# 2023 Consistency Challenge



## si_c (20 Dec 2022)

The idea of this challenge is to encourage consistency over the 12 months rather than forcing you to log big rides.

Rides over a certain distance will net you points, and you score cumulatively over the year with each month being subject to a cap. Rides that you use for the metric/imperial century/half century rides can be included in this challenge.

*Scoring*:

25miles / 40km - 1 pt
50miles / 80km - 2 pt
100miles / 160km 3pt

*Rules*:

1) Only 1 contributing ride per day
2) Each ride must be unbroken with no extended breaks between the start/finish (so commutes won't count, sorry).
3) You may allocate a total of 3 rides to a different month over the course of the year and the points for that ride will contribute to that month's score (this is to allow late starters to catch up). Such an allocation will still be subject to the receiving month's cap.
4) You can score no more than 10 points in a given month, you may log additional rides here, but you won't score points for them.
5) This is done on an honour system, but if you think you will be competing for a top spot then including a link to the strava/rwgps/garmin/komoot ride might be a good idea.
6) If a ride starts before midnight and ends after midnight on the last day of a month, you can choose which month you want it to apply to.

*Bonus points*:

1000m/3200ft climbing - 0.5pt, max 2pts per month
Logging a ride - 1pt, max 1pt per month

You can start at any point in the year by replying, and I will link your entry below, please edit your post to keep track of the rides, one line for each ride, including distance, climbing (if you want the bonus points), dates ride completed over and the month the ride will apply to if not the month of completion. Please keep a running tally of points at the top of your post.

I'll tally up the points at the end of the year and we'll have a scoreboard to see how everyone got on.


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## si_c (20 Dec 2022)

Challenge Entrants below


Joffey
Alex321
Si_C
bluenotebob


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## Joffey (21 Dec 2022)

Do Zwift rides count?


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## si_c (21 Dec 2022)

Joffey said:


> Do Zwift rides count?



Hmm. I had to think about that, the point is to encourage consistency and getting out on your bike primarily, but not everyone can all the time. That being said, it's a challenge not a competition, so yes, virtual rides can count. However when compiling the list at the end I'll tag anyone who includes virtual rides.


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## Joffey (21 Dec 2022)

I'm in. I should do enough outdoor not to need Zwift anyway 👍


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## Alex321 (21 Dec 2022)

I'm in. How long is "extended" - how long can you spend in a Café stop?

I'll do it in miles, as that is what I have my Wahoo set to show me while I'm riding.


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## si_c (21 Dec 2022)

Alex321 said:


> I'm in. How long is "extended" - how long can you spend in a Café stop?
> 
> I'll do it in miles, as that is what I have my Wahoo set to show me while I'm riding.



Sure, by extended I mean several hours, having a cafe stop mid-ride shouldn't be constrained by time. No reason on a longer ride you shouldn't be able to have multiple cafe stops. It's a judgement call for the rider.


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## si_c (21 Dec 2022)

I'm in as well I suppose. I'll do it in km as that's how I tend to think when riding. Although I display miles on my GPS, go figure.


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## bluenotebob (21 Dec 2022)

I'll join in the fun too .. I like the sound of re-allocating a few rides between months. Anything that takes the pressure off Dec/Jan/Feb..

What's the position re bike changes? I have a habit of going out late morning on one of my mountain bikes, coming home, grabbing a banana then going out on my road bike for a much longer ride ... and counting the overall distance done on both bikes as one ride. 

I didn't understand the reference to 'logging a ride' - what does that mean and why does it qualify for a bonus point? 

I also like the idea of getting a point for a 40km ride .. a lot of my rides in 2022 were between 40 and 45km.

And yes, my 'distance measure' will be kilometres.


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## si_c (21 Dec 2022)

bluenotebob said:


> I'll join in the fun too .. I like the sound of re-allocating a few rides between months. Anything that takes the pressure off Dec/Jan/Feb..
> 
> What's the position re bike changes? I have a habit of going out late morning on one of my mountain bikes, coming home, grabbing a banana then going out on my road bike for a much longer ride ... and counting the overall distance done on both bikes as one ride.
> 
> ...



That's why I thought of allowing a few rides to be shifted. Bike changes are fine - if the Pro's can do it, I've not got a problem. Presuming of course that you don't get home, have a shower, read the paper, watch some TV and then go out again 

I was trying to get a balance for this challenge, a lot of the other ones are for longer distances, not everyone wants or is able to do a 100mi ride each month, but 3 or 4 25mile rides is much more achievable, and if you go for a longer ride then you don't need to do as many short rides.

Logging a ride simply means you did a qualifying ride in that month, it's a consistency bonus, if you ride every month you get 12 additional points through the year, if you don't ride in Jan/Dec and move a ride or two around through the year, you only get 10 points.


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## Ming the Merciless (21 Dec 2022)

Why isn’t 100 miles worth 4 points?


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## si_c (21 Dec 2022)

Ming the Merciless said:


> Why isn’t 100 miles worth 4 points?



I thought about that, but the objective was to encourage participants to get out and ride their bikes, if it was four points then the incentive might be towards doing fewer but longer rides instead. So you still get some recognition for the longer ride but it's weighted towards more frequent shorter rides.


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## Dogtrousers (22 Dec 2022)

Permit me to be pernickety. This may seem like I'm being negative but better to test the rules now than later.

To complete the challenge you just need to do just one ride of 40km/25mi per month. But if you want to complete it with more points you can. Is that right? In fact (because you can transfer rides), you just need to do 12 40k/25m rides over a period of 9 months at the minimum.

_4) You may allocate a total of 3 rides to a different month over the course of the year and the points for that ride will contribute to that month's score (this is to allow late starters to catch up). Such an allocation will still be subject to the receiving month's cap._

So you can skip three months of the challenge and still complete it? An extreme case: You can get to September, transfer three rides, one each into Oct, Nov and Dec and put your feet up. Isn't that the opposite of consistency? 
Or if you go on tour and have an excess of rides you can spread them around other months. Again, that doesn't encourage consistency, but rewards binging.

_3) You must pick a distance measure at the start of the year, no swapping between km/mi._
What's the thinking behind this rule? What would the problem be if someone logged some rides in miles and some in km? Are you concerned that someone might start out on km, then fall a wee bit short on one ride (eg a 99.5 mile ride) and cheat by swapping to km because their failed ride in miles is a success in km?

40km=24.9 miles; 25 miles=40.2 km (rounded to nearest 0.1)
80km=49.7 miles; 50miles=80.5 km
160km = 99.4 miles; 100 miles = 160.9 km

Surely that's close enough to be equivalent and you don't need this rule? The fewer rules the better. Or am I missing something? 
I've no idea why anyone would mix units. Most people stick to their preference. But if someone fancies doing km on even numbered days and miles on odd numbers, what's the harm?

Lastly, There's no mention in the rules that you have to get points in all 12 months at the end of the year to complete the challenge.

It actually sounds like it's intended to be competitive which isn't my thing (that's not a criticism btw, each to their own) so I think I'll stick with the vanilla challenges.


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## Alex321 (22 Dec 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Permit me to be pernickety. This may seem like I'm being negative but better to test the rules now than later.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> It actually sounds like it's intended to be competitive which isn't my thing (that's not a criticism btw, each to their own) so I think I'll stick with the vanilla challenges.



I think that is right. From the last line of the OP

"I'll tally up the points at the end of the year and we'll have a scoreboard to see how everyone got on."

Though I suspect quite a few will end up with the maximum of 120 points.

I think finishing with 12 points isn't really "completing" the challenge, but there is no definition of what would count as "complete".


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## Dogtrousers (22 Dec 2022)

Alex321 said:


> I think finishing with 12 points isn't really "completing" the challenge, but there is no definition of what would count as "complete".



I may appear to be being deliberately obtuse here (because I am  ) but if there's no definition of what would count as complete - then it's not really a challenge. If finishing with 12 points isn't completing it - what is the lower limit? 13?

And most importantly, do I get a star or other badge? And what does it look like 

By being so negative and carping on I'm actually trying to be helpful and possibly improve it.

Here's where I'm coming from. Various challenges on here have been tremendously useful motivational tools for me over the years: _I simply have to get out on the bike tomorrow or I'll be out of the challenge _(whatever it is). The lunacy challenge waters that motivational power down a bit by allowing you to skip months and then catch up, but the overall target of 13 is enough to get you out of bed. I'm not really seeing the same motivational power in this. 

Without some kind of lower limit or a pre-declared personal target (like the luncacy challenge has) or something like that it would be easy to cruise round without trying very hard, and with little chance of failing to finish, and pick up the shiny badge at the end.


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## Dogtrousers (22 Dec 2022)

si_c said:


> I thought about that, but the objective was to encourage participants to get out and ride their bikes, if it was four points then the incentive might be towards doing fewer but longer rides instead. So you still get some recognition for the longer ride but it's weighted towards more frequent shorter rides.



What's to stop me from logging my 160km ride as two 80km rides?  

I know, I know. I'll shut up now.


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## GuyBoden (22 Dec 2022)

Can you miss a month, if it's bad weather or you're not feeling well, or maybe due to an injury?


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## Ming the Merciless (22 Dec 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> What's to stop me from logging my 160km ride as two 80km rides?
> 
> I know, I know. I'll shut up now.



You can only log one ride per day.


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## Alex321 (22 Dec 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> I may appear to be being deliberately obtuse here (because I am  ) but if there's no definition of what would count as complete - then it's not really a challenge. If finishing with 12 points isn't completing it - what is the lower limit? 13?
> 
> And most importantly, do I get a star or other badge? And what does it look like
> 
> ...



I have to be honest, I think the OP sees it more as a contest than as that type of challenge.

But we would have to hear back from him as to whether he sees it as something to complete, possibly with a nice shiny badge, or not. And if it is something to complete, then what are the criteria for that.

The aim was stated as being to encourage consistency, so maybe you would need at least 60 points (which averages at 5 per month, needing at least two qualifying rides). But maybe he has other ideas.


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## Alex321 (22 Dec 2022)

GuyBoden said:


> Can you miss a month, if it's bad weather or you're not feeling well, or maybe due to an injury?



He said that over the course of the year, you are allowed to "transfer" up to 3 rides into different months than the one you actually rode them in.


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## si_c (22 Dec 2022)

Quite a lot to unpack here!



Dogtrousers said:


> Permit me to be pernickety. This may seem like I'm being negative but better to test the rules now than later.
> 
> To complete the challenge you just need to do just one ride of 40km/25mi per month. But if you want to complete it with more points you can. Is that right? In fact (because you can transfer rides), you just need to do 12 40k/25m rides over a period of 9 months at the minimum.
> 
> ...


Yes, but equally I don't want to discourage people who for whatever reason are unable to complete a month and then feel as though there is no point continuing. You can only move 3 rides and each ride is worth a maximum of 5 points (4000m of climbing in 160km) so it would help people catch up a touch but you wouldn't get the bonus point for riding that month if you skipped it entirely.


Dogtrousers said:


> _3) You must pick a distance measure at the start of the year, no swapping between km/mi._
> What's the thinking behind this rule? What would the problem be if someone logged some rides in miles and some in km? Are you concerned that someone might start out on km, then fall a wee bit short on one ride (eg a 99.5 mile ride) and cheat by swapping to km because their failed ride in miles is a success in km?


You're right, I'll change this, it will be either distance will qualify for the point, it makes it easier to tally up as well and they are so close in distance that it doesn't really matter. I'll adjust the rules to reflect this.


Dogtrousers said:


> 40km=24.9 miles; 25 miles=40.2 km (rounded to nearest 0.1)
> 80km=49.7 miles; 50miles=80.5 km
> 160km = 99.4 miles; 100 miles = 160.9 km
> 
> ...


No you don't have to get points in all 12 months to complete the challenge but you would get fewer points overall


Dogtrousers said:


> It actually sounds like it's intended to be competitive which isn't my thing (that's not a criticism btw, each to their own) so I think I'll stick with the vanilla challenges.


It's really not meant to be competitive other than with yourself, but if it's not for you, that's fine. I'm doing it to encourage myself to get out more often, something I've struggled a little with since working from home.


Dogtrousers said:


> I may appear to be being deliberately obtuse here (because I am  ) but if there's no definition of what would count as complete - then it's not really a challenge. If finishing with 12 points isn't completing it - what is the lower limit? 13?





Dogtrousers said:


> And most importantly, do I get a star or other badge? And what does it look like


I think everyone gets  for trying, but yes, there should be some recognition of completion, with the bonuses available (156pts max), I think that you should aim for Bronze (40pts), Silver (80pts) or Gold (120pts) over the year. I've no idea what the indicator would be (I'd like a bronze/silver/gold bicycle) but stars could suffice, but I don't want to confuse them with the other challenges, I'll have to find something, but I have a year to do that.


Dogtrousers said:


> By being so negative and carping on I'm actually trying to be helpful and possibly improve it.


No, that's fine, I expected feedback, if it makes the challenge more coherent and/or interesting. The other challenges have the advantage of being embedded, but we're the scrappy upstart people's challenge 


Dogtrousers said:


> Here's where I'm coming from. Various challenges on here have been tremendously useful motivational tools for me over the years: _I simply have to get out on the bike tomorrow or I'll be out of the challenge _(whatever it is). The lunacy challenge waters that motivational power down a bit by allowing you to skip months and then catch up, but the overall target of 13 is enough to get you out of bed. I'm not really seeing the same motivational power in this.
> 
> Without some kind of lower limit or a pre-declared personal target (like the luncacy challenge has) or something like that it would be easy to cruise round without trying very hard, and with little chance of failing to finish, and pick up the shiny badge at the end.


That's fair enough, I think adding in the tiered rewards (bronze/silver/gold) will add some incentive, but feel free to make additional suggestions.


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