DXchulo

Who's in? The rules are simple, as always:

1. Ride a century every month.
2. Post a report here. Pictures are always nice if you have them.

Just to answer a few questions that may come up:

(a) A century is one 100-mile bike ride completed in one 24-hour day. Feel free to be more strict on how you define a century, but here we'll try to include as many people as possible.
(b) A century is not necessarily a group ride. It is simply a 100-mile ride which may or may not be done with a group and/or part of an organized event.

DXchulo

I'm in again this year. My streak goes back to 2006.

January is done. I woke up early for this one and started at 6:15 AM. I missed out on some nice 50 degree weather, but I did get to see the sunrise.



100 miles
3495 feet

Not a bad way to start the year.

drmweaver2

Mth 1 Jan 4 - 160km/100mile RUSA populaire
Mth 2 Feb 8 - 100 miler same route as above - not an "official" RUSA result
Mth 3a Mar 4 - 125 miles - New Orleans to Baton Rouge on a "gotta get out of the house" whim.
#3b Bonus century - Mar 25 - 125 miles. New Orleans to Baton Rouge roundtripper on LA 61/Airline Hwy, a route most people say to avoid due to traffic (which doesn't bother me on that particular route). Not my fastest overall time, rolling average was ~15mph, but I had to make multiple "recovery" stops as my left knee is still healing from being whacked in an attack with a baseball bat. Post-ride assessment - really felt like I was "starting over" as I haven't ridden anywhere near this distance for 3 weeks.
Mth 4 Apr 24 - 111 miles. Harahan to Ponchatoula. Flat, flat, flat. Near windless day in near perfect temps. Only challenge was boredom over a 30 mile stretch.
4 a, b Same as Apr 24 rides. Under 9 hours.
Mth 5 May 1 - 105 miles. Under 8 hours.
5a - 106 miles. Under 8 hours
100 Centuries in 106-110 days Self-Challenge
........Date...____Day____Ride___Miles____Total
1-May-2012_____1_____1_____105____105____
2-May-2012_____2_____2_____106____211____
3-May-2012_____3_____3_____104____315____
4-May-2012_____4_____4_____101____416____
5-May-2012_____5_____5_____112____528____
6-May-2012_____6_____6_____110____638____
7-May-2012_____7_____7_____125____763____
8-May-2012_____8_____Restday__0____763____
9-May-2012_____9_____8_____101____864____
10-May-2012____10____9_____107____971____
11-May-2012____11____10____105____1076____
12-May-2012____12____11____105____1181____
13-May-2012____13____12____111____1292____
14-May-2012____14____13____115____1407____
15-May-2012____15____14____105____1512____
16-May-2012____16____Restday__0____1512____
17-May-2012____17____15____107____1619____
18-May-2012____18____16____104____1723____
19-May-2012____19____17____109____1832____
20-May-2012____20____18____125____1957____
21-May-2012____21____19____112____2069____
22-May-2012____22____20____101____2170____
23-May-2012____23____21____107____2277____
24-May-2012____24____Restday__0____2277____
25-May-2012____25____22____101____2378____
25-May-2012____26____23____121____2499

Machka 

Sunday 8 January

January century complete! 161.59 km on the tandem in wind, rain, wind, hills, wind, heat, wind ...

The weather forecasters had not predicted too much in the way of wind, but the winds were gusting up to 50 km/h all day, and they were a challenge ... headwinds, crosswinds, and more crosswinds. Not nearly enough in the way of tailwinds to make up for it. The day started rainy, and it rained about the first 30 km. Once the rain cleared, the high for the day reached 28C. Overall the temperature was quite comfortable.

We tried a new route which ended up being a bit hillier than expected. We've cycled loops in the opposite direction from where we started, and they have been about as flat as a table top ... but not this route! It started with a very gradual 40 km climb (into the wind) ... just enough climbing to make us wonder why we were working so hard. And it wasn't till the turn at the 40 km point that we could see the view down over the valley, and it was very evident we had done quite a bit of climbing. Then we had rollers (mostly with crosswinds) for the next 100 km.

Along the way we saw ... blue and white herrons, ibis, crows, magpies, cockatoos, heaps of ducks, horses, cattle, sheep, llamas, goats, emus, and kangaroos.

We also saw a rather odd airplane museum that looked as though several planes had crashed all in that one spot.

We ended up taking short breaks about every 20 km or so, to get a little rest from the wind and to stretch. It can be challenging to ride a tough course on a tandem, especially one that doesn't offer much opportunity for coasting, stretching, changing position, and drinking. And then we took a longer lunch break at the 85 km point ... a chance to get off the bicycle, eat, drink, stretch, etc.

The whole thing was a lot tougher than expected. We wrapped it up in 8:50 ... one of our longer centuries in a while. We're tired, but we made it! D

RayfromTX

1-7-12
100.01 miles.
beautiful day in the TX hill country.

B. Carfree

I can't remember the last month I didn't ride a century in, but I've never "entered" before. This sounds like fun. (I'll get some pics up later)

I did my first century of the year last Tuesday (1/3/12). It was a nice ride from Eugene (Willamette Valley) to Reedsport (Pacific Coast). We were having some great weather (38F low, 50F high, no rain, light fog patches). After spending the night, I rode back home for my second of the month. Each direction felt quite different from the other. For one thing, I left a couple of hours before sunrise both days so I had completely different light conditions everywhere except the middle portion. Also, there are three nice little climbs to change watersheds in the first 35 miles heading towards the coast followed by a pleasant run down the Smith River to the coast. All the climbing is at the end coming home. After the first four miles, I didn't have a car pass me for another sixty miles on my ride home. I just love the solitude of riding in the coast hills around here.

chipg5

I'm in again, this will be my 5th consecutive year of century a month challenges, and hope once again to do 18 centuries this year.

I got my first one in on 1/11, 101.3 miles. Nice weather here, sunny and temps between 26F and 46F, mostly in the 30s-40s with a bit of a wind. I rode around Cayuga Lake up the west side on 89, through Montezuma, back down on 90 and 34. Got in before sunset.

I got the January ride in just in time, we're getting hit with snow and high winds today, and looks like the rest of the month will be the same.

Mr 53x11

Number 1: January is done for me (sort of), January 7th ASA 200k, or 131.1 miles (211k actually, but ASA only likes round numbers) Brevet in Huntsville, AL. Poured down rain the whole ride.....I mean really poured!

I say sort of since I'll be doing another century (110 miles) this Sunday with 10K feet of climbing with a friend of mine just for the fun of it. I'm trying to do one a week but know my schedule wont hold up to that all year.

Very slow, but it was raining cats and dogs and I was solo on all but about 6 miles. https://connect.garmin.com/activity/139764981

DaHaMac

Glory to God! January's Century done.

When I looked at the weather report I would have sworn that the winds would only be 7mph but instead they turned out to be 10-15mph and I positive I rode into some 20+mph gusts. The wind really took a toll on my legs and after about mile 40 I really felt every hill.

This was my first century and I am glad to know that I can ride 100 miles in a day. February will be a challenge as work and school are threatening to impede my schedule.

Ride Report:
Route Map
Elevation Profile

seedsbelize 

I didn't manage every month, last year, and ended up with 11 for the calendar year. I'll try again, and have 3 in so far this year, one of which was a double metric.

Jwink3101

I am going to do my best to be in this club. I may not make it to a century/month, but at the very least, I want to have more than 12 by the end of the year for the average to work out.

Still, January, 101.5 miles, ~7000ft of climb

Lost again

I've never joined up for this but I know from my records I've had a century a month for the last 15 months. This month the longest I've had was a 80 miler so I guess I'll habve to do it next weekend as I just had surgery for prostate cancer but have been given the green light to ride easy for the first week. We have 7 doubles and a triple century scheduled for this year along with a two person team for the 508.

Mr 53x11

I did my 2nd ride greater than 100 miles for this month today (102 miles 7600 feet of climbing). I may get in another one next week but it's hard to tell.

k7baixo

We completed the Jan 8th Case Grande Century in good fashion. Total riding time was about 5:42 for a 17.5 mph average. I wasn't overly pleased with the average but then again, the last 15 miles was dead into a 10-15 mph wind.

I rode with David on a Volae and Richard on a Carbent - both are good guys and fine riders. Davis is a strong rider and I think he does at least 10 centuries a year. I know that he did the 200-km high country brevet too - lots of climbing on that one. Both gave me a hard time to enjoying the rest stops a little longer than they would have liked but I begged and was granted forgiveness.

We're thinking about a 300-km brevet on Feb 4th. As I noted at the end of the ride yesterday, if we had another 20-25 miles to go for a 200-km, I wouldn't have an issue. I'm not sure about another 100-km though.

On the other hand, our pace at 100 miles yesterday was completely different than if we were attempting a 300. We did a few intervals and sprints to stress our legs a bit. David and I also egged each other on at times.

Everyone played well together. I suppose there were 200-250 riders in total on rides of three different distances. I didn't hear of any accidents and the sag wagons didn't appear to have any candidates that needed assistance.

Temps were in the mid-40's to the mid-60's. The lunch stop was at the 71-mile point. It was windy all day as predicted and even more pronounced going into Case Grande and esp. on the last 15 miles into Chandler.

A fine day, a good route and a great group of riders.

jdgesus 

squeaking in on jan 28th :C

started pretty early (for me) at 9a, had a nice break at my pops place about 3/4 of the way.
i threatened to rain all day... and had about 60secs of a down pour.... not going to complain tho!

rode 40 or so miles with this in my jersey: (deschutes hop henge)

aboatguy

Did the January century total 120.65 miles total elapsed time 9 hours 9 minutes and 33 seconds , I never stop the timer on a ride

bikenh

Let's see I did 108.9 miles on New Years Day.

I did another 102.25 miles on January 8th.

I did another 108.73 miles on January 11th.

I did another 104.58 miles on January 16th with starting temp at -5F.

I did another 117.08 miles on January 22nd with starting temp at -2F.

I did another 125.82 miles on January 29th with a heat wave in process with the start temp in the mid 20s.

Do any of the those rides count for the Century-A-Month Club. LOL!!

Oh yeah, unless something crazy happens I'm planning roughly 127 miles for tomorrow to get the metric century out of the way for February.

10 Wheels

Jan got in 4 100's.

The Octopus 

January
Ride: Jupiter (Florida) 200K
Time: 7:32
Saddle Time 7:02
Bike: IRO Jamie Roy (fixed, 48x16)
Wx: 70s, sunny, little wind

A fast, steady ride with friends on a flawless day.

k7baixo

Feb 4th - as part of a 300k brevet.

Garmin link

I completed my first 300k (187 mile) brevet yesterday. Total time was a tad over 14.5 hours - average moving speed was 15.3 mph (24.6 kpm).

The elevation can be deceiving up the first few miles were pretty much 1-2-3% climbing:



The hardest was the one into the pass in Sugaro.

The Octopus 

February

Ride: Gainesville (Florida) 300K
Time: 11:00
Saddle Time 9:49
Bike: IRO Jamie Roy (fixed, 48x16)
Wx: 60s-70s, sunny/p. cloudy, little wind

Discovering that 48x16 fixed is the money maker for fast brevets. At times I could have used more gear, but I doubt I could make anything bigger stand up over a longer distance, or over anything more hilly (this route had only 2500 ft of climbing on it, about 13ft/mile, which is pretty much dead-flat).

I try the 400K next month in the same gear, and I'l try for 15h.

chipg5

February's done and did I luck out: beautiful sunny day, not a lot of wind and pretty much all of it crossbreeze, temp in the upper 30s lower 40s, and roads were completely dry. Couldn't ask for anything better for February around here.

101.3 miles around Cayuga Lake up into Montezuma Wildlife Reserve and back down the east side of the lake, avg speed 14.5mph which is good for this point in the season.

aboatguy

Here's my feb ride weather was nice (hell its hawaii weather is usually nice)




https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/68773746


https://connect.garmin.com/activity/148852367

Machka 

Saturday 11 February - Rowan and I drove down to a place near Phillip Island on Friday night, with the intent of riding a 400K randonnee today.

We were up at 5 am, and ready to go for the 6:30 am start. The ride went reasonably well at first, although the traffic was already getting heavy at that early hour, and there was a fair amount of construction about.

We had just gotten onto Phillip Island (maybe 30 km into the ride) when the first wave of heavy rain came over, and we were soaked. Good thing we had rain gear with us, or we would have been really uncomfortable! From there on, it was one wave of rain after another. I just had a look now, and a Severe Storm Warning was issued late afternoon for flash flooding, heavy rain, and large hail.

Our route took us off the heavy traffic roads and onto some quieter, but significantly hillier roads. Unfortunately, climbing with tandem is a bit of a challenge. We were pleased with the new cassette with a 36T big cog, Rowan installed days before this event, but even so we struggled with the climbs.

At the 136 km point, at the end of the first loop, we rolled into the start/finish area tired, wet ... with only an hour of time to spare before starting the second, even hillier loop. Faced with worse weather than we had already experienced, and with even more hills than we had just come through, we decided to DNF the 400K. It just wasn't any fun anymore.

But ... 136 km is really close to a century (161 km), and we needed a century for February, so we continued to ride, on a slightly different route, and finished the day with 162 km.

So our February century is complete.

Machka 

At the start getting ready to go ... click for more photos of the painted cows in the background. They are part of a Mooooooving Art exhibition


Me and the tandem


Rowan and the tandem


For a moment, I thought the plane had crashed there ...


And then we saw more behind ... click for more photos of the planes ...