Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Century -A-Month 2009

It's a new year, let's keep each other motivted for the century a month challenge. Be sure and report multiple centuries in a month, or maybe you are stepping up for a century-a-week. Good luck with weather as we start the year, and most of all, be safe on all your long rides this year!

I'd Like to try this challenge! I'll be a bit hard with work and all but I'm planning a 200k January 1st. That will be my longest ride to date and a great start to the new year! Thanks!

Christine Hastings

I'm certainly planning for CAM 2009, but if January continues with weather like we're having now, I may have to double up a few months later in the year. It's too dangerous to ride on the streets right now with the amount of snow we've gotten.

I'm certainly planning for CAM 2009, but if January continues with weather like we're having now, I may have to double up a few months later in the year. It's too dangerous to ride on the streets right now with the amount of snow we've gotten.

It would be wonderful if that counted in the CAM challenge, but it does not. The challenge is at least one century ridden in each month of the year.

If doubling up counted, I could say I've completed my 2008 CAM because I have done more than 12 centuries this year, but unfortunately the weather has made it very difficult for me to ride my December century, so I'm out of the 2008 CAM. That's how it goes sometimes.

We could start a thread for a Century Challenge ... for overall quantity of centuries in a year. And here it is: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=496675

I think this is much more difficult for people who live in cold climates. Where I live winter temp is about 5 / 10 C, maybe 4 or 5 days per year at 0 C, so I can ride anytime. Snow was recorded 2 times, in 1918 and 2007...

I think this is much more difficult for people who live in cold climates. Where I live winter temp is about 5 / 10 C, maybe 4 or 5 days per year at 0 C, so I can ride anytime. Snow was recorded 2 times, in 1918 and 2007...

It's more challenging. But I managed it in 2003 in Winnipeg, and in 2005 and 2006 here in central Alberta. I've come really close to managing it this year too ... but December's unseasonably miserable weather and the lack of street clearing has made it very difficult for me to do December's Century.

I'd like to give it a try this year. I'm planning 200k on Jan. 10 for my first notch. No cold weather blues down here, but it does get hot and rainy and hurricaney around August.

I might just have to go for the CAM! I did two centuries last year. Attempted four, but wussed out and caught the train to my destination twice.

I'm going to start tonight by mapping out some local loop centuries. Last year's were Point-To-Point, Vancouver to Tumwater, WA with a train trip return.

One way of dealing with really rotten cold and snow was used by Caalvin Congdon of Ohio when he went for the UMCA Centuries in a Year Record. When roads got bad he would stay on plowed roads closer to town. Sometimes he had to do many, many loops around a few blocks near his home but he got the miles in.

One way of dealing with really rotten cold and snow was used by Caalvin Congdon of Ohio when he went for the UMCA Centuries in a Year Record. When roads got bad he would stay on plowed roads closer to town. Sometimes he had to do many, many loops around a few blocks near his home but he got the miles in.

That's how I did it. You don't want to venture too far away from shelter when the temps start getting dropping well below freezing. In fact, my own policy is to remain within walking distance of shelter if at all possible.

One way of dealing with really rotten cold and snow was used by Caalvin Congdon of Ohio when he went for the UMCA Centuries in a Year Record. When roads got bad he would stay on plowed roads closer to town. Sometimes he had to do many, many loops around a few blocks near his home but he got the miles in.

I may give that a shot. It's not the temperature that bothers me; I'm fine with the 15 - 20 degrees we're getting.
It's the lack of safe clearance on the roads. With how they're cleared for the cars, there's maybe 1 foot of clearance on either side (between the shoulder pile of snow and the median pile of snow.) Definitely not safe to ride a bike on them. I have a short loop around my side streets that I could do a boatload of loops around, if this snow doesn't clear up in the next few weeks.

When roads got bad he would stay on plowed roads closer to town. Sometimes he had to do many, many loops around a few blocks near his home but he got the miles in.

WOW, kudos to you for being able to do that. That would add a completely different level of challenge to me personally. That would be incredibly tedious and boring to me, so I would not have the tenacity to do it just for the sake of putting in a given number of miles. Heck, I even hate doing rides that have an out and back route because I hate going over the same terrain twice. I need change in scenery. I also need to feel like I am going in a loop in which I can't decide half way through it to cut it short. I understand you have to d what you have to do in places with harsh climate and other difficult conditions, but again, more kudos to you for being able to do that.:thumb:

On vacation, did the Pinnellas Trail yesterday, with a side trip to downtown St. Petersburg. At the end, I had racked up 86.3 miles, but it was getting a little late in the afternoon, so I had to head back to check in with the wife and kids to make sure we had nothing planned. We didn't. Being so close, I hopped back on the bike to finish off the last 14 miles. But there was a 45 minute gap between the initial 86 miles and the remaining 14. Does that count, or do you need to do the entire 100 in one uninterrupted trip?

On vacation, did the Pinnellas Trail yesterday, with a side trip to downtown St. Petersburg. At the end, I had racked up 86.3 miles, but it was getting a little late in the afternoon, so I had to head back to check in with the wife and kids to make sure we had nothing planned. We didn't. Being so close, I hopped back on the bike to finish off the last 14 miles. But there was a 45 minute gap between the initial 86 miles and the remaining 14. Does that count, or do you need to do the entire 100 in one uninterrupted trip?

I think it's OK. You could have stopped 45 mins for lunch and some rest as well.

I guess you're right, doesn't matter what the interruption was for, could have been lunch instead of heading home to check in.

Got January done today. 102 miles. This is the one I was most concerned about since I couldn't really find a warm climate ride for January within a reasonable distance. But the weather today was nice... mid 50's, clear, light wind, so I did a solo ride at a military park near here.

01/02/09

100.12 miles today.

January:
03-01-09 -- 161.22km/100.20 miles; 6hr 10min elapsed time (26.14km/h = 16.25mph average); 5hr 54min bike time (27.28km/h = 16.95mph average). Bike = Merlin C110 Works (9x2 sp road).

I'm going to try, but January will be difficult (not exactly a good start for the year). Kasia & I are in Poland for the holidays; we'll return to the Seattle are on 01/13. That gives us about 2 weeks to get our legs back and do the first century.

Difficult, but not impossible :).

CliftonGK1: We can always go do 400+ laps at the Marymoor Velodrome. Last person to go insane wins.

January done. 173 km at 27.1 average.

Jan 1 100miles :) :)

January century completed 1-9-09, 101.2 miles, Eugene to Corvallis, lunch and back to Eugene. Hi temp today was 39 and foggy most of the ride, I've ridden in worse conditions, it was a nice ride today.

As long as the roads are dry, where there`s a will there`s a way:

January century done on Jan 6! 103.8 miles, time 7:21:00, avg speed 14.31mph, 3070 ft of climbing.

Temp at start of ride was 8 degrees Fahrenheit (-13C), but it warmed up to 30. By the end of the ride it was back down to 26.

Kept warm with wool base layers, Lake winter cycling boots, wool socks, chemical warmers, lobster gloves, the usual winter cycling stuff.

This is a route I did in August with an average speed of 16.89mph. What a difference five months make.

So, along the lines of what gdg is saying: what constitutes a century? Is it 100 miles within a 24 hour period? 100 miles within a rough sunup-to-sundown day? 100 miles between the time you wake up and the time you go to sleep? What about naps ;)?

If I do 50 miles in the morning and 50 miles in the evening, is that still a century?

I'm confined to Saturdays, and the 17th and 24 are already claimed for other activities, so I was thinking today - until I saw the weather forecast. :cry: They're calling for a blizzard.

The 31st had better work out, or I'm sunk right at the start.

So, along the lines of what gdg is saying: what constitutes a century? Is it 100 miles within a 24 hour period? 100 miles within a rough sunup-to-sundown day? 100 miles between the time you wake up and the time you go to sleep? What about naps ;)?

If I do 50 miles in the morning and 50 miles in the evening, is that still a century?

I don't think there's going to be a consistent definition. Part of the idea of what is a ride or what is a century involves the course, the purpose, and other factors besides just riding time/ resting time.

For example- suppose you ride from your home town to some other town 100 miles away. As long as you did that in the same day, most people would count it as "one ride", regardless of how many stops you had, or how long those stops were for. On the other hand, if I ride my bike to Walmart and back, wait 5 minutes, then ride to the post office and back, I'd count that as two rides, not one, even though I was only off the bike for 5 minutes. There, it's not the time, it's the fact that the two rides are for different purposes.

It took me about 9-1/2 hours to do the Hotter-n-Hell 100 last summer. Some people can do that in about 4 hours. If one of those guys rode for two hours, took a 5-1/2 hour nap, then rode for two more hours and finished the course, most people would call that a century, since they completed a recognized course. But if you ride a 50 mile loop in the morning, sit around the house for 5-1/2 hours, then go ride a different 50 mile loop in the evening, that's two rides, as they have separate routes, etc. The degree of difficulty may be exactly the same either way.

If the point of tracking the centuries is to keep track of your workouts, your effort, etc., it doesn't really matter how those miles were arranged or what the purpose of riding them was, though, and for that purpose, making 50 two-mile trips to Walmart ought to count just as well as a single long ride, even though you might not normally call the 50 two-mile trips a century.

It looks like a dry weekend is coming my way!!!! I'm rolling a hundred miles on Sunday, for sure!
Tomorrow, Saturday, will be spent hitting up the bike swap meet, hoping to find some cheep Campy cranks of the 172.5 variety and doing some test prints on a skateboard.....

Happy January century rides to all!!!!

Oh, as to the question that concerns what constitutes a century, I'd say any 100 miles ridden with no naps..... hehheehe.

My first century took me over 12 hours, but is was on a MTB and was only 40% paved road, and I took many breaks. Probably about 9.5 hours in the saddle.

One down, eleven to go.

Not only was it the first in my 2009 CAM effort, but it was also my first ever single speed century. 109 miles. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it was also my slowest ever century. I blame that on the single speed, though the engine may have had something to do with it too.

Looking forward to February. :)

Finished 200k (130 miles in American) yesterday. I finished well within the time limit, and took my first step to SR. Most important, I think I out-rode 10 wheels, if only for one day.

2nd January century done today. 170 km at 23.3 kmh avg on my MTB, 50% on unpaved roads.

Finished 200k (130 miles in American) yesterday. I finished well within the time limit, and took my first step to SR. Most important, I think I out-rode 10 wheels, if only for one day.

OK I will give it to you for just one day.

Thursday 101 mi
Friday 100.2 mi
Saturday 81 mi

Tried for a 3rd 100 mi, back to back, but the Wind Won.
395 mi for the week

OK I will give it to you for just one day.

Thursday 101 mi
Friday 100.2 mi
Saturday 81 mi

Tried for a 3rd 100 mi, back to back, but the Wind Won.
395 mi for the week

Victory is mine!

http://www.buddytv.com/usrimages/usr209/209_stewie-griffin.jpg

Although, true victory will be if I am rolling 400 miles a week in 20 years...:50::thumb:

Jan done. I am hoping I continue to post them here while I do them. I did well last year until about half way down the year. I forgot most months after that.

101.61 miles today. 28 deg at the start, 38 deg at the finish, 50 deg midway. First 40 miles were into a 15 mph headwind, so time and avg. speed were in the toilet. First century on new bike (Specialized Roubaix Elite Triple). Several last year on 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile 10-speed. New bike isn’t really any faster, but that triple was nice in the headwind, and the 10-speed cassette is easy on the old knees.

101 or so in Wilmington NC after a too-long drive to get there.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=501182

I've done a c. every month since last April, EXCEPT December, so looks like I'm starting over...

on saturday i was supposed to ride a 200k permanent, but missed the ferry... so i did a solo century instead. (seattle to kayak park n back)

the pacer downtown at about 6AM:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3442/3185732489_96b6267b84.jpg?v=0

nice scenery in everett:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/3186566682_c4a060a0b9.jpg?v=0

then there's the iffy crossing on hwy 529 into marysville:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/3185725343_bf0ddf440f.jpg?v=0

interesting police station near marysville:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3425/3185736765_67a4a8b716.jpg?v=0

finally at kayak park:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3407/3185738487_a13b24a79c.jpg?v=0

i had a blast, even if it was 34-44F and rainy!

161.4 km today guess I'm in. Brutal headwind and wanted to quit a few times early on but this thread kept me going.

Rode the club century on Jan. 17th. 45 deg.F at the start, low 80's by the mid point. Essentially Irvine to Corona via Yorba Linda. So some good climbs (Green River, etc.) to keep it interesting.

I missed the first checkpoint (my fault, not paying close attention), but had enough food and water, so no worries. Stopped at It's a Grind coffee shop at the 49.9 mile point, in Corona. Med. cup of coffee, Some-More's Bar (w/daily recommended intake of chocolate!) filled bottles, and off onto Eagle Glen Parkway to start the return journey.

Fighting a headwind on the way out (mostly), so a friendly tailwind on the return trip. 7:00 AM start, 1:15 PM finish, 100.2 miles, lovely route (even if fairly urban for most of it).

My first double in Feb. 21, so this was just an early training ride for that!

Rick / OCRR

I'm going to give the CAM challenge a try this year.

January 24, 2009
102.6 miles

16.4 mph average speed
6:16:11 time on bike

7:12:54 total time

Nasty 20+ mph winds most of the day with the cold front that blew in (5 hours earlier than forecasted, unfortunately); overcast, temps started in the high 50's and dropped to the low 50's.

The Cam is my personal Goal for 2009 along with a Grand Randonee. I have the January Century checked off, and am I glad I did it in the 15 mph wind and 34 degree temperatures of January 3rd. We have been hit hard with snow and bitter cold since then, and many outside the culture would see this as a sign of mental instability...but as I was driving the roads today the thought going through my mind was "hey the roads are dry today!" Alas I did not go out on the bike, but I thought about it. Flat land with a few bumps is Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, so the cold certainly will be the challenge for us northerly CAM riders. I am psyching myself up for the February ride... at least the days will be longer:) Good Luck to everyone!

I'm going to start tonight by mapping out some local loop centuries.

Map out a route?? I just jumped on and went! I am just jesting of course. Good idea to map things out, but if you have decent weather and time is not an object I highly recommend just going for a ride. My January Century was 100.3 miles, and I did it by the seat of my tights:lol: It is a good mind exercise to mentally plan where you are how far you have gone, how far you have to go and what routes you need to take to get there. People sometimes ask what do you think about when you are riding, and I often think about "Where am I going??!!" Good Times:thumb:

Took the day off work to ride, as the weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow. Was cool and very foggy, so I stuck to in town with some MUP's. Went into and all over Seattle. Had some significant headwinds. Got lost a couple times, hung out on the waterfront for lunch.

105 miles. 8.5 hrs total time, 14.5 mph average (although I take in-city speeds w/ a grain of salt.)

Just in time (31st January). No bicycling this month. This first century of 2009 was hard. Great blue sky, temperature around freezing (0°C). 162 km @19.1 km/h. Over 10 hours in aggregate. Glad I did it

3rd January century done today. 168 km in 6:55 riding time, 7:50 total time. First 110 km with a friend on his MTB, very slow. Then he went home and I rode about 50 km with some triathletes, struggling to keep their wheel. They didn't drop me, but I suspect they didn't try to. :lol:

Well I made it for January, here on the last day. Weather here has been tough so I spent a lot of time on the MTB this month, but today I managed 102.2 miles with 6000ft of climbing, solo unsupported. It was a beautiful sunny day, 40f down low and 25-35f up higher, where most of my ride took place. High point for the ride was 7100ft elevation.

Trying to play along this year.
1/31 - 100.03 miles @ 17.2 avg. Solo
2/14 - 100.5 miles @ 19.4 avg. Group of 6 for 30 miles, 3 for remainder.
3/1 - 102.5 miles @ 18.2 avg. Solo. The day after my 2nd Feb century. First time ever for 2 back to back.
4/10 - 105 miles @ ?? avg. Group of 5. Computer died. No time or average data.

One down, eleven to go.

101.5 miles in 7:38 (13.3 average). I'm slow, but persistent.

February 1st and my February century is done!! Woo HOO!! It was brutal. I rode in Southern Wisconsin, basically from Richmond Illinois to Eagle, WI and back. 5240 feet of climbing. One of the hills I went up registered 21% on my Garmin. Wind was very strong from the west. The forcast said 15 mph, but I think it was higher. Riding time was 7 hours 30 min for 101.6 miles. Average speed just over 13.5 mph! January was 14.9! With between 6 and 10 inches of snow on the ground all around there were many areas with snow accross the road. I had snow and ice patches on the road maybe 7% of the time. Most of the time I had a clear lane to ride through, but not always. I thought I was going down to the pavement at least one time! Temperature started at 26 F, and got up to 34 F I think.

Cheers to all and good luck with February

February's done; 101 miles. Fourth of the year. Followed another 101 miles Saturday to end January. First time I've done back-to-back centuries on consecutive days. Only casualties were a flat and a sore right Achilles tendon. Yearly mileage totals for Fri, Sat, and Sun were 1010, 1111, 1212. My wife likes cute numbers. Come to think of it, she's a cute little number herself. ;)

February's done; 101 miles. Fourth of the year. Followed another 101 miles Saturday to end January. First time I've done back-to-back centuries on consecutive days. Only casualties were a flat and a sore right Achilles tendon. Yearly mileage totals for Fri, Sat, and Sun were 1010, 1111, 1212. My wife likes cute numbers. Come to think of it, she's a cute little number herself. ;)

Now we need a photo of her.