Bike Week

BQ member and statistics guru Bruce Gray has updated his Coot-tha Challenge spreadsheet to show comparative figures for 2009 and 2008.

You can download it here (567Kb Excel spreadsheet). It shows all sorts of fascinating information. You can find out where your time ranks in percentage terms, check out the graph of all riders, which shows how much faster we all rode this year, and much much more. We still don’t know what kurtosis is, but you can probably get treatment for it.

Brisbane’s biggest day of cycling for the year went off as smooth as silk yesterday, with close to 4000 cyclists enjoying a bike ride on a beautiful sunny autumn day.

David Melville (7:04) and Simone Grounds (7:54) set impressive best times in the BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge. The winner’s time brings out the question: “Is it humanly possible to go under seven minutes for the Coot-tha?”

That’s a question that will have to wait for 2010 to be answered. Self-reported times don’t count!

There were many many reports of personal bests being slashed by a minute or more, as countless hours of hill training paid off big time.

There has been a great surge of interest in cycling, and its reflected in the growth of this event, 38% up on the first event in 2008. BQ also finds it interesting that more and more riders are looking for harder events, and in general are riding faster in these events.

Our photo about shows a couple of participants in The Great Brisbane Bike Ride, cruising along the riverside and enjoying themselves. That’s what Bike Week was all about: getting out on your bike and having fun!

Bicycle Queensland is pleased to report that the worst injury yesterday was a broken arm, and there were no accidents involving cars colliding with bikes.

Did you win a prize in either the BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge or the Great Brisbane Bike Ride?

Check the list of prize winners here.

Contact BQ on 3844 1144 or email prizes@bq.org.au to claim your prize.

How did you go on the BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge this morning?

• All times, listed by place order
• All times, listed by surname
• The top 10 male and female riders
• Team results

Early stages of the successful breakaway in today’s Bike Week Cup at Nundah criterium track. Eventual winner Mark Ledgerwood is in the middle in the white kit.

Bike Week is almost over, except for the biggest event of all: the BDO Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge and the Great Brisbane Bike Ride.

Just about everything else is done and dusted. Friday night at Davies Park, South Brisbane and today at Nundah criterium track were the two competitive events for Bike Week.

Today there 232 racing cyclists assembled at Nundah for the second annual Bike Week Cup. Ipswich cyclist Mark Ledgerwood won the main race, from a crack field of 47. Nikolai Razouvaev and Chris Williams filled the minor placings.

In B grade, Paul Barton and Lucas Nicoll in a breakaway of two held off the fast-finishing main field to finish first and second. Ian Hargreaves was the clear winner of C grade.

At Davies Park last night, cycling was the real winner, as Brisbane got its first taste of the amazing sport that is cyclocross. An enthusiastic crowd witnessed the great skills and bravery of local riders on a course that wasn’t too technical, but certainly tested the aerobic capacity of all participants.

Most of Bike Week’s free events have been booked to capacity, including the Film Night on Wednesday and today’s Personal Training session.

SCODY Ride to Work Day was also a huge success with state and local politicians mixing in with cyclists of all shapes sizes, types and ages.

Participation in Bicycle Queensland’s events is growing every year at record rates. This Sunday, the second annual BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge will be 36% bigger than the first one, with more than 2200 cyclists taking on the mountain.

The Great Brisbane Bike Ride is also up from last year’s event (and we’re not finished, as you can still enter the GBBR on the day at South Bank), so all up around 4000 cyclists will take to the streets and bike-paths to celebrate the end of Bike Week on Sunday.

Of course, with our organisational motto (Everyday cycling, every day), Bicycle Queensland loves to see the gains made during special events such as Bike Week translate into more people cycling more often. So if you have dusted off an old bike specially for Bike Week, or bought a new bike to be part of the Family Fun Ride, then maybe it’s time to work out the best bike route to work or school, and keep those cycling muscles moving.

Email BQ for free advice about becoming a cycling commuter.

The Rider Information Sheet has vital information for anyone who has entered the BDO Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge, the Great Brisbane Bike Ride, or the Family Fun Ride. All these events will be held on Sunday 22 March, starting from the South Bank Cultural Forecourt.

Download the rider info sheet here. (500Kb PDF)

A link to this sheet has been emailed to all riders entered in the events. Our service provider had some technical issues in delivering this email, so we’re making the information available on the web as well.

Entries are now closed for the 2009 BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge.

Pre-event entries are also closed for the Great Brisbane Bike Ride and Family Fun Ride. You can still enter those rides on the day, but you won’t receive event merchandise. The paper entry form is here, and if you’re planning to enter on the day, the process will go much faster if you’ve already filled in the form.

Plus, there are still plenty of other great Bike Week events you can still be part of, including the all-new and exciting City CX at Davies Park on Friday night.

If you have entered the Coot-tha Challenge, and want to know where and when to pick up your rider kit, look here.

As we indicated earlier, last year’s times for the 2008 BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge have been available on the web for, hmm, let’s see, just under a year now.

And using that data, one of the riders from last year who is an Excel guru has put together a spreadsheet of statistical analysis. The average (mean) time up the hill last year? 14 minutes, 35 seconds. The average (median) time? 13 minutes, 38 seconds. And of course, the mode (most frequently occurring) time: 12 minutes 9 seconds.

There’s much more, including the distribution graph above, and an ability to search for your name, which will return your finish time and position. Download it here.