|
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
In article
, David Dermott wrote: On Sat, 24 Jun 2006, Tim McNamara wrote: Is it longer than Paris-Brest-Paris (1200+ km)? Many people ride that in one go, other than stopping in at the required checkpoints. Do (or can) people ride the whole 1200km P-B-P without a rest stop? I thought the ckeckpoints forced a minimum time for completing the course (min 40 hr max 90 hr??). The controles along the course are open for specific time windows, set by a maximum and minimum average speed. There are no required rest periods in the randonneur PBP which is ridden "allure libre" ("free pace"). However, there are required checkpoints (controles) as well as secret controles where the riders have to stop and have their route book stamped to prove they rode the entire route with no shortcuts. So even while there are no required rest periods one does not ride the event non-stop, although the fastest riders are probably off the bikes no more than an hour total over the 1200 km. The fastest riders finish the event in the low to mid-40s. In 2003, however, the fastest group of riders was disqualified for violating the spirit of PBP. PBP is peculiarly schizophrenic, emphasizing the democratic nature of randonneuring and bicycling, yet hailing the "winners" with great fanfare while proclaiming that it is not a race. IIRC the absolute fastest time was around 38 hours, when PBP was a professional race. The route has changed and is somewhat harder now, and of course it is no longer a UCI event. I've been trying to sort the different names for "Challenge_riding" events. What's the difference between "Brevet", "Audax", "Cyclosportive" and the Swedish concept of "motionslopp" (for example Vätternrundan) What does GTOS fit into? "Brevet" is just French for "certificate" but refers to rides sanctioned by Randonneurs Mondiaux that comply with the rules. There are standard distances (200, 300, 400, 600, 1000 and 1200 km) and some variable distances rides (fleches). There are "brevets populaires" which are usually 100 km and intended for the general public to get a taste of randonneuring (there's a Franglais word for you). "Audax" was the original term for such riding, and the promoting club for PBP is the Audax Club Parisien. The root of the word is "audacieux" or "audacious" in English. However, there was a split in the long distance cycling community many years ago, resulting in two PBPs- the randonneur "allure libre" ride that gets most of the publicity and the Audax ride which gets less publicity. The Audax version is ridden at a standard pace with ride captains setting the pace. Riders can go slower if they must, but cannot ride faster. It's a magnificent event that may be killed by its own success. In 1976, there were 666 starters which was, I believe, the largest field that had been seen up until then. In 2003 there were almost 4100 starters! It was a magnificent thing to be part of, but I wonder if that number of riders can be accommodated indefinitely on French back roads and in villages with fewer people than the riders. All the French were incredibly supportive and enthusiastic, maybe the fact that it only happens every 4 years is a saving grace. |
Ads |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
|
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
Tim McNamara wrote: In article . com, wrote: The regular racing scene in Norway is not that well developed, so lots of quite fit people participate in these events. People who in other countries might do more regular racing. So in Norway the level of the fastest times is quite high. For example this year the Mjøsa Rundt 235km (146mi) race winners had an average speed of 44km/h (27.3mph) despite heavy headwinds for last 100km. That is an extremely impressive time for that distance, very nearly a UCI pro level of performance. A friend of mine rode with them and said they had an average of 47 for the first 110km until the wind picked up. The lead finishing group of 21 riders had only 2 under 30 years old, and had 7 between 40 and 49. I don't have a profile for the course, but I do know that while it is not a mountainous course, it is certainly not flat. On rides like these when normal people like me can by chance start in the same group and try to hang on, we really suffer. But boy is it fun to get towed along for a few km before it all becomes too much. Joseph |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
David Dermott wrote: On 26 Jun 2006 wrote: In Norwegian, rides like the Swedish Vätternrundan, and the Styrkeprøven, and numerous other rides are called "Turritt" which means "tour ride" and they are more or less the same as any organized timed "Century" type ride in the US. Usually the start is done in waves of 100 riders or so every 5-10 minutes. Often there are prestigious club team competitions for the best cumulative time for a 10 man team (or the best 10 out of how ever many you have). These events draw all sorts people from all age levels and fitness groups. For example the "winners" this year did the 540km in 14:02, my 19:02 was good enough for 587th place, and there were about 1800 finishers in all, with times up to 40 hours or so. Congratulations Joseph on your Styrkeprøven finish! I considered entering (for about 10 minutes, entered Swedish VR instead) on my first trip to Norway (1994). My estimated time would have been just under the 40 hour limit. Thanks! Here's a pic of me when I was still happy at about kilometer 210: http://tinyurl.com/lyxsv The main start is on Saturday morning, but there is an option of starting either at 9pm or midnight on Friday for those planning to take a longer time. With these start times there is also an option of sleeping at km 200 I believe. It's not a particularly scenic or pleasant route, so the only real reason to do it is "because it's there". So unless you are interested in doing it fast (as a personal thing of course, speed is relative) I wouldn't bother traveling a great distance to participate. There are other more fun/scenic rides to choose from. The organization of the Swedish VR seemed similar to the club "century" rides I've done in Canada (on a much larger scale!). But it seems that there is no official time ranking of finishers, results are listed alphabetically. I have never done it, but as I understand it the VR is more of a ride. The Styrkeprøven is certainly a race. Albeit similar to a race like the NYC Marathon where only a select few are racing to win, but a race none the less. Styrkeprøven's official site is: http://www.styrkeproven.no/styrk2003/index.shtml (Norsk, English, Deutsch) I also noticed that there is a new book about Styrkeprøven: http://www.cappelen.no/main/katalog....id=3988&f=1340 The book is an amusing easy read. The author is a "real" author who just happens to be a cyclist. He took contact with Steffan Kjæregård (previously of US Postal) and asked him to be his "domestique" for the ride. He documents the experience in an amusing way. PS There are full Wikipedia articles on Styrkeprøven in both Norwegian and German, but none in English. I put in a "stub" article. Are there any volunteers (preferably with personal experience) to fill it out? :-) http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrkepr%C3%B8ven http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrkepr%C3%B8ven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrkepr%C3%B8ven I could give a shot at translating the Norwegian entry. It's pretty staight forward. Joseph |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
"Tim McNamara" wrote in message ... It's a magnificent event that may be killed by its own success. In 1976, there were 666 starters which was, I believe, the largest field that had been seen up until then. In 2003 there were almost 4100 starters! It was a magnificent thing to be part of, but I wonder if that number of riders can be accommodated indefinitely on French back roads and in villages with fewer people than the riders. All the French were incredibly supportive and enthusiastic, maybe the fact that it only happens every 4 years is a saving grace. The same inbalance between riders and small town populations occurs on RAGBRAI, the annual bike ride across Iowa, where 10,000 bicyclists and assorted groupies descend on towns that may have 6,000 or so inhabitants. That's a different situation, though. Since the riders spend the night and are on vacation, there's a decent amount of money to be made off the cyclists. It's a different situation with a timed control ride like PBP, I would think. |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
On 27 Jun 2006 wrote:
I don't have a profile for the course, but I do know that while it is not a mountainous course, it is certainly not flat. In case anyone is interested, there is a profile of Den Store Styrkeprøven (The Great Trial of Strength) at: http://www.styrkeproven.no/styrk2003...rofil_en.shtml (over 4000 m of climbing in 540 km) Also Jørn has good descriptions of the course he http://www.dahl-stamnes.net/dahls/Cy...gtos_info.html -- David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada email: WWW pages: http://www.dermott.ca/index.html |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Great Trial of Strength
David Dermott wrote: On 27 Jun 2006 wrote: I don't have a profile for the course, but I do know that while it is not a mountainous course, it is certainly not flat. In case anyone is interested, there is a profile of Den Store Styrkeprøven (The Great Trial of Strength) at: http://www.styrkeproven.no/styrk2003...rofil_en.shtml (over 4000 m of climbing in 540 km) When I said I did not have a profile, I was referring to the Mjøsa Rundt ride: http://www.feiringil.no/gruppene/syk...ndt%202006.htm Portions of Mjøsa Rundt are on the same course as DSS, but in general Mjøsa Rundt has a tougher course. It is often used as a "dress rehearsal" for DSS teams. The profile for DSS (local shorthand for the Trondheim-Oslo ride) is somewhat misleading. It is essentially flat with a few long-ish steady climbs. Toward the end it gets a bit rolling with some steeper shorter hills. Since it is on the main road (what passes for a highway in Norway) between Trondheim and Oslo, it is a well graded road with no sections steeper than say 4% for any length of time. I am not a good climber and even for me and my 225lbs I only needed my 39x25 a handful of times, mostly at the end when I was fried. I think I used my 53 the whole first 300km or so. If you look at the split times on the results page you'll see the average speeds are pretty constant. Here's a guy I ride with (he's 45): http://results.ultimate.dk/live/fron...&l=no&Pid=1201 And here's one of the guys in the lead group: http://results.ultimate.dk/live/fron...w&l=no&Pid=310 If you check the speeds while looking at the course profile, you'll see the speeds aren't too affected by the ascent. Wind is a much bigger factor. Also Jørn has good descriptions of the course he http://www.dahl-stamnes.net/dahls/Cy...gtos_info.html Those reports are fun to read. Here's my report from my first time in '96: http://tinyurl.com/kendb A lot less suffering this time! Joseph |
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Ed Dolan the Great is Fed Up! | Edward Dolan | General | 60 | May 9th 06 06:53 PM |
Ed Dolan the Great is Fed Up! | Edward Dolan | Recumbent Biking | 64 | May 9th 06 06:53 PM |
Great Sand Dunes tour | aspenmike | Unicycling | 5 | November 9th 05 12:04 PM |
rim life.. questions... | Ravi | Techniques | 308 | September 6th 05 05:59 PM |
Rider Down! | slim | Social Issues | 9 | October 19th 04 01:41 PM |