[HAMR] The Tommy Godwin record thread for things too unimportant ....

[Exit Stage Left]

He just needs to sync up with a support someone at the Chunnel terminal, and cross in their car. Could probably be optimised down to only an hour or so break.

If he syncs up with someone in a camper van, he can sleep as well. If that camper van is available for support, then time wasted at controls is minimised.

[Chris S]

He just needs to sync up with a support someone at the Chunnel terminal, and cross in their car. Could probably be optimised down to only an hour or so break.

If he syncs up with someone in a camper van, he can sleep as well. If that camper van is available for support, then time wasted at controls is minimised.

Yes. Or he could just use the Newhaven ferry which goes overnight, and use that as his overnight stop.

[The Seldom Killer]

That would be my thought too. An hour is a bit of a poor choice break wise if he can manage a decent enough sleep stop.

[arabella]

I used to catch the overnight coach Paris-London which used the ferry.
The children's soft play area (wall-to-wall matress) was generally unoccupied for the silly o'clock crossing.
But a longer crossing may be more sensible - I could sleep on the coach as well.

[delthebike]

now mentioned on GCN, 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a1A552JG1Eo#t=251

[Basil]

Have there been any other attempts since 1939?
Sorry if this information is hidden away in any of the other threads.

[GrumpyBob]

Have there been any other attempts since 1939?
Sorry if this information is hidden away in any of the other threads.

Ken Webb claimed the record in 1971-2. The Wikipedia page about him is a bit vague on the reasons why, but the record claim was disallowed.

Robert

[Basil]

Have there been any other attempts since 1939?
Sorry if this information is hidden away in any of the other threads.

Ken Webb claimed the record in 1971-2. The Wikipedia page about him is a bit vague on the reasons why, but the record claim was disallowed.

Robert

Oh.  My. God!
Can you imagine?  Doing that for a year.  Thinking you'd done it and then being "disallowed"?
I bet he's never got over that.

[red marley]

But with no support and holding down a job for much of the time, it does seem quite likely that there was some economy with the actualité involved.

[mattc]

LWaB gave me an interesting history lesson on Jan 1st. One tidbit was that there have been "races" before i.e. simultaneous attempts:

One chap finished 2nd TWICE. 2 years effort; no record, no medal, nada.

[GrumpyBob]

Wikipedia says:

He set off from Fleet Street, London, then the heart of the British newspaper industry, at noon on 1 September 1971.
Webb had little support from sponsors. By 10 November he had run out of money and took a job at Gatwick Airport, near his home. He spoke of working there, riding 220 miles a day after work and sleeping two or three hours a night. He averaged better than 223 miles a day,[3] sent witnessed postcards to Cycling's office to log his progress and used a different odometer each month to support the distance shown on the cards.

So I suppose there must have been widespread belief he wasn't covering the miles he claimed.

Robert

[Wobbly]

From the Wikipedia entry on Ken Webb...

"By 10 November he had run out of money and took a job at Gatwick Airport, near his home. He spoke of working there, riding 220 miles a day after work and sleeping two or three hours a night."

A full (or even half) day's work, 220 miles, in winter, 2 or 3 hours sleep each night.

Hmm...

[zigzag]

riding a stretch of 1001miglia together i was amazed at Steve's ability to sleep lying face down on his hands and how quickly he fell asleep. we stopped at a building with a tiled floor to have a cat nap. i wasn't sleepy enough, so just watched others sleeping. is there a trick why sleeping facing down is preferable to sleeping on a back? i've tried it afterwards but couldn't get myself comfortable.

[red marley]

Number of the day:




That's for every second of the year up to Midnight of Jan 11th. And these are just the shorter days! A figure that is going to feel increasingly impressive as the year goes on

(for comparison, since they started on the 4th and 10th respectively, IronOx has been cycling for 5.0% of the time, Tarzan for 49.1% of the time).

[Climberruss]

Don't ya just love stats!!!

[Von Broad]

Another quite bewildering, thought-provoking number is that after today, TG will have completed 3.3% of the challenge - which at over 2000 miles gives you a couple of PBP's and the mere trifle of a 400km tossed in as well.

He's only just begun

[mattc]

riding a stretch of 1001miglia together i was amazed at Steve's ability to sleep lying face down on his hands and how quickly he fell asleep. we stopped at a building with a tiled floor to have a cat nap. i wasn't sleepy enough, so just watched others sleeping. is there a trick why sleeping facing down is preferable to sleeping on a back?

You are much less likely to snore => very preferable!

[Somnolent]

I'd just love to have someone film one of Steve's breakfasts as a counterpoint to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/30784564

[Chris S]

I'd just love to have someone film one of Steve's breakfasts as a counterpoint to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/30784564

Haha! I thought he was going to boke that mouthful of greens right back!

[Wobbly]

I'd just love to have someone film one of Steve's breakfasts as a counterpoint to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/30784564

Caffeine "mobilises the fat" does it? OK then, half a dozen espressos and I'll be uncatchable!

[tonyh]

I'd just love to have someone film one of Steve's breakfasts as a counterpoint to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/30784564

Looks suitable for losing weight!

[sg37409]

I'd just love to have someone film one of Steve's breakfasts as a counterpoint to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/30784564

 

One of ESL films shows a bunch of audaxers tucking into a Calmac fryup on the Mull 300 a few years back. It'd be like that *10 I'd think !

[LittleWheelsandBig]

While emailing back and forth with a well-known Randonneurs USA member, I was a little surprised to read:
"Remind Steve that he is one of ours (a randonneur).  The other guys are ultra-racers who don't usually associate with us.  I know Steve is a top notch 24 hr time trial guys but he has taken the time to talk to many of us Americans at PBP and LEL.  It has made an impression!"

Steve was a subject of discussion during a 1 degree 200 in the USA last weekend and garnered a couple of donations as a result. It looks like Steve's approach and history have struck a chord with lots of people, which doesn't seem to have happened with the others attempting Tommy's record.

[Wowbagger]

That's a nice touch.

I've had a look at Tarzan's website and I didn't see a mention of Steve on it. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't it Steve who inspired the UMCA to formulate a set of rules for this event, and the others jumped on the bandwagon once they were published? And Tarzan has said that he intends to use Steve as a target for his rides, just carrying on 9 days behind.

That in itself is a risky policy. He needs to have a plan B if for some reason Steve can't continue.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Yes, it was Steve who kept pushing the UMCA towards more sensible rules.

Kurt is using Steve's published schedules for his weekly and monthly totals but will juggle daily and weekly numbers as his races come up. Regardless of other riders, the real competition is against Tommy.