The Handicap Competition consists the following trio of challenges and everyone should have a chance to win.

Burrington Coombe Grid to Grid

Accomodation Road - One Mile Flat. Brent Knoll North ( WARNING - there are 2. Make sure you ride this one ! )

Points will be awarded based upon your position on the handicap time leader board for each challenge.

1st place will earn 20 points, 2nd 19 points, 3rd 18 points and so on.

The winner will be the rider who records the highest number of points over the 3 challenges ( max 60 points ). In the event of a tie, the following weighted aggregation formula shown below will be used.

Weighted Aggregate = (1 x Grid to Grid ) + ( 3 x Brent Knoll North ) + ( 3 x One Mile Flat )

Below is an explanation of how the handicap element of the challenges will work. It can look a bit complex at first, but it really isn't and I'm sure it will become clear once a few rides have been recorded. 

How Does it work?

All the challenges have been given a base time from which handicaps are calculated. The base times have beed calculated from the 3rd fastest riders time, rounded up to the nearest 5 seconds.

Handicaps will be calculated by subtracting the base time from the riders best time. The maximum allowed handicap for a rider is the base time. For Example, if the base time is 10 minutes and a riders PB is 22 minutes the handicap is capped at 10mins rather than 12.  If the rider has no best time, then the calculation is made after the riders first attempt. For this season Strava times and competition attempts from 2016 onwards have been used, where available.

The Handicap time for a challenge attempt will be the actual time recorded by the rider minus their handicap. Handicaps are recalculated whenever a rider records a new PB.

Rider handicaps can be viewed here.

How do I enter? Firstly and most importantly you need to be a member of the Weston Wheelers Strava Club. Then just ride each segment any time you like. To have the time recorded simply include the #WWCOMP tag somewhere in your ride title. There's no extra points for the number of times you ride a segments ( as in previous years ). But if you're unsure whether you've improved a previous time on a ride ( not always obvious with handicaps ), submit it anyway so it can be checked.

Fair Play and Sportsmanship

With a competition like this there's an ongoing challenge in getting accurate handicaps for people. There's also a fairly obvious potential for “sandbagging” and other sharp practises. In another club this could be an issue, but as last year showed, with the Wheelers we really could rely on everyone's sense of fair play and sportsmanship.

In practical terms this mean if you have no current handicap and are submitting your first attempt, make it representative of what you can do.

If you do have a handicap based on a 2016 times which you know isn't representative of your abilities. Ride a faster time and ask for your handicap to be recalculated when you submit it. In recognition of your sporting gesture, you will receive 5 points in the points competition and a mention in the competition report.

It's our competition and it'll be just as good as we make it.

Still don't get the handicap thing - show me an example

Suppose a challenge has a base time of 15 minutes and is to be ridden by 3 riders, Tom Dick and Harry. Tom has a PB of 14 minutes, which, being less than the base time gives him a handicap of 0.

Dick has a PB of 18 minutes, which gives him a handicap of 3 minutes.

Harry has no time for the course.

At the first attempt the riders perform as follows.

Tom rides an actual time of 14:30. His Handicap time is 14:30 - 0 = 14:30.

Dick rides a new PB of 17:00. His Handicap time is 17:00 - 3:00 = 14:00. In addition, because its a PB his handicap is recalculated. I.e. 17:00 - 15:00 = 2:00.

Harry rides the course for the first time in 19:00. His handicap is now calculated ( 19:00 - 15:00 = 4:00 ) and his handicap time recorded as 15:00.

....they ride again. Tom has an off day - and comes in at 18:00. He has no handicap so his handicap time is also 18:00.

Dick repeats his time of 17:00. But because his handicap is now 2:00, his handicap time is 15:00 - a minute slower than before.

Harry rides 18:00. This gives him a handicap time of 18:00 - 4:00 = 14:00 and his handicap is recalculated to 18:00 - 15:00 = 3:00.

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