Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Do you feel special? How special?

Ride a century - you're one in a hundred.

Ride a double century - you're one in a thousand.

Ride a triple century - you're one in one-hundred thousand

Ride a quad century - you're one in a million.

Comments, adjustments - conflicts?

Do you agree or disagree?

Now try being a female and doing all that.

I just feel very slow. I just rode a 600k, and I felt pretty good at the end, but I'd get dropped on the first lap in any Cat 4 race. Pretty strange

1 in 1e6 = 6000 people, assuming 6 billion worldwide.
Is that a quad in one day, or a quad as a single qualifying ride (like a 600k plus some extra)? Because there's gotta be more than 6000 people if the latter is the case.

Do you agree or disagree?

Citation needed.

Or did you just use the pidoma model?

Do you agree or disagree?

That'd be only 300 people in the U.S. who have ridden 400 miles in a day, and that seems light to me.

One of the things about cycling, and long-distance cycling in particular, is that the people who do it don't represent a good cross-section of the country (I'm speaking only for the U.S. here). There's a real lack of diversity in the sport -- gender, age, and race. I often wonder what a lot of the cycling record books would look like if the sport were something that more people were interested in. Seriously, take a lork around at your next ultra-distance race or brevet. It's like an AARP meeting in the white-flight suburbs.... Not laying blame for this on anyone so much as suggesting that I hope the sport continues to attract new blood and finds a way to appeal to more than a pretty narrow (and shrinking) slice of the demographic spectrum.

The numbers seem reasonable-ish, I suppose. But I don't think simply riding a long distance makes one "special." The main reason that more people haven't ridden centuries (or more) is simply because they have no interest, or the thought never occured to them. I suspect most reasonably healthy people could ride a double century--maybe even a triple--if they had the desire and spent some time working at it. No, I don't have any more data to back that up than RC has to back up his numbers, but after spending some time watching people roll into the finish of the Seattle to Portland double century last year, I was impressed by how physically ordinary many of them were. Young, old, tall, short, thin, not-so-thin...

Now, a quad in a day starts to become special, because you have to ride at a pretty fast pace to finish 400 miles in a day (assuming that's how we're defining it).

Perhaps a more appropriate title for the thread would be, "Do you feel statistically insignificant? How statistically insignificant?"

Anyone who maintains fitness is special in my book. It's remarkable that fitness is not considered as important as other basic human activities, it should be.

During the last year I've gone from inactive & overweight to Century rider, so I'm happier with myself.

If I am riding centuries when I'm in my seventies, then I'll feel special.

Michael

Just getting on a bike puts you in the minority (in the US anyway), so that makes you special right there.

Then to get on a bike, much less ride 100 or more miles puts you into a tiny, tiny subset of people. Don't worry, Dick, we're all special here. Even you.

When I think special, I think of THIS GUY (http://urbanvelo.org/danny-chew-the-million-mile-man/), Tom S., 10 Wheels, or:

"...an old Frenchman with a water bottle taped to the back of his neck to keep his head up, crossing the finish line while refusing the offered help of his fellow riders..."(PBP)

But thumbs up to anyone who takes on a challenge like SR, PBP, losing 100 pounds; there are lots of them in here.

What happened to one in ten-thousand?

What happened to one in ten-thousand?

Maybe that's how many have ridden a sesquicentury?

I feel content I guess. I haven't been riding long. I was the fat girl in school that found PE to be the most embarrassing, most awful experience ever. I couldn't climb one of those stupid ropes and I couldn't even jog a lap around the track without being miserable. I stayed like that in my 20s. A couple of years ago I bought a low end hard tail mtn bike, and with that bike, I lost 80 pounds. My legs got stronger, I felt better, and I even started running. I've now ridden in centuries, have done half marathons, and intend on doing at least one marathon this fall and a couple of centuries in the next few months as well. Maybe someday I'll have it in me to do a double century, that would be cool. I don't feel special really, but I do feel a little accomplished.

I'm willing to speculate the number of people that have ridden 400 miles in 24 hours is pretty small.

Ride a century - you're one in a hundred.

Ride a double century - you're one in a thousand.

Ride a triple century - you're one in fifty-thousand.

Ride a quad century - you're one in five-hundred-thousand.

If you are a female - then double the number ratio - one in a million for quad-century

Perform the mileage for a triple or a quad in a non-drafting then double as well to one-in-a-million.

I read that it was estimated that only one person in two-hundred thousand can lift their own body-weight over their head. Thought I'd make up cycling stats as well........

Do you agree or disagree?

My cycling ability puts me in the top 1% of the population.

Without context that sounds impressive, but in reality that's like saying you were the smartest kid in summer school :)

Nope. I don't feel at all "special" -- my talents are modest -- just lucky to be able to climb on the bike and ride out into the countryside; something I don't take for granted.

I'm one of the very few in ten-gazillion that have ridden a century and part of a double century, with Richard Crainium (note: not his real name). Doesn't make me feel special though.

Now, of the 227 riders who signed up for the Eastern Sierra Double last weekend, I am one of the 103 that finished. We got rain, snow, hail and buzzed by an F-14. That really made me feel special. However, all that is nothin' compared to the last very special last 36 miles from Benton to Bishop with a 30 mph tail-wind! Yee-Hah!

Rick / OCRR

I'm one of the very few in ten-gazillion that have ridden a century and part of a double century, with Richard Crainium (note: not his real name). Doesn't make me feel special though.

Now, of the 227 riders who signed up for the Eastern Sierra Double last weekend, I am one of the 103 that finished. We got rain, snow, hail and buzzed by an F-14. That really made me feel special. However, all that is nothin' compared to the last very special last 36 miles from Benton to Bishop with a 30 mph tail-wind! Yee-Hah!

Rick / OCRR

Whoa! And I thought getting buzzed by a big rig at 70 mph recenty was bad..

Ride a century - you're one in a hundred.

Ride a double century - you're one in a thousand.

Ride a triple century - you're one in fifty-thousand.

Ride a quad century - you're one in five-hundred-thousand.

If you are a female - then double the number ratio - one in a million for quad-century

Perform the mileage for a triple or a quad in a non-drafting then double as well to one-in-a-million.

I read that it was estimated that only one person in two-hundred thousand can lift their own body-weight over their head. Thought I'd make up cycling stats as well........

Do you agree or disagree?

Richard, is there any source for these numbers, or did they come out of your cranium?

Do I think they're plausible? Yes. But I wouldn't agree without some good reason to.

And so what? why does it matter? or is this as you so often comment, a thread without value?

Whoa! And I thought getting buzzed by a big rig at 70 mph recenty was bad.. -

Yes mattm,

And just to give you some context we were climbing at 5 - 6 mph up a 7 - 8% grade (from the floor of Death Valley to White Mountain Summit), temp. in the high 30's, drizzle/rain under very dark skies. Overall, a boring slog up the mountain.

Then we heard some thunder in the distance. Okay, we've got rain, thunder is not out of the question. But then, very rapidly, the thunder got WAY LOUDER and WAY CLOSER. In what seemed like no time, it was right over our heads (felt like 10 ft. above us, actually more like 200 ft.), the noise was intense and the "wash" from the displaced air caused the bikes/riders to wobble for a second:twitchy:.

As soon as the pilot had the airplane past us he banked straight up . . . which was kind of impressive, really. So overall, yeah, terrifying, totally unexpected, but in retrospect kind of cool and it did break up the monotony of a 20 mi. climb on terrible pavement:thumb:!

Rick / OCRR

And so what? why does it matter? or is this as you so often comment, a thread without value? No, yes, and ******* This is a thread about how people recognize the mathamatical probabilites of the general human population acting with respect to long distance cycling events. It may or may not matter to those who participate in long distance cycling events. Such as the current long distance forum audience.

I'm not sure whether this thread has any value or not. I wanted to discuss the relative uniqueness of long distance cycling and I thought proposing a set of "peeps per population" ratios was an interesting
way of engaging an audience.

PS the ******** = "and so what."

As soon as the pilot had the airplane past us he banked straight up . . . which was kind of impressive, really. So overall, yeah, terrifying, totally unexpected, but in retrospect kind of cool Hi Rick, back 1977 I was riding along Ft. Leonard Wood reservation on old route 66just south of I-44. It was comepletely treelined - and a couple of Phantoms came over at what I suspect was 300 or 400 MPH - they were only 200 or 300 feet high. I never heard them coming, and barely caught a glimpse to know what they were.

When planes are coming at you high speed, you get no sound warning at all - nearly knocked me over...

you'll hear a turbofan more than the turbojets in those F-4s. A friend and I were climbing a dirt road in Utah, heard props behind us, and when we turned to look it was a C130 coming up the canyon -- and it was at a lower altitude than we were only 1/4 mile back.

I was looking at last year's results for the 24 hour time trial in Michigan, only 9 people went over 400 miles, but one person did over 470. One of the people that did over 400 miles lives a little east of here and is over 50. I was impressed.

How does the saying go? 68% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

My biggest accomplishments to date have been a two time finisher of the Pan Mass Challenge. Tame by randonneuring standards... I hope to complete the Petersburg 300K in September this year. I still probably won't feel that special though.

Crazy maybe. But not special.

-

Yes mattm,

And just to give you some context we were climbing at 5 - 6 mph up a 7 - 8% grade (from the floor of Death Valley to White Mountain Summit), temp. in the high 30's, drizzle/rain under very dark skies. Overall, a boring slog up the mountain.

Then we heard some thunder in the distance. Okay, we've got rain, thunder is not out of the question. But then, very rapidly, the thunder got WAY LOUDER and WAY CLOSER. In what seemed like no time, it was right over our heads (felt like 10 ft. above us, actually more like 200 ft.), the noise was intense and the "wash" from the displaced air caused the bikes/riders to wobble for a second:twitchy:.

As soon as the pilot had the airplane past us he banked straight up . . . which was kind of impressive, really. So overall, yeah, terrifying, totally unexpected, but in retrospect kind of cool and it did break up the monotony of a 20 mi. climb on terrible pavement:thumb:!

Rick / OCRR

Umm, sure it was a F-14? I though they were retired from service in 2006?

Umm, sure it was a F-14? I though they were retired from service in 2006?

My sources (other riders who claim to know about such things) said the F-14 was retired by the Air Force but is still used by the NAVY and the Marines. The one that buzzed us was (so they say) from the China Lake base, and it's actually not that uncommon to be buzzed by them in that area.

Well . . . it was uncommon to me!

Rick / OCRR

Heh, yeah I'm no aircraft expert, just something that popped out of the back of my head. I was buzzed by a couple of Hawks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAe_Hawk) (who really ought to be retired by now) doing a solo double metric a couple of years ago, I can agree with the "fast approaching thunder" bit :-)

Edit, and for adding content, no i don't know about feeling special, but most people i work with put me in the "special like the kids you see wearing hockey helmets at the mall" category, from the looks i get chatting at coffe breaks :-P

I know i'm not special because I never got invited to ride the short bus. My Mom said I shouldn't worry about it and when I got older she gave me a mechanical pencil, a matching pen, and a pocket protector so I'd at least look special. Now I realize that was a big mistake because that led to this which when I ride my bicycle in my skin tight superman outfit, regular people point and chuckle, knowing all too well I'm one of those who want to be special...

Long ago, I was eating supper with a friend at a restaurant. He pointed at a sign and said "Zigflob!". Then he told me, "Do you realize that I'm probably the first person in the history of the universe to point at an exit sign and say 'Zigflob'?"

Old "magic" trick: You tell the audience, "I am going to show you something that has never been seen by human eyes before, and will never be seen again." Then you take a peanut, crack it, show them the nut, and then eat it.

The point being that "special" doesn't mean all that much. When you look at "century riders", how about the ones that ride industrial cruisers? That ought to narrow the list right down. But it doesn't seem to get me on Stupid People Tricks, either.

Is 'Special' the same as 'Rare'?

but most people i work with put me in the "special like the kids you see wearing hockey helmets at the mall" Yeah - maybe I mean that kind of special........




Is 'Special' the same as 'Rare'? It can man the same, but "rare" is more aptly used to [modify a quantity] - as in - "It is rare to meet a cyclist who has completed more than 10 quad-centuries.]

If you ride distance because it isn't competitive, why brag about it to make it competitive?

How does the saying go? 68% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

My biggest accomplishments to date have been a two time finisher of the Pan Mass Challenge. Tame by randonneuring standards... I hope to complete the Petersburg 300K in September this year. I still probably won't feel that special though.

Crazy maybe. But not special.

your not that special for completing those two rides, distance-wise. you are special for the fundraising tho, i dont think i could ever pull together 4500 or whatever the fee is this year

If you ride distance because it isn't competitive, why brag about it to make it competitive?

:thumb: This is good sig line material.

We're all special in our own way. I learned that from TV. I think it was Barney the dinosaur.

If you ride distance because it isn't competitive, why brag about it to make it competitive?

Because anything can become a competition, if you try hard enough.

Technically brevets aren't competitions, but people do pay attention to who is up front, and what the latest greatest fastest time was. (well, I pay attention to that stuff, even if it isn't me up there)

For instance, the Charly Miller society (PBP in <65h) or Cyclos Montagnards.

Sometimes the competition can be with yourself - not to fall asleep "at the wheel", not to DNF out of laziness, or to beat your previous best.

So if you "win" against yourself or others, why not brag about it a little?

Unless there is a time limit there is nothing special about riding a century, double century or whatever.... it is like running a marathon or a half marathon in races which have very generous time limits..
Good for you but nothing special, anybody can do it.

No, yes, and ******* This is a thread about how people recognize the mathamatical probabilites of the general human population acting with respect to long distance cycling events. It may or may not matter to those who participate in long distance cycling events. Such as the current long distance forum audience.

I'm not sure whether this thread has any value or not. I wanted to discuss the relative uniqueness of long distance cycling and I thought proposing a set of "peeps per population" ratios was an interesting
way of engaging an audience.

PS the ******** = "and so what."

you have started a discussion, to be sure.

What if you ride the 508 solo on a fixed gear beach cruiser without a saddle?

My question about the 'stats'... I seriously doubt that 1% of the population has done a century. And I seriously doubt that 10% of those have done a double. However, I would guess that more than 1% of the people who have done a double have done a triple... There just aren't enough people that have done doubles to match the percentages... As a point, 21 people did the LA Grand Tour's Triple last year, compared to 4 for the quad (remember that they have a stiff time limit, so this turns a lot of people away from attempting the quad!). 319 people did the double centuries...

But I'll settle for being 1 in more than 2 million...

Riding long distances does not make me "special," just grateful.

I'm so special that I even wear my helmet when I'm not riding my bike.

I'm so special that I even wear my helmet when I'm not riding my bike.I don't miss the helmet, but I sure miss the mirror. I'm always walking along or hiking and find myself checking my mirror - but it isn't there. I wonder if I wore glasses if I'd just wear a glasses mirror all the time. That'd make me feel special for sure. Nerd X 10!