Has Steve Abraham started the year ride again?

bobmcstuff

ben@31 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

nochekmate wrote:

How interesting that must be - at least Steve got out and about.

agree, totally pointless... a record for the sake of it...

John F.Kennedy "We choose to go to the Moon! ...We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard !"

It may be pointless, but its one hell of an achievement. Sometimes its good to set a goal and have something to aim for.

That argument could be used for more or less anything.

ben@31

Bob, whats your alternative? We all sit indoors on the sofa all our lives, covered in bubble wrap and achieve nothing? Like those armchair critics who could never achieve what they're are criticising.

Hats off to Steve, I wish him well.

bobmcstuff

ben@31 wrote:

Bob, whats your alternative? We all sit indoors on the sofa all our lives, covered in bubble wrap and achieve nothing? Like those armchair critics who could never achieve what they're are criticising.

Hats off to Steve, I wish him well.

Not at all, I've got no problem with him doing it, I've been following him since before the first attempt. Just saying, the argument doesn't really make sense! That's probably one of the reasons I like it.

I've been out and cycled 100 miles, 200 miles just to see if I could, so I understand why you would want to do these things.

ugo.santalucia

Currently running an average of 220 miles a day, higher than TG and KS, but lower than AC by 17 miles a day... basically an hour a day short of target, but in three months that amounts to 1600 miles or so, which puts the record out of reach. Still nice to see if he can beat TG and KS though...

fudgey

Yes i noticed that too. But with regards to AC's effort, you cant compare a roundabout to a roller coaster...

What was AC's total for the year? Well over 80k i think, and i think she is going for 100k miles now.

Thick Mike

Drove past him a few times on the A505 recently...amazing effort.

orraloon

Sadly Steve A got knocked off again earlier this week. Hit by a car from behind, glancing blow, checked out in hospital, nothing broken. Sounds like he was relatively lucky. Looks like a few days off for recovery.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Wow, that sucks, wondered how things were going in the recent wintery conditions. Hopefully he can get back on the wheeled horse soon.

ugo.santalucia

He was back on his bike yesterday, but off pace by quite some margin. Between snow, ice and the accident he is now behind the Saervogel line and it looks increasingly unlikely he will beat even KS (obviously Amanda's record was off the table already in summer). There is still Tommy's record to go for, which probably has enough meaning for Steve to keep going.

I begin to think starting an attempt in March was a mistake. Best to start in December and get winter out of the way first thing... much easier to give up an attempt and start again after a month if things are not going well than it is after 9
He probably gambled on a mild winter and unfortunately the gamble didn't pay off

ben@31

How has Steve done, is there any results for 2017 ?

Fanatastic attempt. I cant imagine how hard it must have been to keep going day after day.

ugo.santalucia

ben@31 wrote:

How has Steve done, is there any results for 2017 ?

Fanatastic attempt. I cant imagine how hard it must have been to keep going day after day.

He is going to finish on March 3rd... not going well, he is down on every target... at the moment even the bare minimum and probably the only realistic target left, which is beating Tommy Godwin is very much in doubt.
He is been unlucky with health, injuries and weather

cougie

The mindset of someone able to do these kind of rides is completely beyond me. Even if he can't get Godwin's record i doff my cap to him.

ugo.santalucia

cougie wrote:

The mindset of someone able to do these kind of rides is completely beyond me. Even if he can't get Godwin's record i doff my cap to him.

True,

however, coming home with some form of record might give him very much needed profile, which he might be able to monetise... being that in the form of a book deal, sponsorship for future attempts, appearances on radio/TV shows or sector magazines.
In the absence of some form of record, one could argue that 3 years of his life (this is by no means his first attempt) have gone by and resulted in nothing that resembles a career.

I think it is very important he bags the UK record at the very least

cougie

Tbh millions of people have spent years at work and still don't have a career to mention.

ugo.santalucia

cougie wrote:

Tbh millions of people have spent years at work and still don't have a career to mention.

Of course,

the problem, or at least the way I see it, is that the reason his attempts fail is down to lack of budget... if he had more money, he could cycle somewhere warmer in winter and avoid crashing on ice or having to ride on busy gritted roads and crashing with cars. He could eat better food and avoid spending a week off the road due to food poisoning...

It is sad, but on top of talent, training and a huge dose of MTFU, to be successful you also need cash, which seems to be where he is lacking....

MiddleRinger

ugo.santalucia wrote:

It is sad, but on top of talent, training and a huge dose of MTFU, to be successful you also need cash, which seems to be where he is lacking....

Basically this.

And the opportunity to (allegedly) constantly draft lorries up and down the motorway at 30mph all day like Tommy Goodwin.

Hats off to Steve, he's one proper hard man.

milemuncher1

Fair play to the guy for keeping it going. Personally, I see it as a bit of a flakey challenge, as there is no rigid framework for the type of ride, or machinery used. What I mean is ( as demonstrated by Tarzan’s attempt) you can ride around in circles, on a recumbent, in a park, for the most part, and get the mileage. Or you can go for proper rides, that actually go somewhere, incorporate terrain, and do it on a bicycle, as would be recognised as a bicycle, by anyone. In my opinion, that should be the rule, as I personally believe that doing it any other way, is not really in the spirit which was intended.

Mapaputsi

What sort of support team does he have? (if any?) I remember from reading the article about Amanda Coker that her father spent the entire day at the park with her handing her food etc. Seems like she had a lot of supporting riders that would do miles with her every day too.

ben@31

ugo.santalucia wrote:

ben@31 wrote:

How has Steve done, is there any results for 2017 ?

Fanatastic attempt. I cant imagine how hard it must have been to keep going day after day.

He is going to finish on March 3rd... not going well, he is down on every target... at the moment even the bare minimum and probably the only realistic target left, which is beating Tommy Godwin is very much in doubt.
He is been unlucky with health, injuries and weather

Instead of going for the outright world record, is he now going for the national record? Or his age category record ?

I'm amazed he does big distances in this weather

milemuncher1

Mapaputsi wrote:

What sort of support team does he have? (if any?) I remember from reading the article about Amanda Coker that her father spent the entire day at the park with her handing her food etc. Seems like she had a lot of supporting riders that would do miles with her every day too.

She had a few riders with her on most days. She had to ask them to not ride with her in the end, for ‘safety reasons’.

ugo.santalucia

ben@31 wrote:

Instead of going for the outright world record, is he now going for the national record? Or his age category record ?

I'm amazed he does big distances in this weather

When he started, AC had not finished her assault yet, but even at the time it was clear she was going to put in something hard to beat. He said he was going for the record, but from day two it became clear he couldn't match AC's mileage. Saervogel was the next best and up to November he was on track to beat him, then he had health issues, a couple of crashes and now he is down on every single target, including Tommy Godwin's very old record, which is the last realistic target left. I think he needs something like 210 miles a day for the next two months to beat Tommy... at the moment it looks "unlikely".
The thing is, there is nothing wrong in banging your head and not succeeding, but IMO you need to make these things work for you when you put so much effort into them... look at Henman... he never won a slam, but at least he made a lot of money in the process.

cycleclinic

It ones of those goals I don't get. Doing it the way Steve is requires everything to go better than hoped for, for a whole year. Who's life is actually like that. Not mine and neither Steve's. So on that basis he's normal.

ben@31

I'm amazed Steve is still doing this in Britain over winter. Is there any rule that says he can't fly somewhere with much better weather for a few days?

ugo.santalucia

ben@31 wrote:

I'm amazed Steve is still doing this in Britain over winter. Is there any rule that says he can't fly somewhere with much better weather for a few days?

I don't think there is any rule. Cycling would make more sense, as you don't waste time in airports. The problem is down to logistics... it's not as simple as sleeping in a Campanile in the south of France for a couple of months. He needs laundry, mechanical service to his bikes, ideally someone who prepares him food at the strangest hours and so on. Basically he needs support.

To do that abroad, he would need a budget he simply doesn't have

bobmcstuff

ugo.santalucia wrote:

ben@31 wrote:

I'm amazed Steve is still doing this in Britain over winter. Is there any rule that says he can't fly somewhere with much better weather for a few days?

I don't think there is any rule. Cycling would make more sense, as you don't waste time in airports. The problem is down to logistics... it's not as simple as sleeping in a Campanile in the south of France for a couple of months. He needs laundry, mechanical service to his bikes, ideally someone who prepares him food at the strangest hours and so on. Basically he needs support.

To do that abroad, he would need a budget he simply doesn't have

Someone a bit more media-savvy (in the vein of Mark Beaumont) might have been able to make that happen.

But Steve is "just" an extremely dedicated audax-er who is passionate about riding a very long way, which while admirable doesn't result in flocks of sponsors queuing up.

chris_bass

could he just keep going and break a different record? didn't tommy godwin carry on and reach 100,000 miles, so instead of most mile sin a year, quickest to 100,000 miles?

benjamess

Chris Bass wrote:

could he just keep going and break a different record? didn't tommy godwin carry on and reach 100,000 miles, so instead of most mile sin a year, quickest to 100,000 miles?

Amanda did that once she completed the year......and was averaging something stupid like 240 miles a day towards the end.

chris_bass

benjamess wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

could he just keep going and break a different record? didn't tommy godwin carry on and reach 100,000 miles, so instead of most mile sin a year, quickest to 100,000 miles?

Amanda did that once she completed the year......and was averaging something stupid like 240 miles a day towards the end.

200,000 miles?!

stevie63

^^^^^^^ Exactly, he's already done over 150000 miles since he started this thing so why not.

joe2008

I guess his choice is to keep riding his bike astonishing distances daily until he breaks some kind of record, and then write a book, or go back to working in the warehouse (and ride his bike astonishing distances at the weekend).

I believe individuals have given/are giving money to help fund his efforts.