98 Miles High

Terry Morse said:

I got an e-mail from this guy the other day. He's trying to break an
annual climbing record that he read about in Bicycling Magazine, and
he has a web site and upcomng book entitled "98 Miles High":

"Coming in January, 2005 98 Miles High"

It sounds hard but if you froke it into 365 days that would only
be about 1500 feet per day, doable. I used to ride in Healdsburg
where I worked in the wine country and did 900 feet once at lunch
and up to 5 times after work where darkness cut me off. On the weekends
I was nowhere near hills so coulnd not add to the total. In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.
A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills. It is possible I came
close but fitness was the goal, not a record. My reward for 5 times
around the hill, a nice cold Millers Gold. Not healthy but it sure
hit the spot.

Quoted message said:

"When opportunity meets perseverance, a world record is possible. 98
Miles High is not just the vertical distance climbed in one year,
it's the story about the drive and dedication needed to break an
obscure but difficult cycling record. It details one man's search to
be the best and his dedication to the cause. It's a "Tuesday's with
Morrie" meets La Cumbre Peak! The best cycling story book of the
year."

http://www.98mileshigh.com/index.shtml

It was nice of him to write me. He must have stumbled onto the photo
of my 200-mile certificate of achievement:

http://bike.terrymorse.com/spooktacular041030/pages/IMG_0850a.html

I didn't know there was a healthy competition going on. I thought I
was the only weirdo. When I said that maybe I should go for 2
million feet next year, my wife said in her serious tone, "I'm going
to pretend I didn't hear what you just said." Message received. Time
to take up knitting.

213 miles in Jan-Nov, but I'm not counting any more. Really.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

--
Bill (?) Baka

Bill Baka said:

In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.

A vertical mile per day, every day? That's a lot. My highest monthly
total is 27.6 miles, set in September when I was training for and
completing the Everest Challenge. That was with only 3 rest days.
Highest 7-day total was 8.7 miles. I doubt you really did a mile a
day consistently.

Quoted message said:

A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills.

Altimeter bike computer is a better tool than a GPS.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

"Terry Morse" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bill Baka said:

In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.

A vertical mile per day, every day? That's a lot. My highest monthly
total is 27.6 miles, set in September when I was training for and
completing the Everest Challenge. That was with only 3 rest days.
Highest 7-day total was 8.7 miles. I doubt you really did a mile a
day consistently.

Quoted message said:

A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills.

Altimeter bike computer is a better tool than a GPS.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Do you have any recommendations for a good altimeter?

I'm currently using a Vetta V100A, which seems reasonably accurate.
Comparing its results with an older Avocet Vertech watch, and the estimates
from DeLorme's Topo USA software, the Vetta consistently reports more than
the Vertech, and less than Topo USA. I assume this is because the Vertech
has a 10 meter "trigger" for accumulation (compared to 1 m for the Vetta),
and the Topo USA software is known to overstate its elevation gain
estimates.

The Vetta also has an inclinometer feature, and can report current grade,
plus maximum grade encountered on a ride (reporting both the maximum "up"
and "down" grades), which is kind of cool. Unfortunately, I question the
reliability of the inclinometer - it seems to get fooled sometimes and
report grades that are unreasonably large (e.g., 22%), perhaps because it is
sampling too often.

--
~_-*
....G/ \G
http://www.CycliStats.com
CycliStats - Software for Cyclists

Terry Morse <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I didn't know there was a healthy competition going on. I thought I
was the only weirdo. When I said that maybe I should go for 2
million feet next year, my wife said in her serious tone, "I'm going
to pretend I didn't hear what you just said." Message received. Time
to take up knitting.

213 miles in Jan-Nov, but I'm not counting any more. Really.

What a cool idea! That's the kind of thing that motivates me: set a
goal and then focus on it. Kudos to you -- 200 vertical miles in a
year is impressive. No wonder you're so darned skinny! ;-)

JR

GaryG said:

Do you have any recommendations for a good altimeter?

The brands that are most popular among my riding buddies are the
Polar and Ciclosport. If you don't need heart monitor or data
logging features, the Ciclosport has a model for a decent price.
Both brands log about the same vertical. The Cateye over-reports
accumulated vertical; I don't recommend using it. I don't know about
the Vetta.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Terry Morse wrote:
:: Bill Baka wrote:
::
::: In the summer
::: I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.
::
:: A vertical mile per day, every day? That's a lot. My highest monthly
:: total is 27.6 miles, set in September when I was training for and
:: completing the Everest Challenge. That was with only 3 rest days.
:: Highest 7-day total was 8.7 miles. I doubt you really did a mile a
:: day consistently.

Not only did he do a mile a day consistently, but he did it with 35 mph
sidewind with the bile tilted at 45 degrees! 🙂

::
::: A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have
::: counted all the down then up again little swooshy hills.
::
:: Altimeter bike computer is a better tool than a GPS.
:: --
:: terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Bill Baka <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Terry Morse said:

I got an e-mail from this guy the other day. He's trying to break an
annual climbing record that he read about in Bicycling Magazine, and
he has a web site and upcomng book entitled "98 Miles High":

"Coming in January, 2005 98 Miles High"

It sounds hard but if you froke it into 365 days that would only
be about 1500 feet per day, doable. I used to ride in Healdsburg
where I worked in the wine country and did 900 feet once at lunch
and up to 5 times after work where darkness cut me off. On the weekends
I was nowhere near hills so coulnd not add to the total. In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.
A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills. It is possible I came
close but fitness was the goal, not a record. My reward for 5 times
around the hill, a nice cold Millers Gold. Not healthy but it sure
hit the spot.

Bill,

You must be talking of the other guy's goal, 98 miles (517440 ft);
Terry did over twice that and is still going but not counting.

And Terry, the 'other guy' who promotes his 'world record' is named
Jeff Alden and he has a letter in the current Bicycling touting that
he broke the (his) previous 'record' this past Sep when he went over
something like 404000 and change. Since the editors at Rodale keep
giving him a forum for self-promotion perhaps you should provide some
zip and tell them of your achievement. I did a quick, conservative
tally, and I am just under 500K right now with most of December left,
and had almost 6 weeks off due to my collision with the wrong way
cyclist on the Wilkie bridge. Alden's records are so laughable since
you and know that 500K is pretty common in the area we live.

- rick

"Rick Warner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bill Baka <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 23:40:29 -0800, Terry Morse <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I got an e-mail from this guy the other day. He's trying to break an
annual climbing record that he read about in Bicycling Magazine, and
he has a web site and upcomng book entitled "98 Miles High":

"Coming in January, 2005 98 Miles High"

It sounds hard but if you froke it into 365 days that would only
be about 1500 feet per day, doable. I used to ride in Healdsburg
where I worked in the wine country and did 900 feet once at lunch
and up to 5 times after work where darkness cut me off. On the weekends
I was nowhere near hills so coulnd not add to the total. In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.
A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills. It is possible I came
close but fitness was the goal, not a record. My reward for 5 times
around the hill, a nice cold Millers Gold. Not healthy but it sure
hit the spot.

Bill,

You must be talking of the other guy's goal, 98 miles (517440 ft);
Terry did over twice that and is still going but not counting.

And Terry, the 'other guy' who promotes his 'world record' is named
Jeff Alden and he has a letter in the current Bicycling touting that
he broke the (his) previous 'record' this past Sep when he went over
something like 404000 and change. Since the editors at Rodale keep
giving him a forum for self-promotion perhaps you should provide some
zip and tell them of your achievement. I did a quick, conservative
tally, and I am just under 500K right now with most of December left,
and had almost 6 weeks off due to my collision with the wrong way
cyclist on the Wilkie bridge. Alden's records are so laughable since
you and know that 500K is pretty common in the area we live.

- rick

How many miles have you logged for that 500K of elevation gain? I thought I
was having a pretty good year with 200K...sheesh!

GG

GaryG wrote:
|| "Rick Warner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
|| news:[email hidden]...
||| Bill Baka <[email hidden]> wrote in message
|| news:<[email hidden]>...
|||| On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 23:40:29 -0800, Terry Morse
|||| <[email hidden]> wrote:
||||
||||| I got an e-mail from this guy the other day. He's trying to break
||||| an annual climbing record that he read about in Bicycling
||||| Magazine, and he has a web site and upcomng book entitled "98
||||| Miles High":
|||||
||||| "Coming in January, 2005 98 Miles High"
||||
|||| It sounds hard but if you froke it into 365 days that would only
|||| be about 1500 feet per day, doable. I used to ride in Healdsburg
|||| where I worked in the wine country and did 900 feet once at lunch
|||| and up to 5 times after work where darkness cut me off. On the
|||| weekends I was nowhere near hills so coulnd not add to the total.
|||| In the summer I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of
|||| tallying it.
|||| A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have
|||| counted all the down then up again little swooshy hills. It is
|||| possible I came close but fitness was the goal, not a record. My
|||| reward for 5 times around the hill, a nice cold Millers Gold. Not
|||| healthy but it sure
|||| hit the spot.
|||
||| Bill,
|||
||| You must be talking of the other guy's goal, 98 miles (517440 ft);
||| Terry did over twice that and is still going but not counting.
|||
||| And Terry, the 'other guy' who promotes his 'world record' is named
||| Jeff Alden and he has a letter in the current Bicycling touting that
||| he broke the (his) previous 'record' this past Sep when he went over
||| something like 404000 and change. Since the editors at Rodale keep
||| giving him a forum for self-promotion perhaps you should provide
||| some
||| zip and tell them of your achievement. I did a quick,
||| conservative tally, and I am just under 500K right now with most of
||| December left,
||| and had almost 6 weeks off due to my collision with the wrong way
||| cyclist on the Wilkie bridge. Alden's records are so laughable
||| since
||| you and know that 500K is pretty common in the area we live.
|||
||| - rick
||
|| How many miles have you logged for that 500K of elevation gain? I
|| thought I was having a pretty good year with 200K...sheesh!
||

You are having a pretty good year. Those other guys are just off the
frickin map! 🙂

Terry Morse said:

Bill Baka said:

In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.

A vertical mile per day, every day? That's a lot. My highest monthly
total is 27.6 miles, set in September when I was training for and
completing the Everest Challenge. That was with only 3 rest days.
Highest 7-day total was 8.7 miles. I doubt you really did a mile a
day consistently.

It was a mountain "Fitch Mountain" to be exact and you had to climb
about 935' to get around it so half was climbing and the other half
was whoosing down. I always had to go counterclockwise because of
one really steep part that almost put me over the handlebars a few times
coming down in the clockwise direction. It was about the only challenging
place to ride in a small town and it got to where I would do it after
work until the daylight ran out. I am not a big television fan. 5 x 935'
plus or minus a few feet, and six times in June and July when the days were
long enough, plus a few early morning freeze first, then shower and work
put me pretty close. Then there was my weekend biking which got killed by
house chores a lot. Like I said I don't know how much my total was since
I only carried a cell phone (mostly out of range) but that was my routine.
1999-2001 after 9/11 cost me that job. A guy in an old MG clocked me at 34
MPH on the downhill, coast only since I couldn't pedal that fast with a 14
rear gear and a 48 chainring. He called it out to me, gave me a thumbs up
and went on his way.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills.

Altimeter bike computer is a better tool than a GPS.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

--
Bill (?) Baka

SlowRider said:

Terry Morse <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I didn't know there was a healthy competition going on. I thought I
was the only weirdo. When I said that maybe I should go for 2
million feet next year, my wife said in her serious tone, "I'm going
to pretend I didn't hear what you just said." Message received. Time
to take up knitting.

213 miles in Jan-Nov, but I'm not counting any more. Really.

What a cool idea! That's the kind of thing that motivates me: set a
goal and then focus on it. Kudos to you -- 200 vertical miles in a
year is impressive. No wonder you're so darned skinny! ;-)

JR

The only thing is how do you record actually climbing with zoom climbs?
Zoom down one short hill and halfway up the next? Is that cheating?

--
Bill (?) Baka

On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 12:37:26 -0500, Roger Zoul <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Terry Morse wrote:
:: Bill Baka wrote:
::
::: In the summer
::: I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.
::
:: A vertical mile per day, every day? That's a lot. My highest monthly
:: total is 27.6 miles, set in September when I was training for and
:: completing the Everest Challenge. That was with only 3 rest days.
:: Highest 7-day total was 8.7 miles. I doubt you really did a mile a
:: day consistently.

Not only did he do a mile a day consistently, but he did it with 35 mph
sidewind with the bile tilted at 45 degrees! 🙂

::
::: A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have
::: counted all the down then up again little swooshy hills.
::
:: Altimeter bike computer is a better tool than a GPS.
:: --
:: terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

I would try for a mile each day but it is way to cold in the mountains
right now for that trick. Snow level in California. Maybe when it warms up
a bit. The good part is that most of it is coming back down hill on the
way home since I live at 50' above sea level.

--
Bill (?) Baka

Rick Warner said:

Bill Baka <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 23:40:29 -0800, Terry Morse <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I got an e-mail from this guy the other day. He's trying to break an
annual climbing record that he read about in Bicycling Magazine, and
he has a web site and upcomng book entitled "98 Miles High":

"Coming in January, 2005 98 Miles High"

It sounds hard but if you froke it into 365 days that would only
be about 1500 feet per day, doable. I used to ride in Healdsburg
where I worked in the wine country and did 900 feet once at lunch
and up to 5 times after work where darkness cut me off. On the weekends
I was nowhere near hills so coulnd not add to the total. In the summer
I came close to a mile a day, but never thought of tallying it.
A GPS might have been a cool tool since I probably could have counted
all the down then up again little swooshy hills. It is possible I came
close but fitness was the goal, not a record. My reward for 5 times
around the hill, a nice cold Millers Gold. Not healthy but it sure
hit the spot.

Bill,

You must be talking of the other guy's goal, 98 miles (517440 ft);
Terry did over twice that and is still going but not counting.

And Terry, the 'other guy' who promotes his 'world record' is named
Jeff Alden and he has a letter in the current Bicycling touting that
he broke the (his) previous 'record' this past Sep when he went over
something like 404000 and change. Since the editors at Rodale keep
giving him a forum for self-promotion perhaps you should provide some
zip and tell them of your achievement. I did a quick, conservative
tally, and I am just under 500K right now with most of December left,
and had almost 6 weeks off due to my collision with the wrong way
cyclist on the Wilkie bridge. Alden's records are so laughable since
you and know that 500K is pretty common in the area we live.

- rick

I am not out to break any records since I don't have the time and was
doing this
during before, lunch, and after work periods during the week at work. On
the week-
ends I have to drive 15 miles to get to a decent hill and I would not want
to
leave my car there. I think 200 miles is doable, but who has the time
unless they
don't have to work??
Bill

--
Bill (?) Baka

Bill Baka said:

The only thing is how do you record actually climbing with zoom climbs?
Zoom down one short hill and halfway up the next? Is that cheating?

no, bill, it's not cheating. if you polish & lube your bearing surfaces to
near perfection and do this .. i found a nice valley here in the foothills
around boise with a 14% grade on either side .. you can easily get in 300
miles a year with hardly any effort. i did that this last year and would
have got in 400 but it's a bit icy and cold now, it's pretty boring just
oscillating up and down and well, who has the time? it takes hardly any
effort and no training, tho.
--
david reuteler
[email hidden]

David Reuteler said:

Bill Baka said:

The only thing is how do you record actually climbing with zoom climbs?
Zoom down one short hill and halfway up the next? Is that cheating?

no, bill, it's not cheating. if you polish & lube your bearing surfaces
to
near perfection and do this .. i found a nice valley here in the
foothills
around boise with a 14% grade on either side .. you can easily get in 300
miles a year with hardly any effort. i did that this last year and would
have got in 400 but it's a bit icy and cold now, it's pretty boring just
oscillating up and down and well, who has the time? it takes hardly any
effort and no training, tho.

I did a take off on this when I was hiking that kind of hill. Get to the
top
and start running down untill breakneak speed and then zoom up the next
hill.
It took some more energy then the bike but it got me a lot farther than
just
begrudging all the uphill trudges. BTW, I didn't carry a backpack, just a
six pack in one hand, as did all my hiking mates. They soon caught onto
what I was doing and we covered a lot of territory at mostly running
speeds except for the big uphills. Some shaken up beer but the break at the
top af a bike uphill made it all worthwhile. Fortunately that is where the
park service put the benchs and trash cans. Pits stops at that point were
still trees or bushes though. Fun either way, bike or foot. We did about 26
official miles with a 4,000' climb in about 6 hours though, respectable for
no wheels. Sure slept good at home that night. BTW, it was Big Basin, Ca.
USA.

--
Bill (?) Baka

Bill Baka <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

On the week-
ends I have to drive 15 miles to get to a decent hill and I would
not want to
leave my car there.

You don't drive 15 miles to get to a hill you ride there, and then the
bonus is you don't have to worry about your car.

On Fri, 3 Dec 2004 11:14:40 -0800, "GaryG" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Rick Warner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

And Terry, the 'other guy' who promotes his 'world record' is named
Jeff Alden and he has a letter in the current Bicycling touting that
he broke the (his) previous 'record' this past Sep when he went over
something like 404000 and change. Since the editors at Rodale keep
giving him a forum for self-promotion perhaps you should provide some
zip and tell them of your achievement. I did a quick, conservative
tally, and I am just under 500K right now with most of December left,
and had almost 6 weeks off due to my collision with the wrong way
cyclist on the Wilkie bridge. Alden's records are so laughable since
you and know that 500K is pretty common in the area we live.

- rick

How many miles have you logged for that 500K of elevation gain? I thought I
was having a pretty good year with 200K...sheesh!

200K is good; some of us just live next to the hills and love to go up
(and down) ;-) I have just under 7000 miles for the year so far;
tend to do about 7000 ft +/- a bit of climbing per 100 miles of
travel. Unless I find a new employer the average will go down next
year since our office is being moved and my new commute is across the
flat lands :-(

- rick

Quoted message said:

I got an e-mail from this guy the other day. He's trying to break an
annual climbing record that he read about in Bicycling Magazine, and
he has a web site and upcomng book entitled "98 Miles High":
http://www.98mileshigh.com/index.shtml
"Coming in January, 2005 98 Miles High"

Terry: I checked the website and come away with only one thought- how can
anyone believe that an average of only 1417 ft/day could possibly be a legit
record?

And when you consider that, on my Tuesday & Thursday-morning rides (3300 ft
of climbing each time) into the hills, I see a few people out there
virtually every single time, doing their own rides... and that they probably
ride more often than just twice/week... I have a feeling there are a quite a
few people who "accidentally" chalk up maybe 500,000 ft (around 95 miles).

But I don't ride in the hills to accomplish any sort of climbing goals.
Rather, I ride in the hills because I don't enjoy riding on the flats. Too
much traffic, headwinds can be the major challenge, and you never get that
same feeling of having done something real (when you get to the top of a
hill, you *know* you did something, while after fighting a headwind for 15
miles, what do you have to show for it?).

Your accomplishment, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Mike J wrote in part:

Quoted message said:

I have a feeling there are a quite a
few people who "accidentally" chalk up maybe 500,000 ft (around 95 miles).

I think that's probably true. To do so I
would only have to do my favorite ride
once every five days or so for a year. That
thought doesn't exactly fill me with dread.

Robert