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Metric Century Chat

here's a thread for chat about metric century, so we don't have to post in the competition thread.

First things first. DaSy: not sure why you couldn't edit. posts get locked if someone replies to them, but that shouldn't have happened with yours. I'll see if can work out what's up.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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114 comments

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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...to load correctly!

They always preview okay, but when I save them they turn into a line instead of an image...what am I doing wrong?

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dave atkinson replied to DaSy | 15 years ago
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d'you mean your profile image? cause i can see it fine... well enough to see some pretty big freakin' hills... gospel pass?

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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That doesn't surprise me, must be my browser settings.

No, not Gospel, it's Maerdy Mountain and the Bwlch, plus of course the Cimla and Efail Fach hills at the start and end.

It's my regular route when down with the in-laws, a nice tour of the mining villages of S.Wales. I really like this route, the climbs are fairly long and the scenery is great. On most of the mountains you hardly see a car too.

It's no fun in the rain though, so hoping for clear weather on Saturday.

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cactuscat replied to DaSy | 15 years ago
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DaSy | 15 years ago
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It reminds me of that scarey faced girl from The Grudge....

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dave atkinson replied to DaSy | 15 years ago
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...in erik sandberg's head!

http://www.eriksandberg.net/erik_sandberg_hairy_children_1.htm 

it's actually starting to scare me, too. i think i might go for something else  1 i was just a bit bored of the 'squeeeesh your head!' pic

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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...well the weather held out in South Wales, and a great ride resulted.

There are some great climbs in the Rhondda, in 65 miles I easily got over 2000 metres of climbing. I can't wait for the longer, warmer days so that I can get up into the Beacons to extend this loop to an imperial century.

My climbing started with Glyneath Bank, a nice mile or so of 6 - 7% with lots of little waterfalls to the right to make it interesting.

Maerdy mountain was snowy and misty, and the first couple of bends at over 15% always make it a daunting climb, but the ride back down toward Treorchy is great, if not a little scarey, as you don't get much time to decide if the corners are just wet, or icey!

I always forget about the climb up from Tylorstown to Penrhys as it is not a mountain climb, but at about a mile or so at or around 15% for most of it, it really does demand more respect than I ever remember to give it.

The last mountain climb was the Bwlch from the Treherbert side which is a nice long open climb that looks and feels quite alpine with the slopes stacking on top of each other above you. It's mostly around 7%, but fairly long, especially when you reach what looks like the top only to have to take a sharp right to add another 1/2 mile of climbing to reach the real top. It was lovely and snowy up there, which just added to the alpine feel.

To finish off with I had the brutal but short Efail Fach climb out of Pontrhydyfen, and then a great descent down the Cimla, made better by overtaking a car that had pulled out on me near the top irritatingly. Her face was a picture as I went past at 40mph on the bends!

To think that in years gone by I used to miss all this in favour of MTBing in the Afan trails, the roads are so much more fun round there...

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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Perfect weather for a nice 70 mile loop in the Chilterns.

For some reason that felt quite tough today, much harder than last weeks romp through the Rhondda valley despite being similar length and with less climbing...?

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Skardy replied to DaSy | 15 years ago
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I set out to get up onto Priddy on top of the Mendips via Chew Valley Lake. I managed to follow a large amount of the National Cycle Route. Lots of very quiet but undulating country lanes and an excellent desent through East Harptree with Chew Valley Lake in full view. Not sure how much climbing was involved but it felt like a lot although not quite up there with The Rhondda Valley  1 !

I got close to home at the 50 mile mark so with no commitments for the rest of the day decided I may as well stick a little loop on the end (as flat as I could think of) to make it up to a century.

It was a cracking day for it although very cold & blustery up on the Mendips with a few bits of snow still lying about.

After all that effort it is now time for an unwholesome Saturday night to undo the good work!

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dave atkinson replied to Skardy | 15 years ago
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fantastic. what a day for a ride. set out at 6am and went along the canal to Bradford-on-Avon, up past Westbury to Warminster and along the Wylye Valley, which is about my favourite place to ride. and it was at its most beautiful today. was going to try and go across the river at Longford Castle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longford_Castle) but i chickened out cause i think it's a private road. maybe next time.

The Ridgeback Solo was well behaved all the way. Given that there's barely a hill worth the name on the route, the 72in gear was fine even for a big lad like me. finished in 5h10 so about 13.5mph average which is pretty good for me  1 it handles well, the frame is a bit harsh but i've swapped out the seatpost for a carbon one and put a comfy saddle on and that's taken the sting out of it. bars are too narrow though...

skardy - still snow on the mendips? they must have had a right old dump of it up there...

looking forward to the dunkery dash next week, assuming i'm not too late with the application  39

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Skardy replied to dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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Good work Dave, sounds like a really enjoyable ride with superb scenery - on a singlespeed as well! Did you cycle back home up the hill?

See you next week to hopefully get another century on the board!

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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70 miles on a singlespeed is a good effort Dave.

That is tempting me to drag the fixie out, but it's a bit track specific, so the geometry really doesn't lend itself to comfy road miles, I used to do 40 to 50 mile rides on it, but more than that was a tad unpleasant.

I've been hoodwinked into riding the Afan trails next weekend, so my first offroad ride for a couple of years, that should entertaining!

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dave atkinson replied to DaSy | 15 years ago
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Skardy and I went out on the Dunkery Dash today, a point well earned I reckon. It's out and back from North Petherton near Bridgwater and the control is a horsebox equipped with mountains of cake and a tea urn up on the highest point of the road by Dunkery Beacon. Climb out of NP was fine, followed by a dash down the hill to Cothelstone. The hill from Elworthy to Ralegh's Cross was complete murder, but up on Exmoor we tagged on with a faster group and hung off the back most of the way to the checkpoint. Stopped for a cup of tea at North Wheddon Farm (www.northwheddonfarm.co.uk) to see Julian the proprietor - he was telling us about the snow. They had four feet of snow, they lost all their animals in it and had to go rescue them, and it took them ten hours to dig their car out. That's weather  1

Not so hard on the way back (net downhill) but the climb from Cothelstone is a killer, especially when there's a guy chillaxin' on the hairpin and you think he's made it to the top when there's another mile to go. You know who you are. Altogether we turned it round in 5h17 with about 45 mins of stops, so not bad for a fat lad, although i did have the benefit of a BMC SLC01  1

Here's a pic of Skardy at the top - thanks for the company and the encouragement!

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Skardy replied to dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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A cracking ride with some steep hills, I have never wanted a triple but would have been quite happy with a compact on sunday! It would also have been good if my computer was working to see what speed we clocked going back down to Elworthy - it felt quick!

Big thanks to Dave for leading the way and helping us post a respectable time, particularly blazing a trail across the undulating terrain on top of The Quantocks.

Happy days!

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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Well, that was a nice ride today, Mostly flat, open quiet roads all the way to the outskirts of Windsor. Then you do battle with what must be the most arrogant drivers in the world, into the centre of Windsor for a quick circuit round the town and the castle and retrace my route back.

It's a good top of zone 2 workout, you can keep a good rhythm and push fairly hard for 3.5 hours.

I don't think I've ever made it the couple of miles from the outskirts to the castle without one of the ludicrous drivers trying to push me into the kerb or generally attempt to run me off the road. I have had a few good moments when I've caught up with them at the next set of lights, and explained the finer points of driver etiquette to them. They generally listen quietly as they realise I appear to be quite irritated.

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Blackhound | 15 years ago
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Clocked in at 105km yesterday on a beautiful day in the Peak. Quite a big group initially but I had to push on with 3 others from Hartington cafe stop to catch a train to London town.

The route went out over an old BR research test track, quiet roads to Ashbourne and then Tissington and High Peak trail and home along the A6. Ended up riding an old '94 rigid Kona as a few guys only had mtbs. Lovely views all over, very lucky where I live.

Average speed was barely 1km per hour down on last few long road rides so maybe a semblance of form. |Roll on Flanders.

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dave atkinson replied to Blackhound | 15 years ago
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and good work on doing 105km on a mtb...

I'm off up to Carsington for a week in may, you'll have to show me the sights  1

Just don't make me go up to Darley Moor from Rowsley – did that last time and it nearly ended me  19

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Anonymous (not verified) replied to dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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Away for two weeks in May but if around you're welcome.

There is the steep climb that was used in the National Hill Climb last year, that is a beast. Ride towards Chatsworth for 1-2 miles and take a left in Beeley and a much nicer climb. Comes out in the same place ultimately but a ~15 minute alpine style climb.

Carsington is a good spot, about an hours ride from me so ride that way frequently. Not to far to Hope etc either.

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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...sun shining and a nice temperature, it was a bit gusty though.

A nice 85 miles in the Chilterns taking in a few nice climbs, and the obligatory Emus and Llamas, plus a roe deer drinking in a stream as I passed, all very pleasant.

I decided to stop using energy bars in favour of buttered Soreen, and on today's evidence I can safely say that I'll be sticking with that particular energy food, much nicer to eat, and seemed to keep me going better...

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Tony Farrelly replied to DaSy | 15 years ago
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DaSy wrote:

...sun shining and a nice temperature, it was a bit gusty though. A nice 85 miles in the Chilterns taking in a few nice climbs, and the obligatory Emus and Llamas, plus a roe deer drinking in a stream as I passed, all very pleasant. I decided to stop using energy bars in favour of buttered Soreen, and on today's evidence I can safely say that I'll be sticking with that particular energy food, much nicer to eat, and seemed to keep me going better...

Yep that's always been my energy food of choice - gonna try it with butter next time

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Jon Burrage | 15 years ago
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I realise im not officially in the metric century challenge due to my failure to post rides in previous months but there is no harm in doing it for my own fun.

Nice 110km ride from Brislington to Weston Super Mare and back. Out via Bristol Airport and Congresbury, back via clevedon, nailsea and clifton suspension bridge.

Gorgeous weather, nice and still. Lots of cyclists out, good times!

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dave atkinson replied to Jon Burrage | 15 years ago
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you only gotta do four scoring months to be in with a shout for the 'minor' prizes. not that the major prize will be that major...  1

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Jon Burrage replied to dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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okay...that sounds good to me.

Im on one point! Roll on summer.

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DaSy replied to dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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dave_atkinson wrote:

you only gotta do four scoring months to be in with a shout for the 'minor' prizes. not that the major prize will be that major...  1

Right, that's it, I'm gonna go back to bed and stop all this unnecessary torture I've been subjecting myself to in pursuit of the major (now relegated to not so major!) prizes...!

That said, I have a 100km loop round the Black Mountain planned this Saturday, just in case.

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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...what a great day for a ride Saturday was. I did one of my favourite loops in the Brecon Beacons. just under 70 miles with a couple of thousand metres of climbing (why do I always have to express distance as imperial and altitude gain as metric?).

The grueling climb up to the Storey Arms was even quite enjoyable for once (it's not that steep, just long and arduous). The descent down the Devils Elbow near Heol Senni was insane, I nearly overcooked one of the hairpins in my excitement, but just about kept to the tarmac.

It is one of the most picturesque rides I know, and the Malt loaf is working a treat too...

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Blackhound | 15 years ago
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First of the year, though neve done more than two.

My mate is training for an Ironman so was going, sounded a good idea. Set off in sunny conditions but up on the moors South of Buxton became very misty. The view from the Peak Cafe at the top of the Cat & Fiddle was to the end of the car park!

Approaching Earl Sterndale weather improved again for ride home. 101.5 miles, Flanders will be a breeze....

Went out on singlespeed mtb today and threw in 6 hill reps. Felt surprisingly well recovered.

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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Great day for a ride today, I was feeling really good and had loads in reserve despite going pretty hard on the climbs.

To be honest this is the first ride I've felt like this for a long time, I've had to push through feeling rough on all my bigger rides, and even some of my shorter ones. I hope this feeling is here to stay...

The Lambourn Downs were windy, as ever, and of course the wind was against me. The scenery around there is nice and the roads quiet, so all in all a nice spin out.

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dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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quick note to everyone in the MCC: because of the way the site is now handling comments (we're phasing out the title box and soon it won't be on the comments at all) you'll need to add your name to the top of your list of rides, rather than as a title. hope that makes sense...

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DaSy | 15 years ago
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I tried that Dave, it appears to take the first x number of characters, as I put my name at the top of the post once I noticed the change but it put my name plus the first few characters of the next line. I then put a few blank lines in after my name but it ignored them and still picked up the first line too.

This looked weird so I went back to just letting it do it's thing. What is the best way?

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dave atkinson | 15 years ago
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sounds like you've done more testing on the site than i have  1

doesn't really matter as the info at the bottom tells us who's who. just makes the 'recent comment' updates look a bit odd! so I guess we just all do what you've done, when we finally do another century...

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