Cycling challenge, end of week 1

August 7, 2007 11:57 PM

MetaFilter's August cycling challenge, week 1 standings. When wolfdog puts up his next century, it will all be over.. And, can anybody help me create a chart that dynamically displays the race?
posted by Chuckles to MetaFilter Gatherings at 11:57 PM (45 comments total)

wolfdog                   272.30JeffL                     205.40the_painkiller            165.00hydrophonic               161.81Chuckles                  157.86hangashore                152.55turbodog                   79.30asbestos_mcpinto           65.53togdon                     65.20mathowie                   63.33fijiwriter                 59.32popechunk                  57.00mumkin                     50.65Lucinda                    50.60drezdn                     50.00toekneesan                 46.80aliksd                     45.23mikepop                    37.70jacalata                   34.80box                        30.00bristolcat                 28.06penguinliz                 26.25thinman                    24.65interfacetious             22.64tuwa                       22.36migurski                   21.06readery                    21.00tribaby                    19.75denisealexander            19.00ND-Cent                    17.75ardgedee                   15.00pluckymisha                14.27JohnFredra                 13.32everichon                  13.22defeated                   12.45john_m                     12.23karenbikes                 11.30hindmost                    9.04maudlin                     5.30needled                     3.00AmbrosiaVoyeur              2.00contraption                 0.00Liosliath                   0.00Olli                        0.00oneirodynia                 0.00sneakin                     0.00

posted by Chuckles at 11:58 PM on August 7, 2007

In miles.
posted by Chuckles at 11:58 PM on August 7, 2007

I did not know about this. I just got my bike on July 30. This sounds like a good motivator.

I got my bike computer Aug. 3, and have 36 miles so far. Just joined the group.
posted by Dataphage at 5:18 AM on August 8, 2007

Nothing to help with except that I'm flabbergasted I'm in the top 15. Woot.
posted by Lucinda at 6:39 AM on August 8, 2007

Race? What is this all about? As it happens I did 78 km/48 miles this week. Just wanted to brag, since I can barely walk now.
posted by Listener at 6:56 AM on August 8, 2007

Ack, I should have included a couple of links.. Declaration of challenge, and MetaFilter at Weendure.
posted by Chuckles at 7:22 AM on August 8, 2007

I'm pissed that some people only have to ride kilometers, which are way shorter than miles.
posted by popechunk at 7:41 AM on August 8, 2007

Next year can we do this in July, so my ragbrai miles count? Sheesh.
posted by iguanapolitico at 7:50 AM on August 8, 2007

Thanks for the chart!

I'm going to have to switch to my bike with the regular pedals, because cycling with clipless pedals has been playing holy hell with my stress fracture and I haven't been able to ride without pain since last week. [/whine]
posted by maudlin at 7:51 AM on August 8, 2007

bah. my bike is buried in the garage.
posted by desjardins at 8:24 AM on August 8, 2007

Jeez, I'm jealous of teh wolfdog. I haven't had a 200-mile week since my son was born.
posted by Mister_A at 8:27 AM on August 8, 2007

I hope none of you are dopers.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 8:37 AM on August 8, 2007

I'd really like to see the the running and cycling challenges run on We Endure, or a site like We Endure. Perhaps I'm a bit jaded by my Nike+ experience that turned a 50+ mile lead in the July running challenge into withdrawing^*, but I liked competing with y'all.

May I also suggest we run concurrent monthly challenges for time and distance? I am reasonably sure, and yes, this is a challenge, I can walk further than a vast majority of runners, who often express frustration that walking is easier. Doing a time competition (best 1m, 5k, 10k) seems like a reasonable compromise, as I could never walk as fast as you 7 minute milers. Hell, I can't even run that fast. The same can be done for cycling.

Lastly, I also swim, as I am sure others do. It would be nice to add swimming to the mix and have an overall triathalon competition. I'm a piss poor swimmer, but seeing other's times and distances would be a great motivator for me.

Lastly, by moving away from the Nike+ limitation, those of us who use other methods (GPS, pedometer, treadmill, GMaps, Garmin Forerunner, etc) to track our distance or time would be able to compete.

^* For those of you in the challenge who are curious, two brand new Nike+ units failed on me in the last days I was in the challenge.
posted by sequential at 9:18 AM on August 8, 2007

Just FYI, here's a deal for a bike computer at slickdeals. No idea how good this thing is, but it's under five bucks shipped.

I included the slickdeals link b/c there's a bunch of info on the device, but here's a direct link to the product.
posted by inigo2 at 9:30 AM on August 8, 2007

Dang, life got in the way and I totally forgot about this.

Can anyone recommend me an easy and relatively inexpensive (anything below 30-40 bucks) bike computer? I want to at least be ready for the next one.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 9:41 AM on August 8, 2007

How can you track that (swimming)? Honor system? Put me down for eleventy thousand laps :)
posted by Mister_A at 9:41 AM on August 8, 2007

Re: computers - go down to your local bike shop and tell them what you want to do with the thing. There's no "gotta have it" computer in that range; they're all fairly standard in terms of functionality. If you want a cadence sensor, spring for a wireless unit.

I've had good experience with CatEye; cheap simple and reliable in general, but YMMV.
posted by Mister_A at 9:44 AM on August 8, 2007

Mister_A, We Endure appears to operate entirely on the the honor system.
posted by sequential at 9:48 AM on August 8, 2007

Does anyone know of a reasonable HR monitor for swimmers? (Preferably one that tracks calories and is useful for running and cycling as well.)
posted by sequential at 9:58 AM on August 8, 2007

I regret not having updated my totals now. (I'm probably around 60 something)
posted by drezdn at 10:27 AM on August 8, 2007

Here is the computer recommendation thread at weendure.
posted by Chuckles at 10:38 AM on August 8, 2007

Special thanks to sneakin for getting the ball rolling, mathowie for setting up the group, Chuckles for keeping score, and all you other pedalheads... just for being YOU!

Oh, and most of all to Edmonton for being so dang flat.
posted by hangashore at 11:34 AM on August 8, 2007

Just for the record, I went away to work at a camp on August 1st and there is no time or place to ride while I am here. This is a public service announcement for anyone who wants to know why someone suggested a challenge only to not participate at all in it. Hopefully next month will be more better.
posted by sneakin at 12:03 PM on August 8, 2007

Double checking, is this a month by month challenge? And can people join super late?
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 12:06 PM on August 8, 2007

Hope it's alright to join up now. Not that I've been riding much this month. It's way too hot.
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 12:57 PM on August 8, 2007

CF: That's my understanding, yes.
posted by box at 1:09 PM on August 8, 2007

I'm surprised to find myself in the top five. C'mon, you slackers, this is supposed to be a challenge!

CitrusFreak12, there is a contest for total miles in August. People can join any time, and with three weeks to go, it's not even super late.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:17 PM on August 8, 2007

Thanks for running the numbers, Chuckles. Now I know whose taillight I'm looking at. Popechunk, I'm on your six.
posted by mumkin at 1:18 PM on August 8, 2007

Yellow Jersey! A contest that relies on data that in turn relies on the honor system? Alright... I trust you guys.

I'm going to go in the garage and work on my bike. Woo motivation!
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 2:31 PM on August 8, 2007

I am reluctantly tacking up my measly commute miles.
posted by everichon at 2:40 PM on August 8, 2007

I'm enjoying the challenge. I'm not much of a cyclist compared to wolfdog (wow!), but it helps motivate me to keep riding.
posted by misha at 3:40 PM on August 8, 2007

A very quick total of the numbers above shows that we've rolled to just about a combined 2200 miles ridden, driven, grunted, strained, and sweated. There's over three-quarters of the month left, and new people joining all the time. So...

To all MeFi cyclists - a collective challenge: 10,000 miles by 1 September. What say you?
posted by hangashore at 4:14 PM on August 8, 2007

I'm not sure that's much of a challenge the way some of you guys are riding.

I've spent an hour or so finding bike trails in my state and marking them out with Google Earth. I don't think it's going to be easy to rack up so many miles in RI... JeffL's last bike trip from one city in Kentucky to another is larger than the length of my whole state.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:11 PM on August 8, 2007

How did I not know about this? (Just signed up.)

This year I have been quite slack - less than 300 miles so far. But I have the Tour de Cure on Sunday, so the 62 miles there should help. And maybe this will help me try a little harder to commute by bike...
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 10:49 AM on August 9, 2007

Hmm I was planning to upload my journeys but my gps log now reads 202 miles.

Looking at the map my commute for this time period cannot exceed 40 miles. I wouldn't expect leisure and shopping use to be more than that amount again, so somethings clearly gone very wrong.
posted by Olli at 2:15 PM on August 9, 2007

Oh, crap, I totally forgot about this. Thanks for the reminder.
posted by Liosliath at 3:24 PM on August 9, 2007

If nothing else I find it helps motivate me to enter my rides more quickly, as opposed to having to do a big batch every week or so.
posted by mikepop at 7:01 AM on August 10, 2007

Popechunk, I'm on your six.

That is just the motivation I need to fight through this hangover. Eat my dust, sucka!
posted by popechunk at 7:27 AM on August 10, 2007

Some more standings, so that weekend riders can figure out how to hit back at their commuter rivals :)

I'll work up a more interesting view soon.

And, we're up to 58 members. Awesome!

1)    wolfdog                   365.802)    JeffL                     337.803)    Chuckles                  230.424)    hydrophonic               220.345)    hangashore                192.876)    the_painkiller            184.007)    scblackman                176.908)    tip120                    166.709)    ssg                       120.6010)   turbodog                   91.3011)   asbestos_mcpinto           90.7712)   popechunk                  87.0013)   mathowie                   81.5514)   togdon                     81.5015)   ObscureReferenceMan        73.3016)   Lucinda                    71.4017)   mikepop                    63.6818)   toekneesan                 62.4019)   mumkin                     61.3820)   fijiwriter                 59.3221)   everichon                  59.0522)   drezdn                     50.0023)   box                        49.5524)   aliksd                     45.2325)   jacalata                   43.5026)   D_Phage                    42.0227)   interfacetious             40.2728)   penguinliz                 39.3129)   migurski                   36.7130)   thinman                    35.8531)   tuwa                       35.7332)   tribaby                    34.1533)   denisealexander            34.0034)   ND-Cent                    33.7535)   bristolcat                 28.0636)   karenbikes                 25.3037)   CitrusFreak12              21.7138)   smich                      21.0139)   readery                    21.0040)   exois                      18.6441)   GalaxieFiveHundred         17.2842)   hindmost                   17.0443)   ardgedee                   15.0044)   pluckymisha                14.2745)   AmbrosiaVoyeur             14.0046)   JohnFredra                 13.3247)   lonefrontranger            12.7048)   defeated                   12.4549)   john_m                     12.2350)   billyfleetwood              8.4051)   needled                     5.9052)   maudlin                     5.3053)   contraption                 0.0054)   Liosliath                   0.0055)   Olli                        0.0056)   oneirodynia                 0.0057)   sequential                  0.0058)   sneakin                     0.00

posted by Chuckles at 11:53 PM on August 10, 2007

Results for the end of week2.

First and second are all sewn up (though JeffL may yet have something to say about the order). No change in the tight race for 3rd, and still only 36 miles separating 3rd from 6th.

I'm now cutting off users with zero miles logged, to try to simplify the list a little.

 1)     wolfdog              533.90  n.c. 2)     JeffL                476.72  n.c. 3)     Chuckles             328.41  n.c. 4)     hydrophonic          319.34  n.c. 5)     hangashore           299.75  n.c. 6)     the_painkiller       292.00  n.c. 7)     tip120               257.16    +1 8)     scblackman           176.90    -1 9)     asbestos_mcpinto     157.10    +210)     togdon               145.10    +411)     mikepop              138.76    +612)     ObscureReferenceMan  138.43    +313)     ssg                  132.59    -414)     popechunk            129.62    -215)     turbodog             128.30    -516)     Lucinda               95.66  n.c.17)     toekneesan            93.60    +118)     mathowie              86.76    -519)     drezdn                85.00    +320)     interfacetious        80.21    +721)     mumkin                78.56    -222)     everichon             78.37    -123)     smich                 74.01   +1524)     thinman               60.25    +625)     fijiwriter            59.32    -526)     tuwa                  53.91    +527)     jacalata              52.20    -228)     ND-Cent               51.64    +629)     box                   49.55    -630)     D_Phage               48.22    -431)     migurski              46.20    -232)     penguinliz            45.81    -433)     aliksd                45.23    -934)     john_m                41.67   +1535)     readery               38.50    +436)     bristolcat            38.35    -137)     isopraxis             37.28    --38)     tribaby               34.15    -639)     denisealexander       34.00    -640)     needled               32.90   +1141)     CitrusFreak12         32.86    -442)     karenbikes            25.30    -643)     GalaxieFiveHundred    21.68    -244)     parksr82              21.50    --45)     exois                 18.64    -546)     billyfleetwood        18.00    +447)     hindmost              17.04    -548)     ardgedee              15.00    -549)     pluckymisha           14.27    -550)     AmbrosiaVoyeur        14.00    -551)     JohnFredra            13.32    -552)     lonefrontranger       12.70    -553)     sveskemus             12.68    --54)     Any_Portmanteau_in_a_Storm  12.56    --55)     defeated              12.45    -756)     Tracert                8.50    --57)     sequential             7.11  n.c.58)     maudlin                5.30    -659)     youcancallmeal         4.06    --

posted by Chuckles at 11:00 PM on August 14, 2007

D'oh! My math sucks! 3rd to 6th have actually tightened up by 10miles, Friday's seperation beying 46miles.
posted by Chuckles at 11:02 PM on August 14, 2007

And the group as a whole:

Aug  8th     2184
Aug 11th     3681
Aug 15th     5382

Week 2 is a 50% improvement over week 1! I don't think we'll keep that rate of growth, but looks like 10,000 miles will be easy (the projected total is 11,917).
posted by Chuckles at 11:21 PM on August 14, 2007

Anyone interested in a Toronto "keep maudlin out of the lantern rouge" cycling meetup?
posted by Chuckles at 11:31 PM on August 14, 2007

You're going down mathowie!
posted by drezdn at 5:43 AM on August 15, 2007

I saw that. *sigh* This means I'd have to actually cycle outdoors, in Toronto traffic, in what passes for daylight, right? With y'all pointing and laughing at my lack of fitness?

As long as there's beer at the end of it, I guess I'm game.

interrobang is going to be up this weekend for the Comics Festival and we've been talking about a post-fest meetup anytime from the 19th to the 23rd, so maybe a Sunday afternoon ride, then a meetup of cyclists and non-cyclists after 6 PM would work out.
posted by maudlin at 6:33 PM on August 15, 2007