Metric Century Challenge

As I snuck under the Metric Century Challenge February deadline on the last day possible, labouring hopelessly at no more than a brisk walking pace up the gentle hill from the seafront to my house after an agonizing 68-miler, it struck me that these are the rides that make the Challenge challenging.

Bejaysus but I nearly fell at the first hurdle in this year's Metric Century Challenge. Today was the last day I could realistically expect to finish a 100k ride in November but when I woke at 7am it was dark, windy and raining. I was feeling slightly hungover, still full of last night's curry, and not quite sure if I was quite over my recent illness (sore throat, no energy, bit shivery).

I managed to squeeze in a 100km ride with just two days to go this month, keeping me in the running to complete this year’s metric century challenge by the wispiest of whiskers.

Yesterday’s ride was one of the toughest since I was bitten by the MCC bug thanks to the combination of the weather (cold and wet) and my level of fitness (low, compounded by some kind of seasonal malaise plus an ongoing hangover I’ve been living with for at least a week now).

I have been mildly obsessed with road.cc’s Metric Century Challenge since I spotted it in March.

It came along just when I was struggling to keep on top of my training commitments as I tried to build fitness for this summer’s Race Against Time LEJOG. I just couldn’t see how I was going to be able to stay on the bike for upwards of 15 hours a week without going mad. But somehow the idea of doing it in 100k chunks – and notching up points in the process – appealed a whole lot more, so I thought I’d give it a go.