[HAMR] New challenger - Bruce Berkeley AKA Cycle_dr 1

[TimC]

Hmm, not according to the UMCA themselves, but then it may have changed since this was published.

https://ultracycling.com/sections/awards/ucd/hoppo/

Even with his full schedule, Hoppo made time to serve ultracycling for many years. He served on the UMCA Board of Directors for seven and a half years, then continued service to UMCA as the Northern European Liaison and continues to perform that service to the present day. Congratulations to Chris Hopkinson, the newest recipient of the Ultra Cyclist of Distinction!

That page says "Updated March 2015" so he may have been on the board whilst HAMR was being set up (which must have happened prior to Jan 1st 2015) but left the board at a point after that.

Elsewhere the website lists him as a non-voting director: https://ultracycling.com/sections/contact/ so nothing is really clear. Does becoming a non-voting directory mean "leaving the board"?. No idea if that page is up to date as neither Craig nor Shusanah are listed as board members. (I recognise one other UK Audaxer's name on that contact page, interesting, didn't know that.)

Regardless, the UMCA themselves are quite aware of his positions (especially if they were involved in his appointment as Steve's Crew Chief) and don't seem to have a problem with it. If you're really concerned you could drop the Records Chairman or the Executive Director an email and see what they think.

Interesting stuff. 'Concerned' would be way overstating it; I'm pretty sure I haven't fully understood Hoppo's role in either the UMCA or as Steve's Crew Chief, and how the two overlap (if indeed they do). It was just my first impression that I thought he'd been appointed by the UMCA to observe Steve's attempt and - separately - had been made a part of Steve's team. Pretty obviously, the two roles could conflict - but I guessed it was my inadequate understanding, and not some funny stuff going on!

[Jacamo]

A full report on the Disqualification of Bruce Berkeley from the UMCA HAMR attempt started on January 1, 2016

We have been asked by many for the full reasoning behind our disqualification of Bruce Berkely's record attempt. Our records chair has prepared the following complete accounting. Please note that by using the Spot Tracker and GPS with Heart Rate Monitor we have been able to identify errors in reporting and get them corrected. The accounting of mileage for such an endeavor is no small task. It is our records chair's job to make sure he gets what he needs. What follows is the full report, including emails between Bruce and Drew and other members of the UMCA Board of Directors. Email addresses are redacted:

1. Dec 30: Bruce Berkeley was notified that he needed to get Spot tracker; reasons in the following email. Bruce had previously selected a live tracker that was inadequate. Anyone who wanted to track him had to first submit a request and wait for it to be approved before tracking was enabled. Given that Bruce (or any HAM’R rider) might not be able to approve such a request for several days make this entirely unacceptable. Rules do give this authority to the Records Chairman.
From the Rules for Record Attempts:
Riders will be required to have an active live tracking device in operation for all mileage to be credited for the attempt. In addition, riders will have a trip recording device (such as a Garmin) that will record the route taken, speed, elevation/gradient and at least one of heart rate or power. Riders will be responsible for carrying backup batteries to power whatever device/app we decide upon. The devices used will be subject to the approval of the Records Chairman.

Dear Bruce,

You definitely need to get the Spot tracker for the following reasons.
1. Spot will allow open access. Any neutral observer can go to the Spot website and track your rides, as opposed to the Find My Friends app which requires a friend request to be approved. Spot will serve the fan base of ultracycling as well as serve you better; once your attempt begins, you do not need to spend any time approving friend requests for the live tracker, nor should the ultracycling fan base need to wait for approval. Even as simple as the process may be, we do not want to deter observers in the least.

2. Spot leaves a trail. I do not know if Find My Friends does or not; I think not. What I mean is this: I can go to Spot for days AFTER one of your rides and see where you were at any selected time. On occasion during the past year, I was able to use this feature to reconstruct a ride for which Strava/Garmin had a glitch.

3. Use of Find My Friends virtually guarantees your will lose miles when Strava has a glitch (because it is a near certainty that Strava will have one or more glitches during your year of riding).

As soon as you sign up for Spot, please see me a link to one of your rides. Thanks.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

2. Jan 2: Bruce is notified that he has not become member of UMCA, as is required by the rules. At this point, I was willing to treat this as a misunderstanding (no penalty or warning) but only if prompt corrective action were taken.
On 2 Jan 2016, at 13:58, Drew Clark wrote:

Dear Bruce,

It has been brought to my attention that you have not yet enrolled as a member of UMCA. You must do so immediately.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

3. Jan 2: Bruce promises prompt action.
On Jan 2, 2016, at 2:43 AM, Bruce Berkeley wrote:

Drew

Was this not included? This is the first I have know about this! I'm 2 days in and pretty tired tonight, so probably won't get it sorted this evening.

I will sort as soon as I get a chance.

Been getting some serious interest on Strava, nearly 1000 likes on yesterday's ride! Massive

Bruce

4. Jan 2: Drew Clark affirms membership requirement.
January 2, 2016
Dear Bruce,

The rules clearly require UMCA membership for a record attempt.
An application for a record attempt is entirely separate from membership.
You do need to do this immediately. It takes about 5 minutes.
If not, adherents to Steven Abraham and Kurt Searvogel may well challenge your mileage.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

5. Jan 4: Drew Clark again affirms membership requirement.
January 4, 2015
Dear Bruce,

I have not heard back from you yet regarding membership in UMCA.

I understand that you thought membership was part of the application fee; it is not.
I am willing to allow for the misunderstanding, but only up to the point where you were notified of the problem.

I wrote on January 2:
The rules clearly require UMCA membership for a record attempt.
An application for a record attempt is entirely separate from membership.
You do need to do this immediately. It takes about 5 minutes.
If not, adherents to Steven Abraham and Kurt Searvogel may well challenge your mileage.

Paul Carpenter (who is copied on this email) handles membership and can help you with any issue on that front and he will notify me as soon as you join.

UMCA will not post any official data for your attempt until this is accomplished.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

6. Jan 4: Paul Carpenter, President of UMCA, offers to help Bruce complete his membership process. This email was also sent to Bruce.
January 4, 2016

Please let me know if I can help Bruce. Basic membership is $35 and can be paid through the on line store.

http://ultracycling.com/store/index.php…

Paul.

7. Jan 5: Paul Carpenter, President of UMCA, again offers to help Bruce complete his membership process. This email was also sent to Bruce.
January 5, 2016
Paul Carpenter again offered help to Bruce
Hi Bruce,

If you use the link I included in the email you can use PayPal to pay when you checkout of the store.

Paul.

8. Jan 5: Bruce replied, promising to complete the membership process “in the morning."
On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 1:06 AM, Bruce Berkeley wrote:
Hi Drew/Paul

I will sort the payment for the membership in the morning. Can I pay it with PayPal? Just a quick one though Drew, this was an error at your end not informing me that I had to pay the membership fee as well, so I was under the impression it was all sorted! So apologies for this, but would appreciate if you could work with me here! I have started the attempt and I do not have a lot of time at the end of the day.

Thanks and I'll send the payment in the morning

Bruce

9. Jan 5: Drew Clark replied on the same day. Please note that Bruce was strongly urged (again) to enlist crew to help prevent exactly the kind of situation that ultimately resulted. Bruce declined to utilize ANY crew.(Note: Because HAM’R riders are not required to use a follow vehicle, no crew was required in the past. This will be rectified by a new HAM’R rule that will require a HAM’R rider to have at least one crew designated to handle communication in the future.)
January 5, 2016
Dear Bruce,

Great! I look forward to getting you fully into HAM’R.

Please be aware that you still also need to sign up for Spot tracker, per my previous email, pasted here for reference:
You definitely need to get the Spot tracker for the following reasons.
1. Spot will allow open access. Any neutral observer can go to the Spot website and track your rides, as opposed to the Find My Friends app which requires a friend request to be approved. Spot will serve the fan base of ultracycling better as well as serve you better; once your attempt begins, you do not need to spend any time approving friend requests for the live tracker, nor should the ultracycling fan base need to wait for approval. Even as simple as the process may be, we do not want to deter observers in the least.

2. Spot leaves trail. I do not know if Find My Friends does or not; I think not. What I mean is this: I can go to Spot for days AFTER one of your rides and see where you were at any selected time. On occasion during the past year, I was able to use this feature to reconstruct a ride for which Strava/Garmin had a glitch.

3. Use of Find My Friends virtually guarantees your will lose miles when Strava has a glitch (because it is a near certainty that Strava will have one or more glitches during your year of riding).

As soon as you sign up for Spot, please send me a link to one of your rides. Thanks.

You wrote: "but would appreciate if you could work with me here!"
I will be delighted to work with you. Per the rules, the Records Chairman (me) is your official-of-record for your HAM’R attempt. I will spend many hours this year compiling documentation for your attempt. I will even spend more out-of-pocket to create and preserve this documentation than your membership will cost. I am not paid for my work for UMCA; this is purely voluntary. As your official, I am rooting for you to succeed. But a big part of the role of the official is to build a "defensible wall” around your attempt so that your efforts can survive a challenge. I have already received queries about your live tracker (or absence thereof).

If anyone files an actual complaint or challenge, your attempt may be subject to penalties as prescribed in the rules, which could range from warning to a loss or miles.

So, please complete the membership application ASAP and also the Spot tracker.

I will again urge you to enlist crew persons to assist you. I know you prefer to go it alone, but this approach will likely cost you time and maybe miles. Crew persons can perform many time-saving tasks for you such as: answering communications, fetching bicycle parts in case of unexpected breakdowns, and many other tasks. I know Steven Abraham and Kurt Searvogel did effectively use support crew for many such things. Enlisting crew will not be required of you, but it it s certainly recommended.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

10. Jan 9: Drew Clark notified Paul Carpenter and Doug Hoffman of noncompliance by Bruce, though both were previously aware of the situation.
January 9, 2016
Dear Paul and Doug,

We have a problem with Bruce Berkely. After promising on Jan 5 to make membership payment on Jan 6, I have received no confirmation of his having done so.
Have either of you seen anything from him?

Nor is he complaint with his live tracker.

But he is riding and has thousands of followers.

I have to issue a warning, a penalty, or a DQ. I have some latitude, but in my opinion, he has gone past a mere warning already.
I am thinking along these lines: a) A penalty of loss of miles, or b) no miles count until he is compliant (essentially a restart on new date), or c) DQ

Any thoughts before I do so?

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

11. Jan 10: Official warning issued to Bruce.
January 10, 2016
Dear Bruce,

The purpose is twofold:
1. We do encourage you to continue your effort and want to work with you.

2. This is an official warning that you’re out of compliance with UMCA rules for a HAM’R attempt, specifically a) No UMCA membership and b ) No Spot tracker
This is serious enough that if you need to take time off from riding, you should do so.

If you need help to attain either of these, please let us know immediately. Paul can help with membership. I can re-send info for the Spot tracker.

More severe consequences will follow very rapidly. These include loss of miles or a restart or DQ.

Notes: You were first notified on Jan 2 about the membership issue. Your response was: "I will sort as soon as I get a chance.”
You were reminded again on January 5. You promised: "Thanks and I'll send the payment in the morning.”

It is now January 10, and no action has been taken.
Please respond immediately with action.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

12. Jan 16: After six more days of no action by Bruce and no communication from Bruce, he is disqualified.
January 16, 2016
Dear Bruce,

This is official notice that your HAM’R attempt is officially over.
You are not in compliance with UMCA rules for your HAM’R attempt.
Despite repeated chances and repeated warnings, you were not in compliance when you started and never accepted our offer to become compliant.

Best wishes if you continue riding, but none of your mileage will be certified by UMCA.

UMCA Records Chairman
Drew Clark

13. Jan 17: Bruce finally replies, with two emails in succession
January 17, 2016
Hi Drew

Thanks for the email, pretty shocked with the content. To give me an official warning seems pretty over the top. Surely that should relate to some form of bending the rules, this is not something I have done.

1. I am sorry I have been riding every day as you can no doubt see, and forgot to make the payment.
2. I looked into the spot tracking and simply do not have the funds to spend more money on this option. I sent you a option that does provide live tracking and it would do the job required. It does not say on your website that I have to use a specific brand of live tracking, simply that I must have live tracking. I think I have not breached any rules here either.

As a result of the email and the issues we are having I have left the group and I no longer want you to officiate on my record attempt, as a result of this can you please refund my payment, less an Admin fee, as I will now use Guinness to verify my attempt.

I can do without the extra agro that I am getting at the end of very long and hard days in the saddle. I would have thought you guys would understand this better than anyone as you officiate on these distance records. I expected to work with you guys, not be treated like I am doing something wrong.

Please advise me when the refund has been processed.

Bruce

Drew

I hope you got my last email! This is not on!! You have tarnished my reputation and not done anything to help me out here! I now hear I have been disqualified!? I do not want your organisation involved in my record attempt! You are overly officious and did nothing to understand or help me out!

I expect a full refund and have raised a claim with PayPal regards the fee!

I am annoyed that I ever got you involved with this challenge!

Please advise about the refund

Bruce

14. Jan 17: Bruce files a “buyer complaint” with Paypal. It is interesting that he did not have time to pay for his membership, but did have time to file a buyer complaint.
January 17, 2016
From Mark Newsome:
FYI -- Seems that Bruce (David?) Berkeley is seeking a refund of his record attempt fees. (The site receives notifications of PayPal activity.) Looks like he's filed a "buyer complaint" (see text below).

Whomever manages our PayPal account should see the message from PayPal...

--Mark

15. Jan 17: Decision regarding a refund to Bruce
From the Rules of Record Attempts:
"Fees are non-refundable, non-transferable, and cannot be applied toward other future record attempts. In other words, once you submit your fee, you are indicating your intention to make the attempt."

As Records Chairman, my job is to uphold the rules. The Rules state that the application fee is not refundable, so I cannot authorize that. But the Board does have authority to freely male whatever decision they wish regarding a refund.

Drew Clark, UMCA Records

16. Jan19, 2016: UMCA Board approves a full refund (no admin fee taken) to Bruce Berkeley even though the rules clearly state that the application fee is non-refundable, as a gesture of good will towards Bruce. The UMCA Board wishes Bruce Berkeley well in his attempt, but UMCA will not certify the attempt and will not verify mileage for the attempt.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Thanks for the full disclosure. It seems quite clear which party has been trying to resolve rule compliance discrepancies and which has not.

Unfortunately this won't stop some folk from taking a contrary view but it won't be backed by logic or common sense.

[red marley]

Oh dear. Bruce has hardly covered himself in glory there. Drew and UMCA have been remarkably patient and accommodating.

I assume it is just bravado when Bruce claims he will get Guinness to officiate because if so, he'd have to restart and change his tactics (no peloton riding and possibly no trip to the UK).

[Wobbly]

The only thing I could think in Bruce's defence would be tiredness and irritability on his part after a long day in the saddle. Apart from that he's been a bit of a plonker sadly. It certainly shows a potential HAMR challenger needs at least *some* support at hand during the attempt.

Glad UMCA did the noble thing and refunded his fee in full, that's classy.

[TimC]

So, it would seem our interpretation was correct. I note he intends to get Guinness to ratify his efforts; apart from the fact that they've refused to do so in the past because the Year record is 'too dangerous', there's no evidence that his past claimed 'Guinness records' were ever ratified.

This effort is now a complete waste of his time.

[Aunt Maud]

Not really, he can still ride further than anyone else.

So what if he doesn't tick the imaginary record box, it's all made up after all.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Ken Webb claimed to have ridden further than anybody else and proved to his own satisfaction that he did so. Independent evidence suggested he didn't.

[Aunt Maud]

I guess we'll see what's what at the end of the day.

If he puts it on Strava, there's enough anoraks out there to verify it for him, or not.

[TimC]

The problem is it'll never have official ratification, so will never appear in any record books. Like his claimed 'Guinness' records - there is no record for a week's riding, and the month record is held by Janet Davison, not Bruce Berkeley, despite his claim to have ridden 3500km more than her (but still less than Kurt or Steve). The best he'll get is a footnote. What's the point?

[PAC]

Having read the UCMA version, in my opinion Bruce has been disrespectful and allowed himself to be a complete idiot.  That is all

[marcusjb]

I am pleased that UMCA have released that information (is there a link to that? Edit - I see it on their facebook page). It strikes me that they possibly did not release it earlier out of respect for Bruce. Now they have, he does appear to be the twuntish one.

Such a shame to see an attempt go to waste over such minor issues as paying a $35 membership fee and buying a £200-250 (including the annual fee) tracker.

No matter what he does now, he will only ever be a footnote in the second edition of Citizenfish's book.

It is very sad.  The guy clearly has the contacts to get hold of £5k+ bikes from canyon etc., but can't/won't pay out modest sums to become compliant with the requirements.

What a mess.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Oh dear. Bruce has hardly covered himself in glory there. Drew and UMCA have been remarkably patient and accommodating.

Exactly my thoughts.

They gave him days to sort things out, offered help. I think their reasons why his live tracking system was not acceptable are entirely understandable. A real shame he didn't appeal for funds to get a SPOT tracker; I would have dibbed in a few quid for him.

[Frank9755]

UMCA has played it pretty straight.  It's good that they have given the full explanation, and sensible of them to give him the full refund.

Bruce came across as disorganised, inconsistent and slightly aggressive.

But, this is not some kind of Pop Idol-type challenge, for airbrushed, perfect people! 

As I'm sure Steve would admit, you've got to be a little bit unusual to take something like this on.  The year round record (deliberately not HAMR) is not an agreeable personality contest, a test of obedience to rules, or of general amiability.  It's only about riding the miles.  If Bruce can do that to the satisfaction of enough people watching him on Strava or elsewhere, and hold it all together on his own for a year, I am certain he will be far more than a footnote. 

[Ivo]

I already clicked the 'unfollow' button on Strava yesterday. The UMCA info I can see here now confirms that my gut feeling was right. No reason to give him kudos on Strava anymore. It looks like that's the only way of communication Bruce understands.

[jochta]

No sympathy with Bruce at all. All of this should have been sorted before he started. This is why the rules say the tracking device needs to have been tested two weeks before the attempt starts. His "record" counts for nought if he achieves it.

[Si S]

The UMCA have come out of this really well, restored some faith after what seemed to be some bizarre stuff early last year.

[Greenbank]

The UMCA could certainly do with clarifying their requirements about live tracking. Something along the lines of "Must be visible to the public without individual access approvals, and must maintain a log of positions recorded." That would at least stop someone in the future making the mistake.

Either that or make the fee higher to include the rental of a SPOT tracker and year long tracking subscription with a deposit refunded upon return (with the appropriate discount for riders that provide their own).

No-one predicted the membership issue though, that's an interesting one.

[TimC]

Reading the post upthread detailing the UMCA's responses to Bruce, it would seem they made it abundantly clear that he needed a Spot tracker. And, as was pointed out yesterday, their rules require that this stuff is sorted at least two weeks before the attempt begins. Why didn't Bruce do that? He paid the money, so why not jump through the hoops? It all seems so futile.

[danridesbikes]

meanwhile, Bruce just posted 343.1km

[Frank9755]

Reading the post upthread detailing the UMCA's responses to Bruce, it would seem they made it abundantly clear that he needed a Spot tracker. And, as was pointed out yesterday, their rules require that this stuff is sorted at least two weeks before the attempt begins. Why didn't Bruce do that? He paid the money, so why not jump through the hoops? It all seems so futile.

Because he is good at cycling. And maybe not a lot else, like admin, building a team, communications, etc.

[TimC]

Reading the post upthread detailing the UMCA's responses to Bruce, it would seem they made it abundantly clear that he needed a Spot tracker. And, as was pointed out yesterday, their rules require that this stuff is sorted at least two weeks before the attempt begins. Why didn't Bruce do that? He paid the money, so why not jump through the hoops? It all seems so futile.

Because he is good at cycling. And maybe not a lot else, like admin, building a team, communications, etc.

Yes, you're probably right - but he runs his own mobile bike mechanic business, so you would have thought he has some basic grasp of admin paperwork. Anyway, it seems such a shame. I assume his Week and Month Guinness claims lapsed for the same reason; the paperwork was never done.

[Aunt Maud]

This UMCA HAMR thing is flawed anyway, as it's skewed towards attempts like Kurts' with mild weather and a follow car. You can't compare Steves' ride to Kurts' because they're not done under the same conditions, despite having the same tracker and following the same rule book.

If Bruce wants to ride further than anyone else, that's his choice how he does it, surely.

[TimC]

Indeed. And he chose to ride under the UMCA rules, then threw his teddies out of the cot because they'd rather he completed the preliminaries before he started riding - and then gave him two weeks after he started to get it sorted out. Pathetic, really.

[rafletcher]

This UMCA HAMR thing is flawed anyway, as it's skewed towards attempts like Kurts' with mild weather and a follow car.

How so? Certainly mild weather, flat terrain and a support vehicle are a great help, but that's obvious to anyone.  And TG decided to go with them, rather than run independently for a British record.

And "Bruce" can do what he likes of course, if he wants to do it for his own satisfaction, and his sponsors don't mind/care, then let him. Proving he's done it will be another matter. The original Tommy Godwin record is that only because it was verified independently I assume.