The most pressure I've ever put myself under was on indypac where I had a flight on, I think, day 20. I had targeted a finish on day 18 but, by day 7, it was clear that 6 days of headwinds had put me way off track. So I spent the next week constantly trying to cover as much ground as I could while doing mental arithmetic on average km per day to go, how fine I could cut it, what to do first when I got to Sydney (Hotel, pick up computer, buy clothes, etc)
At one point I cracked and decided I couldn't do it so had a curry and checked into a hotel at 8pm. Then I had two good days and it was back on, but the constant day after day pressure of a target that was tantalisingly just out of reach made it very hard.
When I did tcr I had hoped to finish on day 12 and booked a hotel for that night but didn't finish until mid morning the following day. That was a tiny bit of self inflicted pressure but manageable, and sorted out in 5 minute chat at reception when I arrived.
it's like a schedule for a12 or 24, psychologically so much better to be ahead of a target than falling behind one.
I've learned it's best to avoid any unnecessary deadlines.
My indypac one was a hard deadline. I wouldn't have minded buying another plane ticket, abandoning my computer or cycling straight to the airport and buying clothes there, but I had a client insisting I started a project on the Monday at the absolute latest.
Re tcr, lots of people are not very experienced and don't know how they will go. Before I did it I didn't know, I was going to hit the alps at 1200km, my previous known limit. I think that is fine if they are out of time but want to carry on. Also you get people for whom it is a stretch but not out of the question. Eg this year doug migden, a lovely bloke who is in his 60s and has done 3 or 4 tcrs made his first Finishers party and everyone was pleased for him. He has always given it his all but it has been just beyond him before. That's fine. Taking the piss is when you could do it in x days and doing it in x+y.
The people who got widely criticised for not respecting the spirit of the race in 2017 were Ian To - who backed off when he was a podium contender after the banned road in Romania, but still came about 8th - and the pair who were going well but scratched to go to another event, who many believed had ridden with the intention of scratching on a particular date. As well as the French guy who took 30+ days and posted loads of negative stuff on social media.
This year, James was targeting a particular time but, in the last couple of days, decided it was just out of reach, so - very sensibly - backed off a little, booked a hotel and gave himself a slightly easier ride in.
