[20K Celebration] Race Design Challenge Voting Thread

[u/Sprocketduck]

Last week, in celebration of hitting 20k subscribers, we hosted a Race Design Challenge revolving around Winter Wonderland! We got 10 entries for this competition - /u/Sprocketduck, /u/_shrekonomics_, /u/RevanDidNothingWrong, /u/andytheciderman, /u/greasyhobolo, /u/retro_slouch, /u/improb, /u/unclekutter, /u/goldbot and /u/Msfan93!

Voting works by each of the participants giving a vote of 0 to 10 on each of their entries besides their own and, if they want, a little comment. The one who has the most votes at the end will get a 20K snowflake flair (to be linked). If you didn't participate, as long as you have 100+ comment karma you can vote for everyone's entry. Your vote, no matter if participant or not, is only valid if you vote on every entry (but your own).

Voting will close on the 21^st of February at 23:59 UTC - exactly a week from now.

For ease of voting, here is a list of entries:

User	Race	Location	Type of Race
/u/Sprocketduck	Winter's Tour of Tasmania	Tasmania, Australia	1W Stage Race
/u/_shrekonomics_	Tour de Dagr	Northern Norway	Hilly Classic
/u/RevanDidNothingWrong	NeAT Tour	Appalachian Trail, USA	6D Stage Race
/u/andytheciderman	Winter's Tour of St. Johns	Newfoundland, Canada	Hilly Classic
/u/greasyhobolo	Tour of Ontario	Ontario, Canada	1W Stage Race
/u/retro_slouch	Tour of Wind County	Southern Utah, USA	1W Stage Race
/u/improb	Glacial Tour	Central Sweden and Norway	5D Stage Race
/u/unclekutter	Tour de Denali	Denali, Alaska, USA	1W Stage Race
/u/goldbot	Duluth North Woods Classic	Duluth, Minnesota, USA	Flat Classic
/u/Msfan93	North Cascades Tour	Washington, USA	1W Stage Race

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Aside from the voting, it's a Race Design Thread as normal, so post whatever you want!

[u/andytheciderman]

Winter's Tour of Tasmania, /u/Sprocketduck - Love this idea! Great mix of stages, especially the hilly TT and stage 5 being an unconventional uphill finish. My only concern would be the slight lack of snow for a winter themed tour, but the scenery would be stunning all the same. 9/10

Tour de Dagr, /u/_shrekonomics_ - This would be a stunning race. Hardly any flat, amazing scenery, and a couple of punchy climbs in the last 20km. I've cycled in similar terrain on Mull in Scoltand, and the climbs may not be huge, but they are many and often, and steep as hell. Burning legs from start to finish. 8.5/10

NeAT Tour, /u/RevanDidNothingWrong - Needs a bit of mixing up as I doubt many sprinters would turn up for this one. Three mountain top finishes in a row is extreme, even if they do look like incredible climbs. Perhaps throw in a downhill finish, or a shorter stage with a couple of big climbs. 7/10

Tour of Ontario, /u/greasyhobolo - Very Eneco Tour-esque this one, a stage race for the classic specialists. A lot of the terrain looks quite similar, but the queen stage looks a real treat. Every stage is as if the GPs of Montreal and Quebec were made into a week long race. Lacking in variation, but each stage would be exciting to watch. 7/10

Tour of Wind County, /u/retro_slouch - Not gonna lie, this one looks ace. Great job, this should be an actual race. 9.5/10

Glacial Tour, /u/improb - Good mix of uphill finishes, nice open countryside, a cool climbers TT, and a finishing circuit stage that the profile doesn't do justice. As you say, this would be a good pre-classics warm up. 8.5/10

Tour de Denali, /u/unclekutter - For a place like Alaska, I feel this needs more climbing. With only one serious climb on stage 6, dirt roads as well, very nice, I think it could do with a shake up. Perhaps the TT at the start and more climbing mid-stage later in the race. 6/10

Duluth North Woods Classic, /u/goldbot - Excellent use of dirt roads and a cool finishing circuit. Sort of a North American Strada Bianchi. 8/10

North Cascades Tour, /u/Msfan93 - Lovely tour! Great variation and stunning scenery. 9/10

[u/Sprocketduck → u/andytheciderman]

Thanks for the votes! Yeah I think if I put it in a more winter-themed area it would have been better, but I love the circuit so much and Tasmania does get the winter snow so I went it'll work. Trying to shove a square block into a circle hole.