Has Steve Abraham started the year ride again?

stevie63

ugo.santalucia wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

Crossed wrote:

I'm sure it's hard work riding round a park for 12h a day but it seems like the most pointless record attempt ever.

I'm not sure I understand this. What makes one record more pointless than another? Surely they're all equally pointless (and, at a certain level, isn't that the whole point?)

I'm not trying to belittle any of these efforts; they're all pretty amazing. However, the only reason anyone's going to do something like this is for personal satisfaction; nothing else is going to give them the motivation they need to succeed. In some ways I have more admiration for someone doing laps of a park; they have presumably decided that it's worth sacrificing of a whole load of mental stimulus in order to maximise the chances of achieving their goal. It's almost the ultimate in single-minded dedication. By contrast, you could argue that riding on open roads brings in all sorts of additional risks and compromises, just so you can have something more interesting to look at. If Steve had been doing laps of a park, he wouldn't have had that incident with the moped...

The bicycle was invented as a mean of locomotion to go from A to B and back to A where A and B were too far apart to walk in a reasonable timescale. Going around a small loop defies the purpose of the bicycle, I think this is in essence why many of us have a problem with it.
Other "circuit" type records are about speed, but this one isn't (one can choose the speed to go at)... this is about distance in a long timescale and doing distance where there is no distance is a contraddiction

But in fairness I go out for a ride and I start at point A and the I finish at Point A. Now I may have travelled 10 miles or 20 or 50 or 100 but I still end up at point A and the only one who gives 2 hoots that I've done it is me.

stevie63

Fenix wrote:

Pretty sure Beryl Burton proved all of that a long time ago ?

Absolutely, and she is most famous for setting the at the time overall record for cycling the furthest in 12 hours (and still stands as the womens record) and like Amanda this would also have involved cycling round a flat loop (albeit on open roads with traffic) Is this record therefore pointless?

ugo.santalucia

stevie63 wrote:

Now I may have travelled 10 miles or 20 or 50 or 100 but I still end up at point A and the only one who gives 2 hoots that I've done it is me.

Exactly, so why would anyone give 2 hoots about someone cycling 80,000 miles in one year in a small circuit...?
As a feat per se, given there is no elevation and the speed can be chosen, I am not even sure if it's hard, if it's painful or simply dull, incredibly boring and mentally draining... I have no idea where to put it in terms of records... does it belong to cycling or does it belong to the Guinness book of weird things to do, like a 3 mile long loaf of bread? Basically while I have an idea about Steve Abraham attempt, I have no idea what the fcuk is the other one about

tgotb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

given there is no elevation and the speed can be chosen

History is full of records set in conditions of the record-maker's choosing. Records set at altitude; windsurfing speed records set in a purpose-built canal; transoceanic sailing records set after weeks or months waiting in port for the right weather window; aircraft speed records set at altitude; land speed records set on salt flats; finding the optimum conditions is one of the factors that makes these things interesting.
Yes, the speed can be chosen; do you go faster and allow yourself more recovery time, or go slower and hope to reduce the fatigue? How to strike the balance?

If the ride should include elevation changes, what's the minimum elevation change per mile to be worthwhile? Who decides? If someone specifically chooses a course that only just meets that arbitrary benchmark, is that a problem?

Ultimately, the pursuit of records is almost always pointless. Racing against other people is pretty pointless too. Competitive sport is generally pointless, but maybe not as pointless as many non-competitive pursuits. What's the point in climbing Everest, or in going for a walk in the countryside, or in spending all day sat by a lake, trying to catch a fish that will ultimately returned to the water? Nothing. The only person who benefits is the one taking part. At the end of the day it's up to the participant, and no-one else, to determine whether such an activity is worth the effort they put into it.

If you don't spend time on forums for fishing, stamp collecting and plane spotting, telling people that their chosen activities are pointless, why do exactly that on here?

Anonymous

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Going around a small loop defies the purpose of the bicycle, I think this is in essence why many of us have a problem with it.

The answer, TOTGB, is because in the above where ugo says 'us' he means himself.

ugo.santalucia

TGOTB wrote:

Ultimately, the pursuit of records is almost always pointless. Racing against other people is pretty pointless too. Competitive sport is generally pointless, but maybe not as pointless as many non-competitive pursuits. What's the point in climbing Everest, or in going for a walk in the countryside, or in spending all day sat by a lake, trying to catch a fish that will ultimately returned to the water? Nothing. The only person who benefits is the one taking part. At the end of the day it's up to the participant, and no-one else, to determine whether such an activity is worth the effort they put into it.

Well, elsewhere it is said that everybody benefit in terms of motivation, so clearly a record has some value, at least in the hype that surrounds it.
It would be nice if it meant something and was quantifiable... otherwise, why not a set of rollers or a turbo trainer, why not an e-bike? Does it have to be outdoor and involving moving? Where do you draw the line and why do you draw it there? It might well be that 200 Km on an e-bike over a hilly terrain are more challenging than 200 Km on a flat track on pedal power...

I struggle with the simplicity of the rules in the game... :roll:

bondurant

I think you're thinking a little too hard about it Ugo.

tgotb

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It would be nice if it meant something and was quantifiable... otherwise, why not a set of rollers or a turbo trainer, why not an e-bike? Does it have to be outdoor and involving moving? Where do you draw the line and why do you draw it there? It might well be that 200 Km on an e-bike over a hilly terrain are more challenging than 200 Km on a flat track on pedal power...

I struggle with the simplicity of the rules in the game... :roll:

If you want to see how far you can ride an e-bike in one year, go for it! Prefer to do it on rollers or turbo? Fill your boots! I doubt anyone's ever established a record for the furthest distance ridden on rollers in a year, but someone has to be first.

ugo.santalucia

Bondurant wrote:

I think you're thinking a little too hard about it Ugo.

Agree, I'll take my coat

pinno

Does anyone not think that ultimately there will be a year record set that no-one is going to risk all that time and effort to try and beat? So the question of 'why?' will become immaterial. It may be that practically, 80k in any other conditions other than a short loop is very difficult distance to attain.

Just like the world hour record - it's probably beyond 95% of elite riders and way beyond any amateur riders. At least the fail bar is set so high, not getting it will make you look a mug, upset your sponsors, upset all the support crew..., so no one is prepared to do it unless some unique window of opportunity for a top TTer pops up.

ForumNewbie

Pinno wrote:

Does anyone not think that ultimately there will be a year record set that no-one is going to risk all that time and effort to try and beat?

I think that is why Tommy Godwin's record stood for 76 years. Doing 75,065 miles with the equipment and support he would have had in 1939 is hard to better.

pinno

ForumNewbie wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Does anyone not think that ultimately there will be a year record set that no-one is going to risk all that time and effort to try and beat?

I think that is why Tommy Godwin's record stood for 76 years. Doing 75,065 miles with the equipment and support he would have had in 1939 is hard to better.

In that respect, no record is going to better it. Apparently, he did have pacers but still...

I presume form that statement, no one recognises Kurt Sevogel's record because he used a recumbent here and there? Or are there 2 categories?

LanterneRouge010

The lack of standardisation between the attempts, re open road and elevation, really diminishes the validity of the records.

ugo.santalucia

Pinno wrote:

Does anyone not think that ultimately there will be a year record set that no-one is going to risk all that time and effort to try and beat? So the question of 'why?' will become immaterial. It may be that practically, 80k in any other conditions other than a short loop is very difficult distance to attain.

Just like the world hour record - it's probably beyond 95% of elite riders and way beyond any amateur riders. At least the fail bar is set so high, not getting it will make you look a mug, upset your sponsors, upset all the support crew..., so no one is prepared to do it unless some unique window of opportunity for a top TTer pops up.

The UCI idea was that if someone had to beat Merckx, he had to be a better athlete. It's rather pointless, as you might have such a talent once in a century or you might never had another one... technology play a role in going fast and therefore it has to be allowed in the game.

The year record has very little prestige and zero money, so rules are relaxed... it makes it difficult to compare different attempts and theefore hard to say who is better than who

pinno

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Pinno wrote:

Does...up.

The UCI idea was that if someone had to beat Merckx, he had to be a better athlete. It's rather pointless, as you might have such a talent once in a century or you might never had another one... technology play a role in going fast and therefore it has to be allowed in the game.

I'm quite aware of that. Wasn't it more that if you deviated from the Merckx bike set up too far, it was invalid because gains were being made through more aerodynamic positions rather than athletic ability so they set strict limits in bike geometry and set up?
Or are you trying to say that the current rules on bike set up will only allow for another person with a physiology/body shape almost identical to him?

Not sure, looking at Wiggins bike it's a correct assumption. It's hardly reminiscent of Merckx's machine, is it? However, under the new rules, theoretically, anyone can have a go at it with a UCI regulation track machine. I guess that's open to interpretation as well.



In 2014, the UCI unified the two classifications into a single classification in line with regulations for current track pursuit bikes. Records previously removed for Chris Boardman and Graeme Obree were returned, however the benchmark record would remain at 49.7 km (30.9 mi) set in 2005 by Ondrej Sosenka, even though that was not the farthest distance.[15][16] Under the new regulations riders may use any bike allowed by the UCI standards for endurance track events in place at the time of the attempt

fudgey

I see Steve has cracked the month record, but i believe he is out today for his final day so should smash his 7000 mile target - awesome!!!!

ugo.santalucia

Fudgey wrote:

I see Steve has cracked the month record, but i believe he is out today for his final day so should smash his 7000 mile target - awesome!!!!

that puts my 8000 in a year in perspective... :? :?

chatlow

Amazing achievement. I have been following both Steve and Amanda Coker on Strava for a while now. Granted he's doing the monthly challenge, not annual - both are eating over 200 miles a day but just compare the elevation gain between them (> 500ft vs 5000ft), it's crazy!

ugo.santalucia

Right, so he's at it again... a lone man in a cold, wind and rain battered island, trying to grab a record that seems to be destined to go in the hands of a Florida "round-the-block" traffic-free looper...

I don't know how he will manage the 400 km a day he needs to do, now that the bar has been raised significantly...

Everything is against him: the climate, the terrain... don't we all love an underdog?

Thoughts?

AK_jnr

I don't get it if I'm honest. Cant think of many worse things to do for a year.

ugo.santalucia

AK_jnr wrote:

I don't get it if I'm honest. Cant think of many worse things to do for a year.

It's an obsession like another. Clearly this record means a lot to him... the idea behind it is pretty dated... basically in 1939 it wanted to show the superiority of the bicycle over any other means of transportation available, while I don't think these days it's about that anymore.
The lack of clear regulations means this record is a bit of a mixed bag

Hinaultscrapcousin

Fenix wrote:

I really cant see riding loops as being good for you.

Its just not as impressive as say Tommy Godwins rides.

Has anyone done the longest turbo ride yet ? Its probably only a matter of time before someone claims that as a record.

Pretty sure I saw an article about someone doing something on TrainerRoad or one of the other computer game ones and setting a record recently.

joe2008

AK_jnr wrote:

I don't get it if I'm honest. Cant think of many worse things to do for a year.

What don't you 'get'? He's planning to spend a year doing exactly what he wants to do.

AK_jnr

Well if he enjoys it then fair enough, I still think its a complete waste of time considering he already failed once and some bird riding round in circles is going to put it out of reach in this country.

cgfw201

Can't see how he can possibly beat the new record, but will check in on Strava to see how he's getting on every day. It is impressive in terms of determination, dedication and endurance, even if it (and him) aren't particularly entertaining.

keef66

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

Fenix wrote:

I really cant see riding loops as being good for you.

Its just not as impressive as say Tommy Godwins rides.

Has anyone done the longest turbo ride yet ? Its probably only a matter of time before someone claims that as a record.

Pretty sure I saw an article about someone doing something on TrainerRoad or one of the other computer game ones and setting a record recently.

Yep, some demented Dutch girl on Zwift for 60 something hours. Not quite the same as battling storm Doris though...

norvernrob

AK_jnr wrote:

Well if he enjoys it then fair enough, I still think its a complete waste of time considering he already failed once and some bird riding round in circles is going to put it out of reach in this country.

By his own admission he wasn't fit enough at the start of his last attempt, and he got a broken ankle too, yet he still managed somewhere around 64,000 miles.

Personally I can't see how he's going to beat Amanda Coker when he's riding around the UK, but I think he simply wants to complete a year doing the absolute maximum miles he's capable of, that didn't happen the first time. Kurt Searvogel's distance may be a more realistic proposition, and lets be honest if he got close to, or past that, most people would class him as superior to anyone else anyway even if he didn't actually break the record - purely because of the terrain and conditions.

Brakeless

AK_jnr wrote:

Well if he enjoys it then fair enough, I still think its a complete waste of time considering he already failed once and some bird riding round in circles is going to put it out of reach in this country.

'some bird' Are you serious ? :roll:

ugo.santalucia

NorvernRob wrote:

and lets be honest if he got close to, or past that, most people would class him as superior to anyone else anyway even if he didn't actually break the record - purely because of the terrain and conditions.

The rules could be simply amended like this:

"No more than 20% of the course can be covered more than once per day."

That would sort it... no more looping, yet you can still use a preferential way to "get in and out of town". 20% is a random figure, could be 30 or even 50%

joe2008

AK_jnr wrote:

Well if he enjoys it then fair enough, I still think its a complete waste of time considering he already failed once and some bird riding round in circles is going to put it out of reach in this country.

To be honest, I agree, but as people have funded / are funding his 'time off', I guess it's either another attempt or back to work for him.