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.
So, the Welsh Ride Thing ridden on a crosser then?
My issue with choosing most of a route across a continent, or even a country, is that if you want to be quick, then you will have to take the fast flat "A" roads. I know of at least one person who has jacked this years TCR because of the traffic, and there's been more than one accident.
Though once you start saying you can use these roads, but not these ones (long lists), which will need policing, you may as well mark out the route to be taken.
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.
So, the Welsh Ride Thing ridden on a crosser then?
I guess...but the Welsh Ride Thing, wonderful event that it no doubt is, does emphasise the off-road and lacks the competitive element of a race. I was thinking more a DIY route version of the Bryan Chapman audax, with maybe the Wayfarer over the Berwyns and some old South Wales industrial tracks thrown in.
Agree that a real downside of the TCR is that a lot of it takes place on roads that are pretty hostile due to large, fast vehicles.
