Author Topic: Transcontinental 2016  (Read 61957 times)

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #50 on: 30 October, 2015, 02:07:16 pm »
http://bikepackersmagazine.com/transcontinental-race-releases-2016-controls/?utm_content=buffer132a8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Controls are out.

Interesting to see the Puy de Dome on there - there's such hit and miss information about when you can climb it these days.  I hope to pass it on a ride next year and will try and time it to pass very early in the morning to hop up it and tick it off.

(not riding the TCR, but paying close attention to all ultra-racing as I plan a go at TransAm in the next couple of years)
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #51 on: 30 October, 2015, 02:20:56 pm »
(not riding the TCR, but paying close attention to all ultra-racing as I plan a go at TransAm in the next couple of years)

Now you're talking! .... although TCR is before that on my list
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #52 on: 30 October, 2015, 03:35:39 pm »
It all sounds so dreamy and wonderful looking at those controls

Sweeping vistas, stunning mountains, historic Turkey

*note to self: it will involve pain, suffering, pain, legs feeling like they are going to fall off, no sleep, bad traffic, pain, weeping saddle sores...........
Does not play well with others

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #53 on: 30 October, 2015, 03:38:01 pm »
(not riding the TCR, but paying close attention to all ultra-racing as I plan a go at TransAm in the next couple of years)

Now you're talking! .... although TCR is before that on my list

Project for 2017 or 18. Have blessing from Mrs JB, just need to work on business partners (and working out if I am even capable of giving it a good go!).

Anyway, Transcontinental controls look superb.

Very interesting and I look forward to seeing who throws their hat in the ring
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #54 on: 30 October, 2015, 04:17:15 pm »
Project for 2017 or 18. Have blessing from Mrs JB, just need to work on business partners (and working out if I am even capable of giving it a good go!).

Anyway, Transcontinental controls look superb.

Very nice.  TransAm also looks a heck of an adventure.


I have blessing from SWAMBO for 2017 ... trouble is, I'm itching to enter for 2016 which will go down much less well ... ;)

Ho hum .... now twiddling thumbs wondering whether to play by the rules or jump in and just book it.
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #55 on: 31 October, 2015, 10:18:58 am »
I am actually really close to entering. 

I am going to take today to ponder it, speak to friends and then make a definite decision whether to put in an application or not. 
Does not play well with others

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #56 on: 31 October, 2015, 11:11:52 am »
I am actually really close to entering. 

I am going to take today to ponder it, speak to friends and then make a definite decision whether to put in an application or not.

Nice one. Event details sound superb so far. Unsure if not ending in Istanbul is a positive or negative yet, although reading accounts that last leg in did sound busy and not overly pleasant. Ending in Troy does have a certain charm too I guess.

Gut feel plays a big factor in whether to enter - so don't rationalise it too much.

Mine is saying maybe wait for 2017 as per original plan. I have a busy year ahead as is and it'd be a shame to skimp or rush preparing for such a major adventure.  Will sleep on it another night or two tho.


The other Robw, not the wobbly one

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #57 on: 31 October, 2015, 11:23:05 am »
go for it - at the very least it will make a change from riding round Wales :P


reading that link I didnt see any mention of bad surfaces - did I miss anything?

Also, they seem to use "parcours" to mean the mandatory route sections near certain controls. Am I reading this right? Is this an established  use of the word?

Rob, you're right - finishing at Troy gives it an almost mythical feel :) I hope there are no unforeseen issues for the riders.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #58 on: 31 October, 2015, 01:11:55 pm »
reading that link I didnt see any mention of bad surfaces - did I miss anything?

I guess they decided extra hills as opposed to gravel to add the difficulty this year

Also, they seem to use "parcours" to mean the mandatory route sections near certain controls. Am I reading this right? Is this an established  use of the word?

I also wondered that - in fact I went to look up the word to make sure some usage of it meant "route". Came to same conclusion as you. I guess with normally free routing between controls they use this to distinguish mandatory sections. It always make me tend to think more of off-road or gravel trails though, perhaps there's an element of that suggested here too?

Rob, you're right - finishing at Troy gives it an almost mythical feel :) I hope there are no unforeseen issues for the riders.

Just looking at the sort of luggage I'm likely to end up with, I suspect it might be easier and lighter just to ride the wooden horse there!
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #59 on: 31 October, 2015, 02:25:44 pm »
They have track record for ensuring that riders approach certain controls from one side or whatever.  The 70km section around the Furka Pass looks amazing (and does indeed appear to be mainly traffic free: https://goo.gl/maps/ASUwwrHNYGn and also might feature around 3000m of ascent in that 70km so properly mountain).

There's no suggestion yet of non paved surfaces that I have seen.

I think if you register you may have access to better information on what they need you to do around each control.

All looks great!
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #60 on: 31 October, 2015, 03:43:25 pm »
There's no suggestion yet of non paved surfaces that I have seen.

The parcours section from Grindelwald over the Grosse Scheidegg is a single track road, tarmac but a bit rough in places with 15-20% gradients, and is only used by a few local tourist coaches - no other traffic is allowed. After descending to the valley there's a good alpine road over the Grimsel Pass. I rode this in Sept whilst on the Eiger Sanction 7 x 200km perm. My route continued to Brig and the Simplon Pass but the Furka Pass road looked EPIC. The 3 passes on the parcours top out around 2000m so good for mountain goats.

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #61 on: 31 October, 2015, 05:30:48 pm »
They weren't lying about a race for Grimpeurs ....

Your challenge for the evening. Find a route from CP2 (Furka Pass) to start of parcours for CP3 (Passo san Pellegrino) which involves less than 8,000m of climbing. The direct route I quickly plotted was something like 350km with 8,900m of climbing. So just over a quarter of PBP, and almost as much climbing - and that's just between the middle checkpoints.

Holy crap - gonna need some stronger knees (assuming I'm even brave enough)
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #62 on: 31 October, 2015, 05:44:27 pm »
Ouch.

That is significant!

That will need some luck with weather as well, makes for challenging night riding potentially (for those who are not planning to be in bed very much!). Some of those hotels look nice though! Big £££ I expect though.
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #63 on: 31 October, 2015, 06:04:33 pm »
That is significant!

I know - and before that you'd have done Grosse Scheideg and Grimsel Pass, and after that you still have to get to CP4 - which is also in the mountains.

That will need some luck with weather as well, makes for challenging night riding potentially

Tell me! I spent a few summers in the Alps. I can count on one hand the number of days when we did not get storm clouds roll in around 4pm, followed by some brief but heavy thunderstorms and downpours going into the evening. Fast descents in the dark and wet, on a heavily loaded bike with not-that-powerful rim brakes, and probably hands with some amount of palsy and so can't pull hard on them either ...

... maybe I'll stay in bed today and ride another day ... ;)


The other Robw, not the wobbly one

Aunt Maud

  • Le Flâneur.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #64 on: 31 October, 2015, 08:36:33 pm »
Looks like something not to be underestimated.

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #65 on: 31 October, 2015, 09:29:59 pm »
Fully agree with the comments regarding weather for the Alpine parts of the ride after spending many weeks over many years being subject to horrible storms that prevented me mountaineering.  You could cycle is such conditions, but awfully unpleasant and a tad exciting when considering the safety aspects as RobW has alluded to.

But not a problem to those intrepid cyclists within the AUK fraternity!

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #66 on: 01 November, 2015, 05:37:22 am »
Sadly no attempt in 2016 for me. Was always going to be tight on time, but the choice of an Alpine route made the decision rather easy in the end. Definitely not an edition you want to go in under-prepared and try with the hope of winging it. Back to Plan A and keep sights on 2017.

Good luck getting a place to all those registering and applying. Should be a truly epic edition through all those passes
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #67 on: 01 November, 2015, 08:23:11 am »
I am out too! Way too much climbing even for me! Good luck to everyone entering:)

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #68 on: 03 November, 2015, 08:20:09 am »
Although I've decided not to attempt this one - I'm very interested in what kind of routing and climbing those who are come up with.

Obviously the racers won't want to share their secrets, but anyone else just aiming at a finish - even just in outline.

I did a *very* rough sketch from CP1 through to Cortina just beyond CP3, and came out to round 950km with around 21,000m of climbing. That was not much more than a RideWithGPS auto-route, which is clearly not something you'd actually use without serious research and refinement. I suspect the auto-route version is shorter, and that climbing might reduce a bit at the expense of extra distance. Of course I'm also trusting RWGPS measurements too - although we use it a lot here in SA, and distance and climbing come our reasonably close to what a Garmin reports on the actual ride. Climbing is often estimated on the high side by RWGPS though.

Just an interested by-stander really - although I doubt that the organizers will make 2017 any easier, so it's definitely interesting to see how people map this one with an eye to the next.

Edit - to me how you approach/break down this section seems to be a key element of the challenge for this one, hence the interest. For me, the above could easily represent 4 days of riding with maybe 5,000m+ per day. Of course it wouldn't even out like that in practice, there'd be a couple of very heavy days in the middle with more climbing and a lot less distance.
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

simonp

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #69 on: 03 November, 2015, 08:40:07 am »
Gears. Lots of gears.

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #70 on: 03 November, 2015, 08:41:48 am »
Gears. Lots of gears.

Heck yes, them too!

;)
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #71 on: 03 November, 2015, 09:55:04 am »
I did a *very* rough sketch from CP1 through to Cortina just beyond CP3, and came out to round 950km with around 21,000m of climbing
Gears. Lots of gears.

Quite something!  It is a little less climbing per km than the Super Randonnee I did in the Pyrenees (15000m in 600km), but not by much!  250km a day in that sort of terrain sounds a reasonable target (I am sure the pointy end people will still be clocking 300km+!), but will still be incredibly tough no doubt (the biggest day on the SR was 240km with around 6700m of ascent - the reality was it was 190km with 6700m of ascent as the last 50km of the day were a descent.  That was one of the hardest days on a bike I have ever had for sure).  Could I do that 4 days in a row?  Heck of a challenge for sure.

Really quite intimidating climbing figures and the desire to travel ever lighter will be strong I would suspect.

Going to be fascinating and I suspect we will see quite a few scratch once they get up there.

Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!

Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #72 on: 03 November, 2015, 10:06:23 am »

Quite something!  It is a little less climbing per km than the Super Randonnee I did in the Pyrenees (15000m in 600km), but not by much!  250km a day in that sort of terrain sounds a reasonable target (I am sure the pointy end people will still be clocking 300km+!), but will still be incredibly tough no doubt (the biggest day on the SR was 240km with around 6700m of ascent - the reality was it was 190km with 6700m of ascent as the last 50km of the day were a descent.  That was one of the hardest days on a bike I have ever had for sure).  Could I do that 4 days in a row?  Heck of a challenge for sure.

Really quite intimidating climbing figures and the desire to travel ever lighter will be strong I would suspect.

Going to be fascinating and I suspect we will see quite a few scratch once they get up there.

Agreed - I am also fascinated by seeing how this one unfolds. I'm near certain it would have been beyond me in terms of where I am now and how much stronger I could get by then given available preparation time. That's not going to rule out a certain amount of FOMO for a while of course ... would love to have been able to give it a proper go. OK, I'll be honest - a lot of FOMO!
The other Robw, not the wobbly one

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #73 on: 03 November, 2015, 10:11:59 am »
In the parallel universe where I enter TCR:I think I might ride (almost) non-stop thru the easier sections. Then treat the mountains as a chance to catch up on zzz, while dodging storms and recovering from monster climbs.
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

marcusjb

  • Full of bon courage.
Re: Transcontinental 2016
« Reply #74 on: 03 November, 2015, 10:21:29 am »
I think I might ride (almost) non-stop thru the easier sections. Then treat the mountains as a chance to catch up on zzz, while dodging storms and recovering from monster climbs.

Is that a statement of intent Matt?  You in?
Right! What's next?

Ooooh. That sounds like a daft idea.  I am in!