Summer Challenge
Posted 10 months ago by ChucklesWe should do something as a challenge this year, but I'd really like to see something that requires a lot of group participation. I'm wondering if some combination of randomness with increasing reward for increasing combined group accomplishment might be a good way to go?
Like:
Pure distance for August again. One prize to the winner. But also, for every 5,000 miles the group rides a prize to a random participant. You must ride 50 miles to qualify for the random draw.
Replies
Well, as no one else is chipping in on this, I'll say I think this is a really good idea. Gives a bit of extra motivation to those of us who know we're never going to win the main prize.
I agree the randomness factor will help keep people motivated even if they are not in the lead. Great idea.
The one adjustment that I would suggest is to consider decreasing the mileage. 5000 seems a little high for a one month group total, even in the middle of summer (and, hey, personally, I'm planning on ramping my riding time way the hell down by July).
Most folks here seem to be posting in the realm of ~300 on average, maybe that will creep up to 400 in the height of the season. In the interest of awarding more prizes and encouraging more folks to participate, I'd vote for 2000 (or if we've got a lot of stickers, 1000) milestones instead.
Didn't Jeff log 2000 miles by himself last August? We better find out what his plans are for this summer.
Also, Matt, you might want to remove the notice about last year's summer challenge that is on this group's home page since it has circled around to May and it might confuse some newcomers :)
I love the idea -- I'm with spokenword on the mileage increments, though. (JeffL being the outlier, at least last year.) Smaller prizes to go with the smaller increments, then? But as someone who will NEVER be in the lead, I like the idea at having a chance at something fun! :)
oh, the other thing I would add, just to give Chuckles a chance to play with math -- set each person's chance at winning a prize to be a proportion of the number of miles they've ridden within the overall distance interval.
So, if say, the increment is 1500, and hangashore has ridden 500 miles, mikepop has done 400, mathowie has done 300 and maudlin has 200 and I've put in 100, then hangashore should have a greater chance at winning than anyone else, whereas I would have the least chance.
At least, this way, everyone still has a chance at winning something, but are also encouraged to keep their mileage up to maximize their chances. Otherwise, it's tempting just to be a freeloader if you're in a group with a bunch of other frequent riders.
I'll leave the weighting factor up to you ;) My other suggestion would be to have past winners either taken out of future draws or have their chances of winning reduce by some amount.
Haha, I love it. It might get controversial with the random entry time of rides, but we'd just have to make an arbitrary ruling about that..
See, I was thinking of requiring a minimum distance during each sub interval, but what spokenword has dreamed up there is entirely more diabolical :)
(for balance, some unweighting of long distances is still required, I think--we want to reward performance, but keep the little people motivated too)
And, in terms of distance intervals.. In August 2007 we collectively rode 13,000+ miles. So, I think the interval has to be at least 3,000. It all depends on what we can do for prizes though.. mathowie was probably too generous last year (highly appreciated though--Thanks!), and with the 10th Anniversary thing..
"for balance, some unweighting of long distances is still required"
Okay - make the weightings logarithmic, e.g. you get 1 chance for your minimum 50 miles, but only 2 if you're at 500 miles:
W = log(D/5) (W = weight, D = distance in miles)
Or go to natural logs if you want a slightly greater weight for longer distances:
W = ln(D/18.394) gives W = 1 for 50 miles and W = 3.3 for 500 miles (18.394 = 50/e)
Someone else can do square roots.
(Yeah I'm a science geek.)
And a heat multiplier! Exponential, preferably. :)
And a road construction multiplier!
No? Oh, well.
I like the dual contest idea a lot, and the idea of a weighting scheme for the random prize based on distance seems fair. So I guess this means I could set my August goal to be 500 miles. That's not quite double my best mileage from last summer. It could happen, shoulder permitting.
+1 for the heat multiplier. 'Course, I'd gladly trade having to use a suffering quotient for some extra miles in milder weather.
Sounds like fun. I'm in.
Hi, I'm new here (not new to MeFi, just to this site). I just got a bike last month and have been biking to work for the past few weeks. Can I just jump in and start participating? I don't have a bike computer (yet) so all I can do is estimate my mileage, but my commute is about 16.5 miles round trip. Plus I'm doing Bike the Drive here in Chicago (bikethedrive.org) on Sunday, and my husband and I ride around town a lot.
Also, I'd like a headwind multiplier. I had a steady 10-20mph headwind on the ride this morning. :)
Definitely jump in! We haven't started any official contest yet.
A good tool for estimating mileage of a ride is http://www.gmap-pedometer.com
Unfortunately gmap pedometer doesn't include the path that I take to work (I'm lucky to be able to ride along the lake front and not on streets for 95% of my commute) so I haven't been able to use that very effectively. It doesn't even let me go on Lake Shore Drive, which is an expressway, as an approximation. Regular Google maps is where I got the 16.5 miles roundtrip number.
Really this is just a great excuse to get a bike computer, which I've wanted for a while anyway. Thanks for replying.
misskaz, if you check "manually" on gmap pedometer, and zoom in close enough, you should be able to draw your route. (my commute is 90% bike trail, not alongside any street!)
on the other hand, bike computers are fun! :)
You can also try veloroutes.org. Google Maps "disappeared" my street a year or so ago, but I can draw it in even though it's not labelled there.
Hey misskaz, I think our routes overlap! Here's my commute on Lake Front Trail on gmap-pedometer: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1192127/ . (But bike computers are definitely worth it.)
That'll be me on a red Schwinn with a white helmet, usually in rolled up jeans. Be careful out there, LFT turns into a madhouse when the weather gets nice...
Here's a working link: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1192127
hydrophonic, cool! I'm the slow girl with the white helmet on this bike: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/...
If it's warm out you can ID me by the flower tattoo on my right shoulder and arm. (P.S. You going to the Chicago 10th anniverary meetup? You should!)
Thanks everyone for the tips on using gmaps pedometer - I had sworn I had been able to hand draw my route before, it's good to know I'm not crazy. Turns out my ride is a little longer than I had guessed - 8.34 miles. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2843653
Still want a bike computer.
That looks like a scenic ride, but I bet you get some cold winds off the lake in the winter.
Has a decision actually been made in regards o summer goals? I really like the group participation idea a lot.
@ misskaz: did you ever get that bike computer? They're a blast. Even a simple Cateye or Sigma is a good thing. I have the Sigma DTS 1606L and find it chock ull of features, but still very easy to use.
horseblind: still don't have a computer. I really need to get one now that I'm planning to do both a metric and regular centuries this summer. But there's so much other stuff I need too and I'm pretty broke. I've managed to find some great gear on sale (shorts, jerseys, etc.) but just bought bar ends and a rain coat at full price and I really need better shoes. :)