[HAMR] Tarzan (Kurt Searvogel)

[LittleWheelsandBig]

A year is a long time. We'll see what happens.

[LMT]

Go Tarzan.

[LMT]

A couple who've grown apart over the years with a mutual separation with a lot of respect between the individuals and a deep respect for each others needs? - He's out on the bike for a year living in a campervan and she's got the house why does it all have to start now?

You'd think so wouldn't you?

[IanDG]

Yes 12 months is a long time and we're not even 10% done yet. You don't know the outcome of a 4,000m pursuit after 2 laps. A few months down the road the decision could come back to hit Kurt mentally and have a negative effect.

As Norman Sheil once told me, you can get everything right with the body, but if it's not in the head it's been a waste of time.

[Wowbagger]

Hell hath no fury...

[Hummers]

How on earth does this work?

I know that you build up your distance over the first 2 months and can keep that going until the end of the year but the distances that Kurt is banging out are high, aren't they?

Perhaps my view is skewed by the fact that it is so f***ing cold at the moment but I reckon that Steve's approach of building up the miles over time is the only viable option for someone going for this challenge in the British isles.

H

[Von Broad]

Perhaps my view is skewed by the fact that it is so f***ing cold at the moment but I reckon that Steve's approach of building up the miles over time is the only viable option for someone going for this challenge in the British isles.

Both riders are operating as best they can in the environments they find themselves. There is nothing more Steve can do on top of the impossible he's already done! Looking at his forecast mileage from May to August...well, if it's mind boggling now then goodness knows what we're all going to be thinking then. It doesn't bare thinking about what he's looking to be riding during those months. No secret there - that was always the plan.

What's interesting about Kurt for me is that once he passes Steve, and he will do at some point, fairly soon I'd have thought, he'll be leading with time in hand, so then he has nothing obvious to chase [apart from what they're both chasing and that's the record - let's not forget!], question then is how much does he really push on, because it won't be enough to keep doing what he's doing at the moment to beat TG. He has to push harder to really get an advantage. Meanwhile, TG, will be slowly but surely winding back the line on him. Make no mistake, he will. Go Steve!

The longer they stay the course, the more interesting the whole thing is going to become.

[IanDG]

Really don't know H. Steve is keeping his cool and sticking to his schedule. That's got to be good in the long term. Going to be an exciting year.

[hillbilly]

As others have suggested, Steve could have planned to locate himself in the south of France.  This would have come with its own challenges (basically lack of familiarity and higher cost).  Or hired a crew.  He chose not to, or didn't anticipate how significant Kurt's challenge would be.

A couple of people have commented about Kurt's apparent lack of preparedness.  I think some of that charge applies to Steve, in the sense that he may not have been prepared for how much further Kurt would ride than his original schedule.  I admire Steve's approach, and can't see what more he can realistically do within the environment he chose to ride.  It is very weather dependent, and the weather in the UK is unreliable.

The tables might flip in the summer, but I don't think Kurt is stupid and will have thought "where do I need to situate myself over summer to give me a general advantage".

I'd also note Steve isn't sticking exactly to his schedule.  He is above his most optimistic plan.  Albeit on a similar trajectory.

[JonBuoy]

In his quest for new and interesting ways to break bikes I see that Tarzan lost one off the bike rack on the back of his vehicle yesterday.

[Exit Stage Left]

I'll be interested to see if Kurt rides at Sebring. Hoppo's doing the 24 Hour

[hillbilly]

"Swagman, this is Tarzan aka Beast.  About your bike racks.  I am going to rip off your head, nail it to my shagging wagon, and use its gaping mouth to hold the rear tyre of my steed.  Just saying, beyatch."

[Wowbagger]

Injury could finish the ride for either of them at any time. It seems to me that Steve is much more self-reliant on a day-to-day basis and Tarzan must be more suscepible than Steve to non-cycling issues. Suppose Jane gets pissed off with life on the road after a few more week/months? Or the van breaks down irreparably? I'm guessing that Tarzan must be a pretty wealthy guy to tackle the ride in the manner that he has, but if he needs a new support vehicle, for example, that's going to take time and, presumably, a fair bit of input from him. The less time he takes getting such stuff right in the first instance, the more it is likely to cost him, in time snd money, later on.

[hillbilly]

I find Kurt's daily video thought pieces great.  Has Steve considered something similar, as they generate a more immediate and direct connection than a newsletter (imho).

[hillbilly]

Injury could finish the ride for either of them at any time. It seems to me that Steve is much more self-reliant on a day-to-day basis and Tarzan must be more suscepible than Steve to non-cycling issues. Suppose Jane gets pissed off with life on the road after a few more week/months? Or the van breaks down irreparably? I'm guessing that Tarzan must be a pretty wealthy guy to tackle the ride in the manner that he has, but if he needs a new support vehicle, for example, that's going to take time and, presumably, a fair bit of input from him. The less time he takes getting such stuff right in the first instance, the more it is likely to cost him, in time snd money, later on.

True.  But I'd imagine he has a backup plan.  For example, if he loses his support team, he could step down to Steve's approach (pick a location and use it as a hub).  He seems hungry to win this and used to competing.  If this translates into how I compete, he will have more than a plan B.  As a chess player (iirc) you probably know this already(!)

Whilst Kurt could bungle it, it would be naive were Steve to ever bank on this.  I doubt he is.  Instead, he is no doubt keeping tabs on Kurt's progress and recalibrating his own plan to react to it, in the knowledge of what is he feels he can push himself to achieve against an updated guess into what Tarzan has in the tank.  Steve has a lot of time every day to ponder such things (when I've competed in the past, a lot of my on bike time away from the heat of the battle was spent playing through different scenarios and how to counter them).

But I'm over analysing, no doubt. I need to keep reminding myself they are not even 10% through their challenge (which staggers me still).  I also need to keep reminding myself that whilst I've ridden with Steve, in truth I don't know what he is really capable of in this extreme and wonderfully head banging challenge he has set himself.

[Wowbagger]

That's why it is such a wonderful event for kibitzers* like us: endless speculation in a slowly unfolding drama. It is very like a protracted chess match in that respect.

*A term introduced to chess by Bobby Fischer, who was from a New York/Jewish background.

[Jaded]

Steve just needs to stick to his plan. At the absolute worst if he completes, he will be the record breaker and hold the record for 10 days. The mid 1930's saw the record broken several times and other world records have been broken after v short periods of time.

[clarion]

Losing a bike (thankfully recovered) is just the latest in an amazing list of misfortunes Kurt has suffered.  I hope this is the last of them, but who knows what damage the fall might have caused to the bike? :\

[Climberruss]

"Swagman, this is Tarzan aka Beast.  About your bike racks.  I am going to rip off your head, nail it to my shagging wagon, and use its gaping mouth to hold the rear tyre of my steed.  Just saying, beyatch."

 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I suspect that Kurt will find out how much damage was done to his bike soon enough. Hopefully it won't hurt too much.

[bobb]

Steve just needs to stick to his plan. At the absolute worst if he completes, he will be the record breaker and hold the record for 10 days.

I don't understand all this stuff about Steve holding the record for 10 days? If Kurt were to go past Steve, stay ahead of Steve and go past Tommy, then surely Steve would never hold the record?

[hillbilly]

I think they mean the purist "365 days total" not "when you pass Tommy".  The latter is a "virtual" / "on-the-road" record. 

Some may even claim Kurt can't get Tommy's record because he isn't riding over a calendar year (not sure if they are so dogmatic that this would be the case if Kurt's total to 31 December 2015 is more than Steve's despite having 10 days less duration).

[mcshroom]

Steve just needs to stick to his plan. At the absolute worst if he completes, he will be the record breaker and hold the record for 10 days.

I don't understand all this stuff about Steve holding the record for 10 days? If Kurt were to go past Steve, stay ahead of Steve and go past Tommy, then surely Steve would never hold the record?

you don't win a time trial because you are ahead at an intermediate control. Until the ride is complete and validated than no record has been set by either rider.

[bobb]

Steve just needs to stick to his plan. At the absolute worst if he completes, he will be the record breaker and hold the record for 10 days.

I don't understand all this stuff about Steve holding the record for 10 days? If Kurt were to go past Steve, stay ahead of Steve and go past Tommy, then surely Steve would never hold the record?

you don't win a time trial because you are ahead at an intermediate control. Until the ride is complete and validated than no record has been set by either rider.

If at midnight 1/1/2016 Steve had ridden 100,000 miles and Kurt had ridden 100,001 miles, they wouldn't bother awarding it to Steve then waiting 10 days before awarding it to Kurt. Well, maybe they would, but it would be a bit weird.

You're just nitpicking 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

As soon as anybody totals more than 75,065 miles, they'll have 'broken the record' according to most folk, despite Tommy racking up 77,001 miles in 365 days.