10 down, 1 to go. I predict you'll be in the top 3 when the challenge is over.

That would be a pleasant surprise. As I said before, I'd be delighted to be in the top 10.

BTW, this wasn't a bad ride. It's a long climb, but there are several short descents mixed in to give you some rest. Also, nothing real steep.

I looked at it. Didn't look too bad. From the 2 that I've done, I'm not impressed with the scenery on the island.

Yeah, it's not high on my list of places to ride IRL.

After looking at the leaderboard for the challenge, I don't see any way I'll end up in the top 3. The ride I have remaining should be just under 2 hours, which would put me somewhere under 13 for the challenge.
Robert Rijnders has already finished under 12. Igor Tatarinov has this ride left, which he should easily do under 3 hours, which would put him under 12 1/2 hours total. And Smiljan Pavisic, legit or not, will probably beat all of us. That doesn't leave any room in the top 3.
I'm still hoping for the top 10, but would be quite satisfied with a top 20 finish.

Actually, the ride I have left will be well over 2 hours, so I doubt I'll get under 13 hours.

Well, you'll just have to cut in the after burners. and kick some Euro Ass! 👊🥸.........I know, easy for me to say.

I discount Robert Rijnders. I don't think he's a real person since he doesn't show up on any of the individual rides. And Smiljan Pavisic is.......well, I'll be kind.....BULLSHIT! So, with the 2 of them disqualified..... that leaves you in 2nd place 🤨behind Igor T.

I like the way you think! 😁
But what about the other 60 riders?

BTW, I did this ride more than 20 minutes faster that the estimated ride time, so I did end up under 13 hours for the challenge.

👊outstanding! As far as the other riders. I suspect 80% of them won't complete the challenge. The rest will be eating your dust.

I agree that, even though the challenge runs through most of January, many won't complete it.
I was estimating that about a third would finish. Even if only 20% do, that would be 13 riders. We'll see how many are faster than me.

Robert Rijnders is in fact a real person, he's here on RwGPS as Cyclopaat. He looks like the real deal.

https://ridewithgps.com/users/195772

Humpf! Looks like an old man to me.

Not sure why he doesn't show up on any of the leaderboards for the individual rides, though.

🤣😂🤣

On Strava you can keep your segments off of the leaderboard. I suspect you probably have the option on BigRing in preferences to keep your rides off of the leaderboards.

Robert has an online blog here: https://www.bikerebel.com/
He's two years younger than me.

Well I guess he's lagit. We'll have to give him real person status.......begrudgingly 😝

🤣😂🤣

How come he shows up on the challenge leaderboard? How is that different from the individual leaderboards?

Well, now I really like him. I've quit Strava 3 times and the 3rd is my last. I take back the "old man" thing. I'll give him brut status instead. At 71, I guess I have few years on him.

I'm thinking I'll have to finish the challenge now, since he gave me credit for it. I'm not crazy about torturing myself on long, steep, not so scenic climbs, just for the sake of "completing the challenge" but, a challenge is a challenge. I'm considering it.

Well, my engine has dwindled quite a bit over the years but, I still love to ride so, I keep on chugging along. I've got a bookmark on your Blog. I look forward to taking a close look at all of your adventures and other info you have there. Thanks for sharing!

I like the Garmin Connect analysis. I have a Bontrager/Garmin 1030 computer so, I'm able to take advantage of the Garmin data analysis. I recently started uploading my virtual rides to Garmin Connect which I haven't done in the past. I'll check out Intervals.icu and TrainerDay. Although, I'm not as into the analysis as much as I once was.

I have the same problem with the switchbacks on the virtual rides. I just look away from the screen on those sections, lest I have to get off the bike and.........

I'm glad you two have met, and I'm sure Robert got a good laugh reading the comments up to when he joined in. I know I had a few.

Well I'm not as into the analysis side of things as you guys are. I've never used Intervals.icu, TrainerDay, or even Garmin Connect analysis. I just like to ride. That could be why I'm not as fast.

Like you, Robert, I've been premium at RwGPS for years. I like to map routes and I find it to be the best for that purpose.
I'm currently working with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (creator of the original Grinduro) and a group of volunteers on the SBTS Connected Communities project. We're mapping out possible singletrack trails to connect about a dozen small communities in our area of Northeastern California. Although I really don't care to ride singletrack, I enjoy helping with the project. I've become the lead mapping guy for our little volunteer group.
https://sierratrails.org/connected-communities/

You can check out some of our route drafts on my profile page. The Connected Communities routes are titled "CC Taylorsville to Fredonyer Pass". We've also been planning a trail that circumvents our little valley (also with SBTS), called the Indian Valley Rim Trail. Dick visited here briefly last year, so here may be able to picture it. Those routes are titled "Rim Trail Draft".

I'll be skipping the Rapha 500, as my BR subscription expires at the end of the year. I'll go back to riding my extensive collection of VeloReality videos (which is how Dick and I met originally). Although I enjoy BigRing much more, I have too much invested in VeloReality to justify a monthly subscription.

Tack TTS is what drove me to VeloReality. I got the software free when I bought my Neo. I only purchased a few videos (fortunately) and after several app crashes, where I would completely lose the ride, I went looking for something else. Since this was before BigRingVR existed, VeloReality seemed like the best fit for me. At this point, I have over 300 videos.

The Vride software is solid, but a bit primitive compared to BigRingVR. I really like the Rouvy UI, but the quality of their videos is all over the map. I also don't care for the way the gradients often change very abruptly (and unnaturally). I never did care for the cartoon graphics of Zwift, but i really liked the fact that it made me faster! 😉
The other one I tried to try was Fulgaz. I got in on their free beta when they first released the windows version. I could never get the download feature to work and with my slow internet, was only able to stream a couple rides at 540 resolution. I'm assuming by now they've worked out the bugs and I'd be able to download. Perhaps I'll give it another try in the future.