Interested in a Bikathlon? Sunday Sept. 10. at AAF&G

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    JoeRinMD

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    A shooting buddy and I are organizing a Bikathlon for Sunday, Sept 10th at AAF&G in Annapolis. This is planned to be a fun event for all levels of riders, not hard-core bike racing. The plan is to shoot the Appleseed target, so four sets of 10 shots with a .22 (preferably a semi-auto), interspersed with 3 bike ride stages of about 6 miles each. For the bike ride segments (and of course, for the shooting portions as well), the emphasis will be on safety with multiple volunteers helping on the road. All rifles will stay on racks at the range, with a volunteer posted to keep an eye on it.

    This year we're just trying to work out the kinks. Our goal is to have 30 participants who end up with a positive experience. In the coming years we'd love to have it grow to the size of the Seagull Century. ;-) If you're interested, send me a PM with your email address and I'll forward the signup form.

    Let's use the thread to discuss any questions you may have. At this point, I'm still working out the scoring system, but welcome thoughts on how to score the riding. Right now, I'm thinking of a "par" system, where the emphasis is on finishing the rides within a certain time frame and points are added/subtracted to the shooting score if the rider is outside the par time. The riding will be done on roads on the Broadneck peninsula, and we don't want riders taking unnecessary risks to shave a few seconds off their time.

    JoeR
     
    JoeRinMD

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    When we were tossing around ideas for it, I thought about keeping it on the Club's property and doing it as an off-road event. But, since it's being held on a Sanctioned Weekend, all ranges could be active. Keeping it safe would be a huge challenge, so that idea was scrapped.

    JoeR
     
    R

    Rob1035

    Active Member
    Jan 17, 2013
    326
    Maryland
    Sounds awesome! I probably won't be able to attend but I am definitely interested in learning more about it...cycling and shooting are my two hobbies!
     
    N

    nedsurf

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 8, 2013
    2,204
    If I end up in the area when this happens(unlikely), I'm in. May I replicate the idea in my locale?
     
    JoeRinMD

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    nedsurf said:
    If I end up in the area when this happens(unlikely), I'm in. May I replicate the idea in my locale?
    Click to expand...

    Of course...no problem. Where's your normal locale? A buddy, who's also into biking, and I were talking one day about the idea of a summer biathlon and started thinking about how we could do it in our area. Most summer biathlons incorporate running as the other sport, but we wanted to make it a bike event. With our club's location and all the rivers and creeks around us, it made more sense to do individual legs down each little peninsula, then back to the club, with shooting phases in between. And, the Appleseed target works perfectly for 4 stages of shooting.

    I'd be happy to answer any questions.

    JoeR
     
    N

    nedsurf

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 8, 2013
    2,204
    I'll see if there is interest in it in louisiana. There are lots of cross fit disciples at my range. Also, I can see it going very well at AGC by using the nearby mountain bike trails of Patapsco SP.
     
    O

    over/under

    Member
    Nov 11, 2012
    31
    Very cool idea! What do expect the average mph to be on the bike legs? Is everyone expected to have a road or TT bike? Mountain bikes allowed?
     
    JoeRinMD

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    over/under said:
    Very cool idea! What do expect the average mph to be on the bike legs? Is everyone expected to have a road or TT bike? Mountain bikes allowed?
    Click to expand...

    We really want this event to be a "fun ride", not a bike race, and more importantly, keep things safe especially for the less experienced riders. The AAF&G club entrance is located on St. Margarets Rd. Entering and leaving will require traveling on a relatively heavily traveled side road in the Broadneck peninsula. From a time perspective, it's being set up a "par time" system, rather than just elapsed time. We'll probably use 12-14 mph as the par time for the biking legs.

    Any bike is welcome. We might have a question or two if you show up with training wheels! :D

    JoeR
     
    JoeRinMD

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    Everyone,

    Just following up after our first Bikathlon this past weekend. The event went off really well, with 16 participants. Everyone said they had a great time. One of the most inexperienced shooters (but most experienced rider) suggested that we start having it twice a year! The general layout of 4 shooting segments interspersed with 3 riding legs worked out really well. I think we'll probably keep that general approach for next year. Now that we've got the hiccups worked out, we'll publicize it much more broadly next year. Hopefully we'll get a lot more riders.

    For the riding segments, we ended up with a "par time" set between and 12 and 15 mph. All but a few riders were within that window. However, a few of the faster riders took an intentional detour to keep from being too fast. That's ok too. Our main goal was to keep riders from doing something that would put them at risk riding a relatively busy road near Annapolis. I think for next year, we'll lengthen the riding segments beyond the three 6 mile loops we did this year.

    Shooting the Appleseed target was a real challenge and for next year, we might change it up by selecting different targets for the three positions at 25 meters. That should also have the advantage of making it easier on the scorers. T o help with orchestrating the event, afterwards we also compiled some administrative lessons learned.

    Hope to see you next year!!

    JoeR
     
    slybarman

    slybarman

    low speed high drag 9-5er
    Feb 10, 2013
    3,074
    If you open to pistol or AR, I would like to give it a go. Don't have a .22
     
    JoeRinMD

    JoeRinMD

    Rifleman
    Jul 18, 2008
    2,014
    AA County
    possumman said:
    Hang 5 clay birds on piece of cardboard- be more like real biathlon target and much easier to score---just a suggestion.
    Click to expand...

    Great idea, Possumman!! We'll have to do that next year....for at least one of the stages.

    If you open to pistol or AR, I would like to give it a go. Don't have a .22
    Click to expand...

    Our intention was to hold it on the AAF&G Smallbore Range, so it would be closer to Olympic Biathlon. However for those who don't have one, we provided loaner guns. And of course, this provides a perfect excus...ummm...alibi...errr...reason to buy another firearm. :D

    JoeR
     
    F

    FM2436

    Member
    Nov 7, 2009
    10
    Every Winter Olympics I become fascinated with watching the Biathlon events. Did anyone watch the 4 Team Mixed Relay finish? Absolutely incredible. I love to see a Maryland wide Biathlon series. Cross county skiing or a summer runner Biathlon series. I’m willing to help if anyone else is interested.
     
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