# The monthly climbing challenge



## Heisenberg (28 Oct 2014)

Was browsing the audax section and seen their monthly challenge threads. I thought it was a good idea and a way to have a bit of a challenge each month. I thought it might be good to do a MTB version. So my proposal is a monthy points system and you will be awarded 2 points for every ride that has above 2000ft of climbing (the height of a mountain).

Bonus points.

0.5 points awarded for a ride over 1000ft (half mountain)

5 points to anyone who manages 4409 or above (the height of Ben nevis!!)

You can only get either 0.5, 2 or 5 points per ride they can't be accumulated.

If you want to add a link to strava then you can if you don't then it doesn't matter there is no prize its just a bit of fun and a way to challenge yourself a bit.

The ride obviously must be done on a mountain bike and if all the climbs are on roads then it doesn't really keep in the spirit of things so it must be at least predomony off road. Again it's just a bit of fun and a way to challenge yourself. Any takers for November?


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## Cubist (28 Oct 2014)

Heisenberg said:


> Was browsing the audax section and seen their monthly challenge threads. I thought it was a good idea and a way to have a bit of a challenge each month. I thought it might be good to do a MTB version. So my proposal is a monthy points system and you will be awarded 2 points for every ride that has above 2000ft of climbing (the height of a mountain).
> 
> Bonus points.
> 
> ...


Good idea......but I'm off the bike until at least mid-November. I live at 1400 feet in the South Pennines so virtually every ride has a mountain or two in it!


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## Heisenberg (28 Oct 2014)

Good stuff. The idea is to aim for at least 1 ride a month above 2000ft and anything else is a bonus. Although one ride above 2000 ft isn't the world's greatest achievement it may mean more people would be up for it and the more active people could beef up their scores with extra points. I reckon you'll be able to squeeze one in before the end of Nov


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## outlash (29 Oct 2014)

Nice idea, (and I'm playing devil's advocate here) but if you live out on the fens, aren't you at a huge disadvantage?


Tony.


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## steveindenmark (29 Oct 2014)

Oh come on ?.....I live in Denmark.

Cant we have to percentage of hills in your country or am I just excluded :0)


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## Jody (29 Oct 2014)

I will have a shot if we get out into the peaks next month. My normal local Sunday rides only have about 1,250ft of climbs.


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## voyager (29 Oct 2014)

Down here in Sunny Sussex  the highest point is Devils Dyke and that is only 719 feet , Nice Pub there when you reach it  .
Can we import a hill or two into Sussex to climb or are we excluded too or rent a mountain  for the day 

regards emma


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## Crackle (29 Oct 2014)

Good idea but I reckon I'll be struggling to even get half a point on most of my rides even when I go to a trail centre.


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## Heisenberg (29 Oct 2014)

Never mind all, anyone got any suggestions then? A point for every 500ft or something? Open to any suggestions, an incentive to ride over winter and gives everyone something to chat about too


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## voyager (30 Oct 2014)

In the Tour of Britain, we had 2 Cat 1 climbs here in Brighton , Ditchling Beacon and Bear Road obviously they dont count in your scoring although they rated pretty high in the Tour.

regards emma


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## Heisenberg (30 Oct 2014)

I assume they are roads if they were In the tour of Britain, wouldn't really be in the spirit of the MTB forum to include road climbs, you don't even really need to live anywhere mountainous to reach 1000ft in a ride, you could just do a series of smaller climbs, a lap of cannock will put you over a 1000ft of total climbing.


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## voyager (30 Oct 2014)

I don't do much off road work on a trike , they dont fit though the gaps between trees




etc so easily and its a bit scarey with 3 wheels off the ground 

regards emma


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## Heisenberg (30 Oct 2014)

I don't know Emma, I reckon there's fun to be had there, must feel twice as fast going downhill on a trike


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## voyager (30 Oct 2014)

55 mph down hill is QUICK ( and stable ) believe me


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## Heisenberg (30 Oct 2014)

Fastest I've been is about 45 on a road bike. Must be great fun catching speed on the trike


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## voyager (30 Oct 2014)

Sitting 12 " of the ground it feels like 90 , The problem with 20" wheels is that the road has to be smooth to enjoy it  .


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## Nigelnaturist (1 Nov 2014)

dam another field to put in the database, is this per ride or per day as I some times can be out and record the days riding in three or more rides.


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## Heisenberg (1 Nov 2014)

Nigelnaturist said:


> dam another field to put in the database, is this per ride or per day as I some times can be out and record the days riding in three or more rides.



Either is fine, there's no prizes for winning , just be good to see peoples rides and can be a bit of a motivator if need be.


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## Heisenberg (1 Nov 2014)

Another idea is there is no rules about the ride. So 10 miles on a paved cycle path gives you the same as 10 miles through the middle of a forest. If you do a flat 30 miles you get the same points as someone who has ridden 15 miles and climbed 1500 ft. Makes the playing field more even that way. I only ride once a week so you dont have to be an athlete to join in, its just a good way to see rides in different parts of the country and have a bit of fun


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## Nigelnaturist (1 Nov 2014)

@Heisenberg
There you go last months total, based on a daily total. These figures are corrected with rwgps, some times up some times down but pretty close to the edge 705 usually, if it was taken solely on the bryton R20 and strava I would never get above 1,000ft, well not very often, the data from the edge 705 on strava can sometimes be a bit high too.


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## Heisenberg (1 Nov 2014)

@Nigelnaturist
Good month, that is exactly the type of thing I had in mind when I created the thread. Most of my rides will be half points and the original idea was to aim for above 2k at least once a month. What do you think about the format? Continue with the original idea or look at the revised format, a point for each 5 miles and or 500ft? The latter may encourage a bit more participation. I'm out tomorrow so I'll post up how I get along.


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## Nigelnaturist (1 Nov 2014)

@Heisenberg I can't do it now, but a field for accumulated mileage is easy enough int(distance/5) then plus the height tally its easy for me to do, it might not be for others.

Here is one I did earlier, this for all the months since I started.






But remember what I said about the Edge 500 and rwgps correction, it might be a tad high.


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## Nigelnaturist (1 Nov 2014)

Same as above but with the point every 5 miles,


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## Nigelnaturist (8 Nov 2014)

I think you would need to make that a point every 50 miles.


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