2016 MFP CLASSICS CHALLENGE - DISCUSSION THREAD
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Oh dear, just seen the weather forecast for Saturday's Race...
something tells me it's going to be difficult for the commentators to tell who's who...
remember the last time on the "white roads" in the rain...
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Well, I must confess, I'd REALLY hoped for a wet one, but it seems that they "dodged a bullet" really - still - can't complain about the results of the races - Really enjoyed seeing the "highlights" package of the womens race (and the result, which I won't spoil if you haven't already seen it...) it's on Youtube here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toSKpzxz_FM
and of course, the mens race was a simple delight... (last 22km here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE8T2GrD96Q
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Results for the 2016 Strade Bianche
congratulations to the podium placed riders...
In third place Clive, @cloggsy71, with a cold and windy 40.2km ride, complete with excursion onto the rough stuff...
In second Graham - @BigG59 with with yet another "oh so near" metric Century at 98.1km
and in first place, making use of the fact that it's autumn, not very early spring in his hemisphere... Brett @Kupe with 100.5km and a couple of stunning pictures that really had me on the point of booking a plane ticket...
As Always, well done to everyone that rode, and to those who didn't, don't worry - it's a long challenge - plenty of time to make up between now and October! And to those that rode, but couldn't be arsed to make a one line post to claim you're points - well - Tough!
And now, we've actually had both Semi-Classics, and a Full Classic, I suppose it's time to mention the "overall" leaderboard...
I've colour coded the podium positions as per usual, gold, silver, bronze - and we can see that overall the positions are as follows
In overall Third (though god only knows how!) its me with 49 points
in overall Second with 57 points it's Graham @BigG59
and our overall leader with 67 points, all amassed in the minor races, is Jason @Jakess1971
As you can probably tell, there's actually quite a difference if we were going purely on total distance ridden - this challenge is based on Points accrued, only referring to overall distance if there's a tie on points. I think i'm probably an illustration of how consistency can pay off... or, put another way - get your *kitten* out there and ride folks...
As always - the full results are available via the logging spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1USBZpOdSTdQu0Ia9K3Nh1nwot8aj1I7p8bxlfm_N9JE/edit?usp=sharing
Right, we take a break for a while now, while the pro's go off and race either "Paris-Nice" or "Tirreno Adriatico" - this challenge resumes on the 19th with the Milan Sanremo - La Primavera... hopefully, we'll get some spring-like weather to suit the ride...
Hope to see you all on the start line in the Piazza del Duomo...
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It was a lovely weekend in various places to ride. A bit of a surprise where I live actually. Good overall for everyone who rode and actually told Yin about it.0
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Ok - I've been missing these as I'm basically logging food and that's about it on this website. So - I have taken the original calendar and put all the dates into my Google calendar. That will both get me out riding for these specific dates and remind me I need to post my ride on the rides thread.0
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I'd like to join this challenge!!!!0
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Yes ... I even think we follow each other on Strava (although I'm not sure on that ... )
https://www.strava.com/athletes/62921
And I'm plotting a ride for that day already ... hopefully my weather cooperates!0 -
for anyone plotting their ride for the MSR Weekend... can I just give this preview of what's likely to be the "spot prizes"... cut/pasted straight from last year's challenge...Okay folks - its reminder time again... don't forget, the next installment of this challenge commences 22nd March 2015 - that's this Sunday coming, your local time.
As posted in the discussion thread, there's spot prizes available again...
Again 3 possibilities this week
- First one is related to the nickname "La Primavera" - so 1 bonus point for a mid-ride photo showing "signs of spring" (daffodils/snowdrops/catkins/newborn lambs etc. - NOT your MTB's suspension
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- Second, just to piss all over the healthy aspect of this fitness site - 1 point for either a "bottle of Peroni post-ride recovery drink shot" OR a "cafe break shot with coffee/cakes/biscotti as appropriate" taken mid-ride.
Images should by preference have EXIF data present to verify timestamps, and the mid-ride photos should be geotagged to check they match up with the ride in time and location. For those of us using Strava, I'd suggest using a smartphone and Instagram, as you can actually link the two accounts, and the geotagging will actually show the location of the photo-call on your Strava route-trace...
- Third - and this is the big 5 pointer (so damned difficult to get) - is time related. The Milan Sanremo is the longest distance race in the series, and it's a long time in the saddle even for the pro's. So - here we go - anyone who spends more "moving time" (i.e. not counting cafe breaks, photo-calls or stopping mid ride for 7 hours for a sleep!) in their single ride gets a 5 point bonus. Obviously, I can only declare the points scored on this AFTER the pro's have crossed the line and registered their time...
Since the forum "upgrade" I daren't actually close the thread, in case it won't let me re-open it, or it throws the thread away... so, please don't post in here until you've got a ride to add... Also, as I can't back edit things for you, don't submit until you've got all the pictures collated and ready to add in one go... It's a fecking nuisance, I know, and I can see it being a bloody NIGHTMARE on the 3 week tours so i'm beginning to worry as to how to actually organise those...
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Hey Mark i'd like to pull out of this challenge, i've got too much going on and i've not been paying this one enough attention! Good luck to all and thanks for running the challenge, you clearly put a lot of thought into it and provide lots of background 0
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Does this mean that the riding thread is closed and we post our rides here Yin? I worked really late last night and today was a better day for riding than tomorrow will be maybe. But I'm knackered and out of shape so it was not a great effort nor a super long ride. I'm not up for the longer rides yet.0
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verdemujer wrote: »Does this mean that the riding thread is closed and we post our rides here Yin? I worked really late last night and today was a better day for riding than tomorrow will be maybe. But I'm knackered and out of shape so it was not a great effort nor a super long ride. I'm not up for the longer rides yet.
riding thread is closed, because there's no "event" this weekend... Next event Is Milan Sanremo - next weekend, after which the rides start coming thick and fast...
Milan-San Remo - Saturday Mar 19
Dwars door Vlaanderen - Wednesday Mar 23
E3 - Harelbeke - Friday Mar 25
Gent-Wevelgem - Sunday Mar 27
Ronde van Vlaanderen - Sunday Apr 3
Scheldeprijs - Wednesday Apr 6
Paris-Roubaix - Sunday Apr 10
De Brabantse Pijl - Wednesday Apr 13
Amstel Gold Apr - Sunday 17
Flèche Wallonne - Wednesday Apr 20
Liège-Bastogne-Liege - Sunday Apr 24
(there's no race's on the calendar this weekend, because the pro's are all either at the Tirreno Adriatico or the Paris-Nice 1 week stage races...)
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Oh man, I'm a week ahead then. I think I just want this next week over is what my problem is. Well, fingers crossed we have such lovely weather next weekend.0
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Amazed I'm still in the lead after a couple of very low weeks on the bike, need to get my *kitten* in gear for the next one or two, it's a hard one to keep on top of as it's sporadic and you can let target days slip by if your not careful.0
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the next few weeks are pretty hectic, lots of mid-week action as well as the weekend races - so, plenty of billy-bonus stuff for those of you who commute - just remember, get the ride booked on the day if you can, or PM me with confirmation of the strava if you can't get into the communities to post...
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Results are in for this weekends "event"
congratulations to the podium placed riders...
In third place Brett, @Kupe, with a "spring in autumn" ride at the other side of the world - 106.6km ride, and even managed to find some foliage that'd pass as spring colour...
In second again Graham - @BigG59 with a ride that was half a world distance away from Brett's, but only 200m further... 106.8km
and in first place, back after a rest in the last of the classics, is Jason @Jakess1971 with 113.9km
Always good to see a decent number of riders, and to see that a few of us are managing to find time in the ride for the occasional photo-call... love to see the photo's as part of the ride reports.
On to the overall" leaderboard...
I've colour coded the podium positions as per usual, gold, silver, bronze - and we can see that overall the positions are as follows
In overall Third with 62 points it's Brett @Kupe (I had 62 points also, but Brett has ridden far further than I have, and hence that's the decider for positions)
In overall Second it's Graham @BigG59 with 77 points
and our overall leader with 93 points, is Jason @Jakess1971
As always - the full results are available via the logging spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1USBZpOdSTdQu0Ia9K3Nh1nwot8aj1I7p8bxlfm_N9JE/edit?usp=sharing
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Results are in for the midweek "event"
congratulations to the podium placed riders...
In third place Me
just a quick 32.3km spin around my normal loop, with added visitation from the P******* fairy.
In second again Tom @TDSeest with a cracking 44.7km which he blames upon raging tailwinds...
and in first place, once again is Jason @Jakess1971 with 59.5km
Many thanks to everyone who rode, and who got their rides "in the book" as soon as possible - that's really appreciated at the moment, as theres pretty much a ride every other day this week, during Flandrian Week.
On to the overall" leaderboard...
I've colour coded the podium positions as per usual, gold, silver, bronze - and we can see that overall the positions are as follows
In overall Third with 74 points it's Me...(Purely through consistency - Brett not having booked a ride for this event)
In overall Second it's Graham @BigG59 with an unchanged 77 points
and our overall leader with an increasing lead on 113 points, is Jason @Jakess1971
As always - the full results are available via the logging spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1USBZpOdSTdQu0Ia9K3Nh1nwot8aj1I7p8bxlfm_N9JE/edit?usp=sharing
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I took myself out of today's short ride because we are still in solid clean up mode from yesterday's blizzard in our area. If it isn't snow, its ice and if its not that, then its deep standing water and slush because nothing can move anywhere just yet. More snow coming Friday night. Am I the only one who realized I could say 'yes, no, maybe' to the events as a reply in the main group page? I have my fingers crossed we are back to nice weather by Sunday. I have a dentist appointment on Saturday so I'm not sure that would be a good day even if the weather suddenly reversed itself and we are back to 70 this weekend.0
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Results are in for the "Good Friday Special"
congratulations to the podium placed riders...
In third place Me finally got out on a half decent weather day, and knocked in my first metric century (101.2km) since Summer 2014. Still haven't managed to lose the P******* fairy though 
In second place Stewart @ stewartlayzell with a cracking 106.0km
and finally, hitting the top place is Graham @BigG59 with 108.2 km
Many thanks to everyone who rode, and who got their rides "in the book" as soon as possible - that's really appreciated at the moment, as theres pretty much a ride every other day this week, during Flandrian Week.
On to the overall" leaderboard...
I've colour coded the podium positions as per usual, gold, silver, bronze - and we can see that overall the positions are as follows
In overall Third it appears I've consolidated my place a little with 86 points
In overall Second it's Graham @BigG59 now on 97 points
and our overall leader remains on 113 points, Jason @Jakess1971
As always - the full results are available via the logging spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1USBZpOdSTdQu0Ia9K3Nh1nwot8aj1I7p8bxlfm_N9JE/edit?usp=sharing
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IMPORTANT NOTICES FOLKS
A couple of people have ridden but not logged their rides again... I'll keep logging open FOR THIS RACE until tomorrow lunchtime (GMT) before closing off.
However, this is the last time I'm going to actually actively "pick up" rides from Strava. As far as the rest of the challenge is concerned, if it's not in the logging thread, it didn't happen.
Cut Off's will be STRICTLY Lunchtime the day after the event (i.e. the Monday for any Weekend Rides), so anything not either in the logging thread OR at least confirmed via a PM stating "i've ridden this one - http:// blahblahblah.... , please add to the logging thread for me as I'm away from a computer until after cut-off time" (or similar phrasing) will simply be ignored - EVEN IF I'VE GIVEN YOU KUDOS FOR IT ON STRAVA, AND TOLD YOU HOW WELL YOU'VE DONE.
We're 9 "Events" into the challenge now, so everyone SHOULD have sorted out how things work...
ALSO - for "Gradient" bonuses. This week, I've been using the Chrome plugin "Stravistix" to provide analysis of the gradients ridden. It's a nice easy way to verify the gradient, but it's very sensitive, and picks up lots of 1and 2 second "blips" in the elevation which aggregate into maybe 40-50 seconds of "extreme" gradient. So, for the purposes of the on-coming bonuses, I'll state the "minimum duration" of "extreme gradient" that needs to be logged for a bonus point to be given. Don't worry, it'll not be something stupid like 10 minutes, but it will be something that weeds out the occasional "false positives" in a otherwise pan-flat route... Of Course, if there's a specific hill you've climbed, that has a strava "KoM Sector" logged for it, you CAN give the URL for it... For example, here's one from my ride a couple of years ago...
https://www.strava.com/activities/125245407/segments/2812300601
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