TCR no8.

[Notfromrugby]

Frank9755 going pretty well - 95th, daily average 377km. Gulp.

James Houston going well on his Brompton, nearly 1000km done, despite needing to get a new rear triangle after finding a crack in what I think was a ti triangle.

Wasn't Fiona doing 400km a day last time and that was good enough for a win... has the field got so strong that now 377km is only good enough for top 100? Unless this is the fast part of the route...

[mzjo]

The rider that I'm following is Daniele Fonelli. Riding fixed and 1586kms a few minutes ago! I like the aesthetic purity of his ride, although he does have a front disc. V-brake and double fixed hub at the back. (I think he's a cycle courrier so he might be classed as a pro!)

[Tim Hall]

Frank9755 going pretty well - 95th, daily average 377km. Gulp.

James Houston going well on his Brompton, nearly 1000km done, despite needing to get a new rear triangle after finding a crack in what I think was a ti triangle.

Wasn't Fiona doing 400km a day last time and that was good enough for a win... has the field got so strong that now 377km is only good enough for top 100? Unless this is the fast part of the route...

Frank's twitter feed said he's going to reroute the leg towards checkpoint 2 as the combination of narrow A roads, lorries and night riding didn't seem particularly life enhancing. He said this would probably slow him down.

[morbihan]

Frank9755 going pretty well - 95th, daily average 377km. Gulp.

James Houston going well on his Brompton, nearly 1000km done, despite needing to get a new rear triangle after finding a crack in what I think was a ti triangle.

Wasn't Fiona doing 400km a day last time and that was good enough for a win... has the field got so strong that now 377km is only good enough for top 100? Unless this is the fast part of the route...

Frank's twitter feed said he's going to reroute the leg towards checkpoint 2 as the combination of narrow A roads, lorries and night riding didn't seem particularly life enhancing. He said this would probably slow him down.

Smart move.
I pulled the pin on TCR 05 half way round in Slovakia. Coming out of Nitra on a Monday morning in rain with huge trucks bearing down on me, I was out of my comfort zone and bottled it.  I didn't have the requisite knowledge to reroute on the fly and bailed.
I made sure to bone up on komoot and routing with the phone app the following year for #6. still got lost to sh*t but at least I could reroute.
Lesson well learned.

[morbihan]

First three heading down to the Po valley.
I had routed up through Bolzano Lienz on familiar routing with cool scenery and Nice bike paths. Im curios to see if anyway else makes that call

[Lightning Phil]

Richard Lake fallen right back for reasons unknown

[psyclist]

I'm just reading the DotWatcher daily update and am perplexed by the following ...

"Cap #116, Jason Smith, was hit by a driver at dusk last night and managed to make it out with only some broken bones and bruising. He’s back on the road and continuing his ride with an iron will and some minor damage to the bike. Go Jason!"

Obviously feel sorry for Jason to be in that situation, but have they got this right ... some broken bones and still riding?

https://dotwatcher.cc/race/tcr-no8

[JonBuoy]

Nope.

From the horse's mouth:

24 hours ago I woke up in hospital feeling very lucky despite my bruises, aches & pains, driver charged, thankfully I have the urge to carry on in the race despite losing so much.

https://twitter.com/ChallengerWSM/status/1552884461292982273

[Tim Hall]

Quixoticgeek is having a bit of a struggle it seems but still ticking along.  Her choice of listening pleasure is excellent:

Since the start of the race, I've listened to 1.2GB of podcasts, two audio books, and a season of Cabin pressure... If anyone's wondering what's on the headphones while I'm riding along...

(my bold)

[PeterM]

Richard Lake fallen right back for reasons unknown

He seems to be podcasting as he goes, which must be a bit of a distraction and time sink

[morbihan]

Interesting to note that Pawel has cut East earlier than the others in the leading charge to head for  Ljubljana
I had routed via there but without going down on the the Po valley at all, selecting to stay on those lovely bike paths in the Dolomites.
I would wager that Frank may choose a similar route now he has opted to steer clear of the busy roads.
From Ljubljana you can strike out for Banja Luka and use the well ridden TCRno6 route down to the Bosnian Montenegrin border.

The Balkans is a coming, where prices get cheaper, hotels and food tend to be readily available but dog chases and other trip hazards spice things up!

[Ivo]

Interesting to note that Pawel has cut East earlier than the others in the leading charge to head for  Ljubljana
I had routed via there but without going down on the the Po valley at all, selecting to stay on those lovely bike paths in the Dolomites.
I would wager that Frank may choose a similar route now he has opted to steer clear of the busy roads.
From Ljubljana you can strike out for Banja Luka and use the well ridden TCRno6 route down to the Bosnian Montenegrin border.

The Balkans is a coming, where prices get cheaper, hotels and food tend to be readily available but dog chases and other trip hazards spice things up!

Adam now also cuts left but via the mountains between the coast and Bihac.

[Lightning Phil]

Richard Lake fallen right back for reasons unknown

He seems to be podcasting as he goes, which must be a bit of a distraction and time sink

The Brompton rider is only 140km behind him. Agree faff and time sink podcasting as you go.

[Lightning Phil]

Where are the cut offs listed for the control points ?

[Nuncio]

I couldn't find them either.

Robin Gemperle, 1st rider out of CP2, seems to have stalled or stopped. I wonder if this, posted by him somewhere, is related: 'arsch fleischwunde no joke.'

[Sergeant Pluck]

It really is quite hard to get a feel for the overall race. I’ve settled on following a very small number of riders on Twitter and hoping that they post updates.

[quixoticgeek]

Where are the cut offs listed for the control points ?

Cp1 - 1300 CEST today
Cp2 - 1800 CEST 31st
Cp3 - 0100 CEST 5th
Cp4 - 0300 CEST 8th
Finish - 2200 CEST 9th.

J

[Lightning Phil]

Thank you

[mzjo]

A routing question given that I'm new to following this: for CP3 do they have to follow the compulsary route to the control (ie east-west) or is the compulsary route after the control (control then towards Zabljak)? I would presume it's the first option otherwise there would be no point in cutting inland so early but nice to know. Ulrich would appear to have a good option for the lead!
The earlier controls seem to have compulsary routing both sides of the control but these seem to mainly follow the flow of the course.

[JonBuoy]

From the TCR website:

...the route from Pluzine to Zabljak

So it is after the control.

[Ivo]

A routing question given that I'm new to following this: for CP3 do they have to follow the compulsary route to the control (ie east-west) or is the compulsary route after the control (control then towards Zabljak)? I would presume it's the first option otherwise there would be no point in cutting inland so early but nice to know. Ulrich would appear to have a good option for the lead!
The earlier controls seem to have compulsary routing both sides of the control but these seem to mainly follow the flow of the course.

Cutting deep inland as Pawel and Fiona do gives you a fast route around Zagreb and down to Banja Luka. Nice well maintained flat roads through a river valley. The route cutting from the coast to Bosnia leads during a long time through a former war zone and has some very nasty hills. OK, around Okucani there's also a former warzone but you cut through the less nasty part of that former warzone.

[quixoticgeek]

I've scratched. It's not safe for me to continue riding.

Re the routes: the CP4 parkour can be done in either direction. The rest have a fixed direction.

As Ivo points out. The coastal route I such much hillier. The inland route much flatter. Coastal route runs risk of the Bora winds. The actual difference in terms of distance is not that great. The difference in climbing I a couple of thousand meters or more.

J

[chrisbainbridge]

So sorry to hear that QG.  Take time to be gentle with yourself and recover.



_{If at some point sharing would help to reflect or you are willing , then I think many of us would like to hear your experience}

[Sergeant Pluck]

Rest up QG and take care of yourself. I think it is immensely brave to take on the TCR.

[morbihan]

Chapeau QG.