Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Audax => Topic started by: Thing2 on 09 January, 2015, 05:53:59 am
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And he's off! More awesomeness from Steve.
It's too early to see which direction he's heading, but hopefully it'll be a good day wherever he is.
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Maps just appeared with three data points. Early guess is west-ish...
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Heading south so far---it seems; looks like another good day yesterday too :thumbsup:
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His team Elfs have signed him up to GCN Strava club.
Lets hope his fumble fingers don't stop all his GPS gadgets stopping mid ride! :facepalm: Someone get a set of OS maps to him so he can plan a route home without touching buttons. ;D
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Seems to be heading into the WSW wind, so should be getting 50mph gusts on the way home according to the Met Office. I'm not sure of that is good or dangerous.
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It's going to be very mild, dry but very windy today and tomorrow.
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The best place for the wind is on my back when I'm cycling. :)
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Steve seems to prefer a head wind on the way out and a tail wind on the way home.
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Steve seems to prefer a head wind on the way out and a tail wind on the way home.
isn`t that always sensible way to plan a ride---otherwise way out seems far too easy and return can be much further than wanted. At this rate with weather when Steve stays @ Wobbly Towers he may have to end up in Wales-shire ;)
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Its my usual ritual now, when getting into the office, to log in and answer that burning question, "Where is Steve?" :thumbsup:
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Steve seems to prefer a head wind on the way out and a tail wind on the way home.
Ditto.
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#2319 on 10:34:31 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (0 minutes ago) 0.98 mi traveled at 23.6 mph
#2318 on 10:32:01 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (3 minutes ago) 0.60 mi traveled at 14.2 mph
#2317 on 10:29:29 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (5 minutes ago) 0.36 mi traveled at 8.9 mph
#2316 on 10:27:03 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (8 minutes ago) 0.32 mi traveled at 7.4 mph
#2315 on 10:24:30 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (10 minutes ago) 0.27 mi traveled at 6.5 mph
#2314 on 10:22:00 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (13 minutes ago) 1034.0 ft traveled at 4.7 mph
#2313 on 10:19:31 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (15 minutes ago) 1065.2 ft traveled at 4.8 mph
#2312 on 10:17:01 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (18 minutes ago) 1002.0 ft traveled at 4.7 mph
#2311 on 10:14:35 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (20 minutes ago) 0.29 mi traveled at 6.7 mph
#2310 on 10:12:02 AM (GMT) 01/09/15 (23 minutes ago) 0.68 mi traveled at 8.1 mph
Up hill into the wind in the Cotswolds - heading near Shipton Under Wychwood towards Burford. The tracker mercilessly reveals how hard it can be, each yard into the wind hard won.
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Did Steve read the 8th Jan thread yesterday - and if so, do we think he's headed for Malmesbury today? ;D
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I think he's heading for my ex-husband near Cirencester.
Shame Steve wont have time to stop and give TFMrF a slap from me.
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Here's hoping that the wind stays behind him on his way back home.
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Lunch in Cirencester, eh?
Perhaps he's got a chukka planned with someone.
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Although I'm sure Steve's final miles to lunch into a rising wind are tough, it looks good from here (Abergavenny) for an increasing SW wind to get him back to MK. He made a good decision today about his route and timings.
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I'm sure Steve doesn't need telling, but I'd keep on into this wind til about 2, then turn around. Will be blown home a treat
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Really strange temperature forecasts here (cambs) with temps rising in the evening!
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His team Elfs have signed him up to GCN Strava club.
Lets hope his fumble fingers don't stop all his GPS gadgets stopping mid ride! :facepalm: Someone get a set of OS maps to him so he can plan a route home without touching buttons. ;D
I suspect Steve could find his way home from just about any point in BRITAIN without recourse to a map!
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His team Elfs have signed him up to GCN Strava club.
Lets hope his fumble fingers don't stop all his GPS gadgets stopping mid ride! :facepalm: Someone get a set of OS maps to him so he can plan a route home without touching buttons. ;D
I suspect Steve could find his way home from just about any point in BRITAIN without recourse to a map!
I think I could do that, just from general direction in the first instance until I hit a road I'd cycled on. The difference is that Steve probably knows all the roads he would need from experience.
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Did Steve read the 8th Jan thread yesterday - and if so, do we think he's headed for Malmesbury today? ;D
I think that would be a 'Yes'!
(http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t140/VinceHall/CyclingStuff/SARoute_zps31c61ece.png)
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........... each yard into the wind hard won.
Sounds like my ride round Richmond Park this morning.
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His team Elfs have signed him up to GCN Strava club.
Lets hope his fumble fingers don't stop all his GPS gadgets stopping mid ride! :facepalm: Someone get a set of OS maps to him so he can plan a route home without touching buttons. ;D
I suspect Steve could find his way home from just about any point in BRITAIN without recourse to a map!
I think I could do that, just from general direction in the first instance until I hit a road I'd cycled on. The difference is that Steve probably knows all the roads he would need from experience.
Sorry, I omitted the word "blindfold" from my first reply...
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Can someone check with the UMCA if they'll ratify a blindfold year record? Steve's going to need a challenge for next year.
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Rather interesting to watch Steve's accumulated routing since day 1. Looks like he's drawing some kind of strange creature with three legs and two arms. With the arms raised in victory celebration.
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Isn't that third leg the much-vaunted CDC?
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Feasting in Greasey Joes now I think! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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In these strong winds could Steve be driven somewhere up wind thrn ride with wind on his back?
Not sure what the rules are.
Good luck Steve :thumbsup:
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It is allowable under the rules but would require somebody to drive him around, which takes some time in itself. I get the impression that Steve prefers a 'purist approach'.
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I have wondered about Steve coming east to the coast "today" and being driven "home" by "me" to do the same again tomorrow. But when you think it thru - it is time consuming getting him home again -- and unless he can eat/sleep while travelling -- then there is a time wasting element in it.
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Steve seems to be making full benefit of the 20-25 mph tailwind @ moment---tracker avg speeds 19mph ish---which would translate to 20-22mph real ground speed ? (assuming tracker straight line is about 10-15% underestimate ---???)
Tomorrow looks difficult though as unlike today when wind speed increased during day wind seems strong all day ::-)
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I have wondered about Steve coming east to the coast "today" and being driven "home" by "me" to do the same again tomorrow. But when you think it thru - it is time consuming getting him home again -- and unless he can eat/sleep while travelling -- then there is a time wasting element in it.
We need a YACF helicopter.
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Really strange temperature forecasts here (cambs) with temps rising in the evening!
well it`s this very strong wind pulling mild air up from south---nearest metoffice station @ Shobdon, Herefordshire just recorded 14.3 c but with wind gusts to 95 kph !!! Coming your way soon :o
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Having just left the office I was amazed how mild it is. And how windy!
Should Steve invest in a spinnaker?
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Any news on how TG's equipment- lights, tyres, chains etc are holding out ..
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I'll let you know on Sunday. Some folk have been keeping an eye on things for him.
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I'll let you know on Sunday. Some folk have been keeping an eye on things for him.
:thumbsup:
Can we have some more action shots too please ;D
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Looks to me as if is home now.
LWB and HK are the first hosts this weekend - so with luck we will be able to get an update on what TG has had to say -- but even then maybe - early to bed and early to get up will still be the order of the day.
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181.9 today I think and 1665 total now
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Really strange temperature forecasts here (cambs) with temps rising in the evening!
and again; if you think that`s strange take a look at Cairngorm ski station reports today---from -5c @ 10am this morning with 110kph / gust 150 winds the weather has now changed to +9c and 110 / 150 kph winds !!! ::-) Leaving aside the early afternoon episodes of off scale 200kph + wind gusts.......it`s an absolutely remarkable change in temperatures as the deep low moves across
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Some seriously good choosing go on with the routes.
https://www.strava.com/activities/238878849/analysis
19 km/h average outbound to earn a 24.6 km/h return leg. HR was actually higher on the return too (92 vs 88). impressive to have kept it so low battling outward into the wind.
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Just out of interest did Steve have to start on jan 1st or would any consecutive 365 days have counted?
If so you would think starting in october and getting the winter out of the way would have helped.
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Just out of interest did Steve have to start on jan 1st or would any consecutive 365 days have counted?
If so you would think starting in october and getting the winter out of the way would have helped.
He didn't have to, but Tommy Godwin did, and I think he wants to ride the attempt on the same terms.
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Did he have to declare an actual start day or just begin when he chose?
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If so you would think starting in october and getting the winter out of the way would have helped.
Steve discussed this before he started. Part of his reasoning (which may still be on his website) was that by starting on Jan 1st he'd split the winter, so if there was a particularly bad winter he'd only have to ride through half of it. Another point he made was that the time spring came around would be about the time that he got fit and could make use of the extra light.
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Yes, the riders have to declare their start dates beforehand.
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If so you would think starting in october and getting the winter out of the way would have helped.
Steve discussed this before he started. Part of his reasoning (which may still be on his website) was that by starting on Jan 1st he'd split the winter, so if there was a particularly bad winter he'd only have to ride through half of it. Another point he made was that the time spring came around would be about the time that he got fit and could make use of the extra light.
This refers to the fitness factor: https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=72564.msg1746874#msg1746874
I was sure I also saw something somewhere else from Steve that referred the fact that doing it this way means that winter is broken up into two installments, rather than going through in one go, but I can't find it.
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Can we have some hint as to how he's feeling? Up? Down? Tired? Elated? Bored?
(He'll be hungry, obvs. Always is, even when not breaking world records.)
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I think that those at his place are too busy looking after him to be posting any extra detail - but knocking out a big mileage today - suggests to me thta he is fine. LWB and HK host him this weekend - so maybe we will get extra input from one of them,
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I reckon "serene" will probably sum up Steve's attitude at the moment. On the basis that, of all of us, he knows what it's like to ride enormous distances in one year (what was his points record? 40000km in audax rides, plus other rides here and there). He already knows what it feels like to ride 500 miles or more a week for months on end. With that experience, he can have a pretty good guess as to what it's like to double, and then treble, that. He's used to long distances, he's used to riding on his own, he rides in all weathers and just takes it in his stride.
I was with him for at least part of the coldest ride he's ever done (10th Jan 2009) and the windiest conditions he has known - he said they were, anyway: May 2008. We were trying to cross Barmouth Bridge and it was totally unrideable, and that wind was an easterly. We climbed Cader Idris* the same weekend and at times, near the summit, we had to crouch down to avoid being blown over. He also slipstreamed Mrs. Wow and myself down this hill (http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=264980&Y=313340&A=Y&Z=120) into a monster headwind. Despite the chevron, we could barely hold 15mph into the wind, whilst pedalling.
(http://peter.chesspod.com/gallery/d/749-2/DSC00294.jpg)
Mrs. Wow's hair gives a good idea of the wind direction and strength - and no, it wasn't down to Steve! Also, the way she is having to brace herself to hold the tandem upright gives a clue as to what we were up against.
I would imagine he's feeling pretty satisfied with the first 2.5% of his challenge. Only another 97.5% to go! :thumbsup:
*without bikes
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Some feedback from Steve on Strava today (https://www.strava.com/activities/238878849)
Alistair McLean Been tracking you and the weather today, 99.9% of people would have thrown in the towel today. Awesome.
david hann You are legend!!! You
Jim Solan Go Steve. you're an inspiration!
Steven Abraham A little bit of British weather isn't going to stop me. Thanks for the comments all. Time to eat then sleep.
:thumbsup:
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:thumbsup: