Winter Centuries

[2manybikes]

Oh, as for entering them ... if you've got an approximate date for your centuries, I'd enter a date and the distance ... or something like that ... for each. If you know you did them each weekend from May to November, then that should be fairly easy. :)

I rode three a week a couple of times and two a week a couple of times, that throws things off. I could almost count them by looking at my pictures, but that would take forever. I'm not going to make that mistake again !!!!!!!! Keeping track on the forum will be easy to do and entertaining. I only did one organized century this year. I helped a friend train for it, starting in mid July and the ride was the first weekend of September. I thought she was not going to make it at first, boy was I wrong. She did a 125 with me once. I was amazed.
Then after the organized ride she tells me she was a marathon runner. :rolleyes:

[zbicyclist]

Well over in the Long Distance forum on the Bicycling Magazine site, ... next year it will be 26 centuries in 2006. ... you get different designations as you move through the centuries ... when you complete 7 you get a certain title, when you complete 14 you get the next title, and so on. No prizes, just for fun ... and open to anyone ... even if they just complete one century. :)

I took a quick look -- I haven't been over to the Bicycling Magazine forums in a long time. That might be an interesting way to phrase the challenge. Thanks for the heads up.

[Machka]

Date: January 1, 2006
Riders/Name: Machka
Ride name: January Jaunt
Location: Red Deer
Group or solo ride: Solo
Ride [total] time: 11 hours
Ride [on bicycle] time: 9.5 hours
Ride distance: 162.5 kms (101 miles)
Average temperature: Low = -6C / High = -3C
Any Comments on ride:

Weather conditions: Fog, fog, and more fog ... light patchy fog, or thick fog blanketing the earth and closing me in making me feel like I was cycling in my own little room, or fog containing ice crystals and bits of snow which pelted my face, stuck to everything I wore, and covered the ground in a powdering coating!!

Road conditions: not slippery, for the most part, but everything was covered in a sticky, melting snow/slush with bits of sand and salt in it. That snow/slush stuff kept getting caught up in between my tires and fenders causing the bicycle to slow suddenly ... so suddenly on a couple occasions, I nearly went over the handlebars. But in general it slowed me down ... it was like having your brakes rubbing all the time. Poor Machak was COVERED in that snow/slush stuff when I was done.

Bicycles: started with my Mongoose Mtn bike (40+ lbs) for the first 41 kms, and finished with Machak.


And FYI ... you can log these in the Century-A-Month challenge and the Multiple 6 Challenge over on the Bicycling Mag Long Distance forum.

[2manybikes]

Date: January 1, 2006
Riders/Name: Machka
Ride name: January Jaunt
Location: Red Deer
Group or solo ride: Solo
Ride [total] time: 11 hours
Ride [on bicycle] time: 9.5 hours
Ride distance: 162.5 kms (101 miles)
Average temperature: Low = -6C / High = -3C
Any Comments on ride:

Weather conditions: Fog, fog, and more fog ... light patchy fog, or thick fog blanketing the earth and closing me in making me feel like I was cycling in my own little room, or fog containing ice crystals and bits of snow which pelted my face, stuck to everything I wore, and covered the ground in a powdering coating!!

Road conditions: not slippery, for the most part, but everything was covered in a sticky, melting snow/slush with bits of sand and salt in it. That snow/slush stuff kept getting caught up in between my tires and fenders causing the bicycle to slow suddenly ... so suddenly on a couple occasions, I nearly went over the handlebars. But in general it slowed me down ... it was like having your brakes rubbing all the time. Poor Machak was COVERED in that snow/slush stuff when I was done.

Bicycles: started with my Mongoose Mtn bike (40+ lbs) for the first 41 kms, and finished with Machak.


And FYI ... you can log these in the Century-A-Month challenge and the Multiple 6 Challenge over on the Bicycling Mag Long Distance forum.

Poor Machak !! :)

[NomadVW]

Went to the bicycling.com forums, but all I get is blank pages when I attempt to open the threads. I'm already on track for the century a month for the new year.

If anyone else gets into the bicycling.com forums, lemme know. Seems broke from this end.

VW

[Machka]

Went to the bicycling.com forums, but all I get is blank pages when I attempt to open the threads. I'm already on track for the century a month for the new year.

If anyone else gets into the bicycling.com forums, lemme know. Seems broke from this end.

VW

Try here:

http://forums.bicycling.com/index.jspa

If it comes up blank, click the refresh button. Sometimes the page sort of "hangs" over there.

[Machka]

Well, I posted my January 2006 century here, so I thought I'd mention that I successfully completed at least one century each month during 2006 .... I rode my December century today!

Low: 1C
High: 8C
Lots of sun ... lots of wind.
I completed it entirely within city limits, in 10:07, with a very good friend who was probably questioning his sanity. :D

[2manybikes]

Well, I posted my January 2006 century here, so I thought I'd mention that I successfully completed at least one century each month during 2006 .... I rode my December century today!

Low: 1C
High: 8C
Lots of sun ... lots of wind.
I completed it entirely within city limits, in 10:07, with a very good friend who was probably questioning his sanity. :D


Probably? no..... definitely . :)

[staehpj1]

Reading your reports has inspired me to join the century a month club in 2007. I should be recovered from recent surgery well enough to start doing long rides any time now, but am waiting for January to do a century.

It should be a lot easier to find warmer days here in Baltimore Md.

Pete

[Machka]

Probably? no..... definitely . :)


Actually, he suggested doing the century yesterday .... and seems to be feeling better than I am today. I'm suffering from some knee pain ... not sure if that has to do with my tights (patello femoral) or my saddle setup with the new cranks.

[cdale56]

Reading your reports has inspired me to join the century a month club in 2007. I should be recovered from recent surgery well enough to start doing long rides any time now, but am waiting for January to do a century.

It should be a lot easier to find warmer days here in Baltimore Md.

Pete

Hi Pete,

A great motivator for a century of the month thing is the Century of the Month Club over at bikejournal.com

Unlike the UMCA site, this is free, and reading about folks doing winter 100s in northern climes sure gets me out.




John

[Machka]

January 2008
I had been concerned about the weather and road conditions in this area in the winter, and had come to a decision. If a Chinook blew in so that January 1st or 2nd was warm, I'd attempt a century. Sure enough a Chinook blew in on January 1st, and January 2nd was balmy warm.

Stats:
Distance: 162.3 kms = 100.8 miles
Total Time: 9 hours and 55 minutes, including 3 breaks (one half-hour break, two 10 minute breaks).
Average Speed: 18.9 km/h (not counting the first 26 kms)
Max Speed: 49.7 km/h
Low Temperature: -4°C (24.8°F)
High Temperature: +4°C (39.2°F) ... I told you it was balmy warm!
Wind: Before 2 pm, it was calm. After 2 pm it was windy.

Because the roads were rather snow covered and a bit slippery, I started the ride on my father's mtn bike. Unfortunately it wasn't set up quite right, so by the end of the first 26 kms, I was in pain, I had taken almost 2 hours to cover that 26 kms, and so I decided to switch bicycles.

After that, I finished my century on Machak. My speed improved dramatically. At one point, my average speed was 24 km/h! WooHoo!! Unfortunately the wind after 2 pm, and the darkness (nightfall) after 5 pm, kinda cut into that a bit.

Nevertheless ... it's done! :)

[Cosmoline]

I did a half century with a cargo trailer last month and it nearly destroyed me. I really should have brought some broth at least (miso perhaps) and a little stove to warm it. I gotdehydrated and started having bad spasms.