2014 MFP Grand Tour Challenge - SIgnup/Discussion Thread

kerrylikesbikes

Enjoyed the challenge...thanks TBY for all the fun and great charts.

Proud to be on Team 4!

rides4sanity

Thanks for giving me the incentive to ride more. You do a fab job with the challenges and making us all feel valued on the teams even if we aren't "heavy hitters"

sufferlandrian

Thanks for giving me the incentive to ride more. You do a fab job with the challenges and making us all feel valued on the teams even if we aren't "heavy hitters"

Hey, every team needs support riders. We can't all be Peter Sagan. :laugh: I know I was glad to see some heavy hitters to help out when I was running low on energy. It was fun having the team that we did. I really enjoyed it and it did inspire me to ride more than I might have otherwise. I'm glad you could be in the challenge with us.

Hats off to TBY for hosting the challenge. I know that was a lot of work and I hope he knows that we really appreciate all the effort it took.

Dean

TheBigYin

Final Call for ride submissions folks - cut off time is 11:59am BST today. Anything after that won't count for the "shirts" (though if any km's are declared (via PM at this point - the rides only thread will be closed) after the cut-off, I will roll them into the model (hopefully to allow team 3 to complete the distance)

My thanks to everyone who's got their rides in so quickly, it really does help with keeping the spreadsheet up to date - if I can do things in a few 5-minute bursts through my working day, it's not nearly as obtrusive as needing to spend 2 hours in one marathon update session... or put more simply, I can fit it in around paying work :laugh:

Jakess1971

Fantastically run challenge TBY, the best in the business by a country mile, thank you for running this and I'll very much look forward to Le Tour.

By the way this helped me loose 5lb during the month of May, doesn't sound much but considering I'd spent the previous 6 months getting nowhere this was quite a win!

cloggsy71

Fantastically run challenge TBY, the best in the business by a country mile, thank you for running this and I'll very much look forward to Le Tour.

Seconded!

"If you build it, they will come!"

Frannybobs

An apology from me regarding lack of rides after first week...got struck down with a very nasty case of gastroenteritis caused by campylobacter - only escaping hospital from drinking lots and lots and lots of water and those rehydration salts. I had no idea how bad it would be or how long it would last - I'm only back in work today, almost 3 weeks later and still not right but much better.

Anyway, enough of the excuses - I had made a good start and was disappointed to have been stopped in my tracks so early. Hope to be "on it like a car bonnet" for the TdF, particularly as I'll be there to watch it first two days and riding out to see it on led rides :-)

Frannybobs

Fantastically run challenge TBY, the best in the business by a country mile, thank you for running this and I'll very much look forward to Le Tour.

By the way this helped me loose 5lb during the month of May, doesn't sound much but considering I'd spent the previous 6 months getting nowhere this was quite a win!

Agreed on the challenge organiser, TBY is one in a million and the challenge has really inspired us all from what I can see on my News Feed, in here and on the rides thread.

And well done on the weight loss Jase, especially if you'd been stuck on a plateau :-)

TheBigYin

Thanks Everyone - submissions thread is now closed, any late submissions from the last 2 gents - (indeterminate and
matsprt1984) will not count towards the "jersey" competitions, though after they are awarded I may roll any km's into the final figures just to get a total overall distance for each of the teams.

Obviously, the spreadsheet is giving the "provisonal" figures, which I'll be spending a little time on verification upon... through the 3 weeks I don't have time to actually physically check each individual Strava entry for 4 teams of 9 people doing up to 21 rides - though I DO "sample" a reasonable proportion of them - and of course use the Strava as a "sanity check" if any rides seem inordinately fast/slow/hilly/flat etc.

matsprt1984

Giro Challenge Entries for Rider 327 Team 3

Stage Date Distance Time Ascent(m) Ride Log URL
h:mm:ss
====================================================================================
1 09/05 69.5km 2:40:38 917m http://www.strava.com/activities/139342840
2 10/05 122.9km 4:29:49 1354m http://www.strava.com/activities/139709595
3 11/05 61.8km 2:19:03 657m http://www.strava.com/activities/140134500
R 12/05
4 13/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
5 14/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
6 15/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
7 16/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
8 17/05 53.1km 01:55:34 m 787 http://www.strava.com/activities/142361879
9 18/05 28.7km 00:51:53 m 80 http://www.strava.com/activities/142842921
R 19/05
10 20/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
11 21/05 84.8km 3:14:36 m 1150 http://www.strava.com/activities/144043566
12 22/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS Boards
13 23/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
14 24/05 70.2km 2:47:34 539m http://www.strava.com/activities/145096925
15 25/05 135.94km 4:31:32 776m http://www.strava.com/activities/145599742
R 26/05
16 27/05 34.2km 1:01:59 60m http://www.strava.com/activities/146293467
17 28/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
18 29/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
19 30/05 68.7km 2:29:39 885m http://www.strava.com/activities/146293467
20 31/05 65.4km 2:46:31 521m http://www.strava.com/activities/147867463
21 01/06 105.9km 3:37:52 632m http://www.strava.com/activities/148378985

Running Total 899.14 km


Here is my final. Sometimes life just gets in the way...:-( No worries about me, just letting Team 3 know I did ride some the last week. I admit that this has been a difficult challenge. I'm trying to balance participation in this with training for World's in < 19 weeks. Fun but not able to just go burn up miles. If your going to spend the money to visit across the pond might as well give it a good go.

TheBigYin

Giro Challenge Entries for Rider 327 Team 3

Stage Date Distance Time Ascent(m) Ride Log URL
h:mm:ss
====================================================================================
1 09/05 69.5km 2:40:38 917m http://www.strava.com/activities/139342840
2 10/05 122.9km 4:29:49 1354m http://www.strava.com/activities/139709595
3 11/05 61.8km 2:19:03 657m http://www.strava.com/activities/140134500
R 12/05
4 13/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
5 14/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
6 15/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
7 16/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
8 17/05 53.1km 01:55:34 m 787 http://www.strava.com/activities/142361879
9 18/05 28.7km 00:51:53 m 80 http://www.strava.com/activities/142842921
R 19/05
10 20/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
11 21/05 84.8km 3:14:36 m 1150 http://www.strava.com/activities/144043566
12 22/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS Boards
13 23/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
14 24/05 70.2km 2:47:34 539m http://www.strava.com/activities/145096925
15 25/05 135.94km 4:31:32 776m http://www.strava.com/activities/145599742
R 26/05
16 27/05 34.2km 1:01:59 60m http://www.strava.com/activities/146293467
17 28/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS
18 29/05 ___.__km __:__:__ ____m ________ DNS - Boards
19 30/05 68.7km 2:29:39 885m http://www.strava.com/activities/146293467
20 31/05 65.4km 2:46:31 521m http://www.strava.com/activities/147867463
21 01/06 105.9km 3:37:52 632m http://www.strava.com/activities/148378985

Running Total 899.14 km


Here is my final. Sometimes life just gets in the way...:-( No worries about me, just letting Team 3 know I did ride some the last week. I admit that this has been a difficult challenge. I'm trying to balance participation in this with training for World's in < 19 weeks. Fun but not able to just go burn up miles. If your going to spend the money to visit across the pond might as well give it a good go.

call me a soft touch, but I'd really like to see team #3 hit the total distance, and, considering you weren't all that late, AND that it doesn't alter the podium positions, then I'm minded to include your rides...

TheBigYin

Well Folks - I guess it's all over from the Giro now, so I've unsticky-ed the entries and photo submission threads, ready to make space for the next one of the Grand Tour Challenges - LeTour - yep, We're "virtually" going to France (apart from when the TdF actually comes over and visit's Yorkshire for two glorious days, apparently followed by some "transition stage" down in the flat bit of England ) Hope they get better weather for those two days than we had for the final week of the Giro Challenge, or it's all going to go a bit pear-shaped.

Places on the Tour de France Challenge will be limited to the same as the Giro - 4 teams of 9 riders. No substitutions to be made after the race starts this time i'm afraid. I'm also currently toying with the teams to be allocated from a rider list, rather than just on a first-come, first served basis - but i'm slightly struggling with how to do it without withdrawing from the challenge myself to avoid the inevitable accusations of bias that'd occur... (yes, I'm a little cynical, you all know that - it sort of comes with the territory of running these things, and you haven't seen the "charming" PM's i've been sent from some participants in the past...) Other change I'm going for is that this time I'm going "Strava Only" - I don't think this is likely to be a problem, as there was only Tom iirc that was submitting from Garmin Connect on a regular basis, and I think he has a Strava Account anyway. It just makes sense for all the rides to be in the same single place - I'd say it's just me wanting an easy life, but if I wanted an Easy Life, i'd not bother organising these challenges, would I :laugh:

Anyway - I just thought I'd let everyone know that the challenges are continuing - I may have worried some people when I posted that the Giro may have been my last challenge - what I really meant was "it's the last challenge I'm going to make a serious contention for - trying to ride every stage the pro's did" - because frankly, at the end of it, and after all the riding, updating the spreadsheet and threads AND trying to keep up with the laundry from the final week of riding in the incessant rain I was wearing a little thin.

Still - all the kind words and thanks in the Giro Result Thread helped to cheer me up, and remind me that it WAS worthwhile running these challenges.

sufferlandrian

You could collect the names and draw them from a hat or pick the four riders from the Giro with the longest distance and make each one a team captain and have them pick names like a draft. No one could claim a bias if you did it that way. Just a thought.

Jakess1971

I think we know you better then suggest any bias that would go on, my only suggestion is you could seed by the Giro results for a equal as possible team distribution, I'm happy to be given a team number allocation rather then select one.

BigG59

However you do it is fine , though I do like this suggestion

I think we know you better then suggest any bias that would go on, my only suggestion is you could seed by the Giro results for a equal as possible team distribution, I'm happy to be given a team number allocation rather then select one.

sufferlandrian

Well, I think I echo the thoughts of all of us who had the most fun on the last challenge. We aren't worried about you having a bias when choosing the teams and since you are the one hosting the challenge, pick the method that is the most easy for you. We just appreciate you doing the challenges. It's both a lot of fun and inspiring for us. :bigsmile: :bigsmile: Obrigado por todo que voce tem feito. :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

CentralCaliCycling

Count myself and Rosie in please.

MrsCentralCaliCycling

I would like to join if there is room

cloggsy71

Hell yeah... The more the merrier! :happy:

TheBigYin

I've had a think about it, and I'm going to do the following - rather than post one team at a time, I'm going to post the first 3 teams in one go - then people can decide which team they want to be in, rather than it being dictated by what time zone they live in. Prior years it took a while to get the numbers to fill a team, but on evidence of the Giro, the first 15 places went in a couple of hours, which was gratifying, but made for some very geographically centred teams (not good if the weather does it's seasonal worst) -

Also, as I said before, there will be NO SUBSTITUTIONS after the challenge commences this time - sorry, but the abuse I got last time was just not something I'm prepared to put up with again.