The route is not very inspiring. It's basically the Orient Express route, only with a leg from Brest, a couple of kinks for controls and a mountain stage in Italy. Sure, it's a long, challenging ride, but the TCR is supposed to be an adventure, taking you to some places you've never been before, and way out of your comfort zone - and this doesn't really do that.
To me this is still going to be an adventure. I've never cycled up a mountain before. I've not done a ride longer than 2000km before. I really like this proposed route. It's difficult, without being needlessly so.
I can sort of understand why they have done it this way but I'm not sure their thinking is right - it's not guaranteed that Schengen borders are more likely to be open than those in Eastern Europe, and if some borders are closed anywhere in Europe, it's unlikely to go ahead anyway.
The thing is the rules are about entering and leaving the EU. The only way to keep things wholly in the EU if you didn't go this way would be to include Hungary. Which previous TCR's have shown to be bloody dangerous for cyclists, and since it's got a right wing government, not safe for some riders of the TCR.
It's a bit shorter, which is significant. They are saying 3,700km. A fast rider (ie KA or JH) could probably do this in under a week and it is more like a week and a half rather than two weeks for a mid-pack rider such as me. That doesn't sound much but, from my experience of doing long stuff, each extra day makes it a lot harder mentally.
I have 3800km for my route, I'm sure you could knock off 100k, but it would add a lot of up. I've very much optimised for lack of up. The 1500m peak <200km from the finish is still suboptimal, but I can't seem to find an alternative.
There's a lot of France. France is great but it's not an adventure. It does have a lot of roads, though, as does Italy, so there are likely to be a lot more routing options than a normal TCR.
To you. A ride of this magnitude, it's an adventure. Are you suggesting that the transam is not an adventure cos it's just America?
I've not ridden in Italy below the Po Valley so that is more interesting (although it looks like there will be a slog across the Po Valley between controls 2 and 3). Riding across Greece is kind of interesting. But lack of Balkans is what stops it from being a proper TCR IMHO. And having a long ferry that near the end kind of spoils the race element. I did that ferry the other way when I was a student - took about 20 hours.
I've never ridden in Italy before. I'm really looking forward to it.
I am pleased not to have to do that long, rough descent in Romania, and deal with Romanian drivers altogether. But Italians are pretty bad for close passes.
The prospect of the Romanian bit did not instil me with joy.
But having the start in France is clearly not a good idea - groups of 20 staggered at 30 min intervals. So if there are 300 the last group would be 7 hours behind the first! A TT-style start with 1 minute intervals would be better from a distancing point of view and only take 5 hours. Or cut it to 30 seconds and have pairs going together - get everyone off on their own in a couple of hours.
This does make sense.
Lots of gushing on Facebook from newbies who applaud anything, but I've heard of a few people thinking about giving it a miss. Chris White made an interesting suggestion - get inside the time limit without using the ferry. Looks a bit tough though, I had a quick look on the map and it seems to add 1000-1200km.
I'm clearly a newbie that will applaud anything. This route feels a lot more comfortable than the previous version. It's going to be tough, it will be a challenge, for me it will be an adventure, but it won't be gratuitously hard for the sake of it. I'm of the view that the distance is the challenge, putting in very steep, or very big, or very big and very steep hills just for the sake of it seems to defeat the purpose. That and anything you can't ride on a road bike.
Just looked at ferries and they have got quicker since the 80s. There are a few, taking from 7.5 to 16 hours
The ferries are going to be interesting, cos if you just miss one in Bari, then you could do the 100k to Brindisi and get the one from there... I like the idea of rest before the final 400k sprint to the finish. I can see the ferry equalising things a bit, with riders at the pointy end bunching, before the aforementioned sprint.
So France, Italy, then a Ferry to Greece... very civilised...
I guess it appeals to those who are not keen to be chased by packs of wild dogs or find that their credit card is laughed at in a small village in the Balkans... probably a move towards a more inclusive event... possibly aspiring to gender balance, seeing that women can not only take part, but seemingly even win
Putting aside the blatant misogyny of your statement, it's worth noting that all those riding this version signed up for a version that involved the Balkans, and Romanian gravel. So in that respect the attracting people to ride it aspect isn't there.
If last year, this route, and the original route, had been offered as a choice, I would choose the France/Italy/Greece route, it's closer to my comfort zone, whilst still being just out side of it. It's worth noting that Hungary is not a safe place for LGBT+ people to visit, and Romania is moving that way with some of it's recent moves.
Not everyone who rides the TCR is a straight white man, and this should be taken into account when choosing routes.
Hmm, not sure about that.
Dogs are as bad in Greece as anywhere, and quite bad in Italy.
Credit cards are pretty widely accepted in those small towns in the Balkans - by shops with long opening hours. In France, you struggle to find anything and, if you do, it might not be open.
Why is not going to the Balkans more inclusive...?
Credit cards worked better in Serbia and Croatia than they do in .NL... fscking maestro... That said, my big issue in Bulgaria was finding anything to eat in the first 200k of the Parcour. None of the population centres (well villages...) it passed through had any shops or cafes. I managed to buy a coke and some crisps in one village, but that was about it. People at the pointy end were through quick enough not to be a problem, I was half the speed of the pointy end, and first place to really resupply was the gas station at the end of the Parcour. The bits of Serbia and Croatia that I rode, I had no issue finding stuff to eat.
There is certainly a perception by many that the Balkans is not as safe a place to travel as Italy is if you are not a straight white man.
No, I am saying that maybe some women are put off entering TCR because it goes through countries which are not considered to be as "safe" as the Western Europe... whether that is true or not, it is a different matter.
I would not enter a race that went though Hungary.
Perception... most people who enter TCR for the first time know about France and Italy, many have been there... how many have been to the Balkans?
I've never been... it's an unknown quantity, which will attract some and put off others
I've cycled in Serbia, I've cycled in Croatia. I've not cycled in Italy, and I've only done a little bit of France...
I guess they could take a route nord for a change... finishing in Estonia... or even in Sweden if there is a way to cycle on the bridge from Denmark...
I'm not certain, but I would imagine that with Nordkap-Terrifa, going North to South, and the NC4K going South to North, another race going North seems... excessive.
Also large parts of Poland are now a no-go zone for LGBT+ persons, and as such would not be suitable as an accessible race.
I appreciate I'm a gushing newbie in all this, but I really like the new proposed route. CP3 looks brutal, but also short, a challenge without being impossible. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be an adventure. I've never cycled over mountains or through the south of France before, or in Italy.
J
