Winter Training Challenges - Signup/Discussion Thread
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For admins all we have to do is add a 1 in the Feb Distance table under the relevant rider/ distance column, if in doubt leave it with me to cover this.
As for logging, stick it either by the side of the ride or at the bottom under claimed distance bonus much like before.
Additionally come the end of Feb your position in the distance league table matters:
The entry sheet for this is called 'Feb Distance' and looks like this:
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To think I was already finding this winter training challenge motivating!
The overall standing chart yes, but particularly the 4 categories with the Pro/Reg movement from each so competition is more tailored to each cyclists' abilities. Good job Jakess/Jason!0 -
Glad your getting something out of it, the question is now how many people will cotton onto claiming the new distance bonus points, you snooze you loose may well be the case
I won't be shouting at dodgy loggings on the bonus points as it's a late in the day addition, on the last month so I think everyone who logs now does it pretty spot on, the new distance bonus points are only an extension to the existing century based distance points so hopefully wont cause too much head scratching, if in doubt keep calm and post as normal. 0 -
MFP_WC_101 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_102 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_103 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
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MFP_WC_107 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
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MFP_WC_201 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
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MFP_WC_203 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_204 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_205 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_206 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
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MFP_WC_301 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_302 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_303 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_304 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
MFP_WC_305 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
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MFP_WC_307 by The Big Yin, on Flickr
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Nice work Mark 0
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Jakess1971 wrote: »Nice work Mark
no problem, the dossards are the easy bit - working out who gets what number (your job) is the time consuming bit, and grateful I am that you're putting in the time to sort it
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Why have you gone up to 500km bonus? Who is going to be doing a 20+ hour ride xD haha0
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Why have you gone up to 500km bonus? Who is going to be doing a 20+ hour ride xD haha
I had you in mind for this one Dave, didn't you suggest to me that you might have a bash at the Festive 500 in one day, well now you can get rewarded by bonus points for it, you could earn 40 odd points in one day if you really go nuts on the distance.
Thing is the Imperial Century bonus was always a nice carrot to earn but I'm looking to expand on that for Feb so it's nice to have higher levels to aim for, I highly doubt anyone will go beyond a couple of hundred km personally.
I think it's also a nice thing for the lower end too, say if your doing a 36km ride and you know the next checkpoint is 50km bonus you might stick that extra effort in for the bonus, I'm hoping that is the effect it has anyway, the Feb Distance Bonus League will hopefully be as motivating as the Cat leagues which I think have really made the Winter challenge. Of course the whole idea might prove rubbish but I like to try things out and see what works well.
Note: I purposely kept the Metric and Imperial bonus points the same as before just in case people don't cotton onto it, if you declare the same as before then it's still valid.Jakess1971 wrote: »Nice work Mark
no problem, the dossards are the easy bit - working out who gets what number (your job) is the time consuming bit, and grateful I am that you're putting in the time to sort it
Your turn come the 14th with the Classics, I'll be more then happy to see someone else run one of these after 4 months doing one! 0 -
Jakess1971 wrote: »...I'll be more then happy to see someone else run one of these after 4 months doing one!
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lol yep!0
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Jakess1971 wrote: »Why have you gone up to 500km bonus? Who is going to be doing a 20+ hour ride xD haha
I had you in mind for this one Dave, didn't you suggest to me that you might have a bash at the Festive 500 in one day, well now you can get rewarded by bonus points for it, you could earn 40 odd points in one day if you really go nuts on the distance.
Thing is the Imperial Century bonus was always a nice carrot to earn but I'm looking to expand on that for Feb so it's nice to have higher levels to aim for, I highly doubt anyone will go beyond a couple of hundred km personally.
I think it's also a nice thing for the lower end too, say if your doing a 36km ride and you know the next checkpoint is 50km bonus you might stick that extra effort in for the bonus, I'm hoping that is the effect it has anyway, the Feb Distance Bonus League will hopefully be as motivating as the Cat leagues which I think have really made the Winter challenge. Of course the whole idea might prove rubbish but I like to try things out and see what works well.
Note: I purposely kept the Metric and Imperial bonus points the same as before just in case people don't cotton onto it, if you declare the same as before then it's still valid.Jakess1971 wrote: »Nice work Mark
no problem, the dossards are the easy bit - working out who gets what number (your job) is the time consuming bit, and grateful I am that you're putting in the time to sort it
Your turn come the 14th with the Classics, I'll be more then happy to see someone else run one of these after 4 months doing one!
Fair enough xD but yeah plans for massive rides from me, back on the training these days, first race is booked 19th march, the day before i go Mallorca for a week xD0 -
I'm very honored to be promoted to Cat 1, though I feel like I have my work cut out riding amongst the top cyclists.0
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Just a reminder for those not read this yet:
To shake things up for Feb I'll be setting new bonus point distance goals, this will be for everyone with checkpoint bonus points from 25km right upto 483km, a distance bonus point league table will also be setup with additional points awarded based on end of month positions.
25km = 0.25pts
50km = 0.5pts - training distance
75km = 0.75pts
100km - 1pt Metric Century - Enthusiastic
161km - 2pt Imperial - Dedicated
200km - 2.5km - Double Metric
250km - 3pt - Killer!
300km - 4pt - Tripple Metric!!!
322km - 5pt - Double Imperial - Superman.
350km - 6pt
400km - 7pt - Quad Metric - Madness!
450km - 8pt
483km - 10pt - Tripple Imperial & certifiable
The table will be linked to the summary & Feb Cat leagues starting tomorrow.
When stating these on the logging thread state the distance and bonus earned as you did with all the previous distance based bonus points claimed.
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Small amendment to the classics tie in points ruling, basically for classics rides that allow the ride to either be a Sat or Sunday is also the case with the qualifying points on the Winter challenge:
For those that are not aware the Classics challenge is available for signup:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10321342/2016-mfp-classics-challenge-discussion-thread#latest
This is Marks aka TheBigYins baby but what I'd like to do is offer double prizes, for all that signup and ride the dates that coincide with the Winter Challenge:
Trofeo-Laigueglia - Sunday Feb 14
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - Saturday Feb 27
Kuurne-Brussels-Kurne - Sunday Feb 28
For *any* rides submitted for these days an additional 3 bonus points will be awarded on the Winter challenge, the rides must be submitted on the very same day in the logging thread to qualify however if a classics ride is allowed on the Saturday or Sunday this is also the case with this, the rides can be any distance, all you have to do is ride and log.0 -
Are the 3 points only for "outdoor" rides as per the Classics Challenge J ? - again, just for clarity (I'll be riding outdoors, as I'm hoping to try and pick up a couple of low-level spare points for the Classics Challenge in the early season stuff...)0
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Yep outdoor only to qualify for the classics link up 3 pointer, it has to count for the Classics for it to count for the Winter Challenge basically.0
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So with just a couple of weeks left for the challenge I think it's worth thinking and getting opinion about how it's gone,if this is worth running again next Winter season and what if anything should change.
Stuff I've liked:
1. The Cat leagues,
I really think this was the best part of this challenge, for me competing with Dave, Josh and Jill for Cat 1 titles has pushed me more then I would have ridden normally this Winter and that can only help me for the coming season.
Watching people compete for promotion/relegation and look to get motivation from it has been very rewarding and great to see.
2. Distance Bonus Points
I think the carrot of these is a great motivator, certainly motivated me to hit more metric centuries in a day then I would have normally.
Stuff I've not liked:
1. Having to chuck people off for not logging, bad entries or even a case of a bad attitude.
2. Picture bonus points, surprisingly found this more frustrating then rewarding with some of the entries being really bad that I finished up canning the whole idea in the new year.
Should we run this again and if so what to change:
For the most part I've really enjoyed running this and yes I'd run it again if 20 or more people wanted to take an active part in it, I'll run a thread late next September to see if people fancy it again.
What I'd like to change
As a developer/programmer I'd really like to automate the whole logging and submission system which would eradicate any bad logging entries and issues that created, the idea I have is you could simply enter the Strava URL activity into a newly developed web submission form and confirm your entry, everything would then be automatic and you could instantly see your data updated rather then having to wait for an admin to add your entry. This would be a nice little web-project I'd consider doing if enough people wanted to see it, could also act as a framework for other challenges/league systems should Mark want to do something similar or collaborate on something like this, I'm a software Technical Architect by day and can actually see quite a lot of scope for developing all sorts of ideas along this theme but it's just me and my daft ideas so far.
I think I'd also get rid of the daily bonus system in favour of a three day 'submit or it doesn't count' system, ideally the Winter Challenge system would directly link with Strava and grab rides automatically but I'm unsure if a) Strava would allow this and b) if people would be less into the challenge without the physical submit an entry.
For anyone I have ejected from the challenge please understand that this took a lot of effort to keep running over four months, it was purely in the interest of keeping everything updated and hope no one took this personally, the ideas set out above would be more self policing, for example failure to log any rides over a couple of weeks would not mean ejection from the challenge but would simply mean any rides not submitted within the last three days would not count.
So do we want to do this again?
So please let me know if for one you thought this was worth the effort and for another you would like to see this run again, if I have enough yays and support then I'll consider creating a better framework for the next Winter season.0 -
Yeah, this should definitely be a permanent fixture in our annual cycling program; the Classic challenge & Grand Tour challenges are now 'part of the furniture' here on MFP for us cyclists. There's no reason why the Winter challenge can't be included in this too... It has certainly made me put a bit more of an effort in this winter time. Yes I've still had a few CBA days, but don't we all?!
So I vote 'Yes!' It's definitely a keeper!0 -
I would just like to say that IMO you've done a brilliant job of reviving the whole Winter Challenge Jason, and should be loudly applauded for your efforts. I agree 100% that photo-bonuses are (or can be) a PITA to administer - they work within something like the Classics Challenge - where the pictures have to be loaded into a ride report in the submissions thread - for a one-off ride, once a week or so. They also work as a seperate "side competition" like the "Graham Watson" threads in the Grand Tours... But, alongside the winter challenge, when people are outdoors, riding in *kitten* weather, generally doing the same old, same old commute, day-in-day-out, the last thing anyone really wants is to stop and take a bloody photo, with their cameraphone, which is likely to get wet and damaged in the process...
So - yep, photo-bonuses aren't really a flyer on the winter challenge... Only one I could think of that WOULD have worked was the "Best Cafe-Stop" photo thread... which I was going to suggest for jan/feb, before you decided to drop the photo-bonuses.
I'm intrigued with the idea of the logging app - potentially it could be a great way of off-loading the hassle of data entry - pull everything from Strava using their API to pull in the data you need, bung it into a SQL database, then a quick front-end app to display the runners-and-riders as it rolls... I must admit, I did consider this as an option a couple of years back (around the time that MFP made a bollocks of the forums) with the Grand Tours - but kind of dismissed it because at the time it was hard enough to actually get people to log onto MFP, let alone get them to also go to another website to enter their Strava ride URL's... That and the somewhat "fluid" (think "nailing jelly to a tree") nature of the Strava API at that time kind of killed it off for me. Haven't looked recently, but as they're still on API 3, maybe it's stabilised a bit now...
I did think of using Google Forms as a "front end" to grab the data and push it into the Google Spreadsheet - but again it all went a little clunky when I tried it... perhaps simply because I didn't actually devote enough time and attention into developing it - when it comes to actually "working" with computers, basically I hate "code grinding" and associated stuff unless I'm getting paid for it (I actually Hate it then as well, but at least I can sit and think "that's another £100 in the bank every hour or so... pity I don't get enough of those hours these days, and I'm likely to be looking for a "day-job" in the near future to keep the wolf from the door
)
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Good to hear you'd be interested in this Mark, I'm certainly open to it being a collaborative project even if it's just on the ideas front and not code grinding, it's something I may dabble in anyway but would be even better if people took an interest in having something like whats mentioned above, coding wise it would likely be a Javascript/Java/mysql with perhaps using something like dojo, as core Javascript is a bit messy dojo adds some nice class like structure to it although I've only just touched on it. I've played with the Strava API too but that's more about accessing your own data and producing reports etc, for one you have to allow access via an access token, not sure about accessing other peoples data but imagine having an activity URL data can be parsed and then confirmed by an entry submission, the other option would be to upload your ride tcx file, either method could be used but the Strava fetch would be ideal really.
Anyway lets see if others are interested in having a more automatic online logging system for a Winter Challenge next season, it's possible everyones had enough of my mutterings for the last 4 months.
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Been an amazing winter challenge and thanks for running it, Jason. Typically by this point of winter I have gained 30 lbs and am hating life with plenty of self loathing. Granted this is the first full off season I've had with a road bike and trainer, this challenge has helped me greatly. I'd be lying if I said the challenge, or rather my competitive nature, hasn't taken it's toll on me mentally as giving up huge chunks of my 2 day weekend to the trainer for the past 3+ months has been pretty tough. Especially while being the single parent of a 10 year old girl lol. With that said, I very much look forward to the spring time and group riding with those that took the winter off. In the likeness of Pantani, watching friends struggle to hang on while I set the pace will be highly enjoyable.
I didn't enjoy the picture bonuses much because I hate stopping mid-ride to whip out my phone to collect said points. And then there was the problem with photos showing on the Strava map. (something that seems to be a problem on my new phone, even though the photos are GPS tagged) The Cat & Strava leagues are great. Distance points as well. Even more so this month since smaller increments have become point-worthy.0 -
First, massive thanks and props to Jason for running this. I know it's probably been a lot like herding cats but you're done an awesome job! Chapeau! I would love to do it again next year. It's nice to be able to see how I stack against the rest just doing what I've been doing, but it's also pushed me (like all the challenges do) to ride more - even though it may not seem like it. If you can get a more automated thing working - even if I have to go somewhere else to drop a URL into, that would be very cool. So you have my vote to go again!0
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As others have said, Thank you Jason! I have greatly enjoyed the winter training challenge and found it VERY motivating.
Liked best: Cat leagues with Pro/Reg! I also like the distance bonus points though Feb seems extra generous and almost like I am cheating. Perhaps if (as you mentioned) the .25 daily sign in bonus is dropped it would level out a bit more. I am sure an automated website would make things easier for you but if you have a hard time syncing it with Strava than a page where riders copy their ride URL should work fine. If you were to get data harvesting from Strava to work some riders might lose out on the daily MFP community interaction. Oh, and I also like the 1pt strava bonuses.
Liked lest: The challenge ends a month too soon! Where I live I still have all/most of March on a trainer.
+1 vote for next year!0 -
Thanks all for the feedback, much appreciated, I'll have a good look on developing some kind of framework that we can all use to make things easier all round, I think we would have a good core field of riders at the very least and possibly even attract new riders, as far as interaction goes I think I know a good way to strike a balance with these steps:
Login to the newly created challenge website,
Either request to fetch, upload or be presented with your ride data since last login,
Deselect any dodgy entries,
Press a confirm button to accept and submit the rides into the challenge.
Browse the various tables, stats etc
* of course we could offer some kind of bonus incentive for every day a rider does the above.
I like the idea of having a confirmed and live view on the challenge tables.
Things like distance bonus points and other stat based bonus points would be automatic, easy ride submission, no waiting for admins and easier for admins to manage, I'm not sure I want to sit entering 4 months worth of data again, it's a much more attractive prospect creating something fun to use.
Worse case scenario is I build it, nones interested next Winter but I get a chance to flex some development muscles that have been neglected for a few years ..... frankly I'm bored of writing Chemistry based services!
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I enjoyed the challenge, even though I didn't finish well. My work schedule played havoc with me this year. But, I enjoyed it. I'm a web developer but have no intelligent coding suggestions, and wouldn't have any time to contribute anyway. However, I would be willing to fund a Fiverr developer if you software architects would want to manage him / her and the project.0
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I've thoroughly enjoyed the challenge even though my longer-than-planned break through December and into January took it's toll on my standings. I've definitely found it motivating and I've ridden more and longer at times than I would have without it. If it runs again next year I'll be signing up for sure.
I'm a programmer of sorts too and I'm a big fan of automation. I was thinking earlier on about the whole web submission idea. I think it's great. Let me know you want or need help. My web programming skills are a bit rusty but I'd be happy to help out.0
This discussion has been closed.