[HAMR] More thoughts on the current record attempt(s)

[LMT]

Seems the year record challenge has gone to hell in a handbasket.  Steve's gutsy attempt is now rewarded with parts of his fan base trashing his methods, crew, and overall chances.  Facts are he is still in the game and positioned to make one heck of a comeback.  Meanwhile, the Kiwi figures he  can just tell us how many miles he rode 365 days from January 1 and that is good enough.   Turmoil and bickering has dwarfed the Challenge itself.  Gone is the time one can track a riders progress  or perhaps catch a video update on the daily rigors of the ride.   Apparently, Kurt has set the bar for more than just the number of miles to ride.

Hyperbole after hyperbole don't help anyone.

[mattc]

Hoppo may be a great rider, but that's really irrelevant in the context of being, if this is indeed what he is, Steve's 'team manager'. There's no requirement for a band's manager to be able to sing or play, or a bank's manager to be able to count (ooh, ouch!), or an airline's manager to be able to fly. I'm not sure what responsibilities he has taken on on Steve's behalf, but it sure doesn't include riding a bike! So discussions of his cycling ability are a total red herring.

Agreed.
Except that it was probably Steve's high opinion of his cycling palmares that got him the job.

[Peter]

Slightly OT but only slightly:  these days there's no requirement for a band's members to be able to sing or play, either.  Steve clearly does not fall into that category!

[Chris S]

Seems the year record challenge has gone to hell in a handbasket.  Steve's gutsy attempt is now rewarded with parts of his fan base trashing his methods, crew, and overall chances.  Facts are he is still in the game and positioned to make one heck of a comeback.  Meanwhile, the Kiwi figures he  can just tell us how many miles he rode 365 days from January 1 and that is good enough.   Turmoil and bickering has dwarfed the Challenge itself. Gone is the time one can track a riders progress  or perhaps catch a video update on the daily rigors of the ride.   Apparently, Kurt has set the bar for more than just the number of miles to ride.

Not at all. Have you not seen Kajsa's video clips on Facebook? She's got a live feed too  .

[rafletcher]

And she stops to take photos during her rides. Accessible and engaging.  But then she's not defined by her cycling, and I doubt she'll ever do an audax.  I do like the link to streetview too.

https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/ayearinthesaddle/

http://www.ayearinthesaddle.com/#!social-media/c1kkv

[TimC]

Hoppo may be a great rider, but that's really irrelevant in the context of being, if this is indeed what he is, Steve's 'team manager'. There's no requirement for a band's manager to be able to sing or play, or a bank's manager to be able to count (ooh, ouch!), or an airline's manager to be able to fly. I'm not sure what responsibilities he has taken on on Steve's behalf, but it sure doesn't include riding a bike! So discussions of his cycling ability are a total red herring.

Agreed.
Except that it was probably Steve's high opinion of his cycling palmares that got him the job.

Were they associated before last year? I'm pretty sure the only time Hoppo rides is actually in competition; he proudly states that all his training is on the turbo (a position with which I can sympathise in this weather!), and I'm not aware of him ever having anything to do with Audax. I know it's a tangent, but how did he come to be associated with Steve's HAM'R attempt?

[La Tortue]

Not at all. Have you not seen Kajsa's video clips on Facebook? She's got a live feed too  .

Up to this point I haven't been interested in the women's record but with the current circus atmosphere surrounding the  men's challenge maybe it's time to check  it out.  Some fresh air will be  nice.  Thanks for the links.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Were they associated before last year? I'm pretty sure the only time Hoppo rides is actually in competition; he proudly states that all his training is on the turbo (a position with which I can sympathise in this weather!), and I'm not aware of him ever having anything to do with Audax. I know it's a tangent, but how did he come to be associated with Steve's HAM'R attempt?

Hoppo has been around Audax for quite a while, mostly as training for past RAAMs. For a period, he liked getting the most distance for the York Dart.

[Ian H]

Hoppo may be a great rider, but that's really irrelevant in the context of being, if this is indeed what he is, Steve's 'team manager'. There's no requirement for a band's manager to be able to sing or play, or a bank's manager to be able to count (ooh, ouch!), or an airline's manager to be able to fly. I'm not sure what responsibilities he has taken on on Steve's behalf, but it sure doesn't include riding a bike! So discussions of his cycling ability are a total red herring.

Agreed.
Except that it was probably Steve's high opinion of his cycling palmares that got him the job.

Were they associated before last year? I'm pretty sure the only time Hoppo rides is actually in competition; he proudly states that all his training is on the turbo (a position with which I can sympathise in this weather!), and I'm not aware of him ever having anything to do with Audax. I know it's a tangent, but how did he come to be associated with Steve's HAM'R attempt?

Hoppo on a bike.

[Frank9755]

Were they associated before last year? I'm pretty sure the only time Hoppo rides is actually in competition; he proudly states that all his training is on the turbo (a position with which I can sympathise in this weather!), and I'm not aware of him ever having anything to do with Audax. I know it's a tangent, but how did he come to be associated with Steve's HAM'R attempt?

ISTR from last year that he was appointed by UMCA so that he could be their man on the ground, at quite a late stage in the process, possibly after Steve had started riding.

[Exit Stage Left]

Hoppo's relative standing isn't important. It takes at least £20,000 to enter RAAM, by the time that you've complied with all the UMCA stuff, and Chris has shown that he can raise that sort of money a number of times. In fact the lower the placings he achieves, the better his fundraising  skills look by contrast. Last time he was down to selling off some of his musical instruments.

The growth of the looser 'Transcontinental' formats is undermining the appeal of RAAM. There's no particular reason that the Year Record can't be done like that.

I stopped off at Hewitts in Leyland on the way back from the shops, and had a short word with Gethin Butler. He wasn't impressed that the rules allow drafting, and he felt that enough speed to ride around 10 hours a day was essential, to allow time for recovery.

[IJL]

I stopped off at Hewitts in Leyland on the way back from the shops, and had a short word with Gethin Butler. He wasn't impressed that the rules allow drafting, and he felt that enough speed to ride around 10 hours a day was essential, to allow time for recovery.

I suspect allowing drafting is a pragmatic decision based on the difficulty of policing it. 

[Exit Stage Left]

That was just his initial reaction to how the new record had been achieved, I pointed out that the original records grew out of the mileater tradition, and would have included club runs.

[Wobbly]

I'm puzzled why there still is no data on the UMCA site for Steve for Jan 12. I thought data had to be upoaded there within 24 hours. Or have I missed something blindingly obvious...

[Freya]

I'm puzzled why there still is no data on the UMCA site for Steve for Jan 12. I thought data had to be upoaded there within 24 hours. Or have I missed something blindingly obvious...

asn't that the day he broke his wheel, so continued late into the night. Without Jo's help I am slighly losing track of what he achieved this week From Strava it looks like
M 11th 188.7
T 12th  130.9
W13th  225.7
T 14th ?
F15th 193.9
S16th 200.2
S17th 180.8

Which leaves Thursday missing

[Wobbly]

On the UMCA site it has:

Day   Date      Miles
156   2016-01-10   196
157   2016-01-11   188.7
158   
159   2016-01-13   225.8
160   
161   2016-01-15   336.6
162   2016-01-16   200.2

Day 161 clearly looks like mileage for two days, so that would account for day 160 being blank.

If Freya's right that the missing day is 130 miles then Steve's averaged 182.5 miles per day in the last 7 days.

[Bianchi Boy]

felt that enough speed to ride around 10 hours a day was essential, to allow time for recovery.

That means riding at 20mph 
The lack of recovery time Steve has will catch up with him sometime, I think.

BB

[Greenbank]

felt that enough speed to ride around 10 hours a day was essential, to allow time for recovery.

That means riding at 20mph 
The lack of recovery time Steve has will catch up with him sometime, I think.

August 7th 2016?

[Arry-R]

August 7th 2016?
[/quote



 ]

[PAC]

Reckon he'll go for a gentle recovery ride

[Charlie Boy]

On the UMCA site it has:

Day   Date      Miles
156   2016-01-10   196
157   2016-01-11   188.7
158   
159   2016-01-13   225.8
160   
161   2016-01-15   336.6
162   2016-01-16   200.2

Day 161 clearly looks like mileage for two days, so that would account for day 160 being blank.

If Freya's right that the missing day is 130 miles then Steve's averaged 182.5 miles per day in the last 7 days.

It's a bit lower than that Wobbly if you count yesterday...
189.8
0
131.7
227
195
201.37
180.6
Ave 160.78

Ave January to date 176.
Figures from Strava.

Both of which make depressing reading.

[simonp]

160? How do you get that? There is a zero entry in your list which might be why. That should be 131 miles I think. I believe 11th-17th should be about 180mpd average.

 UMCA values seem to differ from Strava. Privacy zones or something else?

[Bianchi Boy]

felt that enough speed to ride around 10 hours a day was essential, to allow time for recovery.

That means riding at 20mph 
The lack of recovery time Steve has will catch up with him sometime, I think.

August 7th 2016?

I hope you are right Mr GreenBank 

[Greenbank]

The missing Tadcaster to King's Lynn ride (from Jan 14th) is now on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/471278127

[Greenbank]

Strava now has:-

M 11th 188.7
T 12th  130.9
W13th  225.7
T 14th 180.7 (appears on Friday due to going just past midnight)
F 15th 193.9
S 16th 200.2
S 17th 180.8
M 18th 186.0 (appears on Tuesday due to going just past midnight)

That's 185.9 miles per day over those 8 days, including 4 hours lost to a broken bike, and he's already got another 22 miles in the bank as they were done last night before going to sleep in York (yesterday's track ends at midnight near Snaith). Include those and it's ~188.6 miles per day.

The last 4 days (including the extra 22 miles) is 195.7 miles per day.

Encouraging.