Steve abraham attempt

[reohn2]

He's doing well.
I cannot even contemplate how long he has to go per day.

Not wishing to decry his monumental efforts, but he's riding in Flatlandia.
According to Strava, he's doing only 30ft per mile. I don't blame him in the slightest for not coming to Cornwall, but I have to ride 100ft per mile every time I go out.

But you're doing exactly that by making a comparison to your own personal rides
Flat would be zero ft elevation, 30ft/mile over every single mile of the 206 average he needs to do every day is equivalent to 62 miles of 100ft/mile every single day (in elevation terms) come rain or shine. Given how windy it has being this month and the distances involved to call his rides flatlandia is insulting IMO..

Quite right IMO,
To think the only thing that requires any effort are hills should try riding in 20mph side,cross or head winds all day,they'll soon change their mind.

[JohnW]

He's doing well.
I cannot even contemplate how long he has to go per day.

Not wishing to decry his monumental efforts, but he's riding in Flatlandia.
According to Strava, he's doing only 30ft per mile. I don't blame him in the slightest for not coming to Cornwall, but I have to ride 100ft per mile every time I go out.

But you're doing exactly that by making a comparison to your own personal rides
Flat would be zero ft elevation, 30ft/mile over every single mile of the 206 average he needs to do every day is equivalent to 62 miles of 100ft/mile every single day (in elevation terms) come rain or shine. Given how windy it has being this month and the distances involved to call his rides flatlandia is insulting IMO..

Quite right IMO,
To think the only thing that requires any effort are hills should try riding in 20mph side,cross or head winds all day,they'll soon change their mind.

+1 to that r2 - absolutely.

[beardy]

That is true yet winds stop blowing but hills never prostrate themselves before me.

[[XAP]Bob]

He's doing well.
I cannot even contemplate how long he has to go per day.

Not wishing to decry his monumental efforts, but he's riding in Flatlandia.
According to Strava, he's doing only 30ft per mile. I don't blame him in the slightest for not coming to Cornwall, but I have to ride 100ft per mile every time I go out.

You are an extreme example though - as we have discussed ad nauseum

[Mick F]

Exactly!

I'm not insulting anyone, I'm making a point that my riding is completely different to the vast majority of cyclists. He's riding in normal geography, and not abnormal geography like mine.

It may not mean anything to other folk, but I always look at my elevation gains on any ride I do. I'm sort of obsessed by it because it's such an important aspect of life here. Had we not swapped rides data, I would think everyone would do 100ft per mile because this is normal.

No insult intended, just an observation. Steve would be mad to attempt his monumental feat down here. I couldn't even contemplate it and hold him great awe and immense admiration. I'm actually poking fun at myself.

Sorry if I've offended anyone, but you all know I call a spade a spade and my northern bluntness is sometimes badly aimed.

[beardy]

It is not as if he is afraid of hills, when he isnt going for this particular target.

http://www.aukweb.net/results/archive/2 ... Rider=1223

May have even been all done on fixed gear, I dont know.

[reohn2]

That is true yet winds stop blowing but hills never prostrate themselves before me.

No,but usually for every up there's a down,so at least you get a rest after the effort.
On the flat the effort is constant and if the wind's blowing,which it usually is where there's nowhere to stop it,especially at this time of year,there's a good chance,unless it's a tailwind or 20% oblique angled in that helpful direction,the constant effort is made harder.
If anyone's in any doubt about the effect wind can have, watch some of the Belgium or Dutch races and see how it can tear the field apart.
If you have riding companions or a team you can be looked after and hidden from the worst of the wind.
OTOH there's no hiding from the effort of climbing hills.

[beardy]

No doubt about the effect of the wind and I am often delighted to get back off the plains into the shelter of the hills. The point is that the wind is not always there. There are many days without it, even all days if you are free to choose when you ride.
The hills, however, never take a day off from being there. If Mr Abrahams had total freedom he could ride with the wind whenever possible, plotting on a daily basis to optimise this. In real life he will have his accommodation pre-arranged and have to ride upwind as much as down.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I do see where Mick F is coming from, living near the coast in Devon.
My most flat course is 70 ' / mile anywhere.
As for the hills, you don't just make it up going down them either.
I agree there shelter in the hedges but which would you really pick to ride for pleasure, Hills or Flats.........................
But distance is always done flatist (not a word apparently) even my 24 hrs rides are at 67 ' / mile.
It would be nice not to live at the top of a hill.

I see he likes Milton Keynes .
Whats his average HR anyway.

[[XAP]Bob]

He lives in MK, so it's natural that his rides will cluster there.

Average HR is low, that's what he is riding tp - strava says... sub 110 (Average 85)
Two rides at ~random:

Z1 Endurance < 109 12:22:30 100%
Z2 Moderate 109 - 145 2:09 0%
Z3 Tempo 145 - 162 0s 0%
Z4 Threshold 162 - 180 0s 0%
Z5 Anaerobic > 180 0s 0%

Z1 Endurance < 109 11:55:59 97%
Z2 Moderate 109 - 145 19:37 3%
Z3 Tempo 145 - 162 0s 0%
Z4 Threshold 162 - 180 0s 0%
Z5 Anaerobic > 180 0s 0%

[reohn2]

There's no denying the hills never take a day off,nor did I say you make it up going down the other side of them.
My point was that the flatlands have their own problems for the cyclist which isn't obvious until you ride them a while.
Make no mistake,you're more likely to ride further and faster on the flat providing you have the freedom to choose you're route,given the choice to rack up the miles(which is what Steve Abraham is attempting)only a fool would head for Devon and Cornwall.

[iandriver]

From what I've read on other forums etc., the original record was set by riding with the conditions each day, often with a tail wind all the way. Routes were chosen for favourable terrain. If anything, this guy is missing a trick by not riding with a tail wind all day. This guy is only staying closer to home during the colder months but then plans to head further afield.

I really think what this guy is doing is as equivalent to the original record as you can reasonably get given the road surface, traffic differences and changes in bicycle technology between now and then.

Bedfordshire isn't the Fenlands. It isn't mountainous, but isn't completely flat either. He'll be no stranger to short, sharp, so n so climbs where it's tough to get a rhythm going.

Edit, at time of posting his Strava account is showing:
Total this year: 2,537.6 mi
Time :184h 32m
Elev Gain: 76,138 ft
Rides : 14

[Mick F]

Yeah, I've ridden extensively round Bedfordshire, Northhamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, as well a through MK and Oxfordshire.
I agree it's not actually flat.

Other than riding back home from Bedford via Swindon last May, I had been on an organised ride into the wilds of Bedfordshire ................. and I rode my RSW16. I left the others for dead on the hills!

[Mark1978]

If anything, this guy is missing a trick by not riding with a tail wind all day.

There's only so much of that you can do. A quick look at the forecast for the next few days says that 8 out of 10 of them will be a straight Westerly, so he could ride out to the West one day, but chances are he'll run out of land and have to ride back into it the next.

I don't know how much flexibility he has in accomodation etc to be able to take advantage in a shifting wind.

[eileithyia]

Drafting a vehicle when you hit lucky is acceptable to most of us (swings and roundabouts here as sometimes you are obstructed by other vehicles and how do you tell drafting from "stuck behind"?) but arranging a motor vehicle to draft would be cheating.

And we do not know how much drafting went on in the previous ride. Fewer vehicles on the roads to cause hold-ups admittedly, but lorries etc would have travelled far far slower and given more of an option for a rider to draft... I know this happened as 'older' club mates have talked of the days when they waited for a lorry to give them a draft up a particular hill when out training.