Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - June challenge: 5,000 vertical feet

I tried to pick a number that's attainable by pretty much everyone, except people in Florida. (Sorry.) This isn't quite a mile, and you have a whole month to do it. If this isn't challenging enough for you, though, please feel free to substitute a more aggressive goal.

There are three prizes:


An achievement to be proud of,
Lots of fun, especially on the way down, and probably great scenery to enjoy from your bike,
More strength as a result.

This works on the honor system, like the X miles threads. Only, for this challenge, it doesn't matter how many miles you ride, just how much elevation. Any hill climbing you do on a bike counts toward the goal.

Who's in?

10k for me! What's your goal, you billy goat. I know you're sandbagging if you say 5k.

I'm sure i'll do that but the apps I use do not seem to tabulate that metric. Maybe I should start a ticker to track that as well......... or maybe simply instead of miles.

I will take the 5,000 feet in elevation. I am in!

Count me in. Have rides this month with hills!

10k for me! What's your goal, you billy goat. I know you're sandbagging if you say 5k.

I thought about that before posting this, a lot, and "goal" keeps morphing into "prediction." My riding has changed since I realized I can throw the bike in the car and go somewhere else to pedal ... I stopped thinking about numbers, and now I think about specific rides. If the weather (and my schedule) allows, I want to do Hurricane Ridge this month, and at least one BOMROD (Best of Mount Rainier in One Day). I guess my real goal is to spend more time in the mountains.

I'd like to do 5,000 feet or so ... on Saturday. And no, I won't carry sand bags. ;)

Probably around 20,000 for the month, but the one thing that could undo me is if I wind up doing a lot of backpacking this month. Most of the places I want to go are still snowed out, though.

If all goes well, tonight I should be hitting 8000ft/500mi (16ft/mi), and that's with only 1 specific hill ride this month. For June my plan is to increase my hill training to once a week so I should get in 4 hilly rides. Perhaps 12k will be obtainable for me. I'll shoot for 12,000ft/600mi (20ft/mi).

I will take the 5,000 feet in elevation. I am in!

Sandbagger. We're going to get at least 4k on Saturday.

I'll give it a shot. The only problem I have is most of the hills are just rolling hills, about 20-100 feet tall. I know they all add up, but that means a ton of rolling hills. ( Did I mention I hate hill work?)

Elevation last 3 months
March ~ 19,821
April ~ 6,466
May ~ 7,296

I'm sure i'll do that but the apps I use do not seem to tabulate that metric. Maybe I should start a ticker to track that as well......... or maybe simply instead of miles.

What are you using?

If you have GPX files for all your rides, and run Windows, I can send you an app I wrote that calculates metrics.

Sandbagger. We're going to get at least 4k on Saturday.


Yeah next two weekends I'm looking at 10k, I'm going to say 20k.

Now we just have to work on that prize list...

Pride is good and all, but how's about picking up one of those Cervelos I see laying all over Washington and shipping it over?

I got no chance!

I can ride 3000 miles and not get that around here!

I need to work more on hills anyway.
I'm in for 10,000.

I only managed to get in 7 rides in May but still got 14,700 ft. I shooting for at least 20-25,000 ft in June. 13,000+ of that will come in one ride!!!

Now we just have to work on that prize list...

Pride is good and all, but how's about picking up one of those Cervelos I see laying all over Washington and shipping it over?

That sounds like a really good idea! But it can be improved on. Suppose someone were to take a bike vacation to WA, do some climbing in the mountains where all those bikes have been spotted (I see them laying around everywhere on my rides!), get your miles and your altitude in, and finance the trip by selling the bikes you find?

Somebody must have abandoned this one to snow shoe on the Pacific Crest Trail:

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Rainier/CayuseAndChinookPasses/DSC01535.jpg

I have never tracked that metric, does garmin connect report on it anyway that you guys know of?

I am in, I'll try the 5k just to see what happens.

5K of climbing would require me to ride my usual 50 mile route every day for the full month.

Easy for me, in a manner of speaking. I usually do 1000 ft in a single weekend ride. It's hard not to do where I live. I'm in.

I've been tracking rides on Endomondo, but I suspect the elevations recorded by that, and other GPS apps, are off to the high side by at least 10%, and possibly as high as 15-20%. This is due to the nature of the elevation data, which is interpolated from points taken during a satellite radar survey. If you go over a bridge, it may, or may not depending on where the datum points are registered, record you as going down then back up the bridged feature.

Example, this is the traverse of a valley on a bridge that is relatively flat in Orange county (did it on a club ride last month) http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1259344

I have never tracked that metric, does garmin connect report on it anyway that you guys know of?

I am in, I'll try the 5k just to see what happens.

Yes, elevation gain shows up in the summary box for each ride on the left side of the screen. You can also run a report and it will show you the total gained for the report range.

Probably around 20,000 for the month, but the one thing that could undo me is if I wind up doing a lot of backpacking this month. Most of the places I want to go are still snowed out, though.


Ha, that describes me pretty well. I'm in for 20k in June, but I usually drop off quite a bit in July and August for the reason SF mentioned.

I have never tracked that metric, does garmin connect report on it anyway that you guys know of?

I am in, I'll try the 5k just to see what happens.


I've been tracking rides on Endomondo, but I suspect the elevations recorded by that, and other GPS apps, are off to the high side by at least 10%, and possibly as high as 15-20%. This is due to the nature of the elevation data, which is interpolated from points taken during a satellite radar survey. If you go over a bridge, it may, or may not depending on where the datum points are registered, record you as going down then back up the bridged feature.

Example, this is the traverse of a valley on a bridge that is relatively flat in Orange county (did it on a club ride last month) http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1259344

Garmin Connect has an option - it's a button you can click - to ignore the elevation data in the file, and instead use USGS altitude data for the points you went over.

I don't know if GC will aggregate this for you, but if you go into the individual rides, the total altitude gain is on the left, near the top, along with ride time, max speed, etc. You also get elevation charts, like this:

http://landscapephoto.us/Events/Rainier/CayuseAndChinookPasses/Elevation.JPG

I like a program called SportTracks; it does the same stuff, but you can lay things like your speed, cadence, and/or heart rate over the ele data. And it'll total your elevation gain by month, year, or whatever. So will Golden Cheetah, which is free. I wrote an app that'll total the altitude gain in a bunch of GPX file, but it doesn't correct them first, and requires Windows. Honestly, I'd recommend someone else's app.

I don't track mine, except on a per-ride basis. Every now and then I'll have the computer calculate a total for whatever time period I'm interested in. For the purposes of this challenge, I'm not going to keep a spreadsheet or anything, but part of that is because I'll get my 5,000 feet in a single ride, maybe a few times.

I think for the Clyde and Athena thread 5K is a good climbing goal. I am in! And remember SF, most of mine will be MTBing. Skinny tires scare me. Show me the dust, its Biblical ya know. From the dust we were taken and to the dust we shall return. Its our destiny to ride trails! :thumb: We are not "made" to ride pavement! :innocent:

I'm in. I did ~160 miles and 3,200' in May, and I know I can do better. I've got a 1,000' ~10% grade climb pretty much in my backyard that I should be able to do at least a few times during the month.

I'm in for 5000, even though I am not yet sure where I am going to be in June.

5K of climbing would require me to ride my usual 50 mile route every day for the full month.

So, what is the problem? :)

Just went out and did 1671 in the neighborhood... too bad it's still May.

I missed 400 miles for May by 1 stinking mile, talk about a miscalculation! Took a wrong turn on my ride, what a bummer.

I found the report..I was kinda surprised I did 3700 feet the last 30 days....I have 5k in the bag

Just went out and did 1671 in the neighborhood... too bad it's still May.

I missed 400 miles for May by 1 stinking mile, talk about a miscalculation! Took a wrong turn on my ride, what a bummer.

Still an hour left in the day; 3 where you are I reckon. Get on out, bike for 5 minutes, and come back :)

5000' this Saturday. I'm in for 10,000' although I think tandem climbing should count double.

To Date:
6/2 63 tandem miles 3550'
6/3 14 single miles a meager 270'. Total to date 3820' (5000'+ coming up on Saturday)
6/5 13.5 tandem miles, 370' . Total to date 4190'
6/7 12.1 tandem miles, 265' Total to date 4455'
6/9 61.8 single miles 4805' Total to date 9260' (only 740' to go!)
6/11 12.2 single miles 627' Total to date 9887' (113' to go!)
6/12 13.0 single miles 267' Total to date 10,154' :D

DONE

I have no excuse for those meager <20 mile rides.

Still an hour left in the day; 3 where you are I reckon. Get on out, bike for 5 minutes, and come back :)

My driveway is a nightmare... if I want to go riding, it's guaranteed climbing and frankly, I'm a little beat. I guess this means I'll be forced to hit 400 in June, just out of spite. :D

rdtompki - tandem riding is clearly half. You're only doing half the work. Yep, that's the ticket. ;)

This has been a sucky year for us on the bikes (family deaths). I only have 45,000 ft of gain year to date. Hopefully I can pick it back up this month. Past years I've gotten as much as 35,000 in a month, this year sucks.:D

My driveway is a nightmare... if I want to go riding, it's guaranteed climbing and frankly, I'm a little beat. I guess this means I'll be forced to hit 400 in June, just out of spite. :D

rdtompki - tandem riding is clearly half. You're only doing half the work. Yep, that's the ticket. ;)

No 401... You need to make up for that 1 mile you were short.. So maybe 450 instead as a penalty for not reaching 400 this month...Yes I can be a slave driver I think its my past military service coming out. :D :eek: :D

I am in for a ton of climbing this month. I hope to climb Teton pass by the middle of next month, so I have some training to do! The full climb/decent/climb/decent is over 4250 feet of climbing.

No 401... You need to make up for that 1 mile you were short.. So maybe 450 instead as a penalty for not reaching 400 this month...Yes I can be a slave driver I think its my past military service coming out. :D :eek: :D

Bah, I was in the Navy, I'm immune to your military pressure. :D

401 might work though.

Sandbagger. We're going to get at least 4k on Saturday.


But did you ever think you'd hear ChefIssac say he's in for climbing?
You've turned that lad into a monster I tell you.

I'll only have 20 days to ride in June if there's no rain so I might could make 5k'

Sandbagger. We're going to get at least 4k on Saturday.

What the hell do you want from me? A month ago I would have skipped over this thread and at least I am saying I want too climb. jeeeeze :)

I'll only have 20 days to ride in June if there's no rain so I might could make 5k'

Now thats sandbagging!

I should do 7k easy, I'll push for 10k though. If my friends and I hook up for a mountain pass ride, the total could be a lot more.

5K of climbing would require me to ride my usual 50 mile route every day for the full month.

5,000 feet of elevation gain would require me to ride at least 8 to 10 miles. :eek: :twitchy:

EDIT: Come to think of it, I could get 5,000 feet ele in about 3.8 miles without leaving town, if I did hill repeats on East Roy Street.

May for me was 7 rides over 221 miles and 9800 feet. I'd like to double that this coming month. 20k for me.

Garmin Connect has an option - it's a button you can click - to ignore the elevation data in the file, and instead use USGS altitude data for the points you went over.



I believe it is the USGS DEM (digital elevation model) that most, if not all of these programs access, in addition to the Street Name Index maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. It has been about ten years since I started a GIS program at Cal State, and didn't finish it, so I am going from memory here. I seem to remember that the DEM is available at different resolutions, and what you are talking about is accessing the higher resolution data.

First ride of the month. ~5 mi. and a whopping -40ft.

I checked my stats for May and found I had elevation gain of over 4900 ft! So I might set my goal at 6000 ft

Looks like my June climbing will include a bit of MTB. :eek:

Now thats sandbagging!

How so!
Pot meet kettle

What the hell do you want from me? A month ago I would have skipped over this thread and at least I am saying I want too climb. jeeeeze :)

And I for one am impressed.
Your wanting to go climb just makes me want to climb more. An inspiration.

I've averaged 18,999' for the last three months. I'm in.

And I for one am impressed.
Your wanting to go climb just makes me want to climb more. An inspiration.

Wish you could ride with us tomorrow! :(