Forum Flyers

[Slothful1]

That's rough news, Erik. I can imagine how frustrating it will be to hit pause on the training, but hopefully the investment of time now will buy you many years on the erg down the line.

Dave

[meerkats]

I am schooled on training appropriate for BRIC. Are the majority of participants expected to do the 500m in addition to the 2k or will the 500 be contested by a smaller number largely composed of notorious celebrity specialists?

Jack as far as I can see most go to BRIC just for the 2k and the 500 has much smaller fields - there are a few who seem to go for the double and then some who are just there for the shorter one - not sure how many are "celebrities" though. I have entered in both (of course) - for me it would be a long trip to watch others race even with my dodgy current 500m times.

Terry and I had another go at the 1609m IRL tonite and improved a bit (mine just a little and Terry by a good bit more) - 13th overall for the High Flyers not too shabby.

Lindsay, just seen this, are you coming over for the BIRC???, I'd better enter so we can make it a Forum Flock

Just did the CTC, must say 30 sec rest would have been unpleasant...........it's all about what you put in. Rolling starts protect the back i think, but it is something you have to be aware of. Good fun, definately a repeater and I'm not taking about being sick

[lindsayh]

Lindsay, just seen this, are you coming over for the BIRC???, I'd better enter so we can make it a Forum Flock

Yes I am entered! Arriving from Brussels on Friday and leaving for home Monday. Staying at Stratford near the Velo with lizh plus emilyh and arih (my daughter and grandson) Entered both races.

4 boats floated for the month thanks to Georgina in the end (and the rest of us of course)

[Citroen]

Staying at Stratford [E15] ...

Normally I'd recommend bringing a stab vest if you're heading into that part of deepest, darkest East London. London is the stabbing capital of the world.

My dad used to work there at the Co-Op bank. Every week he was called to a nearby branch of the bank to investigate another robbery. He retired in 1992 before stab vests became essential.

[jackarabit]

Lindsay writes:

4 boats floated for the month thanks to Georgina in the end (and the rest of us of course)

Much improved “11th hour” (haha) second entry by Carol Atwood to retain her seat in Flyers boat #2. Well done, Carol!

This month is OUR challenge, folks. Comes round so rarely! Fill some boats. Let’s try to get into double digits—Arab if possible but Roman will do.

[jackarabit]

Snip from November CTC above. Interesting!

[lindsayh]

Normally I'd recommend bringing a stab vest if you're heading into that part of deepest, darkest East London. London is the stabbing capital of the world.

Thanks Dougie. The Holiday Inn is walking to the Velo so seemed to make the most sense and close to the railway etc. Hadn't heard about "stab vests" before - maybe we have fewer incidents here in Oz.

Snip from November CTC above. Interesting!

Jack it looks like it cant put a woman first even if Michelle is the fastest in the boat right now?? Maybe Doug can explain?

[meerkats]

Carol is going to go faster, she died on the 5th interval!! She wont listen to me about pacing intervals She is under my tutorlage so we'll be doing the CTC a few times.

Looking at a ding dong battle with Michelle then, that's a great effort.

Lindsay, deflation, I cant enter BIRC, as it is the good ladies Birthday on that day, might not go down well!!

[jackarabit]

Normally I'd recommend bringing a stab vest if you're heading into that part of deepest, darkest East London. London is the stabbing capital of the world.

Thanks Dougie. The Holiday Inn is walking to the Velo so seemed to make the most sense and close to the railway etc. Hadn't heard about "stab vests" before - maybe we have fewer incidents here in Oz.

Snip from November CTC above. Interesting!

Jack it looks like it cant put a woman first even if Michelle is the fastest in the boat right now?? Maybe Doug can explain?

The rule governing complement of a floated boat stipulates maximum of 3 hwts, minimum of 1 female, minimum of 1 lwt. Assuming that a lwt, male or female, is the next entry, the boat will have its full complement WITHOUT the addition of a mhwt and should show as FF boat #1. Carol fulfills the minimum female requirement. Michelle is obviously the current ranking HWT in the boat. Her GENDER is irrelevant to that determination. There is a high probability that FF will produce a faster (male) hwt by end of month. Until that condition is realized, Michelle should list as top performance in FF boat #1. Perhaps Daren Chandisingh did not fully extend the benefits of his own rules to women. Ya think?

ADDENDUM: With the addition of Frank Noorlander to the boat, FF boat #1 now has three male heavies, Michelle has bumped Carol to become female “placeholder” and the (still) unacknowledged second best time. Business as usual.

[Citroen]

The CTC website picks the following for a boat: fastest lady (heavyweight or lightweight), fastest lightweight (male or female), fastest three (heavyweights or lightweights, ladies or gents).

Fast lightweight ladies are the prize assest as they will always get a place in a boat higher up the list (you can't float a boat without a lady). The last three in any boat are more likely to be the fast heavyweight men.

It's been a stunningly simple algorithm that's been stunningly successful for 13 years next month.

[jackarabit]

The stunningly successful algorithm was given the capability of ranking male hwt performance but denied the capability of ranking performance without segregation by gender. The game as designed is big on chivalric gestures but turns a deaf ear to unwelcome facts. Yes, nothing succeeds like success until _____________?

[lindsayh]

The stunningly successful algorithm was given the capability of ranking male hwt performance but denied the capability of ranking performance without segregation by gender. The game as designed is big on chivalric gestures but turns a deaf ear to unwelcome facts. Yes, nothing succeeds like success until _____________?

Let's just call it a glitch Jack - in my few years on CTC I have seen it before but you are right it is not gender neutral at all when placing people in boats.

[jackarabit]

Lindsay, no question that the program awards seats with reference to the gender and weight-based quotas described earlier. This softening of the the brutal reality of the scrum is the big selling point of the game. Mixed doubles tennis and pro/celebrity or pro/am golf provide, in principle, a similar opportunity to associate with the great names of sport.

My quibble with the ordering of names IN the boats is that it reinforces the appearance that mhwts ALWAYS produce the best performances when in fact they do not. Crew complement should be listed in the time-honored order of finish—brass ring best to Darwinian dead last. When women and mlwts produce better times than do some or all of their mhwt crew mates, the order of names should honor that reality. Even alphabetical order by first letter of registration name would be preferable to the current method of listing.

[lindsayh]

had a first go at both challenges this morning
CTC was @1:26.2 with 2 in the 1:27s so a bit to do maybe but need to watch the back!
For those who weren't around when the FFs were at a previous peak - it is great to see Dirk Moller and Ewen Macroth in boat 1. Dirk is one of the fastest >50yo in the world who was around 1:15 for 500 back in the day and Ewen is Swiss and a super strongest man competitor who used to do a lot of OTE for us too.

Then did a slow/steady 6344m @2:03 just to get a feel for it and get our first entry in.

[jackarabit]

Nov. CTC preceded by 6 oz of 2006 Pinot Grigio. Smooth! Enjoyed it again and again and again