AUK 1000 CLUB

[3peaker]

Quote from: Nuncio on November 08, 2012, 10:29:49 AM
And since he's not on the forum so still maybe unknown to some, here's some  biographical AUK detail on Dave.  He's an ultra-randonneur, 6 time PBP finisher, 3 time LEL finisher (I think),  four time male AUK champion and ex AAA champion.  He's probably in the top 2 or 3 all-time AUK points accumulators.

One of only 8 riders to have exceeded 1000 points:

1: steven abraham: 2003
2: peter turnbull: 1743
3: david lewis: 1557
4: john barkman: 1158
5: peter mennicke: 1152
6: richard phipps: 1140
7: jack eason: 1046
8: george hanna: 1025

______________________________________________________________________________________
The above is taken from the devastating news of Dave Lewis' illness.  But what Nuncio has opened up is a potential area of knowledge that I feel needs and should receive a wider appreciation. Discussion has started to 'contest' Nuncio's findings; but what it does suggest is that data is available that could be refined and an accurate list of our high achievers can be published (in Handbook?) and recognised. I am not on the lists with a lowly mid-750s total. But that provides me with a challenge to join 'The 1000 Club', surely a very worthy body of men and women. And how correct to hear that Dave Lewis was (probably) the first chap to exceed the 1000.

[frankly frankie]

Unfortunately data is not available, before 1999, except in the case of various individual champions and opp sex champions (and even then their published totals are unreliable).  Where a champion won with say 120 points, there could have been a close runner-up (same sex) with 118 and there would be no record of that at all.
A claim could in theory be substantiated with a very large stack of brevet cards or a very long list of brevet numbers, but I doubt if anyone would be willing to undertake totting them up, other than the claimant him/herself.
As well as Liz Creese, I know of at least one other person who would claim to be on the list - but unverified, and I can think of one or two other people who have been higher-than-average achievers over an awful long time (25+ years), who've probably never even thought about it. 
In Liz's case her 1000+ total can be easily seen from her Championship-winning years alone, in the Handbook as 102, 151, 159, 122, 157, 222, 100.  No-one else can be verified that easily, unless they've done it entirely since 1999.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Apart from Liz, there is Sheila Simpson, of course, and probably Pete Coulson (Giraffe otp). There are a couple of others that spring to mind as possibles.

[London Edinburgh London]

Perhaps then, it ought to be a 21st century 1000 club, for points earned since Jan 1 2000.

[3peaker]

Perhaps then, it ought to be a 21st century 1000 club, for points earned since Jan 1 2000.

I could not accept a list that ‘removes’ my pre-2000 results, although only 76 points. My AUK riding started in 1982 and, while I am riding for 50+ points annually, age (66 now) or illness/injury (my replaced Left Hip has achieved 681 points (68100kms or 70k km inc shorter rides) could weaken my ability to maintain 200km standard. It could be regarded as unfair if joining ‘The 1000 Club’ was denied those of us who accumulated a bulk of rides when more capable and on heavier (steel?) machines.  Obviously, since results were computerised, a 1000 Table should be easy to compile; as a potential (year 2016-17?) member, I can, from my completed Brevet Cards, substantiate any results not on computer.  Naturally, any other long-standing (or even retired) member wishing to claim to be in ‘The 1000 Club’, would need to trawl their Brevet Cards. This should not be an arduous task, as it would be claimant driven and probably only affects a couple dozen riders.
It would not be difficult to advertise the compilation of an ‘AUK 1000 Club’ (or whatever better Title) within Arrivee (I have prepared a draft –just need a volunteer (Recorder?) to validate pre-computer (pre-2000) claims). Agreement to recognise a 1000 list may need to be discussed ‘in Committee’, so I invite comment from ‘above’. 

[SR Steve]

I trawled through my large stack of brevet cards dating back to 1983 a little while ago and recorded the details in an Excel spreadsheet. Now I just update it every time I complete another ride. It's easy to keep tabs on my total, but I still haven't quite passed the 900 mark yet though. Too many lazy years and the odd season lost to injury.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

There is no real reason why the AUK board has to recognise an AUK 1000 award. If you want to 'recognise' it, publish a list and arrange suitable awards. The Grimpeur de Sud is not an official part of AUK.

[3peaker]

There is no real reason why the AUK board has to recognise an AUK 1000 award. If you want to 'recognise' it, publish a list and arrange suitable awards. The Grimpeur de Sud is not an official part of AUK.

Gd, whilst a worthy award can be completed with 5 short AAA rides. I think 1000 should be recognised alongside the 'big achievements' and be compiled within the Handbook. Entry will probably be recognition of a 'lifetime' of AUK events and worthy of recognition alongside SRs, Randonneur 10000 and the like

[Martin]

There is no real reason why the AUK board has to recognise an AUK 1000 award. If you want to 'recognise' it, publish a list and arrange suitable awards. The Grimpeur de Sud is not an official part of AUK.

it is in as much as RRTY is (although RRTY gets into the handbook), it was approved by AUK on the proviso that it was administered independently. I don't there's any problem with taking this approach with any award provided the rides are done under the AUK umbrella. FWIW does the Mileater award allow non-AUK rides?

[Hillbilly]

FWIW does the Mileater award allow non-AUK rides?

Yes.  Of any distance.  My diary is a combination of club runs, touring holidays, commutes and audaxes.  The shortest entry is my direct commute to work (5km there and back).  The longest the Tour de Course (1000km).  HTH.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The Texas randonneur groups administer the K-Hound awards, which are not official RUSA awards. Seeing that the RUSA President has collected several of them, it can be assumed that unofficially, they are approved.

The Cyclos Montagnards in the USA have awards that are nothing to do with RUSA but are achieved by riding RUSA events. http://www.cyclosmontagnards.org/R80Rules.html There is no reason for anybody to avoid doing the same thing with any award they feel appropriate.

That said, I do think there is scope for AUK to boost their award scheme at the top end, possibly with R15000 and R20000 annual awards, along with something similar to a 1000 point award. Feel free to ditch the various championships at the same time...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

FWIW does the Mileater award allow non-AUK rides?

The Mileater award is an offshoot of the 300,000 Mile Club, aimed to be a feeder into qualification. It is an Audax award only because there is a fair number of riders who are both mileaters and Audaxers.

[frankly frankie]

Yes, I think AUK are happy for separately-administered awards to exist, such as the excellent RRTY.  Even AAA is semi-outsourced.

Just to clarify what I wrote above:

Unfortunately data is not available, before 1999, except in the case of various individual champions and opp sex champions (and even then their published totals are unreliable).

Records do exist - that is, finish lists of all AUK events back to 1987 (and for years before that, ACP should have records since all AUK results also went to them).
But not in an easily searchable form, and certainly not as data.

[Giraffe]

Apart from Liz, there is Sheila Simpson, of course, and probably Pete Coulson (Giraffe otp). There are a couple of others that spring to mind as possibles.

Hate to admit it, but I didn't get anywhere near that - only 67 IIRC (CBA to check as it's not relevant, being so far off). Was well on the way and then, in '97, suddenly lost all enthusiasm   
I did have some badges made when Liz the Marmite Queen reached 1000. She was, according to ACP, the first person (on ACP's records I assume) in the world to do so!

I had some badges made up, after some discussion with Rocco, that were suitably brief: 100Mm.

Now, here in Giraffe skyscraper I have a dozen badges of a different design (Bernard had most of them). Golden print on blue ground, about 90*65mm, with:

AUDAX UK
100 000
KILOMETRES

Free to any confirmed, deserving nutcase er, AUK    I have some old SAEs around so, if it's OK with The Powers That Be' I could send them out on request. Note: printed, so only for posing - no chance of lasting another 100Mm!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Sounds like a good idea to send them to the 8 folk listed in the OP (all confirmed from AUK's records) plus Sheila right now. The rest to be sent to anybody who can justify it.

Personally, I'd have thought that something more impressive like the K-Hound award or the RUSA Mondial or Galaxy awards would be appropriate.

[Giraffe]

AUK doesn't seem to do that sort of award - it just has a talent for picking on somebody with a full saddlebag and awarding a lobody gert cup to be lugged home!
A bit of history:
at the time when a member of the committee was proposing free SR medals (note the cost of a medal in those days and only 4 events'-worth of income), I couldn't get permission to give away the badges! The income from 1000-points-worth of events is a tad more than that from the SR and the badge was a lot cheaper. Eventually this was put right, as it was for Brevet 25,000.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Make an executive decision and send them out without asking permission. I suspect that the cost of the patches was written off by whoever paid for them a while ago. If it is that big a drama, I'll buy you beer to the value of the patches.

[sub55]

You audaxers really do baffle me sometimes!
Freely admit i come from a racing background , road racers go looking for points so they can move up a category and say look how good i am.
TT ers chase fast times so they can write it on their LTS to get a 0 or a 5 so they can say look how quick i am.
Now i was drawn into audax because none of that existed , people just wanted to go for a nice ride , in pleasant surroundings with like minded people and a friendly chat over a bowl of soup at a control point.  Now the more i read , the more i realise there are people who are logging each and every ride they do , keeping all their brevit cards so they can say , look how clever i am.  To me , its not what audax is about.  Personally , have no idea how many points ive accumulated over the years and dont really care.
This thread was sparked by something that was written on the Dave Lewis thread , now i think i know david well enough to know he wont care much either , just memories and the friends hes made over the years doing something he loved to do. 

[BlackSheep]

This thread was sparked by something that was written on the Dave Lewis thread , now i think i know david well enough to know he wont care much either , just memories and the friends hes made over the years doing something he loved to do.

I tend to agree with you Paul

[teethgrinder]

You audaxers really do baffle me sometimes!
Freely admit i come from a racing background , road racers go looking for points so they can move up a category and say look how good i am.
TT ers chase fast times so they can write it on their LTS to get a 0 or a 5 so they can say look how quick i am.
Now i was drawn into audax because none of that existed , people just wanted to go for a nice ride , in pleasant surroundings with like minded people and a friendly chat over a bowl of soup at a control point.  Now the more i read , the more i realise there are people who are logging each and every ride they do , keeping all their brevit cards so they can say , look how clever i am.  To me , its not what audax is about.  Personally , have no idea how many points ive accumulated over the years and dont really care.
This thread was sparked by something that was written on the Dave Lewis thread , now i think i know david well enough to know he wont care much either , just memories and the friends hes made over the years doing something he loved to do.

I could say the same about TTing and road racing. People ride Audax for al kinds of reasons. TTing for me is just a training ride for the proper TT (Mersey 24) or a bit of fun.
I know that Dave Lewis used to check up on how many points riders had when he was after championships. He told me himself that he did that when I threatened to become opp sex champ in 1994 as a junior.

Agree with LWAB that after 100 points and ultra SR, there isn't much to aim for, if that's why you Audax.

[frankly frankie]

Now the more i read , the more i realise there are people who are logging each and every ride they do , keeping all their brevit cards

yes, a lot of audaxers are a bit OCD like that ...

so they can say , look how clever i am.

... but that bit doesn't follow - people who hoard mostly do it for themselves, not for display.  And they don't care what anybody else is up to either!

[Manotea]

What 'baffles me is the lack of recognition that Audax is a really broad church that ranges from 50km pootlers to monsters who zip round a hilly 1000km, travel home to a nights sleep and are back at work the next day whilst others are still on the road. Some just want to pootle, others nurse long term goals. The real question is, why does what motivates others have any relevance to you? That's a rhetorical "you" by the way. I don't believe AUKS spend their nights counting up their Brevets (my preciousss) declaring "how clever " they are - pauses to glance at folder with all my calendar brevets and routesheets filed away - though yes, folk in the chase like to chat about personal goals, but whats wrong with that? Some years I chase goals, sometimes not, and when I 'm not it's rather bemusing chatting to those that are, in a "thank god I"m out of it" sort of way, but I certainly don't decry their fun.

It's a funny thing though; some of the supposedly most avowedly "non/anti-competitive" posters here are also amongst the most dedicated loggers of every trip to the shops they make in pursuit of personal monthly/annual distance goals. Now THAT I find a bit weird, but hey if it floats their boat, good for them.

Another funny thing is that once achieved personal goals tend to become rather irrelevant; life moves on. However it behooves 'senior auks' (does he mean us?)  to "think of the children" who are still young and keen.

[mikewigley]

Hey, here is a target I could aim at!  I'm on 560 AUK points, and at age 56, time is surely on my side.  It will take me another 8 years at my present rate, mind.  I also want to ride around the world in BRs and BRMs again (40,000km = 400 points) so that will tick both boxes.

On a similar theme, I wasn't particularly going for an Ultra Randonneur, but with 4 SRs on my palmares now, that's a definite target for 6 years time.

Not that these targets are to impress anyone else (I'm only sharing this with YACF because I know some of you will understand) it's just an incentive to get me out on the bike when staying in bed might seem the better alternative.  I've got the badges in a drawer somewhere.

[Fidgetbuzz]

Hmm - that made me go to the AUK results pages - 513 to date mainly in last 6 years - 39 only in 4 years before that - so roughly 80 a year  - still needs another 6 years riding  --  keeping that motivated for that long -- with time running out ..

no ... not possible ..

Pity - as at first glance it sounded a decent challenge

[Rainmaker]

Posted by: MemSec  Yesterday at 08:52:37 PM

On a similar theme, I wasn't particularly going for an Ultra Randonneur, but with 4 SRs on my palmares now, that's a definite target for 6 years time.

Mike, surely the committee(?) should take your audax career as a perfect example of how to encourage riders to progress to longer events.    The days are not that long gone when you couldn't envisage (or so you said)  riding an event above 200 kms.

Sorry if you think this comment is off thread.