Interesting article on endurance

[Exit Stage Left]

In my search for a context for endurance cycling, I came across an interesting piece on the development of fell-walking records. It overlaps at several points with the post WW1 cycling culture.

This article will examine the origins of mountain endurance events and their antecedents in competitive pedestrianism, endurance cycling and athletics events and mountaineering challenges in the nineteenth century that led up to Wakefield’s 1905 record. It will also seek to address the changing meanings of endurance in the pre-War and post-War  periods. Divided by the Great War, Wakefield’s 1905 Lake District Twenty-four Hour Fell Record and Eustace Thomas’s 1920 and 1922 records enable us to evaluate changing cultural conceptions of values such as endurance, stamina, perseverance and stoicism and their relationship to the construction of masculinity. For roughly a decade after the Great War these endurance events took on a heightened symbolic importance, part of the wider  post-War reconstruction of masculinity. In the immediate Post-War period, defining the limits of human physical and psychological performance offered some kind of hope that what could not be overcome by main force could be endured, that new forms of human physical cultivation were perhaps the only possible response to mechanized wars of attrition.
These mountain trials formed part of a wider phenomenon within the British outdoor movement, where enactive repertoires of strenuous rambling attempted to create a communion of shared endurance between the Home Front and the Western Front, the post-War world and what had gone before.
In the period 1919 to 1932, the Lake District Twenty-four Hour Fell Records became, in both senses of the word, monumental feats of endurance.

https://www.academia.edu/2628217/_Men_who_can_last_Mountaineering_endurance_the_Lake_District_Fell_Records_and_the_campaign_for_Everest_1919-1924

[mattc]

enactive repertoires of strenuous rambling

...would make a catchy title for something.

Either a niche walking club, or a jazz trio?

(my IT says enactive isnt a real word, but I don't care)

[Veloman]

(my IT says enactive isnt a real word, but I don't care)

My COD confirms it is a real word.  Internet clearly not as good as good old fashioned dictionary for some things!

[billplumtree]

My COD confirms it is a real word.

Yeah, my OCD is happy with it an'all

[jamesld8]

friend just sent me this though  http://velonews.competitor.com/cycling-extremes

any thoughts on it ?

mine are that Audax for me is a low intensity non racing so should be OK

[mattc]

My COD confirms it is a real word.

Yeah, my OCD is happy with it an'all

How do you know if it's UNhappy with a word?

Does it bend its pages into a frown?
Or just sulk on your dustiest book-shelf?

(OCD or COD? Freudian slip or dry wit? The plot thickens. Or enthickens ... )

[LittleWheelsandBig]

friend just sent me this though  http://velonews.competitor.com/cycling-extremes

any thoughts on it ?

mine are that Audax for me is a low intensity non racing so should be OK

Absolutely agree. Audax is so much lower intensity than racing, so those possible correlations don't apply to me.

[Cycling Daddy]

Hi
I am not sure there is one clear cut answer.  I am in trouble with my heart rhythm...took me out of PBP this year and am still off my bike.  I had Atrial Fibrillation and Tachycardias (along with PACs and PVCs).  A also have severely enlarged left and right atria.  I have had an ablation and this has established some order where before there was chaos. 

My EP (cardiologist that fiddles with the hearts electrics) was initially pleased to hear I went for day rides on my bike.  When she asked for specifics there was an indrawn breath when she realised by day ride i meant 300km.  However she did then say ...'well at least you will no have heart failure'.  I think it is agreed it will be fine to go back to riding longer distances.  Was exercise the cause of the problems...maybe maybe not.  I never went that fast and much of the current damage may well have been due to silent AF origins of which might have been in my rather excessive drinking in my youth. 

If you take any sport to an extreme (and Audax is an extreme) and have any doubt you would be well advised to seek advice.  ECG and Ultrasound are easy investigations.  I have HR monitor when I ride and I also have an i Phone attachment that gives my ECG (happy to let anyone try it if they see me).  The good news is that enlargement like this will subside if you remove the cause: I think there is strong evidence that says athletes hearts normalise if they detrain. 

DO I let it stop me ...no .  Does it make me a careful-yup.
L

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Audax isn't a sport...

[Veloman]

Audax isn't a sport...

Depending on what definition you use, and the COD has a few, then it could be considered a sport.

[mattc]

Audax isn't a sport...

Your heart isnt intrested in such piffling distinctions.

Even a gentle rolling 100km will put greater strain on your heart than many "sports".

[and no, I do NOT mean ch**s !!! ]

So CDaddy's comment seems to hold water.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

A gently rolling 100km doesn't put any strain on my heart. A 1km time trial, 4km pursuit or 200km road race does. Audax at my normal pace doesn't strain my heart.

[Exit Stage Left]

I had a few chats at the end of the ACH 200 ride yesterday. Hairy Hippy said he's doing PBP because he thought he might as well do the qualifiers to train for the 24, and as he's qualified, it would be a shame not to ride it.

He thought it unlikely that he's beat Gethin Butler's record, as he will have no support.

I've got a memorial goblet for the 100th running of the North Road 24 in 1998, so I've got a strong interest in the history. Audax may not be a sport, but its relationship to cycle sport is analogous to the role that endurance walks in the Lake District played in the development of Himalayan mountaineering.

[Phil W]

Neither of which are sports either

[mattc]

Neither of which are sports either

I dare you to say that to Hemingway.

[Cycling Daddy]

Neither of which are sports either

Unlike Darts which is a sport?  The rather hazy definition of the work is immaterial in this case .

This article is about endurance activity and Audax fits that particular bill.  There are two elements here 1) Quantity and 2) Effort .  Much of the evidence of heart enlargement and AF comes form Peleton and ex Peleton riders or Ironman Trialthetes which is clearly no equivalent to Audax we probably ride longer but clearly much more gently.  Given that my life was on the line I took some care to look at that evidence and thought there was enough to be careful but not enough to stop me.  After discussion with Cardiologists and other physicians I developed an increasing awareness of HR as a component.   It was felt that an average of less than 100 bpm with a limit of 130 bpm was 'safe' on longer distances.  Given my resting rate is less than 50 bpm and my age (65), and history. 
Les

[Exit Stage Left]

Neither of which are sports either

The pinnacle of mountaineering as an activity is probably Alpine style Himalayan climbing, which evolved from the physical demands of fell-running. The pinnacle of UK endurance cycling is 24 hour Time Trialling. Audax UK evolved from 24s, and still provides the best training structure for endurance racing.

I don't personally think that the Audax board is the best place for the Transcontinental, but I can see the logic.

[Ningishzidda]

So what is the article saying?

Emotion contributes as much as physiology?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Neither of which are sports either

I dare you to say that to Hemingway.

Hemingway had 'small man' syndrome and attempted to compensate.

[Exit Stage Left]

I find the article interesting on a number of levels. This is the PBP that takes place within the anniversary of WW1. We ride with all nations, so that's an interesting angle.

Post-War masculinity, endurance and the campaign for Everest
 
Eustace Thomas’ approach to endurance in the mountains certainly seems to confirm Zweiniger-Bargielowska’s observation that ‘physical culture and life reform should not be seen as separate movements and many activists practiced a range of bodily disciplines.Physical culturalists and life reformers were inspired by a critique of the artificiality of modern urban lifestyles and they aimed to restore the body to more natural livingconditions.’
 
112
 
Restoring the body also took on a new resonance in post-War Britain. A physically exhausted nation required rejuvenating. A disenchanted nation required inspiring.
 
 
 
Broken bodies required mending, shattered nerves the chance to heal. Dr.Arthur Wakefield himself, according to a recent medical analysis of his symptoms, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after 1919 and his nerves were the source of frequent comment by colleagues on the 1922 Everest Expedition, suggesting that he suffered from a ‘nervousness that amounted to hysteria’.
 
113
 
In this context, qualities such as stamina, endurance, perseverance, restraint become patriotic duties, key components of post-War national reconstruction. The Great War, in Michael Roper’s analysis, led to the British middle classes reflexively re-assessing the codes of manliness.
 
114
 
Edwardian ideals that had valued ‘stoic endurance, that is the forbearance of pain and the suppression of emotion’ gave way to a realization that ‘even the bravest of men might succumb to fear’. Mechanized war and the experience of fear led to anincreasingly ‘differentiated perception of masculine subjectivity’ explored via the New Psychology of the inter-War period.
 
115
 
Mechanized war also increased the focus on the body as a ‘technologized object’:

[Ningishzidda]

I went on the Evesham 750th Anniversary Battle walk yesterday and heared of the movements and tactics employed in the Battle.
Simon de Montfort didn’t have many tactics. He took his Barons and knights into Evesham Abbey and had a blessing off the Abbot before charging uphill into a three battalion defence led by Edward Longshanks.

There was no mechanised warfare. These were horsemen and footsoldiers with lances and sharp blades. Each man died bleeding to death after having part of his anatomy severed off.

De Montfort’s footsoldiers had a better idea. They turned and headed for the river bridge, where unfortunately Edward had positioned many of Mortimer’s men. The fleeing Welshmen were massacred.

Edward’s army had marched from Worcester over the previous days. A separate force were sent to sack Kenilworth and rendezvoused with Edward at Evesham within 24 hours. The majority of this force were on foot. Furze Hill to Kenilworth ( 30 miles ), fight a battle at Kenilworth Castle in the afternoon to take De Montfort’s son, and then march to Evesham overnight ( 28 miles ) within one day.

Edward’s victory at Evesham was essential for the release of his father Henry III from captivity under De Montfort.

“In this context, qualities such as stamina, endurance, perseverance, restraint become patriotic duties.”

Sounds about right.

[Exit Stage Left]

Absolutely. Battle was the theatre in which 'masculine' attributes were displayed. The mechanisation of war, which was apparent in the Franco-Prussian conflict, developed and then culminated in WW1.
Sport, and feats of endurance, became a substitute for battle in displaying character, as battle became less individual, and artillery levelled the battlefield.

But that's just one strand of the story. Early 24s had winners from the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Association. I'd view the bibliography as a good way into a number of facets.

There's a point at Feins where the PBP field rides around a WW1 memorial, so that's something we could bring into a film. Others might like to explore other avenues.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.328122,-1.64118,3a,75y,28.58h,77.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shGdBSMLV6py5JB4jFGgUpQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[mattc]

Some of those dudes should try the Tough Mudder.

Hardcore.

[Ningishzidda]

Absolutely. Battle was the theatre in which 'masculine' attributes were displayed. The mechanisation of war, which was apparent in the Franco-Prussian conflict, developed and then culminated in WW1.
Sport, and feats of endurance, became a substitute for battle in displaying character, as battle became less individual, and artillery levelled the battlefield.

But that's just one strand of the story. Early 24s had winners from the Vegetarian Cycling and Athletic Association. I'd view the bibliography as a good way into a number of facets.

There's a point at Feins where the PBP field rides around a WW1 memorial, so that's something we could bring into a film. Others might like to explore other avenues.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@48.328122,-1.64118,3a,75y,28.58h,77.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1shGdBSMLV6py5JB4jFGgUpQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Yes. After the Battle of Bosworth in the peacetime of H VII, H VIII and Eliz I, the 'Main event' was the "Tilt" or joust.

Two dozen of the country's toughest, roughest fighters would line up and firstly try to break as many lances as they could riding at each other.
Then they'd take up 'Soft swords' and have a "Last man standing" pitched battle in the Tiltyard.
The losers went out with bruising, not missing limbs, on the command of the judges after what was considered a 'fair kill' 

Strangely, during the interval, the youths of the town would have a competition of who could kick a stuffed pig's bladder into a net at opposing  ends of the tiltyard. 

It wasn't until Eliz I's reign that a bloke called Raleigh, whose brother was a sailor, came along with a two wheeled contraption for demonstrations of endurance.