Author Topic: LeJoGLe Record attempt  (Read 8808 times)

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #25 on: 04 April, 2013, 12:41:59 pm »
I have a theory that counters your theory! I think winds only pick up in daytime in summer - perhaps because the sun's heat drives more convection.

(No figures to back this up, but a quick look at yr.no for this week shows no calm nights.)

The weather forecasts are saying that the wind will drop at night and IME, it mostly does.
Sometimes the wind can get much worse at night, but IME, that's not the norm.

There are no calm nights forecast, but the wind speed goes from double figures in daytime to single figures at night time.


I think that BBC weather might be a bit more reliable than crackpot theories. :P ;)

(but not by very much)

mattc

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #26 on: 04 April, 2013, 12:47:32 pm »
MetOffice crackpots say:

Quote
The diurnal variation is much more pronounced in summer than in winter. This is a result of surface heating, which increases mixing of the faster-moving air at higher levels with the air near the surface. As the effect of surface heating diminishes, the wind speed decreases and during the night there is little variation from hour to hour. The diurnal variation is greatest on sunny days and least on dull days.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #27 on: 04 April, 2013, 12:54:12 pm »
So, it's more pronounced in summer. Not exactly the same as,
Quote
"winds only pick up in daytime in summer"

Karla

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #28 on: 04 April, 2013, 12:55:01 pm »
while headwinds are annoying, they shouldn't affect the speed massively. (on tuesday) i rode directly into northeasterly, then back, pushing it both ways. i was counting on a free ride back, but it wasn't as easy as i hoped it would be.

same stretch:
26.8kph (2h20) into the headwind
30.2kph (2h04) with a tailwind

i'm pretty doubtful about hoppo's record now when the legs are getting tired, but it will be a great ride nonetheless.

I was thinking more in terms of tiredness due to the cold of the headwind, meaning he needs to sleep more.

FWIW on the 12 hour last year, my 20mph moving average was made up of ~16mph into the wind and ~24mph away from it.

mattc

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #29 on: 04 April, 2013, 01:00:30 pm »
So, it's more pronounced in summer. Not exactly the same as,
Quote
"winds only pick up in daytime in summer"
It was just a theory  :P

Like a proper scientist, I threw it out there; I'm happy to adapt it with new information.


But I was right about the heating effect ...  :smug:
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #30 on: 04 April, 2013, 01:04:37 pm »
But I was right about the heating effect ...  :smug:

Fair do's.

I've learned something today. :thumbsup:


Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #31 on: 04 April, 2013, 10:08:19 pm »
It's looking ever more doubtfull to me.
Just coming into Perth and has almost 400km to get to JOG. All at night and over mountains.
Half of 5d 21h will be at 8am and he's hoping for midday, which I seriously doubt he'll manage in 14 hours, especially considering the big climbs and that it'll be at night and he'll probably sleep for at least 2 hours I would guess.

Ray 6701

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #32 on: 04 April, 2013, 10:23:56 pm »
I agree!  It's highly unlikely he'll do it now.  Headwind all the way north & its due to change direction.  It's hard enough on the commute from work never mind 800 miles of it  :demon:
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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #33 on: 04 April, 2013, 10:49:32 pm »
Even if the wind picks right up and blows him all the way back, I doubt he'll make the record.
I'll wager that he doesn't reach JOG until after 3pm the earliest and I wouldn't be surprised if it's after 6pm.
After all that riding into a headwind, he'd need to get back in around 2 days, which only a few people have ever done, often with a tailwind and starting fresh.

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #34 on: 05 April, 2013, 08:04:25 am »
2 days and 22 hours are up now, so half the record time has elapsed and he's still heading north. Just climbed over Drumochter now, so still about 170 miles to JOG.

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #35 on: 05 April, 2013, 08:33:58 am »
I've been following progress. A fantastic effort, but the conditions have not been great. They also lost a lot of time getting through Edinburgh as they had planned going on the bypass that is prohibited to cycles. The wind is also set to drop over the weekend which means they won't get the tailwind.  I love the fact that this is just a warm up for the RAAM.:)

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #36 on: 05 April, 2013, 09:00:18 am »
They went a bit wrong in Edinbugh too. Looks like they missed a left turn following the B701 but it does look like they got back on route very quickly after an extra mile or so. Additional to that they were told that bikes are banned from the A90. They may be near the Forth Bridge, but I don't think they are and it would have made sense to have the route through Queensferry as a back up plan if the A90 was gridlocked, as it can be.
Looks like they went a bit wrong in Perth too, probably following signposts for the A9.

I think someone on Team Hoppo hasn't done their homework.

Rhys W

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #37 on: 05 April, 2013, 09:09:56 am »
I saw a tweet from them asking if they were able to ride on the A90 near the Forth Road Bridge... that's the khe kind of thing they should have established two weeks ago, not when they were leaving Edinburgh.  :facepalm:

I thought these squaddie types were big on preparation, attention to detail and not making costly mistakes?

Karla

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #38 on: 05 April, 2013, 10:05:57 am »
I reckon he'll call it a day at JOG.

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #39 on: 05 April, 2013, 10:51:43 am »
Anyone know why, between Carlisle and Edinburgh, he decided to go via Hawick/Selkirk rather than his planned Lockerbie/Moffat route? Quite a big deviation.

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #40 on: 05 April, 2013, 11:05:22 am »
Anyone know why, between Carlisle and Edinburgh, he decided to go via Hawick/Selkirk rather than his planned Lockerbie/Moffat route? Quite a big deviation.

That really puzzled me too. I can only guess that it was to avoid the Devil's Beeftub climb, which I didn't find to anything worth worrying about.

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #41 on: 05 April, 2013, 11:08:13 am »
I reckon he'll call it a day at JOG.

I don't. It's still training for the RAAM, even if he doesn't break the record. He's not one for giving up even when it's not going to plan or as well as he hopes.

Time will tell...

CrazyEnglishTriathlete

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #42 on: 05 April, 2013, 01:26:12 pm »
I wonder if the cold has some impact as well as the headwinds.  Cold affects people's physiology differently but I struggle more on 600km+ rides in the cold.  I doubt most of the RAAM will have Artic April conditions.
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mattc

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #43 on: 05 April, 2013, 01:33:42 pm »
I wonder if the cold has some impact as well as the headwinds.  Cold affects people's physiology differently but I struggle more on 600km+ rides in the cold.  I doubt most of the RAAM will have Artic April conditions.
The bigger problems are with the opposite! (although I think they do get chilly in the mountain passes).

This weather has made it a very tough ask. Doesn't seem like great training for RAAM in that sense, ALTHOUGH if Hoppy suffers in the cold but loves the heat, it could work well for him. (IYSWIM)

Maybe he wanted to do a long ride as prep, Easter was the best time for him, and LeJog was the best thing for his sponsors? He couldn't have predicted this weather back in the planning stage - with the weather gods onside, he might have done a great time.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #44 on: 05 April, 2013, 01:51:03 pm »
He seems to agree with me about nutrition on long rides. He just stopped for a KFC. :thumbsup:
I'll never forget how my KFC in Perth helped me fly up the A9 to Inverness on my 2006 Grand Triangle. Red Bull Chicken wings give you, er, wings....

Karla

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #45 on: 05 April, 2013, 02:01:30 pm »
Maybe he wanted to do a long ride as prep, Easter was the best time for him, and LeJog was the best thing for his sponsors?

The longer nights at Easter allowed him to spend more time using his MEGA DEATHSTAR LIGHTS!

mattc

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #46 on: 05 April, 2013, 02:07:59 pm »
They probably help keep him warm.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Karla

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Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #47 on: 05 April, 2013, 04:18:00 pm »
It's been pointed out that he'd have done rather better to start at JOG!  If this were an RRA record, he'd have been allowed to start at any point on the route.  I don't know what Guinness say about doing that.   

Thinking about it, I think Ben Rockett just turned up, rode and then claimed to have the record, rather than getting it validated by Guinness.  Does this mean that Hoppo could claim to be the Guinness record holder even if he finishes in over 5 days 21 hours?

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #48 on: 05 April, 2013, 04:34:54 pm »
Possibly.
I have heard that Guinness now charge £1000 per record claim.
I did check the LE-JOG record in a Guinness Book of Records after Gethin Butler's record ride in 2001. It was talking about that ride with people who were involved when I heard of the £1000 fee. When I checked the book, it still had Wilko's ride as the record.
Hoppo seems to be very good at gaining sponsorship.

Re: LeJoGLe Record attempt
« Reply #49 on: 05 April, 2013, 09:53:21 pm »
Just reached JOG.

That leaves 57 hours (2 days, 9 hours) to get back to LE for the record.