is everyone else faring?0 -
I will be out as I am not yet allowed to ride my bike for at least another week.0
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It’s not that my shoulder isn’t up to Cycling, my surgeon didn’t want his handy work being ruined by someone knocking me off my bike till my shoulder is 100% healed. As he himself got wiped out by someone towing a caravan last week, he is now even more cautious about me riding yet.0
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I think this challenge is good, but it could be more exciting.
Every year, comes spring the race for the top is pretty much over, owing to the fact that there is a restricted number of riders with a lot of time in their hands who surgically tailor their rides to exactly 100 km or thereabouts... and of course they can do an almost unlimited number of them.
To balance things out, I think those of us who do not have as much free time, should be able to compensate gaining extra points for longer rides. That incidentally is a push to go a bit further... let's face it, for a good proportion of us doing 100 km in spring and summer is not exactly taxing!
Bear in mind that the second half of a 200 km ride is significantly tougher than the first half, so all in all it just fair that it earns more points
So, here is my revised model, which I already proposed in the past, with not much traction
100 km = 1 point
200 km = 2 x 2 = 4 points
300 km = 3 x 3 = 9 points
400 km = 300 + 100 = 10 points
500 km = 300 + 200 = 13 points
600 km = 300 + 300 = 18 points
PBP = 1200 km = 300 x 4 = 36 pointsleft the forum March 20230 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:I think this challenge is good, but it could be more exciting.
Every year, comes spring the race for the top is pretty much over, owing to the fact that there is a restricted number of riders with a lot of time in their hands who surgically tailor their rides to exactly 100 km or thereabouts... and of course they can do an almost unlimited number of them.
To balance things out, I think those of us who do not have as much free time, should be able to compensate gaining extra points for longer rides. That incidentally is a push to go a bit further... let's face it, for a good proportion of us doing 100 km in spring and summer is not exactly taxing!
Bear in mind that the second half of a 200 km ride is significantly tougher than the first half, so all in all it just fair that it earns more points
So, here is my revised model, which I already proposed in the past, with not much traction
100 km = 1 point
200 km = 2 x 2 = 4 points
300 km = 3 x 3 = 9 points
400 km = 300 + 100 = 10 points
500 km = 300 + 200 = 13 points
600 km = 300 + 300 = 18 points
PBP = 1200 km = 300 x 4 = 36 points
Hilarious. First you state that there is a restricted number of riders with time to ride 60 miles regularly then propose a system that primarily rewards those able to do rides of 120 miles and over. Presumably you feel that the number of riders doing these is less restricted? This is frankly b0ll0cks....
Then you - with no evidence of foundation whatsoever - accuse people of 'surgically tailoring their rides to exactly 100 km or thereabouts'. Again this is b0ll0cks. I get out for a long ride at the weekend and an afternoon in the week. An afternoon ride of 3-4 hours just happens to equate to about 60 miles - no 'surgical tailoring' involved and I suspect others do similar.
The challenge is what it is and seems to me - as a relative newcomer - to be a good compromise. Most regular cyclists can ride 100k and get out a few times a month. To adopt the proposed modification means than only a tiny minority of cyclists - eg long distance audax enthusiasts - need bother. No surprise it didn't gain much traction when previously proposed and the quoted post just sounds like sour grapes TBH. Worth mentioning that most audaxes are in multiples of 100k - these literally are 'surgically tailored' - pot calling the kettle black springs to mind :roll:
EDit: Oh sh1t I'm in agreement with MM1 - perhaps I'm the one talking b0ll0cks FFS! Harden up and grow a pair0
