Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => Freewheeling => Topic started by: Oaky on 17 May, 2011, 08:02:14 pm

Title: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Oaky on 17 May, 2011, 08:02:14 pm
It seems this is open for registration (http://cyclechallenge.tfl.gov.uk/).

Looks like the same idea as last year.  The logging period starts June 18th and finishes on the 15th July (... the Dun Run just falls outside this :().

I couldn't find a yACF team (https://cyclechallenge.tfl.gov.uk/team/273), so I set one up.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Greenbank on 17 May, 2011, 11:59:04 pm
I'll be signing up for work. I won't double log miles since I think that's taking the piss.

No big rides due in that time but I hope to put in a solid 600km through commuting and 'training'.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: darkpoint on 18 May, 2011, 09:30:48 am
WARNING:   The site sends you back your password in clear text,  so don't use a good password for this website. 
This resulted in them receiving the following grink email from me..

Quote
To: 'smartertravel@tfl.gov.uk'

Greetings,
 
I have just signed up for the cycle challenge.   However I was furious to receive the conformation email bellow.
 
As your IT security department should tell you,  you should never ever do the following things:
 
1) send the password in clear text over email.
2) send the user id and the password together
3) send a password over email,  that is not a once use only let me re register password.
4) save clear text passwords on a database.
5) send the password in clear text over email.  (yes I know that is the same as point 1 but it is very important and therefore worth saying again.)
 
Email is very insecure, it has no inbuilt encryption, you site rightly told me about password strength, and advised me to use a good password.   Which was great, however then sending it to me in clear text just proves that you do not get security.
 
The password should be hashed the moment I give it to you, so that even you do not store the clear text version of my password,  that hash is one way, so you can't easily decrypt my password. 
 
In normal circumstances I would regard this as a security breach and instantly change the password on your site,  however in this case, I believe that doing this would simply result in you revealing my password again. 
 
Please review your security.   
 
Regards

Me
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Greenbank on 18 May, 2011, 10:32:58 am
Quote from: darkpoint on 18 May, 2011, 09:30:48 am
WARNING:   The site sends you back your password in clear text,  so don't use a good password for this website. 

Thanks for the warning. Appropriate password chosen. ;)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: TimO on 13 June, 2011, 05:41:20 pm
The yACF team isn't gaining many members, it's only got five.

My work team is currently one of the largest, but I won't be signing up too either, since I'm not allowed to do any cycling within these dates.

LFGSS has 37 signed up to their team, which puts them at fifteenth place currently (I notice that Google, and various others, are just below them).
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Redlight on 14 June, 2011, 02:06:28 pm
I'll sign in from home.  Shame it's only July as there is a bike ride in France in August that would clock up a few miles.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Greenbank on 14 June, 2011, 03:53:08 pm
And it closes just before the Dun Run, otherwise I'd be adding another 250 miles. ;)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 22 June, 2011, 08:01:27 pm
I see that we (the work team) have been moved to the NHS section, for starters (why? as in, why make this a separate section). Within that, we are in second place \o/ in a league of... 2  ::-) I'd rather be in the main rankings and that you could view more t han just the top 10 in the various sections.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Martin on 22 June, 2011, 08:18:27 pm
Quote from: Sergeant Pluck on 22 June, 2011, 08:01:27 pm
I see that we (the work team) have been moved to the NHS section, for starters (why? as in, why make this a separate section

+1  ??? although we are easily leading that section  :)

I'm in Imperial Star Fleet; graduated from newbie to Elite in one go after this weekend's fun in Sweden
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 22 June, 2011, 08:54:45 pm
I should set up a work one and be in the NHS section.

By myself ::-)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: TimO on 23 June, 2011, 09:55:09 am
Quote from: clarion on 22 June, 2011, 08:54:45 pm
I should set up a work one and be in the NHS section.

By myself ::-)

I'm not sure you can, it looks like you need at least two members for the smallest category.

The leading NHS 2-10 person team has currently only done 213 miles, which isn't all that much, you could give them a run for their money.  Can you sign up the practice cat or something? ;D
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 23 June, 2011, 10:13:33 am
I considered that.  Well, not the cat, exactly, but there is one other cyclist in the team who I can get to sign up, though she won't be awheel for awhile (also recovering from an operation).  But I'm in the yacf team now, folks. :)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: TimO on 23 June, 2011, 03:37:50 pm
I see that the top of 2-10 person teams list at the moment, is a courier company.  I wonder if they've got all their working cycle couriers putting their mileage on there?  Currently, if they've got the maximum number of people on their team (ie 10), then they're probably doing over 40 miles a day each, on average!

I think last year I did a couple of hundred miles a week on average, which is still only about 30 miles a day (that was with at least one long ride each weekend, I think the DunRun was one weekend, and there was probably the odd WARTY and FNRttC).
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: hatler on 23 June, 2011, 04:05:24 pm
I'm in.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: jane on 23 June, 2011, 05:44:54 pm
40-50 miles  sounds about right for a courier's working day. That was about my average back in the day. The miles soon mount up doing lots of little journeys. On Saturday I was surprised to find I had covered 30 miles just trundling round to a couple of friends in the evening and then dropping off a few bits and pieces to someone in North  London.
I have formed a team at my school. We are currently top of our leader board. (under 250 pupils). The bulk of the miles are being done by me, my head and one of the governors. But plenty of the kids ride the short distance to school each day and ride round the estate a lot. Our youngest is in Year 1 and rides the half mile to and from every day. There were about 20 bikes jostling for space in our cramped wheel bender style rack for 6 today. We could do with the school prize which is cyclepod parking.
I have increased my commute to include my circuits of Greenwich Park and Blackheath, 12 miles each way, so am hoping to get close to 200 miles this week (with my weekend ride).  The kids keep trying to come with me on the way home. Shame the A2 is at the beginning of it. They would love the rest of it.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 23 June, 2011, 08:01:54 pm
There's some major bullshitting going on on that board.  Top of our section is one chap who's done 3319 miles.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Redlight on 23 June, 2011, 09:30:09 pm
I've been at Centerparcs in Suffolk all week so have been averaging about a mile a day very slowly. But plan to ride home tomorrow which should give me 100 or so for starters and have a 125 mile Audax to do on Sunday  :)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 23 June, 2011, 09:35:39 pm
Why are certain teams greyed out and ineligible for prizes?
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 23 June, 2011, 09:47:36 pm
Because they are TfL or otherwise associated (Police etc)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: jane on 24 June, 2011, 06:24:31 am
The team
Quote from: clarion on 23 June, 2011, 09:47:36 pm
Because they are TfL or otherwise associated (Police etc)
The team below our school is greyed out. They are a private school on Wandsworth Common. So I'm guessing that's made them ineligible for prizes. Which gives us a bit more of a chance.
   The top small team made me chuckle. I don't think the organisers will accept that surely. In a school team, the children are not supposed to join themselves. The team leader logs their miles. I will do that on Fridays. Already I have had to tell a couple of kids, well no I will not be logging 200 miles for you this week, despite what you say.  I know the children and I know the kind of cycling they do and I will largely log their school journey, and I won't accept anything else unless they have some kind of proof of a weekend ride of substance. Surely the Challenge organisers will likewise exercise their powers of credulity assessment and scrub out people like Sandwich Man.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 24 June, 2011, 10:15:19 pm
Quote from: Martin on 22 June, 2011, 08:18:27 pm
Quote from: Sergeant Pluck on 22 June, 2011, 08:01:27 pm
I see that we (the work team) have been moved to the NHS section, for starters (why? as in, why make this a separate section

+1  ??? although we are easily leading that section  :)

I'm in Imperial Star Fleet; graduated from newbie to Elite in one go after this weekend's fun in Sweden

You must have gone over the 100 members - thus leaving us as the only team in its category  :facepalm:
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 04 July, 2011, 08:35:13 pm
There are a couple of people who haven't logged any miles yet for our team.  And room for one new member before we have to go up a group.

Hope everyone else is remembering to enter their miles.  You can do it retrospectively if you want. :)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 04 July, 2011, 09:27:25 pm
Our team, the only team in the 51 - 100 group: 20139 points / 4893 miles
The top team in the 11 - 50 member group:       18153            /4094

The odd thing is that I can only count 46 members in our team  ???

There's a huge range of mileages, from 2 miles per day to what looks like serious roadie mileage, and I see someone has a 40 mile per day commute. 


Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Wowbagger on 04 July, 2011, 09:32:33 pm
I thought I was a member. It didn't seem to recognise me, or maybe I had my password wrong.

I've requested a new password, which has yet to arrive.

Can someone please inform me: can you see if I have signed up to YACF; and what are the start / end dates for logging miles?
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Martin on 04 July, 2011, 09:37:54 pm
why don't Imperial Star Fleet feature in the ALL 100+ Leaderboard? we'd be 2nd if we did
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Martin on 04 July, 2011, 09:39:45 pm
Quote from: Wowbagger on 04 July, 2011, 09:32:33 pm
I thought I was a member. It didn't seem to recognise me, or maybe I had my password wrong.

I've requested a new password, which has yet to arrive.

Can someone please inform me: can you see if I have signed up to YACF; and what are the start / end dates for logging miles?

Wow; 18th June- 15th July;

YACF is here

https://cyclechallenge.tfl.gov.uk/team/273
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Wowbagger on 04 July, 2011, 09:43:03 pm
Thanks. It just allowed me, after great effort, to change my password to something I won't remember so had to write down.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Oaky on 04 July, 2011, 09:43:28 pm
Quote from: Wowbagger on 04 July, 2011, 09:32:33 pm
I thought I was a member. It didn't seem to recognise me, or maybe I had my password wrong.

I've requested a new password, which has yet to arrive.

Can someone please inform me: can you see if I have signed up to YACF; and what are the start / end dates for logging miles?

Martin already answered the dates question - you are definitely registered for yACF now :)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: TimO on 05 July, 2011, 12:08:36 pm
Quote from: Martin on 04 July, 2011, 09:37:54 pm
why don't Imperial Star Fleet feature in the ALL 100+ Leaderboard? we'd be 2nd if we did

Dunno, but it seems to be the Hospital side of Imperial College, whereas there is another Imperial College team (which seems to be everyone else).

If Sport Imperial got their act together, and formed a team at the start, and suggested that everyone actually joined that, then Imperial might have chance of beating the Beeb or the Met, both of whom were utterly hammering Imperial (both teams) last time I looked, partly because they were twice the size. :-\

(actually even merged, they've still got less points than either of those two teams, but they're closer!)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Martin on 05 July, 2011, 12:22:31 pm
Quote from: TimO on 05 July, 2011, 12:08:36 pm
Quote from: Martin on 04 July, 2011, 09:37:54 pm
why don't Imperial Star Fleet feature in the ALL 100+ Leaderboard? we'd be 2nd if we did

Dunno, but it seems to be the Hospital side of Imperial College, whereas there is another Imperial College team (which seems to be everyone else).

probably because the Star Fleet was formed from people who have access to the Imperial NHS intranet (and not IC's)

anyway I wouldn't want to be in a team with feckless student oafs  ;)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: TimO on 05 July, 2011, 05:33:07 pm
Quote from: Martin on 05 July, 2011, 12:22:31 pm
anyway I wouldn't want to be in a team with feckless student oafs  ;)

I don't think the students are interested in such things, as far as I can tell, the Imperial College team is mostly staff (although you can only recognise a small number of the identities from their user names).

Anyway, presumably the Imperial NHS Intranet is inhabited by feckless trainee doctor oafs. ;)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Martin on 05 July, 2011, 09:29:13 pm
Quote from: TimO on 05 July, 2011, 05:33:07 pm
Quote from: Martin on 05 July, 2011, 12:22:31 pm
anyway I wouldn't want to be in a team with feckless student oafs  ;)

I don't think the students are interested in such things, as far as I can tell, the Imperial College team is mostly staff (although you can only recognise a small number of the identities from their user names).

Anyway, presumably the Imperial NHS Intranet is inhabited by feckless trainee doctor oafs. ;)

naah; they're far too busy working their arses off whilst their feckless senior docs play golf

Imperial College; Splitters!

Martin (not a doctor)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 10 July, 2011, 09:10:25 pm
We're seventh in our category.  I don't understand why it says we have ten members, but there's only eight with rides posted.  Maybe they'll post the full amount at the end.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: TimO on 10 July, 2011, 09:14:26 pm
Does registering have an option to be "hidden"?  I don't think it did last year, but I haven't registered tis year, so didn't see the form.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Andrij on 10 July, 2011, 09:26:43 pm
Quote from: clarion on 10 July, 2011, 09:10:25 pm
We're seventh in our category.  I don't understand why it says we have ten members, but there's only eight with rides posted.  Maybe they'll post the full amount at the end.

geraldc and her_welshness are on the team but have not posted any miles.
 
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Oaky on 10 July, 2011, 10:39:47 pm
It puzzled me for a while why we were behind other teams in the same class who had posted fewer miles - I was aware that the first few miles are weighted more, but thought it wasn't quite so extreme last year?

(I think this year, it works out as something like 2 points per mile PLUS ~267 points for your first 49 miles - according to the TfL site (https://cyclechallenge.tfl.gov.uk/faq#q3) it is

Quote
The weighting is as follows:

0 – 24 miles logged: 10 points
25 – 49 miles logged: 5 points
50+ miles logged: 2 points

does anyone remember - was it the same last time or less heavily weighted?

... the reason form my "~" in the above is not knowing exactly how they deal with the transition points in their scoring schedule ... my interpretation is 240 points for your first 24 miles (vs. the 48 points you'd get later on -> bonus of 192) then 125 points for the next 25 miles (vs 50 pts - bonus = 75), followed by 2 pts per mile afterwards.

Maybe I'm still suffering from sleep deprivation, but the above schedule form the TfL site doesn't tally with their own explanation underneath...

Quote
a team with 10 users logging 5 miles (total 50 miles) is going to have 500 points, while one team member cycling 50 miles will earn 240 points for the first 24 miles, plus 120 for the next 24 miles, and 2 points for the final mile – a total of 361 points. It is therefore important to recruit team members who can score points for the valuable early miles.

i think their single person team riding 50 miles in that example should be scoring  367 points not 361...

1st mile 10pts ...
24th mile 10 pts

=> 240 pts
25th mile 5 pts...
49th mile 5 pts

=> 125 pts

50th mile 2 pts

=> total 240 + 125  + 2 = 367

Are they missing a mile in their analysis or is my brain made of cheese?

not really a spoiler - but just boring working out:-
(click to show/hide)
)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 13 July, 2011, 08:56:21 pm
geraldc & her_welshness have now appeared on the listings as Newbies but no miles.

Get posting, folks!  We're ten miles behind the team above us.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: jane on 14 July, 2011, 06:07:38 pm
Well, my school  is in a frenzy of cycle mania at the moment. It is a small one form entry primary off the Old Kent Rd and is  not only top of our category but top of all schools at the moment.  Some of the children  are so competitive and some of them are terrible cheats! I am beginning to think maybe I shouldn't have entered us. Firstly, it has been a hell of a lot of work, as I have had to enter all their miles and secondly the drive to win has turned some of them into possible future users of performance enhancing drugs (i axdmit to slight exaggeration here) I'm sure.  I have had to restrict their mileage to the ride to and from school and only when I actually see their bike in the bike rack.  I can't really trust some of their outrageous weekend mileage claims.  Which is a shame, because I know for a fact a few of them do a fair few miles at the weekend and are quite honest. 
   Here's hoping the other schools haven't left massive amounts of mileage to enter before Monday afternoon.
Pilgrims Way Rules! (with a bit of luck).
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Oaky on 14 July, 2011, 08:59:02 pm
We have a new joiner to the team!  We're about to jump up to the next category...
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 14 July, 2011, 10:47:44 pm
Oh.  We'll be right down towards the bottom of that list.  Never mind.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Oaky on 14 July, 2011, 10:50:52 pm
Quote from: clarion on 14 July, 2011, 10:47:44 pm
Oh.  We'll be right down towards the bottom of that list.  Never mind.

Aye: #80  ... it's a big jump from 2-10 compared to 11-50 members.
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 14 July, 2011, 10:52:03 pm
It doesn't matter.  We're having fun doing it. :D
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Oaky on 14 July, 2011, 10:56:20 pm
Quote from: clarion on 14 July, 2011, 10:52:03 pm
It doesn't matter.  We're having fun doing it. :D

Exactly!
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Swarm_Catcher on 15 July, 2011, 07:22:19 am
Quote from: Oaky on 14 July, 2011, 10:56:20 pm
Quote from: clarion on 14 July, 2011, 10:52:03 pm
It doesn't matter.  We're having fun doing it. :D

Exactly!

Sorry, didn't realise the impact at time of registering.  I have logged miles for TfL Challenge in previous years, so just went a head and did it.

PS Like your tagline Oaky
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: clarion on 15 July, 2011, 07:54:51 am
I don't imagine anyone thinks your miles are unwelcome.  :)
Title: Re: TfL London Cycle Challenge 2011
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 15 July, 2011, 08:57:31 pm
After spending the entire competition on our own (in a subsection of the NHS ghetto), someone else has obviously added some low mileage members and ended up in our group, with considerably fewer miles than us.