The fact that he carried on when many kept telling him to stop was exactly the right thing to do
(Apologies- feel free to move to the More Current Thoughts thread if necessary to keep this thread free for justifiably slapping Steve on the back and congratulating him on an amazing 55 weeks.)
Many would disagree with you on this front, Michael. If (heaven forbid) carrying on this last few weeks were to turn out to have had a detrimental effect on Steve's long-term health, would you still maintain this viewpoint?
Naturally I don't with any ill on Steve but he knew that he had to push himself to, and possibly beyond his limits on a regular basis to complete the challenge. Steve will have learned an awful lot and it would have been his choice to continue. Sometimes you learn a negative too but you need to learn that lesson. THe fact that Steve continued after the moped incident shows that Steve is tenacious and highly motivated and will push until he can push no more.
So, on balance I'd have to say yes, I would still consider that he did the right thing even if he ended up not getting the right result this time. Next time, which I sincerely hope there is to be, Steve will be even better, even stronger and even wiser.
Answered here because I think it's more appropriate than the 'Steve ends ride' thread.
I have to say that I agree. There was a time at the back end of last year when the dietary issues appeared to have put Steve's health at risk and significantly reduced his mileage capacity that I, and many others, thought 'it's time to stop' and we said so. However, it would appear that the health issues, while somewhat debilitating, were nowhere near as serious as we feared and so it was right to continue. But, despite recovering from that, it was becoming obvious that Steve could not claw back the deficit and the daily mileages required by the revised schedule were just not going to be possible.
Steve has a record, though not the one he was seeking, which puts him right up there with the greats of distance cycling. If he can retrieve the speed he once had, and which ironically was lost due to time off the bike during the preparation for 1 Jan 2015, I'm quite sure he could give it another go. I'd fund him.