Who's up for Extreme Erging?

MaxDev · Post by **MaxDev** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:01 pm

After reading a Sanctuary thread which happened to mention extreme ironing, I had a crazy FS idea, that could be tried next summer if anyone is up for it...

Behold! The new sport... extreme erging!!!

Walk up Ben Nevis / Snowdon / some other reasonable sized 'mountain'... WHILE CARRYING YOUR C2 model D/E ON YOUR BACK (in two pieces, of course).

Haven't yet thought through the details of how easily the first bit can be achieved, but let's assume for the moment that it can...

Once at the top, assemble said C2, and then erg a substantial distance (HM minimum, FM for the truly extreme, Dodentocht for the totally insane).

Disassemble the C2, and walk back down the mountain, obviously still carrying it on your back.

To make this challenge easier, it might be do-able as a 2-man event, with only 1 C2 between you (though someone then gets the flywheel/short straw).

Derrylad · Post by **Derrylad** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:20 pm

I'm up for it if you want to carry me up as well

Rob

MaxDev · Post by **MaxDev** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:22 pm

Rob - 260 lbs - you've got to be kidding!

And I don't think even extreme C2 usage will get you a 50% weight loss in the next 6 months (which is about what you'd need before I'd be prepared to attempt it!), not that I'd recommend trying it

ptruz · Post by **ptruz** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:24 pm

you know....that actuall sounds cool.......

It may have started as a joke but......

Derrylad · Post by **Derrylad** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:29 pm

I'd row the metres at the top if you can carry me up. I will do my best to eat as much as I can before summer arrives

Hell! If you carry me, I'll even carry the C2 for you as well ( heh! heh! ) - work that one out.

Rob

Mike Channin · Post by **Mike Channin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:20 am

Max, you are truly insane.

But I like the idea. Wonder if they'd allow us to do Canary Wharf or Tower 42 or the Gherkin for a charty event???

Hell, there's a load of interesting places we could try in the city, and a good few more in the SE (Leith hill (on top of the tower), Ditchling Beacon, Beachy Head, ...) before getting into the real mountains. (And THEN there's the three peaks...

)

Only problem I can see is if you do a serious distance at the top, the guy who carried the other half will get very cold standing around.

Now exactly how much does each half of an erg weigh???

(We HAVE to do this at least once, just for the photo opportunity. We may also be able to claim the record for the highest altitude erg competition (although I heard the Denver one is at 5,000 feet, so that could be tricky in the UK))

I think we can now consider the Free Spirits Extreme Erging Display Team, officially formed!

Mike Channin · Post by **Mike Channin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:35 am

Hey, we could do a 60 min piece on the London Eye! Might have to carry the erg there from somewhere else to make it a true challenge.

(Why am I ALREADY getting this vision of running the london marathon while pushing round an erg....)

I hereby declare MaxDev to be the Captain of the FS Extreme Erging Display Team.

Or should that be MadMax????

MaxDev · Post by **MaxDev** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:40 am

Well, if you insist, I might just have to accept!

I definitely think Free Spirits needs to be the first to publicise extreme erging. Stan lives near me - perhaps I can get him to come and take pictures when I attempt a feasibility study on this.

Haven't been on it, but don't the capsules on the London Eye swing freely? Might you be in danger of 'rocking the boat' once you got into a rhythm on the erg?

Mike Channin · Post by **Mike Channin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:42 am

Re the Eye, I'm sure they are suitably damped.

I could be persuaded to drive up to the Malverns sometime for a feasibility test of the Extreme Erging idea....

Mike Channin · Post by **Mike Channin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:44 am

From C2 site: (for model D)

Assembled Dimensions
Length 240 cm
Maximum Width 60 cm
Height 90 cm
Weight 28 kilos

Disassembled Dimensions
90cm x 72cm x 135cm (H)

28 Kg

Mike Channin · Post by **Mike Channin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:57 am

Please let me wake up in the morning and this has all just been a bizarre erg infested dream...

MaxDev · Post by **MaxDev** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:57 am

It's not a Lazy Gun... I should hope it did weigh the same when disassembled as it did when assembled.

Non-Iain M Banks' fans will think I'm mad with that comment, but then so does everyone else anyway, so no change there...

But I'm more interested in how much each half weighs... I'd guess the split at 20-8 unless you disassemble the struts as well, and they're only another couple of kg at most.

And yes, I have occasionally been called Mad Max in the past

ptruz · Post by **ptruz** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:04 am

This is something we.....(or you, I am in the US) have to do......it's a must!

Not just moutains....BASE ROWING!.....like base jumping......here we should row on the top of the Empire State Building or something.

I want pics on this sight at every major tourist attraction....Eifel Tower....Big Ben.....THE PYRAMIDS!!!!!

WOW....this is exciting!

ptruz · Post by **ptruz** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 5:09 am

LAS VEGAS.....think of the possibilities?

JanetS · Post by **JanetS** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:39 am

MaxDev wrote: It's not a Lazy Gun... I should hope it did weigh the same when disassembled as it did when assembled.

Turn it upside down - that might work!

Mike: thinking Ditchling Beacon - how about a South Downs Beacon relay.......?

Mike Channin · Post by **Mike Channin** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:02 pm

Looking out of the window into a nasty rain storm with howling wind, I remember the realisation while sat in a boat OTW recently that the GOOD thing about erging is you DON'T have that problem...

Am now giving my erg sneaky looks trying to decide if there's any bits I could drill out to save weight...

Janet - that's a great (suitably insane) idea. Well done.

ptruz - like the Vegas idea - top of the Statosphere??

How about erging the Grand Canyon. (I've already done the in and out again in one day walk, and that was really really hard work...)

Gooner Neil · Post by **Gooner Neil** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:35 pm

As i sit here in my impaired state this thread and others are keeping me going. I will be up for extreme erging and put forward snowdon as a choice. (The pictures would look fantastic and we can cheat!!!) There is a railway that takes you to the top, no one need know

MaxDev · Post by **MaxDev** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:04 pm

Okay, I've missed out on my 30k row today in order to do an initial feasibility study on extreme erging.

The aim was to answer question 1 in the Extreme Erging FAQ.

Namely - how the heck do I carry an erg on my back?

My method (henceforth known as the Mad Max Carry):

Step 1. Separate the erg into two halves. Find Allen key and remove strut support from the flywheel, separate the strut into it's three component pieces.

Step 2. Get the tough tape out, and tape the strut pieces and front roller bar to the side of the slide. Place the slide and flywheel diagonally across one another and use more tough tape to bind the whole lot together.

Step 3. Get a foam camping mat and wrap it as tightly as possible around the centre of the erg, securing with more tough tape.

Step 4. Get rucksack, half-fill with a sleeping bag (in compressor) and other padding, then place underneath the centre of the erg and try to do the straps up around the camping mat.

Step 5. The moment of truth... balance rucksack on chair facing forward, squat down with back to chair, slips arms into straps, adjust belt and chest strap and then stand up.

And it works!! It balances! It's quite comfortable (okay, so I'm lying about that, but it's not UNcomfortable, which is a minor miracle in my book).

Someday soon I'll have to move onto question 2:

How many miles can I walk with an erg strapped to me?

Pictures to follow in a little while hopefully. No-one to take one of me actually carrying the erg, but I might manage somehow (now why don't I have a wall of mirrors in my garage like a proper gym, I could really do with them now??!!

)

ptruz · Post by **ptruz** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:13 pm

What's the matter....too embarased to ask someone to take your pic?

MaxDev · Post by **MaxDev** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:22 pm

Well... err... yes.

But also, as I thought might be the case and just confirmed, my old camera battery is totally fubar - says it's charged and managed to take one piccy before dying.

But I think you'll get the idea:

ptruz · Post by **ptruz** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:25 pm

absolutely priceless

ptruz · Post by **ptruz** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 4:27 pm

Some one spec out a C2 rower specially designed for carrying......THE MODEL F.

Wolfmiester · Post by **Wolfmiester** » Sat Nov 25, 2006 9:08 pm

ptruz[quote]absolutely priceless

Sure is.

I can see that this is going to happen, & i want to be there when it does.
Count me in!
Wolfie

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:34 am

OMG Tamsin and I crying with laughter at this thread.

The picture of MaxDev staggering up a mountain with an erg on his back will stay with me for a long time.

I was a bit worried about the "base erging". Isn't that carrying the erg to the top of a building, then jumping off and rowing all the way down? Won't the ergo break?

Tamsin suggests that some city authorities might have a problem with that approach.

As for extreme erging, this could be fun. Have you heard of flash mobbing (http://www.flashmob.co.uk/)? Why not flash erging?

Imagine the scene. It is a normal day on the top of the Empire State Building. Then, out of nowhere, 200 Free Spirits wheel up their ergos, do a 2k and melt in to the background.

I look forward with great excitement to the first extreme erging photo.

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:34 am

Just had a thought. Would an ergo get through the metal detectors at the bottom of the Empire State OK?

....later...

And another:

when lugging the ergo round school I have the seat bar on my shoulder and tow the flywheel. This would still be possible if I removed the axle from the extreme pushchair in the garage and attached it somehow to the wheel-bar on the ergo. Is this in the rules? Do you have to carry it to the top or can you wheel it?

And another: should Max lug his ergo to the top of a mountain and I meet him there. How will I know which man with an ergo is him?

Who's up for Extreme Erging?

Who's up for Extreme Erging?

Mad

Joke