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Post by billhammond on Jul 28, 2023 17:19:50 GMT -5
Come on, rain. A good chance of it for the next few days. We got it, instead -- the skies opened up about an hour ago. Dang it, I screwed up and totally misread Elderdottir's e-mails -- she and Katie are NOT available for Asian dinner tomorrow, as they have final filming all day and a crew farewell dinner that night. They were wondering if I was available tonight, which I'm not, so I recommended a couple of terrific Asian places within walking distance of their hotel. All is not lost -- Dottir and I will still have all day Sunday to be together (I think Katie is flying home Sunday morning, while Dottir is spending at least one more night in MN.) I'm sure I'll be able to meet Katie at some point in NC.
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Post by paleo on Jul 28, 2023 17:50:50 GMT -5
Where is there 4,200 feet of elevation in Iowa? Looks to me like Des Moines and Tama are both around 800 feet. See my post above yours. Instead of whining about what I wrote, why not Google "RAGBRAI 2023 vertical climb" and understand how the event organizers define routes.
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Post by Rob Hanesworth on Jul 28, 2023 18:35:14 GMT -5
A couple of explanations from the event site. Like those questioning it, I didn't find it to be intuitively obvious before reading these. I still don't find it very meaningful. You go up a hill, you go down a hill. Duh!
"Or maybe you are asking how the climb on a given day can be several thousand feet when there is only a few hundred feet difference between the elevations of the start and end towns. And in many cases the end town is at a lower elevation than the start town … ?? The answer to that question is that the climb in feet for a day is the sum of the heights of every hill that you will ride up that day. It is the height of the mountain that would exist if you could somehow stack them all on top of each other. It is a daunting number for those of us who live in the flatlands but the saving grace is that you don’t have to do it all at once and you can have a nice piece of pie every couple dozen hills or so! It is not like using the stairs to get to the top of a tall skyscraper, it is like climbing the stairs in your own house a hundred times. A lot of work in either case but spread out over a day it is a lot easier than a single climb."
"Feet in climb refers to elevation. Every time you pedal uphill you are gaining elevation. Add up all those gains in elevation and you have the feet of climb. From my experience, in very few cases, the actual feet in elevation listed on a map is correct, and I don’t say that in a good way… Usually the number listed is a low estimate. Last weekend for example, I did a ride in Plymouth county Iowa, 57 miles, the map they handed us showed 1700 feet of climb. I ended up with over 2500 feet of climb. I use a Garmin 810 which calculates elevation gain and loss, it seems pretty accurate."
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Tamarack
Administrator
Ancient Citizen
Posts: 9,398
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Post by Tamarack on Jul 28, 2023 18:49:47 GMT -5
Paleo - I appreciate the RAGBRAI updates. Every time I step out on a hot day this week I wonder how our neighbor is faring.
Short, choppy hills are more tiring than long, gradual climbs. The brief respite on the downhill does not make up for the pain and strain of the uphill.
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Post by billhammond on Jul 28, 2023 19:55:19 GMT -5
Instead of whining about what I wrote, why not Google "RAGBRAI 2023 vertical climb" and understand how the event organizers define routes. I regret that you think I was "whining," Paleo. What I was trying to convey was that I did not understand what the climb statistic represented. Because I was working a fairly busy shift at the time, I was not in a position to do online research.
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Post by amanajoe on Jul 28, 2023 20:10:00 GMT -5
A wise man believes only lies, trusts only in the absurd, and learns to expect the unexpected. (Sorry the attribution is failing me)
A truly wise man knows to stay the heck out of Amana when 50,000 bicyclists are expected to be there and the idiots at Millstream Brewing are giving away the first beer free to RAGBRAI participants. I got in the van at 8am and headed south across several towns doing clock repairs. Came back to still see stragglers riding in 99 degree heat and 70% humidity.
What amazed me were the number of riders that appeared to be severely out of shape attempting the ride. Much larger waist lines than mine and looking for all the world like they were on the verge of a serious medical event.
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Post by Village Idiot on Jul 28, 2023 20:21:54 GMT -5
What amazed me were the number of riders that appeared to be severely out of shape attempting the ride. Much larger waist lines than mine and looking for all the world like they were on the verge of a serious medical event. But they all got their free beer, right? We just had a big storm come through. It only lasted about 15 minutes, but it dropped the temperature from 97 to 83 and gave us 3/4 inch of rain.
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Post by paleo on Jul 28, 2023 20:59:26 GMT -5
Instead of whining about what I wrote, why not Google "RAGBRAI 2023 vertical climb" and understand how the event organizers define routes. I regret that you think I was "whining," Paleo. What I was trying to convey was that I did not understand what the climb statistic represented. Because I was working a fairly busy shift at the time, I was not in a position to do online research. I'm sorry I used the term whining. I should have chosen my words more carefully. If we were taking face to face, I probably would have understood you, digitally I couldn't tell. One of the big drawbacks to our digital lives.
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Post by epaul on Jul 28, 2023 22:35:18 GMT -5
But, talking face to face can have its own issues, for instance, Bill doesn't wear pants when he's working at home.
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Post by dradtke on Jul 29, 2023 6:22:58 GMT -5
But, talking face to face can have its own issues, for instance, Bill doesn't wear pants when he's working at home. Who does?
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Post by John B on Jul 29, 2023 13:27:31 GMT -5
For better or worse, my office faces the street with floor-to-ceiling windows, so my neighbors get to watch me work.
That said, "who does?"
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Post by Village Idiot on Jul 29, 2023 16:09:31 GMT -5
But, talking face to face can have its own issues, for instance, Bill doesn't wear pants when he's working at home. Just don't tell the story of why you know that. Please.
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