joewein

The rules are the same as last year or every year:

rhm

I'm in! I think this will be my fifth year.

Yesterday (Jan 1, 2015) forum member TimmyT and I rode 104 miles around the eastern part of Long Island, NY, starting at 5:10 AM (two hours before light) and finishing at 4:40 PM (after sunset, but before dark). Gentle tailwinds rising through the morning, brutal headwinds in the afternoon. Temperatures starting well below freezing, getting a bit above freezing later on.

The worst of it was a serious mechanical issue: my rear wheel seized up completely, twice. By the time I'd finally fixed the problem (freehub coming loose!) This has cost us about two hours. Long breakfast and lunch stops, needed for refueling and thawing out frozen fingers, also showed us down. Spent a lot of time scrubbing my hands under hot water at lunch!

Oregonroadruner

I'm in, I have a century ride planned for the end of January. I will post a report.

Lex Fati

I got mine in on January 1st with my 200K permanent. Average temperature was about 15 degrees F, which seems like a heat wave compared to the -9 "feels like -27" right now. Glad I was proactive.

Roads were nice an quiet being New Year's Day and all. Took off at roughly 9:30 in the morning and got back just after 9:30 at night. Actual finish time was 12 hour 1 min, but I made it! The most challenging stretch was a hilly section on town roads that were pretty icy from a week before where we had snow followed by rain followed by freezing temps. The light dusting of snow that fell that morning was just enough to make that part particularly treacherous, otherwise it was actually a pretty pleasant ride. Dressed in layers of wool, sheepskin mittens, and Wolvhammer boots with plastic platform pedals, the only time I actually felt cold was when I stopped at controls. I'd feel a bit chilled until after starting back up and getting the blood pumping again, but after that felt fine. Didn't need to resort to chemical warmers, but kept them on hand just in case!

Now I just hope the weather will be as cooperative in February!

joewein

I rode 242 km on January 10: A few km from a motel to the start (06:00), then 204 km for the BRM110 Miura Peninsula brevet of Audax Japan Nishi-Tokyo and finally the 30 km ride home from the finish.



At 12 hours and 6 minutes it was my fastest 200 km finish time so far, partly due to a relatively flat course (only about 900 m of elevation gain).





That makes it 29 months of (at least) one Century a Month for me.

Oregonroadruner

I got the first one done. I did 102.6 miles on Sunday. I would have some pictures to post if it weren't for the heavy fog we had all day. Great ride anyway. Looking forward to febuerary.
Mike

ThermionicScott 

As usually happens, there wasn't a day this past January that I had free of obligations, was above 10 degrees or so, and without a lot of snow on the ground, necessitating studs and slow going. My hat is off to anyone who can do a whole year of centuries in places that experience winter.

That said, I'm in for at least 12 centuries this year, likely in March through October.

rhm

I hear you! That is kinda why @TimmyT and I have been riding a century on New Year's Day. We've done that three times now. The logic is pretty simple:
1. It's a holiday anyway, so it's relatively easy to keep it free of other obligations;
2. Coming relatively early in the winter, it has somewhat better odds of tolerable weather and snow-free roads;
3. The weather may suck, but at least you can plan for it. There's no looking at the weather forecast and trying to assess the situation; you just dress for it and hope for the best;
4. With it done, you don't have to ride another century for almost eight weeks.

Okay, that's mostly bad logic, and it mostly hasn't worked out very well (the last two were brutally cold) but... well, there it is.

TimmyT 

I'd also add
5. Traffic is guaranteed to be light in the morning and most likely all day.

That didn't stop some dirtbag in a truck from intentionally downshifting next to us to burn some oil and leave us in a cloud of exhaust, though. I think that's the first time I've had that happen. It was similar to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JkvGS6sdKQ

Edit: here is a photo from the one of the public beaches on the Atlantic along Dune Road.

ThermionicScott 

It's a good idea, for sure. Some friends talked me into a NYD gravel metric a few years ago, and while it was really cold (and windy), we didn't have any obligations and hardly any contention on the roads. It was a great way to get into the season.

jefft72

Just found this thread.

I started cycling last year and found a local club that has some awesome members that do tons of riding in the area. Solo rides are great, but riding with a group is much better.

The club also holds a Century challenge each year and I have made a personal goal for myself to take part in it. Last year I rode just under 1500 miles. This year I would like to hit 2K. Doing a century a month should help that along greatly.

I did my first century on 1/17. Unfortunately I do not have any photos, but the last 20 miles had me questioning life and my sanity. I was in pain and there was no fun to be had. I got dropped with about 10 miles left to go and had to sit down and take some time to get it together. I believe I could have made better nutrition choices as I think I simply had some Cliff bars with me. I picked up a trail mix and a chocolate milk, but I think it was too little too late. I finished, but was proud, exhausted, and disappointed at the same time.

My second was done this past Saturday with a bit slower paced group (16-17 avg), and I brought more food with me (2 bananas, 2 Cliff bars, and some almonds, 2 WBs). There are always stops along the way where I reload as well. This ride had a much better result. I didn't get dropped and I felt much better. I was cramping big time between miles 70-80 and another rider offered some electrolyte tablets. I want to think that they helped on the last 20 miles since I don't recall any significant cramping at the end.

Lessons learned so far:
1) Manage nutrition better early on. If I wait till I am thirsty or hungry it is probably too late.
2) I need to pick up some electrolyte tabs as I don't care for Gatorade all that much.
3) Ride more.

joewein

Some 90 km into my 165 km ride on Feb 1 I thought I was screwed (literally) and would have to go out again on a different, equally cold and windy February day to ensure my "one century ride a month" sequence continues for the 30th month. But the unexpected encounter with a 50 mm wood screw turned out less dramatic than I first thought. 10 minutes later the wheel was back on, with one of the spare tubes installed and the cuts in the tyre patched from inside using a piece of electrical tape (I always have one stuck to the seat tube for that purpose) and one sacrificial piece of the 3M reflective tapes I attach to the bike for visibility. It didn't give me any more problems for the rest of the ride.

It had left home at 07:35 and grabbed some bananas at a convenience store near the Arakawa river for a second breakfast around 90 minutes into the ride.

Then up the Arakawa to Kawagoe city into a fierce headwind. Various picture stops at temples and shrines there.

Then via Hanno to Oume, down the Tamagawa river to Kawasaki, U-turn at Route 15 and up into the wind again to Futakotamagawa and home to Setagaya.

Two pairs of socks (one of them merino wool) kept my feet mostly comfortable. The cheap convinience store smartphone gloves under the fingerless cycling gloves were also a good combination, combining the grip and padding of the cycling gloves with the warmth and phone usability of the smartphone gloves.

Lex Fati

Wow, Joe. That screw in the tire looks grisly. Glad there wasn't severe rim damage and that you could finish the ride. Love seeing the Japan pictures, too. Makes me wish I'd have picked up cycling back when I was stationed in Sasebo. Look forward to reading about #31 .

Lex Fati

Got my ride for February in on Sunday with a 210K.

I'm really noticing how my relative inactivity during the winter affects performance. In fact, that seems to be a bigger issue than just keeping warm. As long as I'm moving and dressed properly, I seem to keep plenty warm.

I find one of the biggest challenges is keeping up on my nutrition this time of year. Eating on the bike is significantly more of a challenge when dressed in multiple layers and wearing heavy mittens to keep the fingers warm. It's hard to eat frozen food, anyway. Managed to get some shot blok gels into my mouth where they could warm up before I could get them down. Not really my favorite bike nutrition, but this time of year, I'll take what I can get.

With below freezing temps I know my water bottles will freeze, so I try to prehydrate and then plan on stopping for calories and hydration instead of carrying water. Unfortunately, I don't always have the appetite to get down as much as I should have at the stops. This time around I found myself relying more on Gatorade type drinks for calories than I would like. Not ideal, but it got the job done.

I'm hoping that with February in the bag the hardest of the winter is over and I look forward to March and the months that follow.

Oregonroadruner

My feb ride was 106 miles with 4000 ft of elevation gain. Nice ride, weather was great for feb.

rhm

I sadly have to report a total fail for February. We had some terrible weather. 200 commuting miles, all of it in the dark, almost all of it in temperatures well below freezing, did not leave me in the mood for more of the same on the weekends. I managed to ride a metric century on the one warm day.

I used to love winter. This year I'm pretty much hating it. Makes me feel like I'm getting old!

joewein

Went out for a Miura peninsula loop on Sunday: 178 km according to the GPS. I am up to 31 consecutive months of "one Century ride a month" now.

Set my alarm at 06:00 but didn't get up until 08:30 and only left home at 10:30. You could tell I wasn't really keen on a wet and windy ride, but put on my rain gear and went out anyway. I left the DSLR at home and only took the compact camera.

The drizzle eased off as I made my way down from Tokyo-Setagaya to Yokosuka.



It was always windy, but some of it was tail wind, so I'm not complaining.

I didn't see many cyclists. Actually, I probably never saw fewer on a Miura loop than I did on Sunday. A combination of the weather and the late starting time I guess.

The views in Miura are always worth it.

Lex Fati

This last weekend the weather was beautiful (at least compared to what it had been) and I got in not one, but two rides for March. Actually, I coordinated with a randonneur friend in Madison. He rode up here to Stevens Point over night, and then we rode down together on Saturday. On Sunday, I made the return trip.

I started riding brevets last year in April, and have been keeping the streak up since so riding these permanents in March meant completing my first R12. Just in time to start looking forward to the new season!

Oregonroadruner

March is done. Got 104 with 3150 feet of climb

joewein

2nd century ride of the month, with a 300 km brevet still coming up the weekend after next.



A friend I last rode with last summer suggested we ride together and I proposed a local mountain route. He invited several of his friends, so there were six of us. I rode 52 km from my home to the train station in the country where they were going from Tokyo. From there we rode some 50 km through the mountains on mostly quiet small roads. The highest pass was at around 760 m (2500 ft) elevation.

Normally I ride by myself, but if I join group rides I'm usually one of the slowest riders. Not with this group. The pace was very relaxed and we got to talk a lot. We had lunch at a cafe about 2 km before the pass. When we finished it started to snow outside! But it stopped again after about 15 minutes and it wasn't really cold enough for the snow to stay on the ground.

After descending from the pass I saw off my friends at a nearby train station and headed home from there (about 70 km) following a brevet route I had on my phone. 178 km with about 1900 m of climbing.

rhm

We had some gorgeous weather last week! And I got a cold. Didn't get out for a ride until Sunday, when it was pretty cold and very windy. 106 miles passing through Trenton and down into the Pinelands. The roads are almost completely clear of snow! Whoopee....

(edit) One highlight was that a huge skein of Snow Geese passed overhead in the afternoon. They were high up, and I had a stiff crosswind, so I couldn't hear very well, but they were making so much noise, and it's a different sound than the regular Canada goose makes, that I looked up. Sure enough, Snow Geese. Turns out this was just about the peak of the annual migration --110,000 birds recorded by the PA game commission on the 16th.









RidewithGPS says there was 2980 feet of climbing, which is hard to believe (it was a flat ride). But there was a brutal headwind on the way home.

rhm

@TimmyT and I rode the "Blue Mountain 200k" with the Eastern PA Randonneurs on Saturday. Tough ride! Lots-O-hills (8917 feet, sez RidewithGPS). Wicked headwinds. Cold, too. The mouth piece of my hydration pack froze a couple times.

There were people skiing on Blue Mountain:


The sun came out, though. My weather forecast had called for light snow more or less all day, so the cold sunshine was welcome.

joewein

I did a full weekend ride with 469 km (291 mls) and 3874 m (12700 ft) of climbing in a big loop around Mt Fuji, leaving Saturday at sunrise and not getting back until 43 hours later. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Japan. The views were beautiful.



It was drizzling for about 2/3 of the ride, but since it never got stronger and I brought the right clothes it was never a problem, only a nuisance.



The course was a 400 km brevet course for which I'm signed up on April 18/19, plus 30 km from my home to the start and the same back home (I may stay at a cheap hotel the day before the event).

So that brings me up to 32 consecutive months of one century a month :-)

rhm

April Century done.

On Saturday I led a group of six forum members on a 105 mile course from my home down into the Pinelands of southern New Jersey, all of us on classic / vintage bikes (all steel frames, mostly from the 70's, one as late as the early 90's. Mine, from the late 30's or 40's, was the oldest). Another forum member joined us for a metric century loop I worked into the route. It's pretty much the route I did last month (when I tested the route).



Nice day for a ride! Less than eight hours moving time, but more than four hours stopped (four flat tires, and relatively long breakfast and lunch stops). Head wind picked up quite a bit on the homeward stretch.

joewein

Second century (and double century) distance of the month: I successfully completed my first 400 km brevet with 59 minutes spare



It was a scenic 400 km loop around Mt Fuji with 3700 m (12000 ft, almost the height of Mt Fuji) of climbing. I also made it to the last control 366 km from the start and 36 km from the finish line (total course distance: 402 km) in under 24 hours, which makes this distance my longest daily distance so far. The last participant still on the course rolled up to the finish line literally at the last minute, 26:59 after the start!