[HAMR] Tommy Godwin record

[Aunt Maud]

Probably right, they are a pain in the arse to set up.

[Canardly]

Every success with this Steve. I am sure you will get an amazing amount of support from here. Don't forget the silk undies!

[Kim]

Raspberry Pi has a gps tracker + live web feed to watch him suffer, with a 3 mobile dongle should give you all you need for £100.00 plus dongle data subscription. It can be battery operated and sit on the handlebars.

Absolutely inappropriate.  Even if you manage to waterproof and vibration-proof it (none of the connectors are latching, so you'd have to replace them) and fulfil it's power habit (a Pi draws the best part of 2 Watts^[1], even without the GPS and cellular dongle)^[2], what is Teethgrinder supposed to do when it mysteriously corrupts its SD card or whatever?  You'd need an entire spare unit ready to swap, which means you're at £200 already.  Might as well use a smartphone (which only solves about half the issues), or better, an off-the-shelf tracker like the Spot or maybe one of Diver300's gadgets (though I think his stuff all assumes a 12V supply is available).

ETA: Crosspost with Dibdib, but I think it's such an important point I might as well say it again.  The last thing Teethgrinder needs is unproven technology, be it GPS trackers, tyres or cycling shorts.


_{[1] And of course a more appropriate architecture power-wise (ie. your microcontroller of choice) will mean more time needed to develop something that works.
[2] You've got until Jan 1st to complete this little project, remember.  That includes the hardware and software development, prototyping, testing, refinement, construction of multiple units, endurance testing, fixing problems found, more testing and so on.  Even if you've got the time and resources to do a decent job, with so little testing time the chances of some mysterious problem coming to light on the road is high.}

[andyoxon]

I make time lapse movies for a living ...
www.adamwilson.co

Excellent - there's something fascinating about watching a good time lapse with a lot going on...  I've been testing my mobile with free time lapse apps ont bike recently.

[Chris S]

Raspberry Pi has a gps tracker + live web feed to watch him suffer, with a 3 mobile dongle should give you all you need for £100.00 plus dongle data subscription. It can be battery operated and sit on the handlebars.

Absolutely inappropriate.  Even if you manage to waterproof and vibration-proof it (none of the connectors are latching, so you'd have to replace them) and fulfil it's power habit (a Pi draws the best part of 2 Watts^[1], even without the GPS and cellular dongle)^[2], what is Teethgrinder supposed to do when it mysteriously corrupts its SD card or whatever?  You'd need an entire spare unit ready to swap, which means you're at £200 already.  Might as well use a smartphone (which only solves about half the issues), or better, an off-the-shelf tracker like the Spot or maybe one of Diver300's gadgets (though I think his stuff all assumes a 12V supply is available).

ETA: Crosspost with Dibdib, but I think it's such an important point I might as well say it again.  The last thing Teethgrinder needs is unproven technology, be it GPS trackers, tyres or cycling shorts.


_{[1] And of course a more appropriate architecture power-wise (ie. your microcontroller of choice) will mean more time needed to develop something that works.
[2] You've got until Jan 1st to complete this little project, remember.  That includes the hardware and software development, prototyping, testing, refinement, construction of multiple units, endurance testing, fixing problems found, more testing and so on.  Even if you've got the time and resources to do a decent job, with so little testing time the chances of some mysterious problem coming to light on the road is high.}

Kim, in full flight. 'Tis a wonder to behold.

[Aunt Maud]

Raspberry Pi has a gps tracker + live web feed to watch him suffer, with a 3 mobile dongle should give you all you need for £100.00 plus dongle data subscription. It can be battery operated and sit on the handlebars.

Absolutely inappropriate.  Even if you manage to waterproof and vibration-proof it (none of the connectors are latching, so you'd have to replace them) and fulfil it's power habit (a Pi draws the best part of 2 Watts^[1], even without the GPS and cellular dongle)^[2], what is Teethgrinder supposed to do when it mysteriously corrupts its SD card or whatever?  You'd need an entire spare unit ready to swap, which means you're at £200 already.  Might as well use a smartphone (which only solves about half the issues), or better, an off-the-shelf tracker like the Spot or maybe one of Diver300's gadgets (though I think his stuff all assumes a 12V supply is available).

ETA: Crosspost with Dibdib, but I think it's such an important point I might as well say it again.  The last thing Teethgrinder needs is unproven technology, be it GPS trackers, tyres or cycling shorts.


_{[1] And of course a more appropriate architecture power-wise (ie. your microcontroller of choice) will mean more time needed to develop something that works.
[2] You've got until Jan 1st to complete this little project, remember.  That includes the hardware and software development, prototyping, testing, refinement, construction of multiple units, endurance testing, fixing problems found, more testing and so on.  Even if you've got the time and resources to do a decent job, with so little testing time the chances of some mysterious problem coming to light on the road is high.}

All right calm down dear, it won't stop him cycling though, will it ? He can just bin it if it's crap.

[Kim]

All right calm down dear

 

it won't stop him cycling though, will it ? He can just bin it if it's crap.

Indeed.  Though if the point in live tracking is to provide a publicity draw to the website and keep sources of sponsorship interested, that may be more serious than depriving the armchair audaxers of their stats.


Or put it another way:  I'm sure YACF's statistics nerds could have a whip-round that would easily cover the cost of a tracker that actually works.

[Ian H]

I've got an 80 mile route ready to go (a mile for every 1,000 Steve might be riding next year). Could turn it into an event at a cost of £x per rider, all money raised to fund Steve.

Too late for the calendar this year but could be a group perm. This is from Honiton, Devon.  Anyone else want to organise similar around the country?

[Aunt Maud]

All right calm down dear

 

it won't stop him cycling though, will it ? He can just bin it if it's crap.

Indeed.  Though if the point in live tracking is to provide a publicity draw to the website and keep sources of sponsorship interested, that may be more serious than depriving the armchair audaxers of their stats.


Or put it another way:  I'm sure YACF's statistics nerds could have a whip-round that would easily cover the cost of a tracker that actually works.

He needs more than a tracker.

The viewers and sponsors will want the whole shebang, you know what things are like these days it's all whistles and bells, Weblog, Twitter feed, a live suffer cam, youtube, Facebook.

A dot going around in a circle won't pull them in, we're audax geeks and we'll probably get off on it, but that's just a weirdo minority ( I include myself in that).

[mrcharly-YHT]

Or put it another way:  I'm sure YACF's statistics nerds could have a whip-round that would easily cover the cost of a tracker that actually works.

Quite.

Spot is used widely, has backup support and (excuse the pun) a proven track record. Anything else set up to run on Android is suspect, tbh, there are too many GPS spoofing apps out there.

http://trackleaders.com/ is already set up to take update feeds from Spot (they are partners).

I think that Mike Hall might be worth speaking to. I believe he co-organises the transcontinental and has lots of experience of the practicalities of using the trackers.

[marcusjb]

One would need to check whether whatever tracker is used, it is acceptable to whatever body might be verifying the record.

I believe Spot is acceptable for round the world attempts, so seems a good place to start.

Certainly no home brew solutions though.

And I think round the world record attempts have backup gps and get signed proof of passage still (certainly Mark Beaumont did anyway).

[Kim]

I'd expect that fitting the bikes with redundant (wired and wireless?) bike computers would be sensible, also.

[marcusjb]

I'd expect that fitting the bikes with redundant (wired and wireless?) bike computers would be sensible, also.

Mechanical odometer I reckon! 

[fixillated]

TG for reference, when in 2015 are you aiming to start?  I assume you are going to learn from Tommy's mistakes and not start on Jan 1st and go through 2 winters in effect?

Makes no difference whatsoever!
(Unless he goes  for another record that takes >365 days)

It might be that having a rest between the winter rides helps. Maybe.

Same dilemma as RRTY. IMO that is probably easiest if you _finish_ in good conditions, and tackle the winter while still fresh. Oct start?

1st Jan is the aim.

Tommy Godwin did say something along the lines of that being a mistake, but he did go on to do the 100,000 mile record as (which I may do if it goes well?) which meant he had to ride through two (very tough) winters.

Was he free to pick a date? Walter Greaves, who broke the record in 1936, wasn't and lost five days because his bike wasn't ready by January 1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Greaves_(cyclist) Thousands of cyclists joining him in Hyde Park when the record was broken must have been an impressive sight.
I hope you succeed whenever you start and will happily donate.

[teethgrinder]

UMCA have their own trackers, as used in RAAM. They'd be my first choice, given that UMCA must be happy with them. I'd say that several RAAMs would make them well tested!
Next choice would be Yellowbrick, as used by Hoppo on his UMCA record attempts (Lands End John O Grats Lands End)
Third choice would be Mike Hall, who runs Transcontinental and Trans American, where riders have trackers. Entry for that event is about £100, so they are either cheap or Mike Hall has a good deal.

I'm can't see any benefit from a cycle computer over a GPS (and probably a back up GPS) 

A mechanical one would be very easy to fiddle with a motor!

One thing I never considered is the UMCA charging a fee and I wouldn't be surprised if that was in thousands. Entry to the Race Around Ireland is about £500 and entry for RAAM is about $3000 AFAIK.

[teethgrinder]

is this the bike(s) you are planning to ride?

Yes, unless Raleigh chip in with some bikes, then it'll be based on that bike (disk brakes with tubeless tyres). Other bikes would do, but Raleigh are being chased. I want it to be as British as possible.
Plus Tommy Godwin rode a Raleigh.

[teethgrinder]

Just another consideration 
Health.
You are a very experienced rider, so you know which bits of your body break. But this is taking your body and mind to the next level.
You don't want to be wasting riding time trying to get to an unsympathetic GP miles from home, or using untried medication with unpredictable results.
Do you need to consider having an arrangement with a registered doctor who can issue you with 'private' prescriptions following phone or Skype consultations?
Equally it is well known that when Tommy Godwin finished his year he had to relearn how to walk - do you need a similar arrangement with a physiotherapist to try to avoid some of Tommy's issues?
Finally - don't ignore the psychological issues that might possibly arise during this challenge. Both during the year and afterwards (success might be as bad as failure). I would suggest you seriously consider some sort of psychological support before, during and after the event, just for your own peace of mind, and that of your loved ones.
I wish you every success (and if you need a bed and shower in Leicester.........)

I think that a lot of that will come down to pacing myself well, not setting off too hard and listening to my body.
I think I know what heart rate to ride at and have ideas about how to increase my fitness.
I think it's the legs that will take the brunt of it, at least for the first 4-5 months.
Preservation and looking after myself will be very important and I expect it to be hard not to overdo things, especially in the first month, though I expect my legs will soon start complaining if and when I do!
From what I've read, Tommy Godwin spent so much time on his bike and so little time on his feet, that some of his muscles weakened and some of his tendons shortened. Apparently he couldn't put his heels on the floor when he stood up after his record.

Not being medically savvy myself because of being lucky and not needing doctors very much, I'm not sure about being too concerned with illness. I tend to get much fewer illnesses when I'm doing a lot of miles. I'm thinking that I'll either get a recoverable illness, like a cold or stomach bug, or if it's enough to stop me riding it would be pretty urgent anyway. I'm not very wise in that area!
So it's a good point, to approach medical insurance companies for sponsorship.

With after effects, it'd be NHS.
I'm more concerned about the psychological effects during the attempt than anything else to be honest. I think that could be a big maker or breaker.

[teethgrinder]

I was wondering... if re. 'validation'/web progress updates, if a bar-extender mounted, rear & front facing, wide-angle action camera (from a sponsor e.g. garmin), set to produce appropriate time lapse would be good.  As a bonus, at the end of the year, a single timelapse video of the all 365 days could be created, placed on youtube, for which adverts could be placed, to generate some income for expenses/charities!  edit. powering it would be an issue, hub dynamos I guess.

I agree. It's an idea I had but I'm not sure it could work either. I won't use a hub dynamo. A Schmidt will do about 30,000 miles then the bearings go, so I'd need at least 3. Plus they do drag a little bit.
If anyone knows how to make that idea work that would be very good.

[teethgrinder]

What REALLY is needed right now are people to run things.

Someone in charge of routes.
They'd check routes for suitability and put them into GPX tracks, ready to put into a GPS.
What will happen is that arterial routes around the country will become established and it will be a matter of plotting routes to take me off the arterial route and to wherever I may be staying the night, which again will probably get established during the year.
Routes will need to be shorter than a days ride (worse case scenario distance) and I'd add to the ride by doing loops or backtracks during or after the main route of the day.


Someone to organise overnight stops.
They'd plan where I am staying with whoever is in charge of routes. Making best use of the weather, avoiding bad (especially icy) weather. They'd also brief potential hosts about what needs to be done. Feed, shower then bed for me. The host would have to send the days GPS track off to UMCA and media person (or direct to the website?), make sure the next days GPX track is on the GPS, wash clothes, check the bike, fill the bottles, charge batteries and have them fitted, wake me up, cook breakfast and very importantly kick me out!

Someone in charge of logistics.
I'll be traveling around  the country and will need new chains, tyres and other spares. I can't carry it all with me and time spent in bike shops is wasted time. They'd need to plan with whoever is in charge of routes so that I can get hold of equipment. Problems are bound to occur. If I'm staying at home, they'd arrange for there to be food when I got there.
I'd also want to ride some cycling events, including PBP, such as TTs, PBP qualifying Audax and maybe some other events. That would keep things a bit more varied for me and be a way of having witnesses.


Someone to talk to the media
and keep the website, Facebook, Twitter and whatever else updated. I could do on the bike interviews though.
If thing go well, they could end up being very busy. Maybe more than one person will be needed?



I am getting offers of accommodation, money and people to ride with etc, but without the people listed above, I will get overwhelmed saying the same things to lots of people.

I've probably missed a few things too.

If anyone likes the idea of any of those, then please PM me and I'll tell you more about it.

[mattc]

Re: Health
Make sure you are 100% on Jan 1st!
Don't stay up all night this month (or December),
don't do any stupid rides (unless they have a really good training purpose), and
do all the 'other stuff' that serious athletes do to look after themselves.

Granny Matt

[LittleWheelsandBig]

TG, there were discussions at Rich's homecoming about the management assistance you are going to need but keep putting the word out.

[Chris S]

Steve, you really need a Team behind you. This is probably not the place to form that team. The right people might well be here, but a forum post is not the place.

[aidan.f]

yep, you need about a dozen people who have the right skills to get things under way as discussed up-thread plus a core team of 3-4 who can give 100% to the project next year.

[marcusjb]

It might be worth seeing if you can 'borrow' the room at the AGM, for an hour or so before the actual AGM and put the word out that you are looking for people.

Some people may have fallen into place already, but it is a good chance to drum up more support?

[aidan.f]

A fair proportion of those at the  agm will be  concentrating on their own cycling next year. - pbp-n-all  that. The other proportion are pretty busy running  AUK and the rest are doing both... but I suppose  if  you  want  something  doing  ask a  busy  person