Author Topic: All Points North  (Read 8984 times)

All Points North
« on: 26 May, 2019, 10:25:55 pm »
Anybody follow this? I noticed the first one back did it in 45 hours which given the terrain and controls is some going. A fair few have pulled out and no pairs were back which in theory I would have thought they would be equal or faster (if all goes well)

Re: All Points North
« Reply #1 on: 27 May, 2019, 08:23:30 am »
I am sure that it is fun to plan and to ride but I found it very difficult to follow.  The different routes chosen means that you cannot see who is winning until they are into the home straight and even then one of the un-tracked riders might be somewhere in the mix.  The stats on the tracking page were also confused and of no value.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: All Points North
« Reply #2 on: 27 May, 2019, 09:15:33 am »
I am sure that it is fun to plan and to ride but I found it very difficult to follow.  The different routes chosen means that you cannot see who is winning until they are into the home straight and even then one of the un-tracked riders might be somewhere in the mix.  The stats on the tracking page were also confused and of no value.

Agreed. I tried to follow it, but couldn't work out who was doing what, so closed the tab and concentrated on watching the HT550 instead. Shame really.

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: All Points North
« Reply #3 on: 27 May, 2019, 09:41:57 am »
Ignoring the fact that not everyone is tracked, I thought following it was pretty good.

Moving the time slider at the bottom of the tracker page works really well for seeing where people are going and have been, especially if you switch off all but a few dots when doing it. You can combine that with checking who has checked in at each control very easily. Overall, working out where people might have planned to go seems to me to make it really very entertaining to watch. i may be biased by living in the centre of the route of course.

Re: All Points North
« Reply #4 on: 27 May, 2019, 10:05:47 pm »
Ignoring the fact that not everyone is tracked, I thought following it was pretty good.

Moving the time slider at the bottom of the tracker page works really well for seeing where people are going and have been, especially if you switch off all but a few dots when doing it. You can combine that with checking who has checked in at each control very easily. Overall, working out where people might have planned to go seems to me to make it really very entertaining to watch. i may be biased by living in the centre of the route of course.
http://www.allpointsnorth.cc/control-locations/
"Moving the time slider at the bottom of the tracker page works really well for seeing where people are going and have been."

This ^^^. Gratified to see that the [edited after SoV post] clockwise guy just made it ahead of the 2 [edited] anti-clockwise guys. I don't know whether he was riding faster (ie average speed) though.  When I planned this (for fun, not to ride) - a bike-orienteering 'score' event really - I preferred the anti-clockwise option as, when tired on the final pull home, it's a straight SW run from Flamborough Head back to Sheffield, as opposed to needing to zig-zag collecting Brimham Rocks and Howarth on the way SE from Slaidburn. There were also considerations about which sections were best done (or avoided) during darkness.

Re: All Points North
« Reply #5 on: 27 May, 2019, 10:36:32 pm »
Do your clocks go in a different direction to mine, I wonder? Those comments seem consistently backwards to me ... Could be me though.

I was hoping he'd make it too,  not least since I liked his approach of getting the fabulously inconvenient control at Brimham Rocks out of the way first, then Howarth, then the natural circuit that the remainder provided. And, as you imply, the homeward leg is much better psychologically down the east coast: more direct and less lumpy.

Selecting small subsets of people and playing their progress through along differing routes is rather good for clearly seeing how route choice affects speed. Several people demonstrated that one bit of routing I often choose is slower than the obvious alternative. Nice to confirm that, but I'll stick with my shorter, prettier, hillier option :-)

Jack_P

  • It's just dicking about on bikes
    • Cycling hobo
Re: All Points North
« Reply #6 on: 29 May, 2019, 10:02:36 pm »
I did this, it was great to see the variation in routes taken, spiced it up seeing fellow riders going all directions throughout the event.
 It really was a weekend of two halves. Those that went North (cw) first had clear Sky's and calm conditions on Dun Fell etc, while those, me included, who hit the East coast first had to fight mad windy conditions in driving rain with no vision on Dun Fell. It was brutal at times. That was a killer amount of climbing, much more than I did on the Mille Pennines last year, but immensely enjoyable.

Re: All Points North
« Reply #7 on: 30 May, 2019, 02:10:14 pm »
That wind on Dun Fell!!! was tan Hill the same?. There was a high attrition rate - was that the weather or the topography or a combination?

Re: All Points North
« Reply #8 on: 30 May, 2019, 04:27:08 pm »
I found Tan Hill harder on Sat evening than Great Dun Fell on Sun morning, as for TH I was riding up hill across the moors into the prevailing wind, whereas for GDF I had the wind mostly behind me for the climb at least.
“That slope may look insignificant, but it's going to be my destiny" - Fitzcarraldo

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: All Points North
« Reply #9 on: 30 May, 2019, 04:34:59 pm »
Weather looked horrific at points. I think it's likely I'd have thrown in the towel. Chapeau to all the riders and supporters
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Re: All Points North
« Reply #10 on: 30 May, 2019, 04:39:17 pm »
I knew I was unlikely to get round at 13.3km/h min. speed so my tactic of splitting it into two DIYs paid off - rode the first 700km to Arnside in 53 hours and the final 150km on Monday at BP pace for a total of 12.5AAA points. I left around a gap in between to give some flexibility in sleeping, but of course the M6 travelodge was fully booked leaving me on the station platform at Arnside - who would have thought the first train would arrive at 5am on a bank holiday?
“That slope may look insignificant, but it's going to be my destiny" - Fitzcarraldo

Re: All Points North
« Reply #11 on: 07 June, 2019, 11:22:04 pm »
Just back from walking some of the Pennine Way, Heather's doing it all, and I'm doing the interesting bits. We stayed at Langdon Beck, a control on LEL 1997, 2001 and 2005. Visited Dufton, then walked over Great Dun Fell, a control on All Points North, on the way to Alston Youth Hostel, a control on LEL 2005 and 2017. There's a yellow bike with a mannikin in an LEL 2017 shirt over the door at Alston.

I popped into Spar in Alston, and there was cyclist outside drinking coffee, with a tin of coke by his side, and eating a packet of Skittles, sheltering from the rain. Turns out it was Jordan Matthews, Rider 12, and he filled me in on 'All Points North', and his forthcoming TCR. He outlined his aspirations to do LEL and PBP. He was on the way from Chester-Le-Street to Keswick, and I pointed out that Pendle 600 riders would be passing there tomorrow night. All a bit surreal.

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: All Points North
« Reply #12 on: 12 November, 2019, 10:35:21 pm »
Thread so dead, writhing in pain. Arise, arise, to post again!

APN 2020 registrations are open. Sign up, ye scurvy dogs! http://www.allpointsnorth.cc/enter-apn20/
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Ban cars.

Re: All Points North
« Reply #13 on: 13 November, 2019, 08:41:09 am »
Ah now, I was looking for something stupid to do next year.... with a bit more of a self sufficient route planning bias  O:-)

Re: All Points North
« Reply #14 on: 13 November, 2019, 02:17:53 pm »
When @David Lane said he was doing this earlier this year, I sketched out a route, for fun, on RwGPS. I then received a message saying, in effect, please make your route 'private' on RwGPS 'cos riders (ie entrants) have been asked to keep their route planning to themselves.
From: All Points North <ride@allpointsnorth.cc>
Subject: Re: All Points North Route
"An assumption was made on our part that you are taking part in the event, so I must apologise for that.

"If you’re not actually taking part in the event then there’s very little that we can do about it really, apart from ask, in the sprit of the event, that you consider making the route private or alternatively change the title of your ride so that it is a little less explicit.

"The rules of All Points North are created by concensus and anything that is challenged we throw back to the rider group and ask for their opinion. The consensus on this particular aspect was that route planning should be included in that ‘unsupported’ category and kept private, therefore is it is very much a joint decision between us as the organisers and the participants themselves."

I amended my publicly available route to make it non-optimal. I have the Bryan Chapman the week before so best of luck to those who enter. The controls for 2020 are different so I'll enjoy designing the optimum route for 2020. Edit to add: 858km + 8897m is my shot. [The PM button is ^ way.)

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: All Points North
« Reply #15 on: 13 November, 2019, 02:38:37 pm »
As I've just relocated back up here and the start is only a few km away down in Sheffield, this seems like the ideal opportunity to explore some of the areas across Northern England that I don't know as well as I'd like.  Mille Pennines and Pendle have given me a decent overview of many areas, but I want to see more.

As such, my entry is in, so we'll see what happens from here.

I'm also considering the Pure Peak Grit as well/instead of - if I don't ride the event, the route goes past my house, so will be out cheerleading and providing snacks and water for riders etc.
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: All Points North
« Reply #16 on: 13 November, 2019, 02:44:05 pm »
In the application form I read out loud the question about 'what do you do when it starts gusting at 50mph, you're on exposed moorland, and 15km from the nearest village'. My dad responded 'drink alcohol'.... :s
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quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: All Points North
« Reply #17 on: 13 November, 2019, 02:45:19 pm »
In the application form I read out loud the question about 'what do you do when it starts gusting at 50mph, you're on exposed moorland, and 15km from the nearest village'. My dad responded 'drink alcohol'.... :s

"Question your life choices, fall onto the aero bars, and just keep fucking pedalling..."

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: All Points North
« Reply #18 on: 13 November, 2019, 04:08:29 pm »
Much as I would love to do this again, have decided not to apply this year to give someone else a shot at taking part, as it looks like it'll be heavily over-subscribed. Will probably still fire up my custom shortest trip router at some point and see what that chucks out...
“That slope may look insignificant, but it's going to be my destiny" - Fitzcarraldo

bludger

  • Randonneur and bargain hunter
Re: All Points North
« Reply #19 on: 13 November, 2019, 05:23:42 pm »
In the application form I read out loud the question about 'what do you do when it starts gusting at 50mph, you're on exposed moorland, and 15km from the nearest village'. My dad responded 'drink alcohol'.... :s

"Question your life choices, fall onto the aero bars, and just keep fucking pedalling..."

J
Ah, the question specified that 'you no longer feel it is safe', so obviously we would all stop in these circumstances.....  ;)
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quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: All Points North
« Reply #20 on: 13 November, 2019, 06:07:44 pm »
Ah, the question specified that 'you no longer feel it is safe', so obviously we would all stop in these circumstances.....  ;)

Only if stopping is safer than going on... It's a tough one depending on where you are.

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Karla

  • car(e) free
    • Lost Byway - around the world by bike
Re: All Points North
« Reply #21 on: 13 November, 2019, 07:34:41 pm »
I've entered.  I'm pining for northern hills already so I'll be in desperate need of a fix by next May.

Re: All Points North
« Reply #22 on: 26 November, 2019, 11:38:21 am »
I've also entered, inspired by watching Katie Butler's two episode videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FFQtMKeJ7o of her attempt last year. It would be great to get a place, but it sounds like lots of people have entered so may have a better chance on the lottery

Jack_P

  • It's just dicking about on bikes
    • Cycling hobo
Re: All Points North
« Reply #23 on: 27 November, 2019, 08:40:38 pm »
400 entrants for the 80 places mentioned😜 good luck

Re: All Points North
« Reply #24 on: 28 November, 2019, 11:02:00 am »
Sadly a date clash for me on this... ::-)
Looks to be turning into an ultra running year anyways hey ho.