well - that was a very restful rest day...

didn't quite manage to get the spreadsheet all confirmed up and verified though...

missing a post from one or two (ahem) people...

@Dave2041 - 8 days unconfirmed
@m1xm0d3 - 1 day unconfirmed
@ruthbardell - 1 day unconfirmed

@bsexton3 - 1 day unconfirmed
@canbbot - 12 days unconfirmed
@stewartlayzell - 11 days confinrmed

@R4Snik - 5 days unconfirmed
@banshee1013 - 4 days unconfirmed

@andrewmayhall - 12 days unconfirmed
@checkmate - 1 day unconfirmed
@lbchilds2001 - 1 day unconfirmed
@verdemujer - 6 days unconfirmed
@sheep_dog - 10 days unconfirmed


Come on guys - Jason and I were working like crazy at the start of this challenge to get the data entry automated... All I ask of you at this point is that you actually make your own "submissions" so that we can verify the pickup routines - its in ALL your interests to do this, because IF we can prove that this all works properly, we can pretty much drop the logging entries from your part for the other two grand tours...

If we still have "blanks" at the end of the Giro, then it may be necessary to continue with manual logging - making everyone a whole lot more work. Can I ask someone from each of the teams who DOES log regularly to volunteer to "kick *kitten* and take names"... Send PM's and generally make the delinquents life a misery until they get their finger out and post.

If you look at the list above, there's 73 potential sets of Strava data I need to check the accuracy of... I WAS hoping to get this done on the rest day... Oh - and YES - at the moment, I DO actually look at each of the strava posts, to check the computer picked up the right figures, and (the essential manual check) that the "ride" was actually a ride, not a walk, or a swim, or a duplicate Strava App AND Garmin recording, or a drive up the coast for 40 miles following a bike ride, then getting the bike off the rack and discovering the Garmin was still on... or any of the myriad ways that we can all screw up...


Rant over.

ruthbardell wrote: »

Sorry Mark, all up to date now, including my absence for the next couple of days. My wheel is now straight again following my little mishap at the weekend, just waiting or my knee to recover now.

Sorry to hear you've been having "mishaps" - don't worry about the challenge, just focus on getting yourself working properly again....

That goes for anyone BTW - if you have any problems that'll take you off the bike, just let me know via a PM on here, and I'll stop nagging you for data - don't rely on adding messages on Strava or suchlike, as I've got such a ridiculous number of people on my "newsfeed" there (pretty much everyone on all the challenges I've ever run on here...) that I don't often have the luxury or reading every post and description / messages... at least, not during one of the 3 week tour challenges!

well - unless the sun comes out this evening, and I decide to have a roll down to the local for a celebratory pint, I think I'm finished, showered and sat in the team bus waiting on the rest of team Pastana to cross the line...

not too bad a showing for someone who got his ticker re-plumbed about 8 months ago - 725km and 20 of the 21 stages ridden... if anyone would have said that to me on the 5th September last year, as I was lying waiting to have 2 big bits of wire mesh inserted into my heart through a hole in my groin, I'd have been impressed and not a little sceptical...

Okay folks, the riding's over for the Giro d'Italia... But I guess there's still the "Podium Ceremony" to be sorted out...

Now, the Giro has always had all sorts of wierd and wonderful prizes on offer... Have a look at the link below and you'll see some of the competitions that go on within the race.

https://inthedrops.net/2015/05/19/what-can-you-win-at-the-giro-2015/


I'm now going to explain how I've decided what Categories out of this wierd and eclectic mix that we're going to support within OUR little mini-giro...

MAGLIA ROSA


The pink jersey wearer. Simple one to decide - this is the rider that does the most Km's over the duration of the race - only stipulation is that you have to "confirm" the rides within a couple of working days of the end of the race finishing... So, it WOULD theoretically be possible for someone to ride 500km a day for the first 5 days, then not ride again for the duration of the challenge, not confirm their rides, and be marked as DNF on day 6, and not be eligable for the Maglia Rosa.



MAGLIA ROSSA


The red jersey wearer, often referred to as the "sprinters jersey" though more accurately it is the "finishing points jersey" - in our case, as we don't get to ride together and sprint for a line, the nearest metric I could find was average speed - i.e. the jersey goes to the person with the fastest overall average speed. Similar to the Maglia Rosa, the only stipulation is that rides are declared through the whole tour - in this case, also, a minimum of 6 rides are needed, in at least 3 "sections" (i.e. the bits between the rest days - this giro has 4 sections due to the 3 rest days, typically there would be 2 rest days and 3 sections) of the tour...)

This is basically to stop a "pot hunter" signing up, doing one "flying kilometer" around a outdoor velodrome at a stupid speed, then not logging anything else to reduce the averages... If any averages are thought to be "strange" then the original ".FIT/.TCX" files from the ride may be needed for analysis...


MAGLIA AZZURRA


The Blue Climbers Jersey is also pretty simply decided - it's the rider who books the highest number of Metres of ascent over the duration of the tour. Again, the rider does need to finish the tour to get the jersey, so the same criteria for finishing as apply to the Maglia Rosa are also in place for this Jersey.


WINNING TEAM

Nice and Simple again - goes to the Team that clock up the highest Number of Km's overall.




Now we come to the more specific / slightly convoluted ones...

Allied to the Maglia Azzurra is the Cima Coppi.

In the real Giro, this is a prize awarded to the person who crosses the KoM line first, on the Highest point of the entire race... As this is about "speed of ascent", I've decided to award this prize to the person who has the highest "VAM" (Velocità Ascensionale Media - or Average Climbing Speed). As this is actually a "one off" prize, taken on a single day's ride, there's no requirement for "finishing" the challenge to pick up this prize.


PREMIO DELLA FUGA


This is the breakaway prize in the Giro - but, it's basically an award for the person who puts in the most work in the challenge - it's harder work out in the break than in the peloton. As a measure of that, I've decided to use one of the facilities of the CycLeagues app, based on it's "points system" that combines Distance, Time in the saddle and Ascent into a single score. Put simply, in CycLeagues, select the "Giro d'Italia" from the pulldown, and see who's top of the 1st Cat Riders.


FIGHTING SPIRIT


In the Giro, this is a measure of aggression and hands out points for competing for categorised climbs, intermediate sprints, and stage finishes. Well - in OUR challenge, it goes to the most dedicated rider - To win it, you have to have ridden all the Stages. If more than one person rides all the stages, then it's decided on total distance.


And, even though they don't have this award formally anymore, as I'm a bit of a stickler for tradition, I still want to award the

MAGLIA NERA

For those of you who are unaware, this is basically the equivalent of the TdF's "Lanterne Rouge" - awarded to the person with the lowest overall distance ridden, who "finished" the tour (i.e. booked in their rides all the way through) AND who hit the same "competing all the way through" criteria as the sprinters jersey requires - so a minimum of 6 rides, in at least 3 sections of the Giro.

And that's it I think... Lots of categories there...




Hopefully, I'll get the final declarations sometime soon, and hopefully by tomorrow I'll have the "podium ceremony" thread sorted out.