General Cycling Discussion - Bikeforums "Chris L is a self-indulgent prat" challenge

I wasn't planning on doing this just yet, but bikeprolog is down, so I need a new challenge. Last year we had the virtual ride across Australia, but it was my suspicion that we had virtually neglected the best riding in the country. That suspicion has now been confirmed. Consequently, the challenge is now a virtual ride around Tasmania -- using a route that might be described as "indirect".

The deal is that those deciding to have a crack have from Monday 8 March (i.e. tomorrow) until Sunday 1 June to ride 2,349km or 1,460 miles (depending on your scale of measurement). That's nearly three months, so hopefully it will be doable. For those who find this too easy (yes, I know there are some), the challenge is two laps!

I have another challenge lined up immediately after the completion of this one which should lead nicely into the bikeforums TDF in July if all goes well. For those who are wondering what sort of terrain this will be run over, follow the link in my sig for pictures. I'll post a "stage list" featuring interim distances if anybody's interested.

So who's up for the latest challenge?

I'm tempted...I'd be doing it fixed as well. Would that get me any extra brownies?

2,349km or 1,460 miles in almost 3 months?? Well, that's definitely do-able although it would be more like 2 months for me because I don't see myself riding all that much outside in March yet. It's struggling to reach the freezing mark here without snowing all over the place, so cycling has been a challenge.

Is Tasmania flat? It's like a pancake here so if the challenge is also to simulate the same terrain, that might be a bit difficult for me. However, I've got wind . . . a lot of wind!!

I was just about ready to start logging miles with BikeProLog too, but discovered they were down, so I used this one instead:
http://www.bikejournal.com/

I also log my miles (outside only, of course) here: http://www.big-dogs.org/scripts/bdhome.asp

Count me in Chris. The terrain here is mostly rolling and at this time of year we've usually got a decent little breeze coming out of the northwest, which is my out route (gotta love having the tailwind on the ride home).

I assume this'll only be outdoor, on the road, miles. Do you want us to log our miles into bikeprolog, or are you cool with us just posting updates to our mileage as we go along? I use my own spreadsheet, but I don't mind using bikeprolog when it comes back up, or whatever online journal you like.

I'd definitely like to see the "stage list" with interim distances so I can find the places on the map that I'm "virtually" riding through. :)

Forgot to add, isn't June 1st a Tuesday?

2,349km or 1,460 miles in almost 3 months?? Well, that's definitely do-able although it would be more like 2 months for me because I don't see myself riding all that much outside in March yet. It's struggling to reach the freezing mark here without snowing all over the place, so cycling has been a challenge.

Is Tasmania flat? It's like a pancake here so if the challenge is also to simulate the same terrain, that might be a bit difficult for me. However, I've got wind . . . a lot of wind!!

Tasmania's east coast is flat, the west coast is all hills. In anycase, don't worry about trying to simulate the terrain -- that isn't a requirement, although it's certainly optional. There was plenty of wind down there back in December, although someone told me it was "unseasonal". There were also plenty of dirt roads, including the infamous Jacob's Ladder.


I was just about ready to start logging miles with BikeProLog too, but discovered they were down, so I used this one instead:
http://www.bikejournal.com/

I signed up for activebody.org last night, however, I still have about two months worth of riding to retrieve from BP. :(

I assume this'll only be outdoor, on the road, miles. Do you want us to log our miles into bikeprolog, or are you cool with us just posting updates to our mileage as we go along? I use my own spreadsheet, but I don't mind using bikeprolog when it comes back up, or whatever online journal you like.


Outdoor is the usual rule here. You can ride them on singletrack if you'd prefer, but that's probably even harder than riding on the road. Using your own spreadsheet is fine, I'm running out of patience with BP anyway, so I may well be doing the same thing.


I'd definitely like to see the "stage list" with interim distances so I can find the places on the map that I'm "virtually" riding through. :)

I'll post the stage list tonight if I remember to (someone PM me to remind me). Note that the interim distances may not necessarily correspond with the map distances. I did take more than a few detours down there, and they were worth taking!

Oh yeah, 1 June is a Tuesday -- I was looking at the wrong calendar. In that case, we have until the Tuesday of that week. Ra!

I'd definitely like to see the "stage list" with interim distances so I can find the places on the map that I'm "virtually" riding through. :)

Sorry folks, attachment was the best I could do on this occasion.

OK, I am in. I can do most of that with just commuting! Wow, to think I didn't realize that I was leaving Hobart this morning! Should be arriving in Berriedale after lunch!

I missed the first day, but I did ride last night so I can probably count that right? :) Should be lots o' fun.

I missed the first day, but I did ride last night so I can probably count that right? :) Should be lots o' fun.

Dude, you've got almost three months. Missing one night shouldn't put you out of the equation.

Yeh, count me in , that should be well within my scope, weather and health (just gone down with a chest infection today, that will teach me to ride in inapropriate clothing for the conditions. Doh) permitting..

Bike prolog is up again, but looks like its coming apart at the Seams, logged on to the Challenges just to find blank pages, last time it went down all the members profiles disappeared .

2,349km

Last year I rode 2347km in that time, so I'll try to beat that :).

/Csson

OK, some mileages:

March 9th - 10 miles
March 13th - 17 miles
March 14th - 31 miles

Total so far: 58 miles down, 1402 miles to go!! :D

It's been chilly and windy here. Today's ride started at -6C/21F and dropped to -11C/12F by the end of the ride.

Here's mine so far:

3/13 - 48.58 mi
3/14 - 60.90 mi


109.48 total mi.

OK, some mileages:

March 9th - 10 miles
March 13th - 17 miles
March 14th - 31 miles

Total so far: 58 miles down, 1402 miles to go!! :D

March 21st: 105.5 miles

Totals so far: 163.5, 1296.5 miles to go!!

I can hardly wait till it warms up some. That century today started at -21C/-4F and peaked at -8C/18F with a -14/10F windchill factor.

Just a point in response to that, I have never ridden in temperatures of -8C. Not because of any refusal to ride, just that it never gets that cold around here!

I did a lot of those stages in person last year when I rode from Perth to Hobart. I guess I should do the cyber ride.

Just a point in response to that, I have never ridden in temperatures of -8C. Not because of any refusal to ride, just that it never gets that cold around here!

And -8C was the high for the day!! :D

Well, since the 8th, ive done 365.5miles. So only 1094.5 to go! I cant believe some of you people are out riding around in -21C..thats crazy! *shakes head* Mind you...I cant really remember the last time it got down near single digits 'round here.

It doesn't.

March 21st: 105.5 miles

Totals so far: 163.5, 1296.5 miles to go!!

I can hardly wait till it warms up some. That century today started at -21C/-4F and peaked at -8C/18F with a -14/10F windchill factor.

March 24 - 10 miles
March 25 - 13 miles
March 27 - 14 miles
March 28 - 46.5 miles

1213 miles to go!
I'm still hoping that it will warm up to above freezing temps one day soon!

Here's mine so far:

3/13 - 48.58 mi
3/14 - 60.90 mi


109.48 total mi.

3/24 - 36.25 mi
3/27 - 60.91 mi
3/28 - 65.69 mi

272.33 total mi. (1187.69 mi to go)

OK lets see I will tally by weeks.

3/8 - 73.4
3/15 - 48 121.4
3/22 -91.3 212.7
3/29 - 51.3 264

So that puts me in Stage 5 With 1196 miles to go!

Well, since the 8th, ive done 365.5miles. So only 1094.5 to go! I cant believe some of you people are out riding around in -21C..thats crazy! *shakes head* Mind you...I cant really remember the last time it got down near single digits 'round here.

Since the 24th(when I posted above) ive done another 120.4 miles. This means ive got 974 miles to go. Ill have to check later and see what stage that puts me at.

Since I started to ride outside on March 18 I have done a total of 217k. With 2132k to go I guess I have some riding to do...

/Csson

3/24 - 36.25 mi
3/27 - 60.91 mi
3/28 - 65.69 mi

272.33 total mi. (1187.69 mi to go)

My update:

3/31 - 57.36 mi
4/3 - 39.62 mi
4/4 - 44.69

414.0 total mi. (1046 mi to go).

Hey PB Walker, I tried to contact you about riding in your area. I also wrote to a ride leader in the Potomac Pedalers Bicycle Club. She sent me some routes in case I couldn't get to the ride at 10:00 last sunday. I was in DC on business last week. I cannot believe your club cycles in downtown DC. I saw cyclists at Arlington National Cemetary park area and also in Potomac Maryland on Falls River Road. I spent my free day walking around DC and at the Falls River National park and C&O towpath and locks area. I'll be DC again next week, but it will only be there for one day. From there I'll be flying to Oklahoma City for several days where another BF member gave me some routes.

Geez, I better make some updates from last weekend. Last time I checked I was somewhere around Devonport I think.

Hey PB Walker, I tried to contact you about riding in your area. I also wrote to a ride leader in the Potomac Pedalers Bicycle Club. She sent me some routes in case I couldn't get to the ride at 10:00 last sunday. I was in DC on business last week. I cannot believe your club cycles in downtown DC. I saw cyclists at Arlington National Cemetary park area and also in Potomac Maryland on Falls River Road. I spent my free day walking around DC and at the Falls River National park and C&O towpath and locks area. I'll be DC again next week, but it will only be there for one day. From there I'll be flying to Oklahoma City for several days where another BF member gave me some routes.


Sorry I missed ya. I've been out of town for a bit over a week due to a family emergency out in Tucson. I almost never ride into DC myself and I've only actually gone on two rides with the PPTC. I mostly ride by myself out on the W&OD Trail and the C&O Canal towpath. Sometimes I got down to the Mount Vernon Trail, but not so much this year. The really good riding is more outside of town. I'm currently ramping up to ride the MS150, so I'm mostly concentrating on riding further out.

After that ride, I'll probably be splitting my time between the W&OD and the C&O Canal Trail since I'm doing the entire C&O in Sept over a 2 day period (another charity ride).

Geez. 2,213km, almost there already! I should have kept better track of this one.

An update: As of March 28th, I had 1213 miles to go.

March 31: 13.8 miles
April 1: 19.5 miles
April 2: 9.8 miles
April 3: 50 miles
April 4: 62.8 miles
April 5: 8.3 miles
April 6: 16.5 miles
April 7: 8.3 miles
April 8: 12.4 miles
April 9: 104.3 miles
April 10: 16.4 miles
April 11: 44.6 miles
April 12: 10 miles
April 13: 28.9 miles

Total: 405.6 miles

1213 - 405.6 = 807.4 miles to go!! :)

Not bad for the majority of those rides being in sub-freezing temps!

Update: As of March 31st until today(14th April) ive added another 214 odd miles to my total. Ive been a tad busy with moving and getting some other stuff organized so ive not been riding as much as I wish I had been! Anyway, at last count I had 974 miles to go, so that means ive now only got 760 to go. Yay.

I figure I have gone 604 miles so that means I have 856 miles to go! Woo hoo!

I spent Easter weekend in Latvia, doing a loop-style ride starting and ending in Riga together with a friend. I also rode parts of the way to (and back home from) the ferry, so the past week looks like this:

April 8: 97 km
(ferry to Latvia)
April 9: 87 km
April 10: 160 km
April 11: 154 km
April 12: Rest day in Riga
(ferry back to Sweden)
April 13: 55 km
April 14: 161 km

Which puts me at a total of about 960 km since March 8. Just a little over a 1000 km to go :).

/Csson

My update:

3/31 - 57.36 mi
4/3 - 39.62 mi
4/4 - 44.69

414.0 total mi. (1046 mi to go).

New Update:

4/11 - 12.31 mi
4/16 - 25.24 mi

451.55 total mi (1008.45 mi to go).

Was gone a week due to a family emergency. Hopefully I'll catch up this weekend and next week. I'm hoping to do about 130 or 140 this weekend.

New Update:

4/11 - 12.31 mi
4/16 - 25.24 mi

451.55 total mi (1008.45 mi to go).

Was gone a week due to a family emergency. Hopefully I'll catch up this weekend and next week. I'm hoping to do about 130 or 140 this weekend.

New update:

4/17 - 80.32 mi
4/18 - 60.85 mi

592.72 total mi (867.28 mi to go).

Update: As of March 31st until today(14th April) ive added another 214 odd miles to my total. Ive been a tad busy with moving and getting some other stuff organized so ive not been riding as much as I wish I had been! Anyway, at last count I had 974 miles to go, so that means ive now only got 760 to go. Yay.

More Updates...Since the 14th April ive done another 127 miles..mostly due to a metric century on the weekend. So uhh, this brings me down to 633 miles to go. Cant wait to get back on the bike.

New update:

4/17 - 80.32 mi
4/18 - 60.85 mi

592.72 total mi (867.28 mi to go).

New Update:

4/20 - 40.88 mi
4/23 - 18.64 mi
4/24 - 55.24 mi
4/25 - 79.30 mi

786.79 total mi (673.22 mi to go with 36 days left).

More Updates...Since the 14th April ive done another 127 miles..mostly due to a metric century on the weekend. So uhh, this brings me down to 633 miles to go. Cant wait to get back on the bike.

Since then(the 19th Apr) ive done another 112 miles. Had some time off from the bike which explains the smaller than usual figure. Really kind of disappointed as I missed some big rides that I wanted to do, what can you do though. :) Means ive got some 521 miles to go in about 35 days or so, hmm lets see only 15miles a day! Keep riding folks....

New Update:

4/20 - 40.88 mi
4/23 - 18.64 mi
4/24 - 55.24 mi
4/25 - 79.30 mi

786.79 total mi (673.22 mi to go with 36 days left).

New Update:

4/29 - 24.80
4/30 - 80.32
5/1 - 60.87
5/2 - 44.65

997.42 total mi (462.58 mi to go with 29 days left).

14-Apr-04 20.88
15-Apr-04 10.09
16-Apr-04 13.01
17-Apr-04 63.53
18-Apr-04 22.09
19-Apr-04 23.72
20-Apr-04 9.97
21-Apr-04 26.23
22-Apr-04 8.33
23-Apr-04 26.23
24-Apr-04 62.72
25-Apr-04 26.93
28-Apr-04 9.97
29-Apr-04 17.23
30-Apr-04 17.42
1-May-04 130.54
2-May-04 7.65

Total: 496.54

807.4 - 496.54 = 310.86 miles to go.

And the weather is finally starting to warm up a little.

Is it too late to join the challenge. I didn't think the mileage involved would be a challenge, thought it would be just be regular riding. Looking at my counts tells a different story. These are weekly mileages so far and some sorry excuses:
3/13..... 67.1...........(Part of Texas Hell Week)
3/20..... 264.5 ..... Texas Hell Week
3/27..... 10 ........ Injured - fingernail
4/3....... 19 .. ..... Injured - fingernail (I am a girl)
4/10..... 144.6
4/17..... 217.1
4/24..... 74.1 ...... Work related travel
4/30..... 78.7 ...... Work related travel/training
5/1...... 30
Current.. 82
987.1
I am planning on riding TOSRV, a 2-day back-to-back century ride. Even so, 1460-987= 473 less 208 (TOSRV 5/8-9) leaves 265 for less than 4 weeks. Considering I usually don't ride a few days before or after an event, this will be close. I need the kick in the behind so I don't get off to a lazy spring. Hope you'all don't mind a late comer to the party. I rode a club ride this morning at 9:00 am (after working the graveyard shift) for 28 miles, but with this new incentive, I think I'll get out there for the 6:30 ride and cut it a bit short.

Since then(the 19th Apr) ive done another 112 miles. Had some time off from the bike which explains the smaller than usual figure. Really kind of disappointed as I missed some big rides that I wanted to do, what can you do though. :) Means ive got some 521 miles to go in about 35 days or so, hmm lets see only 15miles a day! Keep riding folks....

Mmh, Ive been a bit lazy lately it seems, the frequency of riding is getting higher, but the distances are getting smaller. Heh, typical isnt it. Anyway, since I last posted ive done another 133.2 miles which means ive got another 387.8 miles to go.

welcome outashape!

Is it too late to join the challenge. I didn't think the mileage involved would be a challenge, thought it would be just be regular riding.

Never too late to join. I completed a little while back, so another participant might rev up the interest levels a little.

807.4 - 496.54 = 310.86 miles to go.

And the weather is finally starting to warm up a little.

OK, where was I . . .

4-May-04 37.08
5-May-04 9.97
6-May-04 24.28
8-May-04 130.54
9-May-04 10.13

Total: 212 miles

310.86 - 212 = 98.86 miles to go!

(Saturday's 200K was beautiful - the first above freezing 100+ mile ride I've done in 7 months!!)

New Update:

4/29 - 24.80
4/30 - 80.32
5/1 - 60.87
5/2 - 44.65

997.42 total mi (462.58 mi to go with 29 days left).

New Update:

5/4 - 60.92 mi
5/7 - 40.84 mi
5/8 - 82.84 mi
5/9 - 53.22 mi

1235.24 total mi (224.76 mi to go with 22 days left).

This might be the time to call for any suggestions for the next challenge. Post them here or PM me. Looking for something around the 1,000 to 1,500km range to lead into the Tdf challenge starting when the tour starts.

310.86 - 212 = 98.86 miles to go!

May 10th - 26.24 miles
May 14th - 28.99 miles
May 15th - 75.84 miles

Sub-total: 131.07!!

And she shoots past the finish line!!! :D

Not bad considering we had a blizzard on May 11th that closed everything down for 3 days.


As for suggestions for future routes, there's the Rocky Mountain 1200 route - 1200 kms in the Canadian Rockies. On the site below are maps, stories, pics etc. Randonneurs do that distance in 3.5 days or less, but it could be spread out longer than that.

http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/rocky/rm1200.html

(This site has the story (and pics) of my RM1200 ride in 2002: http://www.machka.net/)

Only 147 Miles to go! Should finish this week easy.

As for the next challenge, why not the race across america route? It takes them under 10 days but we could turn it into a 2 or 3 month challenge. It's only 2953 miles! Maybe we ought to make that 4 months!