Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Century-A-Month

Over on Bicycling Mag's long distance forum, on CyclingPlus's forum, among the UMCA members, and among the members of Big Dogs ...... cyclists are currently participating in Century-A-Month challenges.

The challenge is as follows:

-- Cyclists must ride at least one imperial century (100 miles or more) each month of the year. One century in January, one in February, one in March ..... etc.

-- Centuries cannot be banked ... cyclists cannot ride two centuries in January and then none in February.

-- Centuries must be completed outside and not on a trainer, but can be on a route of the cyclist's own choosing ... a collection of short loops or long loops, and out and back, or whatever.

-- Centuries can be offically organized rides, or unofficially organized rides ... in other words, a century could be a century the local cycletouring club puts on each year, or could be a century where the cyclist just goes out and rides 100 miles on his/her own.

-- Centuries must be completed within a 24-hour period of time, but as "all-at-once" as possible. 24-hours is permitted to allow for centuries done in exceptionally inclement conditions, such as when it is bitterly cold or if the cyclist is riding through snow (such as the Susitna, for example), but the cyclist should try to complete it with breaks/rest stops that are as short as possible. In other words, slogging through snow for 18 hours with 10 minute breaks every hour to reach the 100 mile point is OK ... but cycling 50 miles in 3 hours, then going home, doing some housework etc., getting a night's sleep, puttering around the yard for 18 hours, and then doing the last 50 miles in 3 hours would not count as a century.


I have completed this challenge twice so far, in 2003 and 2005. I'm currently working on it for this year as well. I've got my November and December centuries to go.


Are any of you currently participating in a Century-A-Month challenge organized by one of the groups I mentioned at the top of this message? If you are not, and if you ride a lot of centuries, or have a desire to maintain your endurance throughout the winter, you might consider this challenging (it is challenging in my part of the world!) little challenge. :D

If I lived in Southern California, I'd probably do it. ;)

I'd love to participate in something like this. I've done 2 this year (first 2 ever) and have really loved it. I'm planning to do the "Blood, Sweat and Gears (http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/)" century in June and the "Bridge to Bridge (http://www.caldwellcochamber.org/aboutus.asp?id06=50&cat06=49)" century so I'd like to do something like what you've mentioned to help prepare for this. Got some links to some groups putting on such a thing or is this a local only group?

I've been participating in the UMCA Year Rounder. I've got 28 centuries so far this year, including three doubles.

I live in Texas, so riding year round is easy.

Put me down for 2007. I bombed out in February of this year.

Randonneurs USA has its own year rounder program, called R-12 (http://www.rusa.org/r12.html). You do a brevet or a permanent of at least 200km each month for 12 consecutive months. I still have to do one this month and one in November to get to 12 months, before I start again in December. Here in Northwest we have a few people who are doing it. It is kind of nice to have other people who are crazy enough to do long distance riding during the winter. It is great training for what may come in the summer season, if the weather is bad.

I'm in for '07.

Hi All

Firstly thanks heaps Machka for all the the info and related experiences both in this forum and on your website. I have just joined Audax Australia and plan on doing some brevets and possibly a super series next year once I have me and a suitable bike organised.

The concept of the century per month is definitely something I am interested in since I am rostered over 7 days so brevets are only if I can get or have the necessary time off work and this can be done whenever as long as they can be non organised solo rides if necessary.

I've got a 38-month streak that'll come to an end if I don't get a century in tomorrow. This month's schedule has been hell for riding -- out of town last weekend (NYC), next weekend (Washington), and the weekend after that (Florida), with no possibilities of a long ride (and no possibility of anything during the week, either. Damn work!). Today was torrential rain and wind that made me opt for Sunday. It's going to be do or die!

What must you do to prove you've completed each ride? Is this on the honor system or are their statements to complete? The challenge is very enticing.

What must you do to prove you've completed each ride? Is this on the honor system or are their statements to complete? The challenge is very enticing.

As far as I can see, it's basically an honour system. The vast majority of my centuries are solo unorganised rides, and there's virtually no way to verify those. The protocol with challenges of this nature is to post various stats from the ride including distance travelled, ride time and elapsed time, with further information such as total height gained or weather conditions being optional. I suppose if someone claims to be riding centuries inside three hours, we'd all get a bit suss about the validity of their claims, but there isn't really anyway to verify it. That said, I usually post a picture or three from my rides on my blog if anybody cares.

I've always held that the real challenge here is in pushing yourself to improve your own performance and better your own achievements. It is not, strictly speaking, a competition as such, and there are no prizes awarded for the person who rides the most centuries with the possible exception of "bragging rights" (for whatever they're worth online). Consequently, I tend to take the claims people make in such a challenge on face value. If someone were to cheat and write up a bogus ride report, it wouldn't really bother me all that much. It might be a cliche, but in this case they would only really be cheating themselves.

Thanks Chris, I appreciate the reply. Time to ride. ciao,

all i'll say is that machka is la chica mas macha. doin' it up up in canada! go machka go!!:) :) :beer:

I've got a 38-month streak that'll come to an end if I don't get a century in tomorrow. This month's schedule has been hell for riding -- out of town last weekend (NYC), next weekend (Washington), and the weekend after that (Florida), with no possibilities of a long ride (and no possibility of anything during the week, either. Damn work!). Today was torrential rain and wind that made me opt for Sunday. It's going to be do or die!

Did you get it? I tried for a half on Sunday - but the rain / cold and my lingering sickness had me turned around and heading back home to warm up and enjoy a nice dinner with the wife!

Did you get it? I tried for a half on Sunday - but the rain / cold and my lingering sickness had me turned around and heading back home to warm up and enjoy a nice dinner with the wife!
mike -- I realize that this is off topic, but when did you get married? belated congrats!

ive been doing this for like 4 years and didnt even know it

mike -- I realize that this is off topic, but when did you get married? belated congrats!

Friday, October 13th. :D

I'll PM you...

Friday, October 13th. :D


Congrats!

Ok, Machka, I'm in. I'll crank out a November 100 on Sunday the 26th.

Are there any good websites for finiding organized century rides in a particular area? I live outside of Cincinnati, OH.

I'm not interested in any century a month formal programs, but it's a possibility for a personal goal for 2007. I completed one century in January and decided it wasn't really something I wanted to do regularly (but I would do the occasional century), but then since September, I've given it a new look and I have started scheduling a lot more century rides. I did four of them from Sept 17 to Oct 14. And I currently have plans for two more before year's end. Of course, being in SoCal helps.

We'll see...

Are there any good websites for finiding organized century rides in a particular area? I live outside of Cincinnati, OH.

Last year I heard of a site that lists organized century and other rides for the whole country. Hundreds, even thousands if you count the shorter options. I just can not remember how to find it again. Try the UMCA listings. They include centuries and longer rides.

I'm in! That is another goal for me for 2007. Should be a real challenge for northern Illinois!! I got June, July, August, September, and October this year. Could get November next Wednesday and then that turkey and stuffing would be sooooo good on Thursday! I'm not much for riding in the rain, but I can handle the cold. Thanks for the info!

BlueJay66

Jamis Eclipse
Fuji Del Rey

I have failed. My plan was to ride a November100 last sunday, but I was asked to help with a club ride instead. With only one day left in November being a work day :( I won't make it.

December beckons. There is a ride scheduled for mid-month that does a half loop around Lake Washington using the I-90 floating bridge. I can ride to the start point and join the ride from there. Total mileage back to my place will be 111 miles.

This route was actually my first century. I was side-swiped by a hit and run in the last 5 miles. I stayed on the bike, but had to take off my rear wheel and bend it back into some kind of shape to get home. I didn't know I had ridden a century til I figured the miles next day. Then I collapsed into a large gelatinous mass. That was 1-1/2 years ago. ...I got better. :)

Ok, so, who else?

EDIT: OOPS! that ride is this sunday. Oh well, spaghetti for breakfast ain't bad.

Ok, so, who else?

I had November in the bag (http://life-cycle.blogspot.com/2006/11/duck-creek-road.html), but decided on another 238km (http://life-cycle.blogspot.com/2006/11/green.html) last Saturday, in humidity that made me feel like I was riding underwater the whole time. This weekend I'm flying to the opposite end of the country for a 200k that's supposed to be brutally hilly. That will put December in the bag. It's just a shame I bombed out back in February, really.

Barring some unforeseen calamity, Sunday will complete my century-a-month for 2007. It will also be my 37th century of the year. If I'm lucky, I'll get a few more and round the year out with a full 40.

Haven't previously heard anything about a century-a-month challenge before reading this thread. It seems like something I would totally be interested in trying out.


I'd love to participate in something like this. I've done 2 this year (first 2 ever) and have really loved it. I'm planning to do the "Blood, Sweat and Gears (http://www.bloodsweatandgears.org/)" century in June and the "Bridge to Bridge (http://www.caldwellcochamber.org/aboutus.asp?id06=50&cat06=49)" century so I'd like to do something like what you've mentioned to help prepare for this. Got some links to some groups putting on such a thing or is this a local only group? That Blood, Sweat and Gears ride looks like a lot of fun.

I have been thinking about training to do the 2007 Death Ride (http://www.deathride.com/).

I'll see if I can give this a go for 2007 as a personal challenge! For myself, I'll probably be ignoring the rule "Centuries cannot be banked" as depending on commitments it might be impossible to get a century in on any given month. (If cycling were my only sport that wouldn't be so much of an issue, but a tough game puts me out of action for 3-5 days sometimes.)

Cheers for the idea, Machka!

Ok, December's in the bag. 111 miles today on the Trek 520. 10 hours on the nose. Lucky it was all dry. Everything feels fine except I'm whipped. Going to bed - good night.

Got number 37 today. Did it the hard way with temps between 30 and 45 and with strong headwinds on the second half. Slow going, and truly an hors slog, but we finished and that's all that counts.

How many of you consider this to be calendar year based vs any 12 consecutive months?

I am recovering from back to back surgeries and am just a bit unsure about being ready to ride a century in January.

Everything I've read about this sort of challenge said 12 consecutive months. I think it doesn't matter when you start it, you're still going to hit the hard to ride months. Hard for a lot of us anyways. I'm starting mine in Jan., but that's only because I want to get it over with.

Everything I've read about this sort of challenge said 12 consecutive months. I think it doesn't matter when you start it, you're still going to hit the hard to ride months. Hard for a lot of us anyways. I'm starting mine in Jan., but that's only because I want to get it over with.
Glad to hear that. I still prefer to try to start with the calendar year, but will feel ok about it if I am not ready.

Glad to hear that. I still prefer to try to start with the calendar year, but will feel ok about it if I am not ready.

Start when you're ready. No one will throw rocks. :)

OK, I start in January 2007.

I had 13 centuries in 2006, mostly between May and October, but I can see the appeal of doing at least one each month. We have the weather in Western Oregon that will make this all possible, in fact, the warmest temps in Oregon during Jan, Feb and March are on the Oregon coast, not too shabby a place to ride a century.

It's On!

I am in for 2007! I have found in my 10 months of riding so far that the hard part is not necessarily the ride, but finding time to actually ride!

Completing a century a month was in my goals for 2007, now I have someone to hold me accountable to do it!

Ok I'm in. Starting this month. May as well make it an r12 while I am at it as the brevet season will get me 4 of those months, a 1200 permanent gets me to 5 and if I ride the 2 rides that usually happen in the fall that gets me to 7 out of 12 months right there. Throw in a few permanents and it is in the bag.

Saturday is the 200k.

Everyone got their Jan centuries in yet? C'mon! Times a wasting! I got mine on New Years day. Number two is planned for this Sunday. Get on your bike and work off all those holiday treats you've been eating.

Everyone got their Jan centuries in yet? C'mon! Times a wasting! I got mine on New Years day. Number two is planned for this Sunday. Get on your bike and work off all those holiday treats you've been eating.

You're a beast :p

I managed to finagle my schedule so I should be able to work in centuries this semester. Last semester I was on campus far too long every day, had to settle for less than two hours on any given day at the most - this semester, I'm on campus even longer, but I got tuesday and thursday off :D

Count me in Machka. Im gonna do my first century this month and will try to do at least one a month through 2007. Most of mine will be on almost level ground. I will post the total time and avg MPH. Im 45 so my mph aint gonna be real high lol!

What the heck, I'll post in here. This is from January 2nd.

It was nice and sunny out today (not expected), so I made a last-minute decision to get January's century done today. Weather has been great for this time of year recently, but it is January, so when the weather gives me an opportunity I take it.

Distance: 100 miles
Temp: 40
Wind: 8-13 mph
Time: 6:34.06
Avg. Cadence: 87

Here's hoping that's the worst ride of the year. The wind wasn't really that bad, but it was taking a lot out of me today. I took a while off the bike at the end of December. I didn't think I took long enough to lose much fitness, but I guess I was wrong.

Here's most of the route, which was out-and-back today:

I'm not currently doing that, but can I get credit for doing 7 centuries in 9 weeks? :) (2 of the rides were 110+ miles) I did them all over this past summer. I was a little burned out after that so I switched to doing 50 mile rides 2x a week instead for a while.

I was planning on starting my century a month in March, but I snuck out yesterday to a warm January day for Vermont! Left Burlington and circled Mt. Mansfield. Temps reached a high of 44 degrees. I'm still building a winter base, and I've lost fitness since fall - so this was a slow century - but I was so thrilled to be out on the bike!

Mt. Mansfield Century
102 miles
Ride time 7:20
Total time 8:20 (snackies!)
Climbing: 7200 feet by TOPO, 5500 by my altimeter, by gut it was a rolly 6800, with a few modest grades - 5-6 between 6-9%, one topping out 13%, which was hard to keep the HR and mind in "base" mode. No major gaps to climb on the route...

Pics and a ride report on littlecirlces (my blog) later today.

nice ride mike! global warmin'. . .:) :eek: :) :eek:

nice ride mike! global warmin'. . .:) :eek: :) :eek:

For sure!

Mansfield from the north
http://www.mikebeganyi.com/webimages/ride07/mansfield-north.jpg

Mansfield from the east along Rt. 100
http://www.mikebeganyi.com/webimages/ride07/mansfield-east.jpg

Gas pump in Moscow, VT
http://www.mikebeganyi.com/webimages/ride07/gaspump-moscow.jpg

Remember when?
http://www.mikebeganyi.com/webimages/ride07/cheapgas.jpg

http://www.mikebeganyi.com/webimages/ride07/mikeshadow.jpg

Camel's Hump from Rt. 2
http://www.mikebeganyi.com/webimages/ride07/camelshump.jpg

bmike!
great pics! especially the rusty gas pumps.:) :eek: :) :beer: :beer:

Mike, those pics are beautiful but sooooo depressing! I used to ski in Vermont all the time, and especially enjoyed the backcountry on Mansfield. Stowe looks positively closed. I can't see anything that would even be skiable from the Chin. :(

Mike, those pics are beautiful but sooooo depressing! I used to ski in Vermont all the time, and especially enjoyed the backcountry on Mansfield. Stowe looks positively closed. I can't see anything that would even be skiable from the Chin. :(

Its been a tough winter. I was there on my BC XC skis a few weeks ago to practice some tele turns on skinny skis and we were able to start from the bottom of the toll road and work our way up. The higher we went, the more snow there was - but you are right - this week its depressing! Lots of rain and warm temps - we've got flood warnings today! When I was there I think only 50% of the mountain was open. This weekend I'd guess even less.

The top looks pretty bare - can't imagine skiing off anything up there at all - even Camel's Hump is snowless!

Everyone got their Jan centuries in yet? C'mon! Times a wasting! I got mine on New Years day. Number two is planned for this Sunday. Get on your bike and work off all those holiday treats you've been eating.

Finished on Saturday. 200k brevet, 7 hours 15 minutes.
ride report-
http://randocommute.blogspot.com/2007/01/welcome-to-fantasy-island.html

Full write up here: http://littlecircles.blogspot.com/2007/01/mt-mansfield-century.html