Crazy Bear question

[chrisl]

Hi, is there anyone on this forum involved in the Nov/Dec Crazy Bear challenge? The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/crazybearrowing/ with links to the past spreadsheets. I did email an address on an older spreadsheet last year asking how to take part but got no reply. I'm not on Facebook so can't interact with them there. Does anyone know how to actually enter this challenge?

Thanks,
Chris

[bisqeet]

yes, I do it every year.
the information is as you say on facebook.

their is a link to a google spreadsheet, where you can add yourself and enter your HM'S.

there is no official t.shirt (although the option exists to create our own) no nice bit of paper. I did write to C2 to ask and try and make it an official challenge, but no reply.
the facegroup offers motivation and a group feeling (as much as you can in a virtual world).
I guess if you don'T wish to participate in the group you would be missing this, but nothing to stop putting your name on the list and ticking the boxes.

[joe80]

The Crazy Bear challenge runs from November 10 to December 24 each year. To complete the challenge, you need to row 30 HMs during the 45 days. FMs count double as you might expect and there are those who knock off four by grinding out a 100km effort. There's no prizes, certificates or other material rewards just the knowledge of a job well done. You'd have to be crazy to fall for that.

It is quite a motivating task and enhanced by the encouragement and banter on the fb page. The link to last year's google sheet is here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

I'll try to remember to post a link before this year's bear season.

Regards,
Joe

[chrisl]

Joe80 and bisqeet thanks for the replies. It looks like all the social stuff is on the facebook page; since I'm not on facebook I can't take part in that. I was just wondering how I actually enter into the challenge. I've seen the google spreadsheets which track everyone's progress.

Is it just a case of deciding I want to take part, getting the link, editing the sheet to add a row for myself so that it copies all the formatting and functions, and then populating that every day? Is the spreadsheet publicly read+write by anyone with the link? The reason I ask is that seems like a recipe for big mistakes, since if someone is not familiar with spreadsheets, and in particular google's implementation, there is huge scope for one person to screw the document up, requiring it to be rolled back and recovered with others then having to re-enter their data.

That's why I suspect it's not as simple as just having the link, and that I need to somehow formally register my intent, so that an admin of the spreadsheet document can create the necessary entry for me on there.

Is it indeed just a public read+write spreadsheet and I can just hack myself a row on there and start populating it?

bisqeet, yes I'd like to see more official C2 challenges and this is a nice one. I've been doing a HM every day for this year's VTC and will do it again later this year for both the Holiday Challenge and Crazy Bear.

Regards,
Chris

[joe80]

Hi Chris,

Yes, the spreadsheet is accessible to all; you just have to add yourself and update as you grind out the HMs. David Plumb has taken on the task of producing and maintaining the table. In previous years, there were several errors introduced by participants who, either inadvertently or deliberately, reformatted the sheet. David's plea of "Don't tamper with the sheet!" seemed to work for the last season; I can't recall any problems or down time.

Regards,
Joe

[chrisl]

Thanks Joe, well in that case I'll keep an eye out for the 2018 spreadsheet nearer the time and edit it to add myself, either into an existing blank row or by inserting a new blank row (the formatting and formulas will extend automatically). Suggestion for the 2018 spreadsheet - an extra column after the name to capture the person's C2 logbook username.

It's a shame the event doesn't run alongside a team challenge like the FTC, as then we could have a Crazy Bear official team with 31 days in which to count those HMs towards that too!

[chrisl]

Hello all, at the start of the year I asked for more info on the Crazy Bear HM challenge which runs from Nov 10 to Dec 24 every year. Well it's almost upon us. I've googled for a 2018 spreadsheet and I've checked the Facebook link given earlier in this thread and drawn a blank. Does anyone know if it's running this year, and, if so, how do I get involved?

I've had minor leg surgery and am not rowing at the moment but should be able to resume around 22nd, which gives me just enough time to knock out a HM every day.

Thanks,
Much appreciated

[chrisl]

The Crazy Bear 2018 spreadsheet went live shortly after my previous post. Thanks to the people involved for their work creating it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

https://www.facebook.com/crazybearrowing/

[chrisl]

Hi all, the 2019 Crazy Bear Challenge starts Sunday 10th November. I was hunting for the spreadsheet and instead found that this year it has a dedicated domain and website which links to all the spreadsheets. Thanks to whoever put the work into that.

http://crazybearrowing.co.uk

It loooks like this year you have to use the site to request joining the challenge. The spreadsheet is read-only at the moment so I'm not sure exactly how it gets updated but guess we'll know more once it starts.

[chrisl]

Just letting anyone interested know that the 2020 Crazy Bear Challenge is running this year, from 10th Nov to 24th Dec inclusive as usual. 30 HMs in 45 days. The spreadsheet is located here and they've gone back to the approach where anyone can edit their own entries and people are asked to not change the layout.

If anyone is active on Free Spirits by all means spread the word as there were some from there in it last year.