Transcontinental 2015

[jay91]

Im sure there's a chap on a fixie/ss not sure of his number will check later

[atk]

Im sure there's a chap on a fixie/ss not sure of his number will check later

It's 152

[Ben98]

http://road.cc/content/news/158492-tran ... -equipment
Josh's setup is very minimal!

[jay91]

That Garmin mount is ace

[jay91]

Im sure there's a chap on a fixie/ss not sure of his number will check later

It's 152

Thanks

[Bearbonesnorm]

Have to disagree with Josh on this one.

The warmest sleeping position is on your back with your arms crossed across your chest.

Sleeping on your back means there's more of you in contact with the cold ground ... sleeping on your side is generally much warmer.

[Dave42w]

Have to disagree with Josh on this one.

The warmest sleeping position is on your back with your arms crossed across your chest.

Sleeping on your back means there's more of you in contact with the cold ground ... sleeping on your side is generally much warmer.

"Sleeping" in a bivi bag without mat or sleeping bag does not meet my definition of sleeping anyway ;-)

[atk]

^ riding ~450km a day I think sleeping anywhere and in anything is going to be pretty good

[Blackhound]

I was at the start in Geraardsbergen and then drove down to man CP1 on top of Mont Ventoux. Start was excellent on the Muur with torches, cow bells and the mayor in attendance. A good crowd and a lot of smiling. Spoke to Jack P, Gunther Desmedt, Juliana B, Chris Bennett (doing a yo-yo) and Stuart Campbell / David Winter amongst many others.

For Ben's benefit besides AZT750 he has also done HT550 and TD in 20 days. Looking to do CTR in 2016 and Strathpuffer if he gets a reserve entry as he had issues logging in and then they were full.

Also spoke to Emily Chappell who hopes to ride a certain event in mid Wales in October if a place becomes available.............

CP1 on Ventoux was excellent, only just beat James to the top! We also saw Bernd Paul who pulled out with sun stroke but by the time Josh and Ultan Coyle arrived we had popped to the camp site to check in. Marion and I were the only volunteers with a vehicle so we manned the night shift and had a break during the day to shower, eat, sleep and check up on Belgian history The whole french / flemish thing.

Riders were routinely taking 2,5 to 3 hours for the climb but no matter how tired they were at the summit were soon smiling. Jack did fine but said he walked a bit which he would not normally do. Saw the Shand boys with their Wildcat gear who got in with a couple of hours to spare before control closed. We found some bagpipe music on an iPhone for when for when Stuart Campbell arrived at the summit. It has been a good few days but brought the wrong usb cable so will post some pics next week when I am home. The Shand team were the only people on Wildcat bags that I noticed. A few Alpkit and Revelate but Apidura were by far the strongest represented. Not waterproof according to some of the riders though (no smirking Ian;-)) Tim Pulleyn had the Woodrup / Restrap magnet set up that was on social media earlier in the year.

Looking like a fine race between James and Josh. Ultan shredded both tyres on the Assieta and lost time there. Josh will know the way into Istanbul after last year that could save him some time at an important section.

In other news got to revisit Maredsous to buy some beer which I visited for ESSC in 2011. Also a ride through The Ardennes on some roads I rode in a tour back in 2012.

[Zippy]

Thanks for the update Kevin, it's good to get the insight from men on the ground.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

That Garmin mount is ace

How does he change the batteries, without a massive faff?

[Blackhound]

My pics from the race start and Ventoux including a few of Jack:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12617230@ ... 6689190701

Scotsroutes; heard that Stuart C and David W have scratched today, don't know reason.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Take it that's your van Emiliy's scoffing malt loaf in?

[Blackhound]

Stuart: It is our van. She arrived at 5 to midnight so ~1,000 km in 2d 23h 55m - a strong ride. We were the only volunteers with a vehicle so we did the night shift leaving the day to the others. Emily retired in Serbia after some chest pains. Hospital has told she is not about to expire but nothing found. All solo ladies now out of the race,

Correction: My source has corrected herself, Stuart C and David W are still IN the race (scratching comment was to do with mozzies). However it seems the other Scots couple Fraser & Russ Shand are out of the race.

[Ian]

However it seems the other Scots couple Fraser & Russ Shand are out of the race.

That's a shame

[NewRetroTom]

Seems a shame that so many folks have scratched over the weekend - it does seem like it has been really brutal this year with scorching heat, headwinds and occasional deluges.

Most of the folk I have been following have now scratched.

Josh on the other hand has proven again how tough he is - so close now - just keep going another few hours!

[atk]

Interesting piece on the carbon luggage Ultan's using for the race: https://chrisaldgate.wordpress.com/2015 ... ddle-bags/

And the rest of his blog is various DIY carbon bikes/saddles etc...

[zomarzi]

Ry McGrath 81 from Cardiff local bike technician I think is up among the top 30 bit difficult to tell as the site is playing up.

[jay91]

Interesting piece on the carbon luggage Ultan's using for the race: https://chrisaldgate.wordpress.com/2015 ... ddle-bags/

And the rest of his blog is various DIY carbon bikes/saddles etc...

Now that's some cool Fairplay to him

[Blackhound]

Josh got in last night around 11pm so just under 10 days for ~4,200km. Nuts!

Picking up in Tom's comment about the toughness the distance has increased in each of the 3 years. It was around 3,000km in 2013, ~3,500km in 2014 and >4,000km this year. Although a tough challenge for the best riders it is making it tougher for more ordinary riders to make it with 15 days for the post race party and those who have booked there 2 week annual holiday. I think this is one of the reasons for the large number of retirements.

Last year I noticed that Rickie Cotter and Chris Bennett finished in 14 days and Andy & Jane Chadwick took a bit longer and finished after the party. They are all far quicker and did a good job of putting me off as there is no chance I could reach the party in Istanbul. I reckoned I would have to pedal for 17+ hours a day in the right direction to make the party. The remaining hours for getting 'unlost', eating, mechanicals and sleeping. I would also have to ride on bigger roads rather than back roads to make 15 days.

One of the issues for the fast guys who were finishing in a week or so was that they had to stand around for a week waiting for the finish party. It is Mike's race of course and he can make it as hard or easy as he wishes. Will be interesting on how v4 goes, but it is a wonderful event to get out and see or follow. The riders on Mont Ventoux were all in great spirits and enjoying the ride overall.

DSC00174 by blackhound59, on Flickr

[Bearbonesnorm]

Difficult call to make ... there's always going to be some riders that are unbelievably fast and generally that's where most attention is focused. Keeping the challenge high for those at the sharp end may make it too difficult for the majority (who are still very fast, fit riders) to finish. It's impossible to keep everyone happy but finding the middle ground while still keeping the challenge (thus interest) high, won't be easy. I suppose the other option is to allow things to take their natural course and ultimately end up with an elite event with a much smaller start list?

Anyway ... well done Josh, outstanding

[jameso]

So Josh did ~250 miles a day, that's good going! Great ride.

Interesting event and format. Not sure about the lack of fixed route (fast flat roads vs enjoyable roads dilemma?) but the mix of terrain this year was a step in an interesting direction. Make it a mainly tarmac route but one that's not possible to win on a TT / aero bike and it's more exciting to me, especially if the route is down to the rider. Also perhaps less of the 'shermer's neck' riding that claimed James Hayden?

[Blackhound]

BTW for those who do not know that is Jack Petersen in the BB jersey at the start in Gerarrdsbergen in my last post.

Good points from Stu and jameso. As I typed I was also thinking of the BB200 event. You make it a 'proper' challenge for the likes of say, Ian and people of my standard are going to struggle to get home for work on the Monday. Not an easy task for an organiser.

Previous versions were shorter and allowed a bit more flexibility, Mikko Makpaaa from Helsinki in 2013 for instance did far more miles than anybody else wandering over different mountains to get the finish. (He also did the 1,400km London-Edinburgh-London on the days before the start finishing the day before!) Last year similarly there were two options to go through Croatia and down the coast or through Italy and hopefully make the ferry. Mikko again did bonus miles. This year Mikko is in the pack and has tweeted that he needs to keep to the direct course to make the finish party due to the extended mileage.

For me I would like the option of taking some quieter roads and the event has given me some ideas. But looks like they will be solo projects.

[zomarzi]

Ry McGrath 81 from Cardiff in the top 25.

[JackT]

I've found this year's race even more compelling than last year's, which I found more exciting to watch than the Tour. Even though it was mostly just dots on the tracker! But Twitter and Instagram adds to it, and that's only going to increase as we become more connected.

It's made me think that I'd like to ride an event like this, but definitely lack the spare time and almost certainly lack the fitness for the Transcontinental (the two things are not unrelated).

When I interviewed Mike Hall about it last year, he suggested that anyone interested in this kind of thing should give audax a go. But the thing about audax is that you ride a predetermined route. One of the distinguishing aspects of the TCR is that you make your own route, subject to the control locations, and that can convey an advantage in the race, also the controls can be passed in any order.

So how about an audax type event with no fixed route, and controls strategically positioned to present genuine route dilemmas, incorporate enough rough stuff so it's not a Time Trial but not so much that it's an MTB race.

I'm already thinking about a ride that goes from one corner of Wales to the other and back again. Maybe over 2-4 days depending on how hard you hit it.