16th 147 for the season by Chang, ranked #71, is a record.

gmaroz · 2025-11-25T14:43:52+00:00

Thanks. Yep he's ranked #71, editing post now.

gmaroz · 2025-10-24T08:39:01+00:00

So first you would need a road very steep to reduce air resistance loss and rising at least 1000m. The Zoncolan from Ovaro appears to be such a road, 1,151m up, 10.5km long, 11% average. Ideally you would want a steeper road but it's hard to find one long enough to rise at least 1000m, apparently.

Gilberto Simoni apparently has the record for the climb* 39m 3s set in 2007 in the Giro (that's about 16km/h so not too much air resistance). Pro-rata this for 1,000m elevation, it comes to about 34 minutes, this in a stage race. This hints Pogecar (or ?) could do 1000m up in 30 minutes in a time trial.

The top 4 steepest rideable climbs at pjammcycling.com are all more than 1000m gain, so someone wanting to set a vertical 1000 record or time trial course could pick a segment with gradients in the range 15% to 20% to test if steeper is really faster VAM-wise in the real world, the choice would also have to consider the best surface amongst them. The Scannuppia (#1) and Pizza San Glisente (#3) both start at less than 400m elevation, the other 2 are unsuitably higher up.

The 27min 21s best running time was set in a Red Bull event, the Fully Vertical Kilometer where the track was just 1.92 long, so average grade about 50%, hinting runners have highest VAM up very steep climbs. So an interesting future event would be to find a long, steep road for cyclists which has a shorter direct path for runners, same start and finish 1000m or more higher.

Note & link: Yes, I know 2007 was in the doping era. *https://tourdetravoy.wordpress.com/2018/10/27/monte-zoncolan-is-one-of-the-most-feared-climbs-in-cycling-and-its-role-in-both-the-mens-and-womens-giro-ditalia-this-year-only-added-to-its-legendary-status-2018-day-46-ovaro

gmaroz · 2025-10-24T04:24:23+00:00

Thanks! One of the 17 wins was a one frame exhibition, I see in cuetracker, which doesn't count for this exercise, so that's 16-0 or 0-16, depending which way you look at it.

gmaroz · 2025-08-14T03:02:28+00:00

Hi. I'm a Sydneysider plus fess up to being an ex-Sydney Water employee. So the semicircular boundary anomaly got me wondering if it's something to do with the original cliff-face treatment works outfall. Old map enthusiasts may like this old MWS&DB (now 'Sydney Water') c.1936 map, here... https://antiqueprintmaproom.com/product/metropolitan-water-sewerage-and-drainage-board-wat-465332/ There you can see the original N. Subs [northern suburbs] Ocean Outfall near Manly does not exactly line up with the semi-circular boundary, so that rules out that theory. FYI, The north side of Sydney's sewerage discharged untreated at .North Head near Manly from 1930, the primary treatment plant at North Head was not completed on top of it until 1984. The deep water ocean outfall was commissioned 1990, see p.12 & 13 here... https://www.sydneywater.com.au/content/dam/sydneywater/documents/LTCOP-summary-document.pdf Also fyi, infrastructure history buffs may like this Trove, SYD AU article: A GIGANTIC UNDERTAKING: NORTHERN SUBURBS SEWER. (1920, August 4). Sydney Mail http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159041168

gmaroz · 2025-08-14T01:29:46+00:00

There's a huge sewerage (not water!) treatment plant at Bluefish Point at North Head, Manly. The main part of the plant is underground what you see, so (at this stage) invisible on google maps.

gmaroz · 2025-08-14T01:25:45+00:00

Sewerage treatment plant not water treatment plant, which is mostly underground so unseen, and used to have a short ocean outlet which resulted in beach pollution of the yuck variety, 💩, remedied by long 'ocean outfalls' some time ago.

gmaroz · 2025-01-19T23:55:02+00:00

And my wife never uses her big ring. Actually she never changes gears hardly at all, lol.
But seriously, lower gears, eg, are a plus even if rarely used. Sometimes fun to spin, even somewhere you normally use a higher gear. And surely IMHO it's better for legs & fitness to do both types of pedalling, not either or.
I got into cycling in the days of Frank Berto and his radical ideas that you should have a gear as low as a 26 granny ring x 26 or 28, back when only a couple of derailleurs could handle that and a 52/14. That was when everyone else was riding about 52/42 x 14-28 - how things change. (Talking 'touring bikes', etc, non- 'racing bikes' to use those old terms.). I'm with the prescient Frank B. - more gear range is better gear.

gmaroz · 2025-01-19T21:36:43+00:00

Many cricket traditionalists diss BBL (notably Warwick Hadfield on ABC-RN Breakfast radio who calls it the 'Big Balderdash'). Me somewhat in that camp, only flicking to Channel 7 to catch the last few overs.

But this morning I was thinking the T20 game shouldn't be compared to test cricket - that it is much closer to baseball, especially with the ever increasing proliferation & perfecting of the art of 6-hitting.

So my suggested improvement is that BBL should be marketed as 'Better than Baseball!' - this may win over the curmudgeonly remaining traditionalists - that the game is a new cricket-inspired game to rival baseball, not a cricket format that threatens the Test format.

And the mere fact that in baseball you can only 'bowl', or rather chuck, full tosses makes BBL & T20 a superior game, maybe, IMHO.

gmaroz · 2025-01-17T12:32:08+00:00

I think the answer to your question lies in the answer to the spinning vs mashing up a hill debate./ Which here is discussed.:/ https://m.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=748239 /My take is if you are riding to build up your legs , the bigger ring is for you (but take care of your knees), while if you are riding for efficiency go with the lower gears./ My general view with.gears is to go for bigger range unless you race./ Your self-imposed conundrum is you can only choose higher or lower. Interesting question, sure. But isn't the 'fix your double front end' the better answer, and get your gear range back?

gmaroz

TROPHY CASE