[HAMR] Tommy Godwin record

[Wobbly]

 #bonkers ?

 

[Julian Smith]

Still a little confused about some of this. As a YACF/AUK member I cannot easily find a way of donating to teeth grinders fund. It needs a special page and an obvious link. There is a link to Steve's facebook page but for many of us (ie me) I/we have no idea if Steve is in fact TG. I feel the easier it becomes to make donations the more he will raise for spare, food etc.

[CrinklyLion]

I've fed him cake, waved him through some audax controls, been for a bike ride/YACF camping weekend along with him and watched him very indulgently race my then-8 year old up a hill.  Steve is TG and TG is Steve

[Sergeant Pluck]

Still a little confused about some of this. As a YACF/AUK member I cannot easily find a way of donating to teeth grinders fund. It needs a special page and an obvious link.

The info needed (both the Paypal link and info for regular donations) is on Steve's website:

http://oneyeartimetrial.org.uk/donate

[mcshroom]

There's also a link on the front page of the site.

@Teethgrinder - I think it would be good for you to put a link to your website in your signature

[The Bonk]

Has the start location and time been arranged yet? I assume there will be a press event/public send off?

[teethgrinder]

Has the start location and time been arranged yet? I assume there will be a press event/public send off?

ITV are going to film me setting off at midnight. Currently from my home but I'm going to ask my cycling club if they want to give me a send off so they can be on the telly and publicise our cycling club.
In which case, we'd start from our humble clubroom.

I should extend that to Audax UK, shouldn't I....

[nikki]

I have to confess I've only just made the connections between who is attempting to do what and when. 

Good luck, teethgrinder!

ITV are going to film me setting off at midnight. Currently from my home

Perhaps national television broadcasting about how you're not going to be at home much for the next year is best done in a way that doesn't actually reveal anything about where your home is?

[Exit Stage Left]

Has the start location and time been arranged yet? I assume there will be a press event/public send off?

ITV are going to film me setting off at midnight. Currently from my home but I'm going to ask my cycling club if they want to give me a send off so they can be on the telly and publicise our cycling club.
In which case, we'd start from our humble clubroom.

I should extend that to Audax UK, shouldn't I....

Great news, I don't have to spend New Years Eve in Milton Keynes!
I've had a couple of chats with Gethin Butler about the ride. He'd looked at this a couple of times, but realised he couldn't commit a year to it. He reckoned that the roads around Preston are very suitable, well gritted in the few frosty periods we get. Hope to see Steve up our way.

[caerau]

Well as I said to the admins, this was supposed to be mild bit of silliness when I started this thread as I posted after the One Show did a little short piece on Tommy Godwin.  I was new here then and didn't really realise this had already been considered.


Anyway, my serious best wishes on this incredibly tough ask -  if you find yourself Cardiff way on the ride then I'm quite happy to offer any support needed  -I was trying to see if you'd chosen any kind of route for the ride but can't really find any details on your website.  I'll make that offer of support official on the website, I'll also offer up some financial contribution although it can't be much as I'm newly married and have spent all my savings on that recently (well on a new bike too  ).


Best of luck with it all Steve!

[teethgrinder]

I've had a couple of chats with Gethin Butler about the ride. He'd looked at this a couple of times, but realised he couldn't commit a year to it. He reckoned that the roads around Preston are very suitable, well gritted in the few frosty periods we get. Hope to see Steve up our way.

There's the rub.
Breaking this record isn't just about ability, it's a lot about circumstance.
It's a shame a rider as great as Gethin isn't having a go. I was thinking about him earlier, telling me about his bad patch on his E2E and 1000 mile record and him telling me that "at least I know I can do 17mph even when I'm having a bad time" or words to that effect.
He's a very clever rider too.
Similar thing with Wilko.

[LEE]

Hey Steve, if I don't get a chance to say it before you set off, all the best with this attempt.

Hopefully I'll get to join you on some of it (if I can keep up).

I'll be using your attempt as a reminder, during PBP, that "it's only for 4 days LEE, not 365 days, keep going you wimp"

Good luck mate.

[Exit Stage Left]

One advantage Steve might have over the US contender is the UK high speed rail network. I assume that there'll be some air travel involved in the US. So I wouldn't rule out use of rail here, and especially the sleeper service. Some may conceive that the year has to be a continuous ride. But waking up in a whole new cycling arena would be a morale booster.

[teethgrinder]

One advantage Steve might have over the US contender is the UK high speed rail network. I assume that there'll be some air travel involved in the US. So I wouldn't rule out use of rail here, and especially the sleeper service. Some may conceive that the year has to be a continuous ride. But waking up in a whole new cycling arena would be a morale booster.

I remember talking to Mc Nasty at breakfast in a B&B with Jack Eason before the start of the 1997 LEL.
I remember Mc Nasty telling us that he once met the bloke who got the highest mileage in a year. He mentioned that he had to re-learn how to walk afterwards and that he caught night trains into the wind so he could ride all day with a tailwind.
I'd check the facts before taking it as true, but Mc Nasty does know a thing or two about long distance cycling.

[Charlie Boy]

I'll be using your attempt as a reminder, during PBP, that "it's only for 4 days LEE, not 365 days, keep going you wimp"

Good luck mate.

Yes. That crossed my mind too.

[Fidgetbuzz]

Still a little confused about some of this. As a YACF/AUK member I cannot easily find a way of donating to teeth grinders fund. It needs a special page and an obvious link.

There  is a whole thread on the Godwin sub board -- headed bank account.

My first post on there is very explicit about the position --have a look and see whether it gives you the info you need - if not e-mail me directly
Roger

[Exit Stage Left]

I remember Mc Nasty telling us that he once met the bloke who got the highest mileage in a year. He mentioned that he had to re-learn how to walk afterwards and that he caught night trains into the wind so he could ride all day with a tailwind.
I'd check the facts before taking it as true, but Mc Nasty does know a thing or two about long distance cycling.

It's certainly worth finding out that sort of detail, otherwise you're working against an impossible target; chasing Godwin's record in a different ethical climate.

We know he had support from an elite group of Raleigh professional riders, and that place-to-place records were run at times when suitable winds were likely, and still are.

[Euan Uzami]

One advantage Steve might have over the US contender is the UK high speed rail network. I assume that there'll be some air travel involved in the US. So I wouldn't rule out use of rail here, and especially the sleeper service. Some may conceive that the year has to be a continuous ride. But waking up in a whole new cycling arena would be a morale booster.

I remember talking to Mc Nasty at breakfast in a B&B with Jack Eason before the start of the 1997 LEL.
I remember Mc Nasty telling us that he once met the bloke who got the highest mileage in a year. He mentioned that he had to re-learn how to walk afterwards and that he caught night trains into the wind so he could ride all day with a tailwind.
I'd check the facts before taking it as true, but Mc Nasty does know a thing or two about long distance cycling.

I would have thought  you'd be ok walking as you'll at least walk into and out of a cafe, and into your house/a host's house at the end of each day.
Didn't the other bloke walk at all during his record? Not even from his bike to a bed? Sounds like he didn't look after himself very well if he literally couldn't walk.

[Frank9755]

The chap in the US who is also going for the record mentioned on his site that he is going to have a recumbent available in case of headwinds or saddle sores.  It's within the rules (as long as there are no fairings).

[teethgrinder]

The chap in the US who is also going for the record mentioned on his site that he is going to have a recumbent available in case of headwinds or saddle sores.  It's within the rules (as long as there are no fairings).

That's true.
But has he ever ridden a recumbent?
Riding a recumbent isn't the same as an upright. I think you have to get used to riding one before you can get quick on one.
I rode on the back of Rich Forrest's recumbent tandem earlier this year. For the same heart rate I'd have been a fair bit faster on my usual bike. I went up to about 90% MHR on a hill that I could climb easily at around 70%MHR on my roadbike.

Kurt has set out a plan of riding lots of ultra races, including RAAM. So he's not short of money!

[Mr Larrington]

Donkeys' years ago there was a long-running discussion on the old HPV mailing list (remember them?) precipitated by a chap called Eric House.  IIRC Mr House was something of an ultra-cyclist in USAnia but had b0rked an arm or part of the attachment hardware for an arm and thus couldn't ride an upright for some considerable time.  So he bought a recumbent, in his case an Easy Racers Gold Rush Replica.

He could not make it go very fast.

Skeptical Europeans on the list opined that he should have bought something other than the mutant offspring of a Raleigh Chopper and a five-bar gate but irrespective of the bike, there is something of a muscle learning curve with moving to the Dark Side; a learning curve you wouldn't want to be embarking on during an event like this.

I never mastered the art of making them go up hills in an acceptably brisk manner (not even Cosimo the Stealth Baron, who is quite light by recumbent standards), but then I could never do that on an upright bike either.

[mattc]

... although I could imagine its better than nothing if you have saddle sores (or something else where changing position is a fix). A 100-miles day is better than staying in bed.

With hindsight ( i.e. in 12 months) time we can all decide whether it is worth doing _some_ lying-down training the summer before.

[Wobbly]

If Steve wishes he can borrow my recumbent next year; there's definitely no such thing as saddle soreness riding one of those! In fact it's as comfy as pedalling a sofa

In order to get very far very fast on a recumbent you need to develop the particular muscles that get used when pedalling a recumbent; there are some that deffinitely don't get used when riding an upright. Please don't ask me which muscles, I'm no medic.

When I was young, fit, fast, strong, handsome, etc I very much could climb hills on my recumbent as quick as an upright. For short, sharp hills I'd generally be quicker than an upright. But after taking a long break from cycling and starting to ride a recumbent again I never really got my recumbent legs back, so never regained the speed I once had and rarely overtook uprights on hills.

[Mr Larrington]

Recumbent seats are almost as much of a talking point as upright saddles.  Personally I can't stand the USAnian ones with a big squashy base and mesh back and favour a nice lump of solid and unyielding composite with a small amount of foam, though the original carbon seat on my Trice was a Thing of Terrible.  Few normal people can get on with the seats created by Mike Burrows.

"Oi!  Burrows!!  I wanna talk to you about me bum!!!" - Denise Wilson after a not-that-long race aboard a Burrows Ratracer.

[LMT]

If Steve wishes he can borrow my recumbent next year; there's definitely no such thing as saddle soreness riding one of those! In fact it's as comfy as pedalling a sofa

In order to get very far very fast on a recumbent you need to develop the particular muscles that get used when pedalling a recumbent; there are some that deffinitely don't get used when riding an upright. Please don't ask me which muscles, I'm no medic.

When I was young, fit, fast, strong, handsome, etc I very much could climb hills on my recumbent as quick as an upright. For short, sharp hills I'd generally be quicker than an upright. But after taking a long break from cycling and starting to ride a recumbent again I never really got my recumbent legs back, so never regained the speed I once had and rarely overtook uprights on hills.

The glutes and hamstrings get worked more. The main though (as I'm sure you have experience of) is the pounding that the knees can take if you grind too higher a gear to early on.