MFP Cycling Classics Challenge 2013
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just look for the "sticky" thread - that's the entries one
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Today was a "fun" ride...felt a little like Andy Hampsten in the Giro though.
http://app.strava.com/activities/49331354
Short ride today, hampered by a freak April snowstorm. It was actually colder when I left work at 2:30pm than when I rode to work at 5:30am. Needless to say since the weather was decent in the AM I had no tights, not rain jacket, no warm gloves and no knitted hat. When I left work it was lightly flurrying, just specks of snow floating in the air so I decided to head on my planned route. The further I got the darker it got, and the flurries started to get heavier. Thinking I was going to make the right choice I turned and instead of continuing the ride, headed home. And into the teeth of the storm. I realized why the wind wasn't so bad initailly: it had been a tailwind so when I turned to head for home to transformed into an icy beast of a headwind complete with a payload of wet but fluffy snow. The closer I got to home to thicker the snow got, and visibility dropped to a coupole hundred yards at the most, although the snow building up on my glasses didn't help. It was about that time my exposed legs (remember, noi tights, bare legs) finally went numb and stopped burning from the cold. Lucky for me the archery place was on the way home so a quick stop for a pic wasn't too bad. I got home soaked to the bone and probably slightly hypothermic, content in the knowledge that by all rights I should have bailed before I even started but went anyways. Of course the mantra "this is a really stupid idea" kept repeating itself. I got less than half the miles I planned, but I got out there and rode.
Post-ride beer
My chocolate melted!
Managed not to get an arrow tothe knee. Yes, that's fresh snow on the ground. Obviously the weather didn't get the hint that it's April!
About 5 minutes prior I was completely caked in white from snow. Not pleasant.
TBY Edit: distance logged 1pt Chocolate, 0pt Waffle, 1pt Archery Bonus, 1pt Recovery Drink, 0pts Climb Bonus0 -
Thread closed for submissions, results to follow asap0
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Provisional Results for the Seventh section of the Classics Challenge (La Flèche Wallonne) are as Follows:
- With his crafty "extended commute", a utterly amazing ride again from katozdad - Chapeau Carl!!
- Me - good to be back on the bike, it may be the only thing at the moment that's keeping me sane - even though the route itself was very loopy indeed!
- Another madman, out braving the elements, notably the ludicrous winds we're having in the UK at the moment - FatDadSlim
And As always well done to everyone who got out there and did a ride - or even just spent a while and came up with a couple of photo-bonuses...
Next Stop Sunday, for Liège - Bastogne - Liège - closing out the Ardennes week, and pretty much rounding up the Spring Classics - We'll then be on a hiatus until the Giro di Lombardia, our traditional season-closer.
Edit: OOPS - forgot the Overall board...
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21.04.2013 Liège - Bastogne – Liège
Liège–Bastogne–Liège, often called La Doyenne ("the oldest"), is one of the five 'Monuments' of the European professional road cycling calendar. It is run in the Ardennes region of Belgium, from Liège to Bastogne and back.
Liège–Bastogne–Liège began in 1892 to publicise the newspaper L'Expresse It is because the paper was published in French that the route stayed in the southern, French-speaking half of Belgium. Its equivalent in the Dutch-speaking north is the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
The first race was for amateurs, from Spa to Bastogne and back. It was won by Leon Houa, who also won the first race for professionals in 1894.
Thirty-three riders started the first race, which was run by the Liège cycling union and the Pesant Club Liègois. Just 17 finished, all of whom were Belgian. Houa, who came from Liège, won by 22 minutes, after 11 hours on the road. The second man, Léon Lhoest, came in 22 minutes after him, and the third, Louis Rasquinet, at 44 minutes. Riders were still arriving for another five hours.
Houa won again the next year, this time by half an hour. He won again in 1894, by seven minutes. The 1894 race was for professionals, and the speed rose from 23.3 km/h (14.5 mph) to 25 km/h (16 mph). The winner of the first Tour de France, Maurice Garin, came in fourth. The race was then not run for 14 years, after which it was sometimes open only to amateurs and semi-professionals.
In 1909 the winner, Eugène Charlier, was disqualified, because he changed bicycles. The winner became Victor Fastre. Two riders shared the 1957 race. Germain Derijcke was first over the line, but because he crossed a closed rail crossing, the second-place rider, Frans Schoubben, was promoted to first as well. Derijcke was not disqualified, because he had won by three minutes advantage; judges felt he had not gained that much time from illegally crossing the railway.
Until 1991 the race finished in Liege city centre, with a flat run in to the finish. From 1992 the finish moved to the suburb of Ans, on the northern side of the city. The Côte de Saint Nicolas was added to the final kilometres, along with a final climb to the finish in Ans. The turn point was the train station in Bastogne, chosen because of its convenience for race officials.
The race follows a straightforward 95 km (59 mi) route from Liège to Bastogne, and a winding 163 km (101 mi) route back to Liège. The second half contains most of the climbs, such as the Stockeu, Haute-Levée, La Redoute, and Saint-Nicolas before finishing in the northern Liège suburb of Ans. The many hills give opportunities to attack, and the race often rewards aggressive riders.
Further details at http://www.letour.fr/indexLBL_us.html0 -
Sorry everyone - I forgot to unlock the entries thread...0
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Okaay - so after my ****-up with the locking, I suppose I aught to go first...
Liège - Bastogne - Liège challenge ride...
Ride tracklog - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/301009726 - 135.5km, 703m of ascent.
One of many, many, many level crossings...
(ironically, while I was saving the shot on instagram, the barriers came down and a train went through... probably one of the 3 that day!)
Food Bonus - Moules Frites.
Recovery Drink
So, by my count that's 1pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt Food, 1pt Recovery Drink and 1pt Photo Bonus.
Actual ride was great for the first 2/3, and the rest was a miserable grovel into a fairly horrible headwind - coinciding with pretty much all of the actual ascent of the ride. As a result, to quote Sean... "I'm Cooked"...
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 4 Bonus pts0 -
Copied in from the other thread on behalf of Frannybobs...Ride done - 46.14 miles, double my longest ride so far this year so quite chuffed :-)
think I may have got the 3pts for climbing over 1500m, no level crossings, but Belgian beer (Leffe) and Belgian chocolate eclair
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/300990670
Now for a warm bath!!!! Hope everyone else has had a good ride too :-)
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus (501m), 1pt food, 1pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 3 Bonus pts0 -
Just finished watching the real Liège - Bastogne - Liège, excellent job Dan Martin!
Back to reality... here is my very own Liège - Bastogne - Liège
102.2km 1858m elevation
http://app.strava.com/activities/49828147
Photos to follow tomorrow, sorry. Can't find the phone's connection cable and I'm too lazy to email the photos "out" to myself :blushing:
I was late for the Sun group ride so did not join in, it turned out to be an advantage as can ride at my own pace. The group finished when I did only 60km. Got on offer for a lift home (or a 75 mins train ride for me) but I put my foot down saying I want to do one more loop like a spoiled brat. My friends, being straight parents said fine see ya later :laugh: :laugh:
TBY Edit - 3pt Climbing Bonus, 0pt food, 0pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 3 Bonus pts - additional photo bonuses will be added if you get the pictures submitted later
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My Bastogne - Liège - http://app.strava.com/activities/49875872
The threat of heavy rain did not come to pass and made it home dry allways a bonus also leaving a bit earlier this morning got home before the winds really picked up
i had my 1st cleat fall on my new bike
all ok but think i have done some damage to my rear deraileur
pre ride waffles jam & coffee.. yes i did burn in the toaster.
More leffe today i am really getting the taste for it! the toast and pate was a perfect quick post ride snack.
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 4 Bonus pts
Uncle Stephen will be proud today
Happy Cycling
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 4 Bonus pts0 -
...
Uncle Stephen will be proud today
Happy Cycling
Have to confess I was jumping up and down cheering for the lad myself... :bigsmile: :drinker: :bigsmile: :drinker: :bigsmile:0 -
Copied in from the other thread on behalf of Frannybobs...Ride done - 46.14 miles, double my longest ride so far this year so quite chuffed :-)
think I may have got the 3pts for climbing over 1500m, no level crossings, but Belgian beer (Leffe) and Belgian chocolate eclair
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/300990670
Now for a warm bath!!!! Hope everyone else has had a good ride too :-)
That's great, thanks TBY. I did look at both threads and saw one was locked so assumed it was the other - my fault for not looking properly!!0 -
21/04/13 - 28.8km - http://app.strava.com/activities/49857191
View of North Yorkshire's rolling countryside...
Level crossing (old school style) courtesy of Wensleydale Railway
No beer or food though... I had roast beef & Yorkshire puddings for dinner though; not particularly Flemish though eh?
TBY Edit - 0pt Climbing Bonus, 0pt food, 0pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 1 Bonus pts0 -
Here is my Liege - Batogne - Liege ride on Strava - http://app.strava.com/activities/49852169
It was an excellent ride and far from what I was expecting (the weather man got it wrong, but in a nice way for once).
Here is the level crossing, just on the A19 before you reach Doncaster.
And here is my recovery drink.
I couldn't be bothered with the snack, all I could think of was chocolate and couldn't face it, but was kicking myself with envy when I saw Harksy's Pate. Pate is my cryptonite, and I only usually roll it out for breakfast once or twice a year. The classic would have been a nice exception.
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus, 0pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 3 Bonus pts0 -
My Bastogne – Liège
92 miles 3369 feet of elevation gain
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/301400462
The railroad crossing
My mid ride snack with my Belgian beer
My recovery snack, the Belgians like there chocolate so I indulged is some along with a protean shake.
I am hoping for at least 2 points for elevation assuming you get 1 point for each 500 km.
TBY Edit - 2pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 5 Bonus pts0 -
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/301432974
This pretty much sucked....dealt with 20 plus mph winds. I was already tired from yesterday trail clean up work so I was zapped. Basically this was me just getting out to avoid the DNS. No pics since none of railroad crossings have any cross arms.
TBY Edit - 0pt Climbing Bonus, 0pt food, 0pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 0 Bonus pts0 -
Completed the Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo:
100.5 miles; 9,917 ft elevation - http://app.strava.com/activities/50001322
TBY Edit - 3pt Climbing Bonus, 0pt food, 0pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 3 Bonus pts0 -
Here's my log for the last race of the challenge!
http://app.strava.com/activities/50025932
Pre-ride Belgian Waffle:
Recovery drink and snack - Belgian Peche lambic and stroopwaffel:
No railroad tracks here. We have trolley tracks, but not near the lakes where I was riding, so no crossing pics.
Thanks for a fun challenge! Looking forward to doing better next year
TBY Edit - 0pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 2 Bonus pts - oh, and the challenge hasn't actually finished - it's just on summer hiatus until after the grand tours, then comes back in October for the Giro del Lombardia (the race of the falling leaves)0 -
Here's today's ride - a little shorter this Sunday as Saturday was the bigger day - http://app.strava.com/activities/50038939 Have a good photo of my riding partner and some alpacas and a big mud slide blocking our trail that occurred last night. Not sure if the animals or the natural disaster qualify for bonus points!? Lost the note I had earlier from TBY on what I have to do post pix here but if I re-received it (and promised not to lose it this time!) then I would post them.
Thx
Al Miller
TBY Edit - 0pt Climbing Bonus, 0pt food, 0pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 0 Bonus pts - i'll dig out the details re: photo posting and send it to you via PM Al 0 -
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/300972102
A little 116.53km ride into central wales to visit Llyn Brianne, a local picturesque reservoir.
The railroad crossing on the way, (I kept the signpost in showing (Llyn Brianne Dam 11 miles)
And the post-ride refreshments, Duvel with Belgium Chocolate covered Waffle, yum.
TBY Edit - 3pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 6 Bonus pts0 -
Here's my story...
My brother and I heard about a local Audax starting on Sunday morning that we could enter on the line... This played nicely in to my hands because I was as usual unsure how I was going to get a ride in for the Classics Challenge....
The Audax "Dustmans Daves Doddle" was a 108k out and back ride, much like the Pro's challenge Liège-Bastogne-Liège, except mine was called "Bishops Lydeard - Sparkford - Bishops Lydeard"! And I'm sure theirs was a damn site harder than mine!
Anyhow on with the story....
It was decided that as the event was local to my Mum and Brothers and we were staying there, I would ride to and from the event to bump up my mileage a bit... 7.5 miles to the event and 13 back - Rode to town with my bro, then a diversion home for the Level Crossing pic! ;-)
The day started off nicely weather wise but slowly got duller as the day went on and we had the wind in our faces on the route back, which I struggled with!
My bike at the beginning...
My Bro's bike....
The first of 3 cafe/cake stops...
The geek in me had to stop and take a picture of the Harrier Jet! The ride went right through the middle of RNAS Yeovilton! Oh and that's my dorkey looking bro (His name's Matt, incase you couldn't guess!)
So there you go, that pretty much sums up my ride - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/301154266
And for a couple of bonus points.. The level crossing...
And the beer (with a messed up head) and waffles...
Looks like everyone had a great day, well done for getting out there! :drinker:
TBY Edit - 2pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 1pt Photo - total 5 Bonus pts0 -
Copied in from the other thread on behalf of Frannybobs...Ride done - 46.14 miles, double my longest ride so far this year so quite chuffed :-)
think I may have got the 3pts for climbing over 1500m, no level crossings, but Belgian beer (Leffe) and Belgian chocolate eclair
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/300990670
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus (501m), 1pt food, 1pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 3 Bonus pts
Oh yes - that will be 1644 FEET I climbed not METRES -d'oh !! All because I refuse to go metric 0 -
Here's the link for the ride: http://app.strava.com/activities/49980061
45.6 miles, 2,452 feet climbing (longest ride to date, incorporated longest climb to date as well!)
Like the saying goes, somedays you're the hammer, others the nail. For the first 2/3 or so I was the hammer, then the road turned up, wind turned into my face, lost any sort of cover - I became the nail. Can't wait to do it again!
Pics:
Fries w/mayo and a Leffe (last in my cellar...) Was looking for a "Royale with Cheese" but McDs was too far.
This only partially begains to capture the isolation and epic emptiness of this area...it's amazing.
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 3 Bonus pts0 -
As you can see I was really hungry :laugh: :laugh:
And dessert!
Can't find a real railroad level crossing - just a snap short of the mouse train to share
TBY Edit - Additonal Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink - total 5 Bonus pts including the earlier climbing bonus0 -
Oooo fun!TBY Edit - 0pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 0pt Photo - total 2 Bonus pts - oh, and the challenge hasn't actually finished - it's just on summer hiatus until after the grand tours, then comes back in October for the Giro del Lombardia (the race of the falling leaves)0 -
Entries Thread now closed for Stage 8 - Liège - Bastogne - Liège.
Results hopefully later this evening...0 -
Provisional Results for the Eighth section of the Classics Challenge (Liège - Bastogne - Liège) are as Follows:
- An amazing ride this week from jhalsey205 - Just check out the ride stats on Strava - Wow!! Chapeau l!! - Another long ride from christophenes - and a fantastic write-up of what looked to be a really good event. - and yet another 3-digit distance, this time by cyclenut64.
And As always well done to everyone who got out there and did a ride and joined in on my spot prizes and photo-bonuses...
and that pretty much rounds up the Spring Classics - We'll be on a hiatus now for the Grand Tour Season, resuming for one last ride at the Giro di Lombardia, the race of the falling leaves, and the traditional season-closer.
Edit: OOPS - forgot the Overall board...
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06.10.2013 Giro di Lombardia
The Giro di Lombardia (English: Tour of Lombardy) is a cycling race, in Lombardy, Italy. It is the last 'Monument' of the European calendar, and also one of the last events in the UCI World Tour, making it potentially decisive in that competition. Its nickname is "the classic of the dead (falling) leaves" (Italian: la classica delle foglie morte) because it takes place in the autumn.
The first edition was 1905. It was then called Milan-Milan. It gained its current name in 1907. The route has changed many times. Milan, Sesto San Giovanni, Bergamo, Varese, Monza, Como have been start or finish place. In 2004 the race started in Mendrisio in Switzerland, and ended in Como. The most famous obstacle is the Madonna del Ghisallo climb that appears in the latter part of the race. A shrine there has a small museum containing religious and cycling objects.
Fausto Coppi won a record five times. Frenchman Henri Pelissier and Irishman Sean Kelly are the only non-Italian riders to win the race three times.
This race has a certain significance to me, I’ve been lucky enough to ride quite a bit in the area around Lake Como, and obviously, as someone with a certain amount of respect for and interest in cycling history, a “pilgrimage” up the Ghisallo was just one of those things that had to be done – Bikes ridden by Coppi and Bartoli, Moser and Merckx – plus the crumpled bike that Casartelli was riding when he crashed on the Col de Portet d'Aspet during the 1995 Tour de France.
I even got “Madge” blessed for me while I was there…
There's the usual great information on LaGazetta's website, regarding the Race Route, climbs and so forth at
http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/GiroLombardia/en/0 -
Thread Open ready for submissions...
And don't forget the "spot prizes" for this one...
Photo Bonuses - 1pt each for "Autumnal Leaves" pictures or "Roadside Church/Chapel"
In Ride Bonus - 1 point for 500m of ascent, 2 points for 1000m, 3 Points for 1500m or above.
Food Bonus - 1 point for picture of... well - anything Italian basically
Recovery Drink Bonus - 1 point (as with Food - so Glass/Bottle of Chianti, Peroni/Moretti Beer, Espresso... you know the drill by now!)0 -
ok then - guess i'll start the ball rolling...
Ride Details - http://app.strava.com/activities/87275382
106.2km, 529m of ascent -Basically, my bog standard Sunday Circuit...
Roadside Chapel (on a hill, though you can't actually see it - the hill is the road to the left of frame)
Madge felt instantly at Home!
Falling (well - fallen actually) Leaves...
Foglie Morte
And just to up the Ante on the Italian Theme....
A little Italian flavour in Yorkshire
Recovery Food/Drink to follow later. (The Pizza Dough will need at least 3-4 pints worth of proving time)
edit:
Pizza Rustico (Very Rustico... that'd be the effect of the 4 pints) and a Surprisingly pleasant glass of Barbera
Pizza Rustico
TBY Edit - 1pt Climbing Bonus, 1pt food, 1pt drink, 2pt Photo - total 5 Bonus pts0
This discussion has been closed.