tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762197037886589909.post2572308680010382362..comments2023-12-05T09:07:24.960-09:00Comments on Mushing Tech: 2012 Quest, position coming into checkpointsMelindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03551112597725478690noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762197037886589909.post-31465042038405018922013-01-30T19:52:25.971-09:002013-01-30T19:52:25.971-09:00Right, great minds think alike and all that. I wo...Right, great minds think alike and all that. I worked with last year's data because I already had it in a spreadsheet, but the more relevant question is what happened two years ago, because the race from east to west is different from the one from west to east. However, we know what happened that year after Dawson. <br /><br />I've put up a spreadsheet for 2011, which I'm making available. I do think a database is the right way to store and access the data - if nothing else, if you're doing much with your spreadsheet beyond using it as a place to stash your tables you're basically reinventing a relational database, anyway. What I've been finding is that as you add complexity to Google spreadsheets they grind to a halt. Yesterday I actually hung the 2012 Quest spreadsheet and had to quit out of it completely. <br /><br />For what it's worth, R and probably other statistical and plotting packages can use databases as a backend, using an ODBC connector. <br /><br />If you wanted to load your spreadsheets into a database and make those available, that would be fantastic. Frpm what I've seen there's a lot more interest in taking a closer look at the data than there was a few years ago.Melindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03551112597725478690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3762197037886589909.post-68167247850157264282013-01-30T12:05:18.985-09:002013-01-30T12:05:18.985-09:00Hi Melinda,
I have a spreadsheet for the probably...Hi Melinda,<br /><br />I have a spreadsheet for the probably the last 10 years for the Quest and I generally think of them as 2 different sets of data due the change in direction of the race.<br /><br />Looking at 2011, and 1st arrivals into checkpoints compared to 2007,2009 that race was quicker until Slaven's. If you recall it was very cold then and I think that might have slowed it down. I also wonder though that overall to that point the race was ahead of it's recent pace and the dogs may have also naturally slowed down due the early pace?<br />(i will try to email a graph that shows this)<br /><br />I am really wondering if the best thing to do is read my race data into a database and then use that to make queries and analyze the data?<br /><br />Something to keep in mind though there are several races in the past that had odd things happen. Trucking one year from Braeburn to Carmaks, returning to Dawson another year for the finish... those years only some of the data would be valid.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07128216415532062888noreply@blogger.com