September challenges to keep you riding to the end of summer

With the summer holidays already feeling like a lifetime ago and the sun tan wearing off, life for many of us will be getting back to normal. That means back to work, back to school, and back to more normal riding patterns. 

There are fewer organised events to ride as we get to this time or year, but there is still plenty of daylight hours and warm weather to ride in, so there's no need to slow down just yet.

If you need a bit of motivation there are two new challenges for you try. Keep us all posted with your progress, and be sure to let us know if and when you tip over the 5,000 mile mark. September is usually a month when we get a flood of finishers. 

>>>>Finishers medals now available

1. Ride five days in a row

Consistency has always been the key to big miles. It doesn't matter if you never do a big ride, if you keep plugging away you'll get to 5,000 miles. After all, all you need to do is average 13 miles a day to hit that target.

If you manage to ride every day you'll soon notice it becomes a habit. At that point getting out for a ride ceases to become difficult, and instead just becomes the normal thing to do. 

Indoor and outdoor miles count for this challenge, the only caveat is that each ride has to be at least 10 miles in distance or one hour in length.

2. Complete a 100 mile ride

Remember what you just read about consistency being key, and not big miles? Well forget that for now, because we all love a big day out in the saddle! 

We always try and mix up these challenges to get the best out of you, so once you've done your five rides you should have the fitness to tackle a century. That's if you don't already have the fitness.

Why 100 miles? Well, hitting a round number on a ride is one of those things cyclists just have to do. Riding round the block to get the computer on your handlebars to tick over to three digits. Is it even possible to finish a ride after 99.4 miles? I don't think so.