205 miles in a day (Tommy Godwin Challenge) - the Progress thread

[Dogtrousers]

Blimey.

O'Reilly

 

[Racing roadkill]

O'Reilly

Wasn't he a builder in an episode of Fawlty Towers?

 

[jo from the other place]

If you divide the total elevation by the total miles for each rider it indicates Kurt has done slightly more climbing per mile than Steve.

That sounds unlikely given Kurt's routes in recent weeks, but someone in the other place reckoned Kurt spent much of the year in hillier parts of America.

The figures are here:

http://ultracycling.com/sections/records/data/hamr/

The figures directly from the GPS are misleading (and the link you include only has Steve's restart data). By my calculation Steve has been riding with about double the elevation gain of Kurt. This is what I said in the other place:

----------

Elevation gain is tricky to measure in a reproducible way because it depends on how frequently you record elevation and is also more sensitive to GPS error (see the few days of atmospheric climbing for Kurt when his GPS was on the blink).

To compare more reliably, I've polled elevation every 5 minutes through the year for both riders and calculated the elevation gain from the change between those 5 minute elevation snapshots. This absolute figure is a little lower than Strava's (which poll elevation more frequently), but is consistent between riders so provides a good basis for comparison.

Over the year:

Kurt has gained around 113 vertical km in elevation, while Steve has gained around 235 vertical km. Standardising by distance covered this works out at around 0.94m elevation gain per km for Kurt and 2.25m per km for Steve. So Steve has been riding approximately 2.4 times as 'hilly' a terrain than Kurt. To put those figures in the context of typical UK riding, Audaxers would usually assume around 10m per km marks the boundary from gently rolling to hilly. So both are generally riding easier terrain than most UK rural riding.

To see the daily variation, I've graphed both riders with the thick line representing the 7 day rolling average elevation gain.

You may notice that Kurt's Wisconsin riding was his hilliest, but was still less than Steve's typical routes thought the year.

 

[Pale Rider]

The figures directly from the GPS are misleading (and the link you include only has Steve's restart data). By my calculation Steve has been riding with about double the elevation gain of Kurt. This is what I said in the other place:

----------

Elevation gain is tricky to measure in a reproducible way because it depends on how frequently you record elevation and is also more sensitive to GPS error (see the few days of atmospheric climbing for Kurt when his GPS was on the blink).

To compare more reliably, I've polled elevation every 5 minutes through the year for both riders and calculated the elevation gain from the change between those 5 minute elevation snapshots. This absolute figure is a little lower than Strava's (which poll elevation more frequently), but is consistent between riders so provides a good basis for comparison.

Over the year:

Kurt has gained around 113 vertical km in elevation, while Steve has gained around 235 vertical km. Standardising by distance covered this works out at around 0.94m elevation gain per km for Kurt and 2.25m per km for Steve. So Steve has been riding approximately 2.4 times as 'hilly' a terrain than Kurt. To put those figures in the context of typical UK riding, Audaxers would usually assume around 10m per km marks the boundary from gently rolling to hilly. So both are generally riding easier terrain than most UK rural riding.

To see the daily variation, I've graphed both riders with the thick line representing the 7 day rolling average elevation gain. View attachment 114734 You may notice that Kurt's Wisconsin riding was his hilliest, but was still less than Steve's typical routes thought the year.

One might expect the figures on the HAMR website to be accurate.

Equally, your graphs and calculations have a good reputation.

Both cannot be correct in this instance.

There is no good reason to automatically favour one source of information over the other.

Of course, it isn't a climbing challenge, it's a distance one.

But I do wonder if one measurement can be so far out, how accurate all the others are.

 

[ianrauk]

From Jo from the other place.. The OYTT Website HERE

Day 147 / 1: A new year and two new challengers: Bruce Berkeley currently based in Adelaide, Australia and Kajsa Tylan based in Nottingham, UK. Both get off to promising starts with Bruce clocking up 208 hilly miles, a couple above Godwin pace and Kajsa completing a 102 mile loop through Notts and the W. Midlands putting her 28 miles ahead of Billy Dovey's average of 79.6 mpd.

Meanwhile Kurt has just over a week to go and continues to put in long and fast days around Flatwoods Park. Jan 1st's loops add 222 miles to his total. Steve begins to up the his daily distance following enforced easier days under doctor's orders. His return from Acle to MK gives him another 202 miles for his August-August shot at the record.

 

[ianrauk]

Day 148 / 2: Smelling the finish line, Kurt edges ever closer to the record with today's Flatwood laps adding an impressive 240 miles. He is now within one or two days of the record. Steve does a there-and-back-again trip to Cirencester in the rain for a total of 191 miles. Bruce shows his ability to climb and ride fast with a 211 mile loop over the mountains east of Adelaide. Kajsa's wet 102 loop of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire keeps here well above Dovey pace.

 

[ianrauk]

 

[ianrauk]

From Jo from the other place.. The OYTT Website HERE


Day 149 / 3: Kurt eases off the gas just a little, completing 188 miles around Flatwood Park some of which was in heavy rain. This leaves him just 142 miles short of Tommy Godwin's record and 6 days remaining. Steve feeling a little rough rides north to Goole in poor winter weather, bedding down for the night after 161 miles. Bruce puts in another strong performance with more climbing and high average speed for a total of 210 miles. Kajsa rides a loop south of Nottingham with the poor weather cutting her day a little shorter than planned at 87 miles. This still leaves her 55 miles ahead of the Dovey line though.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

If anyone is interested Kajsa's Strava profile is https://www.strava.com/athletes/2276762

 

[ianrauk]

And Kurt has just broken the record.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

And Kurt has just broken the record.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Well done Kurt.

 

[summerdays]

Congratulations Kurt... It's a fantastic achievement

 

[Scoosh]

It seems like no time at all when they were starting out on their adventures and now, here we are, with a new record !

An amazing feat of physical and mental stamina, determination, some ruthlessness thrown in and above all, incredible attitude from all the serious competitors.

Chapeau to Kurt and he'll probably celebrate by doing a couple of 250mile days !

 

[Donger]

I rode 62 miles on New Year's Day, and ended up so sore I felt like I'd just laid an egg. There was no way I was riding anywhere the next day. I cannot even imagine doing the same thing every single day this year...... and that would still have got me only about 30% of the way to the record. To anyone who continues to niggle at Kurt's amazing achievement, I just invite you to put it all into context by comparing it to your own best efforts in this way. It is truly astounding.

To Steve:, "Chapeau, Sir". Brilliant achievement, given your motorised yokel encounter. To Kurt: "Congratulations. We are not worthy".