MFP Cycling Challenges for 2013

TheBigYin

Following the relatively positive feedback from last years TdF and Vuelta themed challenges, I thought I'd do the same again, plus expanding a little to include my own favourite major tour, the Giro d'Italia.

Basically, they'll be run on a similar basis to last year. Links to the relevant threads are here

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/619261-tour-de-france-challenge-21-days-in-july

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/695898-la-vuelta-challenge-2012-the-third-grand-tour

for any newcomers, a short summary of the challenge is :

+ we get together in teams of 9 riders
+ we try and ride as many Km's as possible
+ we add together all 9 riders distance, and try and beat that day's ride distance in the tour.
+ I record everyone's distance, speed and time and declare 3 prizes at the end out the tour
++ King of the Mountains for whoever logged the greatest ascent in metres
++ Sprinter, for the person who posts the fastest total average speed
++ Overall, for the person who rides the largest number of Km's

Based on my experiences of running last year, I'm making a couple of tweaks to the rules.

1. All competition rides MUST be logged via a GPS unit (either garmin/bryton/powerta joule gps or similar) or GPS recording via Smartphone

2. All competition rides MUST be posted to either Strava or Garmin Connect, and be open for viewing - Ideally, I'd prefer if we could all keep on Strava - last year I was checking half a dozen different websites, and frankly, it took more time than riding the bike did - and I came second overall in the Vuelta challenge :laugh:

3. Registrations start 2 weeks before the grand tours, and WILL CLOSE 3 days before the event. Gives me time to sort out the race numbers. Race team no's start at 301>309, 311>319 and so on...

Now, I know that the whole GPS thing could be considered a little "elitist" or gearhead, so, I think we'll have our own "sportive" version of the 3 tours as well - just for fun, declare your day and km's - no times or altitudes, so no KoM or Sprinter, but still kudos for the Overall distance. Sportive numbers start at 401>409, 411>419 and so on...

I'm also working on another challenge, based around the "One-Day Classics" and "Monuments"...

TheBigYin

Dates for the Diary...

One Day / Classics Races
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
02.03.2013 Strade Bianchi
17.03.2013 Milano-Sanremo
24.03.2013 Gent - Wevelgem
31.03.2013 Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres
07.04.2013 Paris - Roubaix
14.04.2013 Amstel Gold Race
17.04.2013 La Flèche Wallonne
21.04.2013 Liège - Bastogne - Liège
05.10.2013 Giro di Lombardia


Major Tours
^^^^^^^^^^^
04.05.2013 26.05.2013 Giro d'Italia (3405km target)
29.06.2013 21.07.2013 Tour de France (3342km target)
24.08.2013 15.09.2013 Vuelta a España (3496km target)

TDSeest

Thanks for the heads up; these were really fun last year. I'm hoping to up my riding next year, but it'll be tough with my work schedule. Still hope to do it though.

funkycamper

Sounds intriguing. Will check my calendar for those dates to see how much I can commit during those times. Hope it works out but I'm also taking a mountaineering class from Jan-Jun which means a lot of hiking/climbing so I'll have to check the dates for the field trips, too.

FatDadSlim

Looking forward to the challenges already :-)
Just hoping for a drier 2013!

TheBigYin

Meant to post this last night, straight after the initial postings, but my internet went down and only re-surfaced 1 minutes ago...

The Classics and Monuments is a trifle simpler in its basis - it's just a "get your backside out riding" challenge - no teams, just individual efforts - ride has to be within the day of the race (in your own time zone) - if you're on a night ride, and any part of the ride is in that day, then it counts. Only stipulation is, you can only declare ONE RIDE for the day, so make it the biggest one

Again, all rides to be logged via GPS and posted to either Strava or Garmin Connect. No indoor mileage, trainer miles, spinning machines,pedaloes allowed - just bum's on saddles, out on the tarmac (or Cobbles/Gravel for that air of Flemish/Tuscan authenticity :laugh:)

rides4sanity

Thanks Yin, although I'm a far cry from keeping up with y'all, I enjoy the challenge to ride more, ride faster and climb further. Maybe this year I'll find some hilly routes where I don't lose my GPS signal. If only I didn't have a family and a job maybe I could hang, but until then I'll plug along.

RedSunshine365

Thanks for getting a head start on organizing this!

CDGolden

Subscribing

cloggsy71

It goes without saying... I'm in!

Frannybobs

I'd like to join in but don't want to let a team down, as with the job and the other activities I do outside of the job (band, choir, church etc) I would mainly be posting commutes and one longer weekend ride at most. So I'm happy just to do the single day ones so I don't hold any teams back!

TheBigYin

I'd like to join in but don't want to let a team down, as with the job and the other activities I do outside of the job (band, choir, church etc) I would mainly be posting commutes and one longer weekend ride at most. So I'm happy just to do the single day ones so I don't hold any teams back!

Fran - the whole idea of this classics challenge is to give the "weekend warrior" (for want of a better phrase) an excuse to get out there on a Sunday and ride their socks off... Most of the classics are at the weekend, mainly on a Sunday - there's only La Flèche Wallonne that's mid-week iirc.

Also, this one is more suited to the individual - no teams to "let down" or anything silly like that - just go out, ride, log, report and get a mileage score.

My only problem really is how the hell I'm going to be able to get out for a ride, and still get back in time to watch the race on Eurosport. I can feel that upgrade to SkyHD calling to me :laugh:

KitTheRoadie

I am definitely in for these!

Going to do mainly Audaxes this year, as they are just as tough as sportives but an awful lot cheaper! They normally ride on Sundays so that works out great for the classics you have lined up!

Training rides and commutes will have to cover the grand tours, but I'm going to be trying to put in more mileage this year so hopefully they'll work out too!

Looking forward to the new season, bring on the good weather and lighter nights!

Kick *kitten* everyone! :drinker:

Frannybobs

Thanks TBY, I'm definitely in for the classics then and leave the Grand Tours to you guys who ride loads each day!

What are Audaxes and Sportives - I think sportives are just organised road rides but not for charity but what's an audax? Or have I got both wrong?!

TheBigYin

What is an Audax... have a look here - http://www.aukweb.net/aboutauk/faq/

I used to quite like them - had my Brevets up to 600km at one point.

(don't knock the grand-tour challenge Fran - i've got something up my sleeve for that one... I'm thinking a "racing team"
and a "sportive team" - the racing team being the maniacs who are trying for the jerseys, limited to 9 riders in the team, then a sportive version for everyone else - not eligeable for jerseys, but also relaxed rules re: GPS etc - basically, just ride and log your distance in KM's and that's it...)


So - we've got a few sign-up's then...

Me (obviously)
Frannybobs
christophenes
cloggsy71

Any more takers ?

I should add, it's up to the riders how many rides they actually do, you can dip in and out, though obviously, as the competition is predicated on total Km's covered, riding as many as possible will help.

I'm also going to have to insist that all the rides are outdoors, and supported by a GPS tracklog hosted on either Strava or Garmin Connect, and in KM's - last year I was checking something like 7-8 different websites to verify the distances and speeds, and frankly, it took more time than the riding did! Sorry if anyone thinks that this is either elitist or discriminatory in any way, but it's the product of bitter experience.

narak_lol

Hi there - would like to sign up if I may. Thank you!

TheBigYin

Hi there - would like to sign up if I may. Thank you!

Consider it done - and may the lord have mercy on your soul :laugh:

jhalsey205

I'm in.

katozdad

Consider me in. Gutted you not allowing apps like Endo, especially with the auto upload function, but I guess that is the organisers perogative. I've registered on Strava as I don't have a Garmin, but struggling to find my way around. Found the MFP club from another post and joined. Would appreciate some friend requests and tips.

My link is http://www.strava.com/athletes/carl_birch

TheBigYin

Consider me in. Gutted you not allowing apps like Endo, especially with the auto upload function, but I guess that is the organisers perogative. I've registered on Strava as I don't have a Garmin, but struggling to find my way around. Found the MFP club from another post and joined. Would appreciate some friend requests and tips.

My link is http://www.strava.com/athletes/carl_birch

Carl, glad to have you aboard - to be honest, I picked the 2 most common of the ones from last summers grand tour challenges - if you want to carry on using endomondo for the recording (and the auto-update into MFP of course), it's simple enough to get the data into strava. In the ride click on the "more options" button and select export. Export the ride to a .TCX file on your computer, then upload that file into Strava. To do this, in Strava select the orange "UPLOAD ACTIVITY" button, then "Upload files from your computer" and "hoover up" the file you exported from Endo.

TheBigYin

Carl - one tip for strava, which I really like, is there is a "Privacy" setting, where you can define certain areas which will not show up on your map - so you can mark for example your home or place of work (or the place where you leave your commute bike) so the nefarious types can't get your bikes location and come around with the bolt-croppers....

It's on the "name" pulldown next to the upload button, then select Privacy and define the "hidden locations"

Wish that all the other GPS tracking programs had this function to be honest.

TheBigYin

I'm in.

I've added you to the "list of the damned" :laugh:

cyclenut64

Sounds like a fun challenge, count me in. Now I have an excuse to get a GPS.

TheBigYin

Thought we'd have had a few more takers by now... Come on - it's time to get some mud and cobbles under your wheels and some "belgian toothpaste" plastered everwhere.


Signup Sheet:

amiller7x7
christophenes
cloggsy71
cyclenut64
FatDadSlim
Frannybobs
jhalsey205
katozdad
narak_lol
Snowridesbikes
TheBigYin (obviously wink)






*belgian toothpaste... http://www.flickr.com/photos/novantae/7319786338/

amiller7x7

I'm in - although the miles/days I cycle are determined more by the local event calendar and training commitments but the mileages should be high enough to help with the grand tours. The one day events will likely be hit or miss but we'll do our best. Outdoor riding really takes off around here for me in late March so the timing should be good for most events.

FatDadSlim

Thought i was in already but you missed me out on your list?

TheBigYin

Signup sheet now updated on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/866408-mfp-cycling-classics-challenge?page=1

Spatialized

So in. Love the Monuments! With the time difference, can watch the race then go out on bury myself. Should be fun!

TheBigYin

So in. Love the Monuments! With the time difference, can watch the race then go out on bury myself. Should be fun!

Yeah - that'd be good - over here, it's more likely get up at 6am, get the ride in and get home in time to shower, change, and sit watching the race with a bottle of chianti / case of leffe or whatevers appropriate to hand :laugh:


For the people who haven't a clue about the history behind these races, I'm going to try and post a "information sheet" for each race before opening the thread up for posting ride details. I'm going to try and keep the main thread as tidy as possible though, so for the moment it'll be more of a "read only thread" until the race day - then stay open for say 3 days to book your ride - and close again until the next event.

hawkeyegal1995

are you still taking sign ups for this? Is so, count me in. Hopefully I will be outdoors by March.

TheBigYin

are you still taking sign ups for this? Is so, count me in. Hopefully I will be outdoors by March.

We sure are - I opened the thread up a couple of months early, because I wanted to make sure there were as many places taken up as possible - the more people get onboard for the "classics challenge" hopefully it'll gain momentum and maybe allow us to run a couple of teams for the Grand Tours...