RATN 2020

[rob]

Would have been setting off this evening.  Bollocks to this year.

I am riding the Flatliner 600k perm this weekend which will be similar terrain.

[quixoticgeek]

Race preview is up.

https://dotwatcher.cc/race/race-around-the-netherlands-2020

Not the best writing I've done, but I hope it's OK. Had to cull some bits as it was over 3000 words...

J

[jiberjaber]

Race preview is up.

https://dotwatcher.cc/race/race-around-the-netherlands-2020

Not the best writing I've done, but I hope it's OK. Had to cull some bits as it was over 3000 words...

J

I enjoyed that, I can't believe some are looking to do 1900km in sub 4 days! Will be interesting!

[psyclist]

Not the best writing I've done, but I hope it's OK.

I found it very interesting and enjoyable to read. Gave a good sense of the ride, and what the riders are heading into (apart from the wind).

[slugbait]

Race preview is up.

https://dotwatcher.cc/race/race-around-the-netherlands-2020

Not the best writing I've done, but I hope it's OK. Had to cull some bits as it was over 3000 words...

J

Nice preview, very entertaining to read. The bit from Eemshaven to Harlingen is indeed desolate. I spoke to the owner of the hotel in Pieterburen last winter and she told me the dozens of RatN riders had stopped at her hotel, desperate for food and water.

About the race predictions: I have some inside information about the women's race and I believe that only Jasmijn Muller is racing to win. And she's going for the overall win, I presume. (Also, only Dutch women at the start, the Finnish rider is a DNS?)

Among the men, there are a couple of outsiders who could surprise. Bart Verheijen looked strong last year and he told me last winter that he was working on becoming more efficient off the bike. Last month he did 500km solo in 19 hours with less than an hour downtime. If he can repeat that for 4 days, then he should be a contender. Jaïr Hoogland also did some bonkers solo rides this spring (like 627km in 24hrs, only 3hrs off the bike).

[quixoticgeek]

Race preview is up.

https://dotwatcher.cc/race/race-around-the-netherlands-2020

Not the best writing I've done, but I hope it's OK. Had to cull some bits as it was over 3000 words...

J

Nice preview, very entertaining to read. The bit from Eemshaven to Harlingen is indeed desolate. I spoke to the owner of the hotel in Pieterburen last winter and she told me the dozens of RatN riders had stopped at her hotel, desperate for food and water.

About the race predictions: I have some inside information about the women's race and I believe that only Jasmijn Muller is racing to win. And she's going for the overall win, I presume. (Also, only Dutch women at the start, the Finnish rider is a DNS?)

Among the men, there are a couple of outsiders who could surprise. Bart Verheijen looked strong last year and he told me last winter that he was working on becoming more efficient off the bike. Last month he did 500km solo in 19 hours with less than an hour downtime. If he can repeat that for 4 days, then he should be a contender. Jaïr Hoogland also did some bonkers solo rides this spring (like 627km in 24hrs, only 3hrs off the bike).

I'm hearing a lot from this super secret WhatsApp group. It's most entertaining.

Yeah, the Fin is DNS unfortunately. I think Francine really underestimates how good she is as a rider. If she can pull everything together, it should be a very credible effort.

It was interesting chatting to Jasmijn today, she's changed a lot of her approach, which should make things interesting.

Bas and Dawn both got bike checked by me at around the same time, i had to fail Bas' bike initially, tho he did pass bike check eventually. I hope the competition between the two of them remains safe. Bas has replaced his bar tape with electrical insulation tape. Something something more aero...

One rider asked me half an hour ago for advice on bivviing in the Netherlands. My advice is it's a bit late to be asking that one...

Let's see what happens tomorrow.

J

[Bobby]

Feeling sad not to be on the start line, good luck to all that are. I hope to be there in 2021, fingers crossed! 👍

[quixoticgeek]

Feeling sad not to be on the start line, good luck to all that are. I hope to be there in 2021, fingers crossed! 👍

Know the feeling. Am having some serious mixed emotions and FOMO right now.




J

[farfetched]

Enjoyed your intro article, looking forward to following this. Wind looks quite kind for the fast riders being mostly north for the first few days as they negotiate the coastal part.

[quixoticgeek]

Ye gods it feels weird being on this side of the tracker...

I'll give a more useful update later...

J

[Zed43]

I'll give a more useful update later...

Like how the bike check went? I would be interested to hear if/why bikes failed the test (couldn't care less about the who  ) and if you have seen any particular clever setups and kit.

Sunday 7.45, Groningen is gray, damp and completely void of any wind.

Bonne route to all the participants!

[quixoticgeek]

I'll give a more useful update later...

Like how the bike check went? I would be interested to hear if/why bikes failed the test (couldn't care less about the who  ) and if you have seen any particular clever setups and kit.

That has been done now. It's up on Dotwatcher as entry day -1.

I sent bikes away for the following reasons:

- No reflective tape (Bas you should know better!)
- Loose headset/stem
- Lack of front brake (bike check mechanic is a British moron)
- No Lights
- Loose QR skewers.

On the later one, he really objected to me insisting he tighten them. "I like to ride loose" he says, I don't care how fucking lose you like to ride, I'm the one who has to say your bike is safe to ride, and right now it isn't, tighten them or I am not ticking it off. No doubt he changed it once he got out the room, but at least when I saw it, the wheels were tight and didn't wobble. When I say wobble, i could move the rim by about 5mm.

We had a couple who turned up with the bike, with no luggage etc...

"Can you turn your lights on?"
"They're in the car"
"Well I can't see them from here, I need to see they work"

Every rider is sent the full bike check list with what you have to have. Some were a bit light on the amount of reflective tape needed. The sheet says 30x200mm on the seat stays, some had a piece maybe 5mm by 70mm. There was also a lot of confusion as to what the seat stays were. Yes it's lovely that your seat post is blinding me, but um, we said seat stays.

Fortunately Michael expects that there's going to be a lot of people who get the tape wrong, so he did provide a nice box with tape in it so that people could add some.

One interesting idea I saw on a lot of bikes was the fitting of bells to seat posts. You have to have a bell (that's Dutch law). But I don't think it says anywhere it has to be fitted to the handle bars. Not sure how easy it is to ring there when you're navigating tourists, but hey...

Sunday 7.45, Groningen is gray, damp and completely void of any wind.

Bonne route to all the participants!

I looks like they are getting some nice tail winds. I'm just catching up on everything that's happened, ready to write the day 1 report for dotwatcher.

Anyone spotted anything they think I should mention?

J

[slugbait]

I cycled the bit from Groningen to Zoutkamp this morning, or actually in the opposite direction to see as many of the riders as possible. It was wet, but the riders had a light tailwind along the coast. Not too bad, actuallly. The first rider I encountered was on a supernarrow bicycle path through a field (<30cm  wide). As he is in a race, I decided to wait in the field as he passed.  Shortly after (around Hornhuizen), Bart Verheijen and Jasmijn Muller went past in quick succesion; both looked like they were on an easy Sunday morning ride. Although I see now that Bart has considerably increased his lead compared to Jasmijn. In Pieterburen, I waited for Jaïr Hoogland to come by. He stopped for a moment: during our brief chat, he said that he struggled a bit to get going on day 2 (after a couple of hours of sleep in Groningen). It seems to be going better now as he is approaching the top 5.

[Lightning Phil]

Every rider is sent the full bike check list with what you have to have. Some were a bit light on the amount of reflective tape needed. The sheet says 30x200mm on the seat stays, some had a piece maybe 5mm by 70mm. There was also a lot of confusion as to what the seat stays were. Yes it's lovely that your seat post is blinding me, but um, we said seat stays.

Fortunately Michael expects that there's going to be a lot of people who get the tape wrong, so he did provide a nice box with tape in it so that people could add some.

Can the reflective tape be 3m black reflective tape?

Should I ponder doing this on my recumbent at some future year to be determined.

[quixoticgeek]

Can the reflective tape be 3m black reflective tape?

Should I ponder doing this on my recumbent at some future year to be determined.

Yep, but expect the bike checker to shine a torch on to check it really does reflect.

I have it on my front fork.

J

[Lightning Phil]

Can the reflective tape be 3m black reflective tape?

Should I ponder doing this on my recumbent at some future year to be determined.

Yep, but expect the bike checker to shine a torch on to check it really does reflect.

I have it on my front fork.

J

Yeah that’s be fine. I have black reflective tape on my mud flaps and it works well. Recumbent frame is black and I’d hate white reflective tape on the seat stays.

[quixoticgeek]

Yeah that’s be fine. I have black reflective tape on my mud flaps and it works well. Recumbent frame is black and I’d hate white reflective tape on the seat stays.

The letter of Dutch law says it should be red to the back, orange to the side, and white to the front. But noone cares about that.

J

[Lightning Phil]

Yeah that’s be fine. I have black reflective tape on my mud flaps and it works well. Recumbent frame is black and I’d hate white reflective tape on the seat stays.

The letter of Dutch law says it should be red to the back, orange to the side, and white to the front. But noone cares about that.

J

Shame the rules don’t allow an equivalent amount of reflective tape on mudguards. I’d be less precious about reflective tape there. I’m fact my road bike rear mudguard has a large amount of red reflective tape down most of its length.

[quixoticgeek]

Shame the rules don’t allow an equivalent amount of reflective tape on mudguards. I’d be less precious about reflective tape there. I’m fact my road bike rear mudguard has a large amount of red reflective tape down most of its length.

Probably because most riders don't have mudguards. If you're riding a bike that is not conventional, you can probably get the ok for it to be on the mudguards.

J

[Lightning Phil]

Leaders about halfway already.

[quixoticgeek]

Leaders about halfway already.

Yep, if they keep this up, they will finish Monday around midnight.

Bas stopped for some food at the gas station as he passed Amsterdam. Daan is close behind, and has had some sleep in Groningen. Has anyone noticed if Bas has slept yet?

J

[slugbait]

Bas and Daan now have a challenging bit of headwind up to Den Helder, but after that they have a "near gale" (7bft) tail wind all the way to Zeeland. This could be a fast edition, indeed. I didn't see Bas taking any sleep. Given that Daan has been faster today, I'm guessing not: Bas cycled through the night.

[quixoticgeek]

Bas and Daan now have a challenging bit of headwind up to Den Helder, but after that they have a "near gale" (7bft) tail wind all the way to Zeeland. This could be a fast edition, indeed. I didn't see Bas taking any sleep. Given that Daan has been faster today, I'm guessing not: Bas cycled through the night.

I'm wondering if Bas will stop at all. It could be an interesting comparison of strategies for Bas vs Daan, to sleep or not to sleep, that is the question...

J

[slugbait]

Some people can cope extremely well with sleep deprivation. Soufiane Sehile is a prime example. It can work in a shorter race and 1900km on (mainly) flat roads is short. If Daan sleeps 4 hrs, then Bas is 100+km ahead of him. That's very difficult to catch up during the day.

[quixoticgeek]

Some people can cope extremely well with sleep deprivation. Soufiane Sehile is a prime example. It can work in a shorter race and 1900km on (mainly) flat roads is short. If Daan sleeps 4 hrs, then Bas is 100+km ahead of him. That's very difficult to catch up during the day.

But that's what Daan has already done, he's within a tracker update error of the lead. He's basically forced the hand of Bas, bas can't stop now.

J