Quote:
Originally Posted by jkv357
I get that, but not that many people need to consistently cruise in that speed range (75 to 80). In some areas it may be the case, but that's not the most cycle-friendly environment when being pushed into that range by traffic flow.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Craig's Challenges, but his "real world" conditions" aren't the norm IMO. Holding a 45 MPH average all day long isn't either.
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Having ridden in one mid-Ohio challenge, I'd say that at least this one challenge; at least on this one July day in 2014, was not an unreasonable, high-speed challenge; and considering that nearly all recorded years have recorded similar results; I'd say they are all like a typical bike ride where there are winding roads and some small-town riding and also some open areas and speed limits are exceeded only via the slinky effect that is normal for any convoy of several vehicles. In other words, very near realistic for easy-going riders, on a weekend ride along popular routes around where I live, but does preclude urban-only rides like 125 cc stock bikes and scooters. However, in 2014, I remember that there were at least two stock machines listed as 200s; a DR200 dual purpose and a Vespa 200 scooter that finished w/o getting passed. They finished second and third, as a measure of cost/mile and mpg among stock bikes that day. The Vespa was behind me. The group got split in half behind me just prior to getting on the interstate. The Vespa actually caught up some during highest-speed segment. My speedo is very accurate, and I looked down and saw 73, and I saw the Vespa slowly catching the front group.
I'd say that nowadays, the most unrealistic part, besides the 4-bag rule, has become the long and frequent refueling stops, and that will likely hurt my score, as Honda's 670 twin is most efficient when it's at operating temperatur and I'd do much better with only one or two stops. I'm in no way against electric anything, but it's sort of contradictory to demand that a motorcycle carry that much stuff on the one hand to be considered practical, yet on the other hand, it doesn't have to go 175 miles, or even half that, or one-third that without fueling. Very odd for a challenge that's advertising a real-world day ride.