2014 century a month challenge
 

I'm doing my first this month and will do one each month this year. Anyone else up for the challenge?

Yes!

I have to apologize, I did not see this thread and went ahead and started another one just like it.

I'll follow this for motivation and pitch in where I can, but a century a month won't be possible for me, simply because the only vintage bike I own is my Sunday-best, and it only comes out when the sun's out and the roads are dry. And I live in England, so I don't expect that to be till about late March! :)

I haven't done over 100 miles in a day for absolutely years. My out-and-back training rides tend to be in the 45 - 70 miles range, although I did manage 84 miles on the Saturday after Christmas (on the other bike), stopping off at my bro's 55 miles in for some refuelling carrot cake and tea. It made me think that I'd like to get the Ron Cooper out for some longer days this Spring/Summer, and rather than just stuffing a few bits of food in the back pockets I'll plot a route and make sure to stop via a country pub or two for sustenance. Expect some photos of rolling Kent countryside, horses, cows, oast houses, pints of ale, and of course the Ron. :thumb:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7...5841d574_z.jpg

Wow that is a beautiful bike indeed. I've got a half marathon this Saturday, then my first 100 mile ride on Sunday. Wish me luck!

good luck tommyblair22

Sounds like a fun weekend. I recommend a good cool-down after the HM followed by LOTS of food and drink. And a good sleep. And more food. Good luck!

You guys have a great year.

Jim

February, done!

Friday was warm, and a lot of the recent snowfall melted. But it has been melting for weeks, and the ground is already pretty saturated, so Friday's meltwater didn't drain. It did what water does, and continued to flow across the streets and roads well into the night. Futhermore, the sun was warm on Friday, and a lot of the water evaporated. But temps dropped again overnight, resulting in a heavy fog. By the pre-dawn hours the roads were covered with black ice and the bushes were covered in hoar frost. It was beautiful! But dangerous. I didn't leave the house until just a little before dawn. I wasn't a mile from the house before the sun started creeping over the horizon. On account of the black ice, I barely averaged 11 mph until breakfast.https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...222_080823.jpg
A couple times I rode through puddles, figuring the water was safer than the ice around the edges; but then I had no brakes on the frozen rims. Fun!

I tried to find a new route on unfamiliar roads paralleling the ones I usually take, and that worked pretty well; but of course the problem is you don't know what you'll find. As it turned out, every time I took a detour onto a road I didn't know, sooner or later it led me back to the ones I know. Anyway, the route brought me up through Pittstown NJ, past Spruce Run Reservoir, then up over the hill. This hill:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J...222_105550.jpg

Met another forum member for lunch in Califon, which is pretty much the 50 mile mark; then headed home. I was feeling pretty tired, but when faced with the option of going around Sourland Mountain or just going up and over, I just went up and over. If you've been wondering what happens when a tree falls in the forest, this photo explains it all:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-L...222_152110.jpg

The sun was low in the sky by the time I got home.

Total 98.5 miles*, 5400 feet of climbing. The bike: late 30's or 40's J. Fothergill of Liverpool, running a 1939 AW three speed hub with two cogs shifted by a Trivelox derailleur.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...222_163126.jpg


*This being the first warm day in several weeks, I then rode over to the school farm to check on my bees. This bought me up to 100 miles for the day :thumb:. Better yet, both hives are still alive! :thumb: :thumb: Alas, the bees were not happy to see me.:eek:

congrats Rudi. where was timmy this time? my bees were never happy to see me, and so i finally just let them be.

March, done! Now, please don't tell me I'm the only one doing monthly centuries this year. Man up, guys! But since you ask I can't remember... he said it was wet... or wait, was it west? Oh, I know, it was wet and west... I remember now, it was Vancouver. No, wait, maybe Seattle. Or both? Hmm.

Anyway, he's back, and we rode down into the pines on Saturday. Tried out a new route, involving a new diner (any good ride needs a good breakfast!). This time had breakfast at Mastoris Diner in Bordentown. Highly recommended, though not exactly pleasant to get to on bikes-- it's in the middle of the confluence of two highways. Getting there involved riding the river front bike route south from Trenton, which was really very nice, but the surface was a little muddy in places. It'll be better next month.

After breakfast we headed east and south to New Egypt, then Whiting; then turned south west. Some of these roads are pretty boring:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...315_105812.jpg
We stopped to look at that strange growth in the tree, up in the upper left corner of the photo. Whatever it is, it grew there. We spent the next hour discussing what it might be. Took a detour onto some nice, quiet roads, that are distinctly less boring.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...315_112839.jpg
Do you smell smoke? It turns out we rode right through a Forest Fire Service controlled burn. We were close enough to the flames to feel the heat, and I was actually concerned we were going to suffer from smoke inhalation. But after a mile or so we were back under clear blue skies, and the smoke was nothing but a memory seared into our sinuses, clothes, etc.

Lunch at Budd's Farm:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-L...315_133656.jpg
They have a good kitchen with a pretty varied menu (I had a venison burger).

The wind really picked up when we turned west. Riding north it was a cross wind strong enough to turn the horizon several degrees clockwise. For the last 20 miles we were riding straight into a 15 mph wind, which is not the most enjoyable way to finish a century!

Total, 110 miles.

April done!
Bike Ride Profile | April Century (Easter) near Mastic Beach | Times and Records | Strava

But seriously, now, am I the only one doing monthly centuries? I think I'll post them somewhere else.... so here's the story.

Budd's Farm: We had lunch there, didn't we? If that's the place I'm thinking of, the food is VERY good.

I hope to get some centuries in this year. They just haven't materialized yet this year. <sigh>

Yep, that's the place. And you're absolutely right, the food is very good indeed. Which is most welcome by that point in the ride (somewhere around the 70 mile mark).

Zombie thread is back! I thought it had been replaced by another thread so I haven't bothered to post here. I missed March as I was running a marathon. Im only doing 100k's though. This Saturday I've got one planned. Maybe I'll snap some pics and see if we can't get this show back on the rails.

This is the thread! I let the other one die 'cuz this one came first.

May is done:

Check out my 101.7 mi Ride on Strava: Bike Ride Profile | May century near Lawrence Township | Times and Records | Strava

Just my usual ride down into the pinelands. Did a couple miles on a sand road just for fun. Bike was my 1972 Fuji "the finest" though it's a little small for me. Beautiful day for a ride! Photos to follow.

Photos, as promised. I thought I took more photos than I did!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...2007.50.21.jpg
A sandy stretch of Mount Misery Road. These sand roads can be good and hard, and you can roll along at full speed; but when you hit a soft patch and start your wheels start digging in, it can get to be hard work in an instant. I didn't have to put my foot down once, but it slowed me down.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-H...2008.05.16.jpg
This is the section where they were doing a controlled burn last time I rode down here. All the blueberry bushes on the right side of the road seem to have died, but the pines and ferns and other stuff are fine.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...2008.15.40.jpg
Again you can make out the dead blueberries on the right, live on the left. This was the first time I've seen the pinelands in the full flower of Spring; everything bright green. There was a fresh smell in the air that I couldn't quite place; it smelled like honey, I think, or flowers. Never quite strong enough to really stand out, but made my ride very pleasant. Except my eyes were so full of pollen it felt like I'd been rolling in sand.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...2008.47.17.jpg

I rode my 1972 Fuji "The Finest" but I didn't take any pictures of the bike. When I stopped at Budd Family Farm for lunch (it was actually only 9 AM but I'd been out for hours by then) there was a large group road cyclists just getting ready to leave. My bike got many comments --men saying "wow, that's old school!" and women saying "wow, that's pretty!" It was very comfortable, for sure. I rode no hands quite a bit, mainly to take the pressure off my hands. My CTS has been acting up... so I was stretching my wrists while riding along no hands for miles at a stretch. Of course, this being the pinelands, I didn't have to steer much.

June, done!

Two other forum members joined me, and we rode 186 miles (300k).

We started at Reading PA under auspicious skies:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...2005.47.56.jpg

climbed Hawk Mountain:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8...2009.41.17.jpg

We didn't actually ride the whole way, because this dam got in the way. For some reason, it is closed to the public.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-T...2014.21.16.jpg

But we coped:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9...2014.21.06.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E...2014.33.46.jpg

because we wanted to check out this rail trail:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c...2015.27.15.jpg

that took us almost all the way to the Susquehanna:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4...2018.29.48.jpg

Bike Ride Profile | Longest Day 300k near Shillington | Times and Records | Strava

I rode this bike.