[HAMR] Tarzan (Kurt Searvogel)

[Climberruss]

I don't understand why Kurt seems to still have so many technological issues.   Steve has non as far as I can tell.

What is Kurt doing, right or wrong to make this happen?

Steve is on new bikes, They are being rotated and serviced. Kurt is riding old bikes and servicing them as and when needed (When something breaks). Add on to this the fact that Kurt, by riding much faster is putting a lot more stress / strain on the bike and we are seeing the results. I would even question whether Kurt had his bikes serviced before the start. With Kurts M.O. for the year, I would expect plenty more minor mechanicals throughout the year.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I make it 187 miles for the day - he had a vehicle transfer to Arkansas and put in late day 30 miler after his main ride.

186.7, according to the official spreadsheet: 152.6+34.1.

This does not add up up.

His own page says 142.1 plus 34.02. Alicia Snyder called it ".. 170miles plus". His Strava activity has a weird bit in the middle.

I see what you mean.  Strava for Kurt's first 11^th March ride shows a total of 152.6, but with an odd ~10 mile jump from 62 to 72 miles.  The track on Garmin Connect has the same 10 mile teleport, but doesn't include it in the total, so it reads 142.1.

We'll have to wait and see which total the UMCA decide to use.

If it is the higher one, I feel I need to challenge it (although that makes me feel ick).
Kurt has reported a vehicle transfer (which seems to be correctly reported) plus getting on the van to switch a tyre. His own uploads and supporters statements suggest a 10mile lower total for the day.

I strongly suspect that he got on the van to go to a bike shop for spares, switched off one device but forgot to switch off another.

For a guy who runs a software company, he is struggling to manage devices with blinkenlights.

[michaelo]

It's partly user, partly Strava error.  He obviously is pausing his device when hopping onto the van, rather than ending the ride & starting a new one when he starts again.  While Garmin doesn't join up the dots between the pause & restart, Strava does, so adds 10 mile straight line onto the route & into the total.

[mrcharly-YHT]

It's partly user, partly Strava error.  He obviously is pausing his device when hopping onto the van, rather than ending the ride & starting a new one when he starts again.  While Garmin doesn't join up the dots between the pause & restart, Strava does, so adds 10 mile straight line onto the route & into the total.

Thanks for that explanation. That's obviously what has happened here. Zooming in on his strava map, there is a straight line segment that crosses rivers, flies over an island and sandbanks.

Prior to knowing this I put a polite query on his facebook page. Going by that page, I'm not sure that either Kurt or Alicia are aware than an extra 10miles has snuck in.

[aoxomoxoa]

It's partly user, partly Strava error.  He obviously is pausing his device when hopping onto the van, rather than ending the ride & starting a new one when he starts again.  While Garmin doesn't join up the dots between the pause & restart, Strava does, so adds 10 mile straight line onto the route & into the total.

Thanks for that explanation. That's obviously what has happened here. Zooming in on his strava map, there is a straight line segment that crosses rivers, flies over an island and sandbanks.

Prior to knowing this I put a polite query on his facebook page. Going by that page, I'm not sure that either Kurt or Alicia are aware than an extra 10miles has snuck in.

Kurt's not doing himself any favours by failing to get to grips with the technology. I don't get the impression he's in any way trying to claim  unridden miles, but unless he learns to use the GPS kit properly there'll always be questions which unfortunately may overshadow his cycling achievement.

Basically, Kurt and Alicia need to TTFU (tech the f**k up)

[Mr Larrington]

Like maybe have a big sheet of paper stuck to one of the van's windows reading "Turn that noise down Stuff off!" in 72-point bold Comic Sans (the Font of Champions)

[Polar Bear]

I don't understand why Kurt seems to still have so many technological issues.   Steve has non as far as I can tell.

What is Kurt doing, right or wrong to make this happen?

Steve is on new bikes, They are being rotated and serviced. Kurt is riding old bikes and servicing them as and when needed (When something breaks). Add on to this the fact that Kurt, by riding much faster is putting a lot more stress / strain on the bike and we are seeing the results. I would even question whether Kurt had his bikes serviced before the start. With Kurts M.O. for the year, I would expect plenty more minor mechanicals throughout the year.

I was actually thinking about the tracking with Strava etc.   

[andrew_s]

I don't understand why Kurt seems to still have so many technological issues.   Steve has non as far as I can tell.

Steve's modus operandi is much simpler. He's had no vehicle transfers, and starts from where he finished the previous night, so everything logged by his Gamins is riding miles.

[Fidgetbuzz]

Team are aware of the problem and are addressing it both to Kurt/Alicia and direct to UMCA

[Ningishzidda]

Golden rules for large projects.

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid.

P.P.P.P.P.P. Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance.


Steve 1 – 0 Kurt.

[Jack_P]

Kurt's not doing himself any favours by failing to get to grips with the technology. I don't get the impression he's in any way trying to claim  unridden miles, but unless he learns to use the GPS kit properly there'll always be questions which unfortunately may overshadow his cycling achievement.

Basically, Kurt and Alicia need to TTFU (tech the f**k up)

Feel that's a bit unfair, he obviously stopped his garmin then did the transfer. Then started it again when he carried on riding. To him the numbers look right on the unit he's looking at and Garmin connect is clever enough to spot the stop. Strava causes the problems by trying to join the dots for any stop period.
He could get round this by saving the file at every stop, but why should he end up with several files to download each day just to satisfy Strava, which I believe is not a UMCA requirement.

[Polar Bear]

If he can stop the Garmin surely he can stop Strava too?   I only made the Strava error once.

Golden rules for large projects.

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid.

P.P.P.P.P.P. Proper preparation prevents piss poor performance.


Steve 1 – 0 Kurt.

Er, Steve 2 - 0 Kurt.   

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Steve doesn't have vehicle transfers, so it has made the whole issue a lot simpler for him.  In Tarzan's defence, if I think about my mental state at some controls, its not focused on pushing buttons on my cycle computer.   It will be even more difficult if stressed by a mechanical.

[Jack_P]

  have you seen Steve in the morning, far from simple.
Mount, plug in and start 3 separate Garmin devices, and the spot tracker,  Tommy G would be smiling at that I reckon.

[Ningishzidda]

If Kurt is going to take motorised transport half way through a day, he’s got to live with the inconvenience of correctly logging and offering each cycling distance separately to make it as easy as possible for the judges to understand what he’s done.

Is there a rule which forbids two sorties to be conducted with the same date?

If he persists in confusing the judges by offering ‘patched-up’ files, he’ll be disqualified for ‘Unsportsmanlike conduct’.

[Ningishzidda]

have you seen Steve in the morning, far from simple.
Mount, plug in and start 3 separate Garmin devices, and the spot tracker,  Tommy G would be smiling at that I reckon.

Any series of tasks is made simple by having a procedure and practicing it beforehand. Writing a 'check list' and carrying it for reference.

Rehearsals, in effect. Steve would have done a lot last year. 'Crib sheet'. He will have one of these. 

[Wowbagger]

I posted these points a couple of months ago and nothing has happened to make me change my mind. I still think that Kurt's (relatively) last-minute decision to take part in this event left him under-prepared. Indeed, I'll go further. I reckon Kurt's competitive cycling normally relies on a lot of other people: those who organise long-distance races and ensure that the rules are applied and also well-equipped support teams. Alicia is doing a great job driving him about and looking after his food, but it seemed that he had to take time out for visiting bike shops.

To get the kind of support that is required needs either a lot of cash or a lot of goodwill. Steve has a huge amount of the latter, quite simply because loads of people have ridden with him and he has been prepared to give people, effectively, free hands-on courses in long-distance cycling. That also seems to have generated sufficient of the former to get him by, with a bit to spare.

Obviously, my only knowledge of Kurt is from his participation in this event, but he has clearly cultivated an "elite" image. That's not, in my view, going to get people to put themselves out for you. I doubt very much that Kurt's racing schedule allows him the time to ride with the ordinary, and less ordinary, folk who make up Steve's wide-ranging support network.

[Ningishzidda]

^^^^ +1 on that.

[Kim]

Kurt's not doing himself any favours by failing to get to grips with the technology.

Feel that's a bit unfair, he obviously stopped his garmin then did the transfer. Then started it again when he carried on riding. To him the numbers look right on the unit he's looking at and Garmin connect is clever enough to spot the stop. Strava causes the problems by trying to join the dots for any stop period.
He could get round this by saving the file at every stop, but why should he end up with several files to download each day just to satisfy Strava, which I believe is not a UMCA requirement.

I agree this is an irritating flaw in Strava (I often want to record rides with a train journey in the middle, which means either remembering to save the tracks, or mucking about editing the GPX files afterwards).  It's exacerbated by Strava's duplicate-detection thwarting attempts to upload a ride n times, truncating different parts of each upload.

On the other hand, Strava is part of his toolchain (as dictated by the UMCA, AIUI), so familiarisation with how it works is every bit as important for the record as operating the GPS unit or riding the bike.

[Wowbagger]

I see he has transported himself to Little Rock, or close. No cigar, I hope.

[michaelo]

On the other hand, Strava is part of his toolchain (as dictated by the UMCA, AIUI),

I don't think it is - rides just need to be submitted to UMCA - there hasn't been any dictating that it has to be posted on Strava.

[mrcharly-YHT]

If strava is not part of the official toolchain, then why is it that (incorrect) distances from Strava have ended up on the Official Mileage Chart?

Kurt has been very open and public about his routes and Garmin track mileages (they are on FB every day for those that are interested). The issue really isn't his honesty, it's about using the technology.

[citoyen]

If Kurt is going to take motorised transport half way through a day, he’s got to live with the inconvenience of correctly logging and offering each cycling distance separately to make it as easy as possible for the judges to understand what he’s done.

This is my feeling too. I don't even see that it's much of an inconvenience - when you stop, you press the stop button and hit 'Save' to end the track. Then press start when you start riding again to start a new track. And surely it doesn't take any more effort to upload two rides than to upload one?

I can understand why he might want to record a day's riding as a single track, but if you stop in one place and restart in another place 10 miles away, that's two separate rides in my book.

[TGS]

Are we seeing a rest day today? 33 miles by 11AM isn't Kurt's normal pace.

I expect he's had a lot of post to open after over 2 months away from home.

[La Tortue]

under-prepared......  normally relies on a lot of other people:....... he had to take time out for visiting bike shops...........

May I suggest you have severely underestimated the advantage of individualism and self sufficiency.  Tarzan doesn't need the new bikes or someone else to recharge his GPS, nor to tuck him in bed every night.  As helter skelter as it may appear his method has him almost 1000 miles ahead  during the first two months.  Tarzan is doing just fine.