UK - BIG Cycling

BIG’s News Letter – 2012.03
English Version
Edito: There are no borders.
My daughter brought me a postcard with a text on it that she felt applied to me. And I think it applies to
all BIG members: So I’ll share it with you: Borders are there in your head and not in your body. It’s a
quote of Marije Smits who is a paralympic athlete. She understands like us as BIG members that the
borders to be crossed are to be crossed mainly in the head and to a much lesser extend in the body.
It’s mind over matter that is needed to cross the border and to keep on going uphill or to cycle up an
Iron BIG 25 times. For BIG members even physical borders do not exist as we travel all over Europe
and over the entire world even to claim BIGs. So cross the borders in your head and expand your
claim list with the highest and toughest BIGs in Europe and other continents even as you can read in
the “BIG rules!” chapter.
1. TOP 5 BIG news
TOP 1: Annual BIG meeting in the Tatras
This annual meeting happened and it felt well. We felt well, too ! You'll find all the feedbacks on the
page http://bigascensions.free.fr/rendezvous/tatras/tatras.htm. Many pictures about those unknown
countries and a funny text from François Candau about the way by which we managed our timetables
during the meeting. The annual meetings stay something very special, very similar but also very
different one to another, but every time, it's a must for those who like to meet the other members
sharing the same passion...
TOP 2: New in the website
Thank to the rare but very efficient times of working coming from our webmaster Wouter De Ruyck,
many improvements appeared in our website recently
1)
The Blue menu "Note" third menu from the left for every BIG is now available. You can add a
personal note to each BIG. It's a short text that you can write to write your impression, your
experience or an advice about this BIG e.g. how to find the foot. All the notes will be readable
one after another. Here is an example :
2)
The statistics have been expanded and now show besides percentage of BIGs claimed per zone
also the amount of BIGs claimed per year from 1985 to 2012 and the cummulative amount of
BIGs for the same period. Here is an example:
3)
If you are a contributing member thenn the menu "Queries" just before the menu "help" on the
left gives you now the ability to make lists of BIGs sorted on Energy points, Average %, Maximum
%, Length [km], foot [m], summit [m] and altimeters. You can select a specific zone or all zones
and if you want to see the highest value first (descending) or last (ascending). Here is an
example :
4)
When a picture is uploaded, you can see the name of the BIG and which member has uploaded
the picture. Here is an example :
5)
The menu "National challenges" in "parallel challenges" is
now opened below the menu "Godfather" on the left. The first
national challenges will rapidly appear.
TOP3: The Iron BIG-DAY & the Iron BIG-man
th
On the 15 of september of the year 2012, one week before the incredible victory of Phil Gilbert
thrown away from the 12% of the Cauberg, eleven B.I.G members recalled the cycling history by
climbing 27 times this climb in the same day.
They were eleven coming from 4 different countries, compiling altogether the biggest group ever seen
to claim an ironbig a day. It was the 15th of september 2012, one week before the world championship
for all the racers. It was also the same day that the cyclesport event and instead of being alone on a
narrow road like all our other ironbigs frequently, this event was marked by the company of 3.000
cyclists given to our claims during the whole day.
For the pictures and the comments, see
http://bigascensions.free.fr/rendezvous/cauberg2012/cauberg2012.htm .
Congratulations to the 11 members from left to righ : Daniel Gobert, Michel Ménard (added),
Christiaan Weytmans, Rutger Bonsel(added), Helmuth Dekkers, Thomas Eussen, Jan-Willem Boode,
Alex Mante, Ubald Kragten, Hugo Schoot and Axel Jansen (added)
Among those participants, the Frenchman Michel Ménard was present. This incredible guy appears
currently with the amazing amount of 17 Iron Bigs succeeded. He made a trip to Bretagne and another
one to The Netherlands, winning 5 ironbigs each time in one week. A long and continuous effort which
pushes him up to the unreachable lead of the Iron BIG general classification. Michel Ménard ( see
http://www.challenge-big.eu/en/user/78 ) is our Iron BIG-man !
The Iron BIG challenge is still indeed a real success...
TOP4: The 2013 travel-meeting in the Ardennes is ready
Here is already the programm of the official meeting next year, with the landscapes of the Ardennes.
21 BIGs in 5 days along a travel, stage after stage like in Corsica, last year, and not with a stable
place from where we'll start every day.
Stage
1
2
Date
03/08/2013
04/08/2013
05/08/2013
3
4
5
06/08/2013
07/08/2013
08/08/2013
From
Hometown
Namur
Oignies en
Thiérache
Bouillon
Vielsalm
Spa
To
Namur (Youth Hostel)
Oignies en Thiérache
Bouillon
Distance
? km 
110 km
117 km
Openrunner ID
Vielsalm
Spa
Huy
125 km
97 km
93 km
1922630
1913169
1913218
1913583
1912962
The fat numbers at the end are the open numbers in Openrunner. You can find the stages with this
programm http://www.openrunner.com.
More informations in http://bigascensions.free.fr/rendezvous/ardennes/ardennes.htm .
You can subscribe with this adress: [email protected] .
TOP5 : A Facebook official BIG page
A new FACEBOOK page dedicated to the BIG Challenge has been opened in
http://www.facebook.com/ChallengeBig
For those who are included in this social network, please, keep it alive. It's born thanks to one of our
young members, Gilles Jacquemin.
2. BIG Rules!
In the Edito I mentioned the physical borders that we as BIG members need to cross to expand our
claim list. There are plenty BIGs in Europe no doubt about that. But there are also 50 BIGs that reside
in the so called Zone 12: Outside Europe. There are some special rules for BIGs in Zone 12 that I
want to explain to you. You can find these rules on: http://www.challenge-big.eu/en/page/rules as Point
3.2: The blue parts are taken from the website and I have added some text in black to explain the rule a bit more.
The 50 climbs of the zone 12, called outside Europe, will never be determined by the Selection Committee of the
BIG, but at the discretion of the member.
In plain words this means that you can choose these BIGs yourself! But, your choice is restricted by the following
rules:
a)
b)
Among those 50 climbs, we need to find 10 in Asia, 10 in Africa, 10 in Oceania, 10 in North or Central
America, and finally 10 in South America.
Pretty clear I would say.
The average slopes (altitude difference between the top and the height of the foot) should be at least 500m
by number of ascents by continent (a total of 5000m by continent and minimum of 25000 for the zone 12).
But here is an additional restriction:
Each set of BIGs claimed must have an average difference of altitude from top to foot >= 500m
Example 1: Top of no. 951 = 675 and Foot of no. 951 = 124 is OK
Difference of altitude is 675 - 125 = 551 (>500) for this 1 BIG.
Example 2: Top of nr 991 = 675 and Foot of nr 991 = 176 is NOK
Difference of altitude is 675 - 176 = 499 (< 500) for this 1 BIG.
But to allow some special climbs with high gradients and with a difference of altitude less than 500 we
fortunately have the so called average rule!
Average rule is by continent. example
Example 3: Top of nr 951 = 675 and Foot of nr 951 = 124 is OK
Difference of altitude is 675-124=551
Top of nr 952 = 675 and Foot of nr 952 = 176 is OK
Difference of altitude is 675-176=499
Average difference of altitude for these 2 BIGs is 551+499 divided by 2 is 525 and hence OK
because you declare 2 climbs from the same continent at the same time
Note1: It would also have been OK if you had already claimed BIG 951 first in the above
example and then you would have added BIG 952 later. This as the average of all BIGs
declared per continent should always be equal or more than 500m.
Note2: Climbs with average's rule will appear in the results with * behind the name in your list.
Of claims.
c)
The member declaring a number of 951 to 1000 (zone 12) has therefore imperatively to accompany his
declaration with:







The name of the continent
The name of the country
The name of the top reached
Tthe height of this top.
The name of the foot where the start was.
The height of this foot.
The year of completion
The above mentioned information must be send to the manager of Zone 12 ([email protected] ) for
acceptance.
Note3:
Exceptions are allowed for climbs claimed before 2009 and which follow the old regulations. If you
are interested in these old regulations then you can mail the Zone 12 manager ([email protected])
3. About a BIG: The king of Italian lakes
You see it from everywhere; from the
top you can see everywhere. Il
Mottarone (BIG 733) overhangs the
north Italian great lakes. Actually, from
its 1491 metres altitude, Il Mottarone
offers a panorama on 7 of these lakes.
That is certainly why this an Italian
cyclist that I met in the final ascent
shouted at me that I was reaching: « la
pui bella montagna del mundo!». It is
always very interesting to have these
unbiased comments!
Under these conditions I feel free to
express my personal opinion.
According to me, the treasure of the
Italian lakes lies on the bottom of
the climb. It was my starting point:
Orta San Giulio village. I leave you
some tourist views so that you can
make your own opinion:
The ascent itself starts from a big roundabout -----
A landmark: this incredible hotel,
a direction: this sign-road: |
\/
The beginning of the ascent is classic up to the village Armeno. You thread your way through the small
streets and you face serious gradients. Personally I felt I would have to confront another Hautacam.
Nice surprise after 6 kilometres under these severe conditions, the slope gets really easier during 4
kilometres. Only 2 kilometres remaining before reaching the top and the traditional antennas, a bar
and summer skiing tracks (and of course many T-bars).
Here are some views
on Orta lake and lake
Maggiore.
I point out a curiosity if you climb from or descent to Stresa: cars and motorbikes are charged for the
road. For « bici », it is free with the short cut aside the barrier.
Here is the arrival on Stresa, luxurious holiday resort on the lake Maggiore that deposits floods of
tourists towards the famous Borromean islands.
François CANDAU (423)
Conclusion:
It’s the end of this newsletter and the end of “About a BIG” chapters that we still had in stock. So feel
free to send us your own “About a BIG” story to share your experience and story with other
members. We need your input as we ran out of input for this chapter. And it’s nice to have a guest
author for a change. Don’t be shy. We all share the same passion and your story will for sure be
appreciated! You can mail it to: [email protected] We are looking forward to your stories.
Regards, the newsletters team:
Enrico ALBERINI
Gerd DAMEN
Helmuth DEKKERS
Daniel GOBERT
Anja VON HEYDEBRECK
Claudio MONTEFUSCO
Luc OTEMAN