Ultracycling

Reckon I could rock up to the start line of TransAm with my TT bike and no kit and credit card tour the whole fuckin' route? That would be funny as.

And no GPS..."It' signposted isn't it?"

I wouldn't make it out my front door without gps.

I've got my credit card a ready. It's no transaction charge international baby.

I've seen a TCR bike with discwheel and 808 front. I think it's a joke. If not an idiot.

Why? Little bit more weight, bit trickier handling, better aero.

Is it too late to enter? I feel like smokin' a few bikepackers with a pimped out TT rig, stayin in hotels the whole way could be fun :)

This one?

If so, he finished in the top 10 last year I think and 10th in the AZT750 earlier this year, seems to pick some interesting gear, those Lauf forks really do look awful... https://guntherds.exposure.co/the-arizona-trail-race-750-miles

That's the one.

And hippy. We have the long gravel section and desents on stone/gravel.

Plus the crosswinds.

I'd happily go 404 '60mm' deep and would have if I could. but a disc!!

Sort of related...

This years SoTCR award went to Tim Arnold, (rider 95). Tim travelled to the start line in London from Switzerland in order to see the start of the race. He contacted us to say that he would have all of his gear with him and intended to go on an adventure with or without a place in the TCR, but that if there was a spot free, he was ready. He hadn’t told half his family he was going, let alone anyone else. Tim was unsponsored, unassuming and showed up in London for the adventure, not the kudos. He rode a purposeful steel Fuji touring bike with some old school cantilever brakes and epitomised the sentiment that for a real adventure you just need the bike you have, and the will to go, not the latest gear or a tracker or a race number.

In the Q&A a few posts up, Mike H has said he originally entered the Tour Divide to disrupt Ben Fogle/James Cracknell's planned attempt at the record... might not be too averse to you doing something similar...

Disc on the back doesn't make any difference to me and probably wouldn't to you. Deep on the front is a concern in strong winds. Gravel not really an issue.

My credit card got cloned on Tour Divide, someone spent $2000 on it in a clothes store in New York, while I was in the middle of the Great Basin, Wyoming. Got the money back of the bank already, so no biggy.

Update from the Trans-Siberian is that Steve is now c. 4hrs in the lead following yesterday's short stage (300km, 9hrs). Today's stage is 800km with 17000ft of climbing.

Due to the shitty website, can't get much detail, but got his stats from Stage 2, which was over the worst roads of the race:

Distance - 1102km
Time - 38h14.25
Ave speed 28.47kph

Pure beast.

Ultra makes you dumb.. for a while...

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/10/170
"Substantial and reversible brain gray matter reduction but no acute brain lesions in ultramarathon runners: experience from the TransEurope-FootRace Project"

TransAm 2016

http://transambikerace.com/

RAAM lite: RAW:

History

We organized RAW in 2008 with the goal of bridging the gap between RAAM and the other RAAM Qualifiers in the domestic market. The first 2 years RAW finished in Taos, NM - 1,044 miles from Oceanside to Taos. Paul Carpenter (USA) won the inaugural race in 3d:11h:27m - 12.51 mph. Carpenter was the only finisher in an 8-person solo field. Dallas Morris (Canada) won the 2009 race in 3d:18h:37m - 11.52 mph. Morris was the only finisher in a 9 person solo field. There were 3 teams competing in 2008 and 6 teams competing in 2009. In 2008 the 18-person race field was 100% domestic. In 2009 the race field had grown to 25 and was 92% domestic and 8% of the riders were from outside the USA.

Eva Synnestvedt Hansen, Solo Female RAW Champion

In 2010 the RAAM route was moved back to Wolf Creek Pass and the RAW finish was moved to Durango, shortening the route to 860 miles. Thomas Lavallee (USA) won that race in a record setting 2d:11h:51m - 14.33 mph. In 2011, Swiss RAAM veteran Dani Wyss, recovering from a serious mountain biking accident, on his road back to RAAM, decided to race RAW. He shattered the course record, finishing in 2d:00h:29m. Joan Deitchman (Canada) became the first solo female finisher in 2d:22h:58m - 12.08 mph. Wyss exclaimed, "Great race! The RAW course is the best part of RAAM. This should be really popular among European racers."

After a second accident on his road back to RAAM, Wyss decided to race RAW again, returning to go sub 2 days, he finished in 1d:22h:19m - 18.54 mph. Also, in 2012, Leah Goldstein (Israel) set a new female solo record - 2d:14h:03m - 13.84 mph.

RAW Today

Since the inception, all RAW racers - solo and team - start the same day as the Solo RAAM racers. The RAW course follows the RAAM course - across the Coast Range and down the Montezuma Grade (the "Glass Elevator") into Borrego Springs, around the Salton Sea, through the Algodones Dunes and across the Colorado River into Arizona, up Yarnell Grade, across Mingus Mountain, down across the Verde River, up Oak Creek Canyon, across the Navajo Reservation, through Monument Valley into Utah, and finally finishing in Durango, Colorado.

RAW is an important step for aspiring RAAM racers. Being able to race with the Solo RAAM racers on the RAAM course affords them the opportunity to benchmark their performance. Solos and Teams use RAW to work out race strategies, exchanges, team and support crew compatibility and other issues. But, RAW has become much more than that - RAW is now an important event in both the domestic and international ultra-racing world.

Michael Conti, Solo Male RAW Champion

The 2015 race

This year there were 61 racers from 8 countries (Australia, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, Italy, Japan, UK and USA). The racers faced extreme heat in the Desert Southwest - temperatures were 5-10 F above recent years. The heat was a factor as evidenced by the somewhat slower speeds and the relatively low solo finish rate.

Solo Division

Michael Conti (USA) was the top male finisher with 2d:17h:17m - 13.22 mph. Colan Arnold (USA) won the 50-59 age group in 3d:00h:27m - 11.91 mph. The heat had a market effect in the solo division. The average finish rate for all solo racers on the Oceanside to Durango course (2010 - 2014) was 75%. This year's solo finish rate was 33%. This is underscored by 2 racers who raced this year and in the past: Chris O'Keefe (USA) finished with an average speed of 9.89 mph this year while his average speed in 2012 was 11.47 mph; and Dave Elsberry who finished in 2010 with 10.8 mph, dropped out this year.

The top female finisher was Eva Synnestvedt Hansen (Denmark) in 3d:04h:01m - 11.36 mph. The 26 year old civil engineering student from Copenhagen became the first winner from Denmark as well as Europe. Winner of the female 50-59 age group was Karen Armstrong (USA) in 3d:04h:53m - 11.23
2-Person RAW Winners, Team PHenomenal Hope

mph. Both Hansen and Armstrong, a pediatric physical therapist from Spokane, Washington, had great rides, especially when you consider they both came from markedly cooler climes.

Team Division

RAW is open to 2 and 4-person teams. The race is a great opportunity to work out exchanges - pull intervals, exchange site selection and crew preparedness under race conditions. This year there were 6 teams competing - all from the USA. The teams were better able to survive in the heat - 100% of the teams finished.

2-Person Teams TDL-Team2Transplant, racing in the male 50-59 group, was fastest 2-person team, finishing in 2d:09h:31m - 15.01 mph. Team Friends of Freedom won the 2-person male under 50 group coming in with 2d:16h:22m - 13.41 mph. Team Moxie won the 2-person female division in 2d:10h:23m - 14.79 mph.

4-Person RAW Winners, Team Strategic Global Advisors
4-Person Teams Racing in the 4-person male 50-59 age group, the fastest 4-person team was Team Strategic Global Advisors, finishing in 1d:22h:57m - 18.39 mph. They set the 50-59 male age group record. Former RAAM Race Director, George Thomas, raced on the team, emceed the RAW banquets and headed off to Annapolis where he announced the RAAM finish and emceed the RAAM banquets. Thomas now shares three RAW team records. B4T9 Blaze won the female under 50 group finishing in 2d:04h:13m - 16.53 mph; and Spokeswomen won the female 60-69 group finishing in 2d:09h:42m - 14.96 mph. TBP Wolfpack on the male under 50 group in 2d:17h:33m - 13.17 mph; andTeam Moab/Specialized won the mixed under 50 group with 2d:00h:39m - 17.74 mph.

Awards

The King and Queen of the Desert awards were given to the fastest male and female solo racers based on the shortest time/fastest average speed over two flat segments: TS 2 to TS 3 (Brawley to Blythe, CA) and TS 10 to TS 11 (Tuba City to Kayenta, AZ). Michael Conti (USA) won King of the Desert while Eva Synnestvedt Hansen (Denmark) won Queen of the Desert.

The King and Queen of the Mountains awards were given to the fastest male and female solo racers based on the shortest time/fastest speed over three segments with the toughest climbing: TS 6 to TS 7 (Congress to Prescott, AZ) and TS 14 to TS 15 (Cortez to Durango, CO). Thomas Jaklitsch (Austria) won King of the Mountains and Karen Armstrong (USA) won Queen of the Mountains.
Solo Female RAW Award Winners - Eva Synnestvedt Hansen and Karen Armstrong

Rookie of the Year awards are given to the fastest male and female solo racers who are competing in RAW for the first time. The top male was Michael Conti and top female was Eva Synnestvedt Hansen.

The Lanterne Rouge is given to the last Solo finisher and this year's winner was Chris O'Keefe (USA).

Final Thoughts
Chapeau to all of our racers and crew. There were many great stories this year. With limited time and space we simply could not tell them all. Our apologies to those who we neglected to mention. We wish to thank everybody - racers, support crews, sponsors, volunteers, staff and fans - for helping make the Race Across the West one of the best ultra-endurance bicycle races in the world. Plans are already underway for the 2016 race. Registration is open. Help us make next year - our 9th edition of RAW - the best ever.

The Race Around Ireland is comprised of two races - the original Race Around Ireland (2,150 km - 1,333 miles) and the Irish Ultra Challenge (1,100 km - 682 miles). Both are RAAM Qualifying events. Both races start in the shadow of Trim Castle and finish in Navan, both in County Meath, 40km NW of Dublin. The event attracts an international field - racers from 12 countries will be competing this year - the 7th year of the event.

The Race Around Ireland is exactly that - a large counter-clockwise loop around the entire country. The Irish Ultra Challenge is essentially the northern half of that loop. All racers leave Trim and head north and west into Northern Ireland, passing by Belfast, through Ballycastle and Londonderry to the northernmost point, Malin Head. From here they ride south through Sligo, Castlebar and Clifden to Galway. Just outside Galway - at Oranmore - the 1,100 km Irish Ultra Challenge riders head east back to the finish at Navan. The 2,150 km Race Around Ireland riders leave Oranmore heading south through Limerick and Kilarney to Mizen Head, the southernmost point. Riders then turn back north, passing around Cork, through Youghal, Waterford and Wexford on their way back to Navan.

In the 2,150 km Race around Ireland, solo, tandem and 2-person teams have 132 hours to finish and 4 and 8-person teams have 96 hours to finish. In the 1,150 km Irish Ultra Challenge, solo, tandem and 2-person teams have 68 hours to finish and 4 and 8-person teams have 50 hours to finish. Solo racers finishing within the time limit qualify for Solo RAAM.
Photo Courtesy of Race Around Ireland

These are beautiful, challenging courses. Christoph Strasser (Austria) and Caroline van den Bulk (Canada) hold the male and female course records - 23.69 kph and 16.24 kph respectively. This year RAAM finishers Hansi Nyfeler (Switzerland), Donncha Cuttris (Ireland), Valerio Zamboni (Monaco) and Dani Genovesi (Brazil) will be competing. Unfortunately, there is a field limit and they are completely booked. But, you can follow the race on Blackblox. Better yet, come on out - check out the course and cheer the racers on! Start making plans for 2016. This is an incredibly beautiful place, the Irish people are exceptionally friendly, and these are truly great races.

http://racearoundireland.com/

@skinny, you wanted other races? Next year.

Kristof A has won the Redbull transiberia with a big margin. He really is a monster. Hope to see him race RAAM next year. Got to be one of the best in the world.

yeah ireland sounds fun, just going to be a timing thing for other races.

Fancy a mtb race to see what it's like in prep for Tour Divide. Need to talk to @gabes at some point!

Got a friend who I think was involved with Race Around Ireland... or maybe it was coaching some riders... I'll check next time I see him

Most off-road ITT stuff is listed on http://www.selfsupporteduk.net/, Highland Trail being the longest group-start. Required pre-qualification this year, not sure about 2016...

There's the Yorkshire Dales 200 at the beginning of October http://riderscyclecentre.com/?page_id=2858, short but could be a nice intro...

I rode the RAI course back in September 2013 over 8 days. Luckily I had good weather but the wind on the west coast is harsh.

Apparently with the strong wind and heavy road surface this race is considered one of the toughest in the world of endurance cycling as you have to work for every kilometer.

I suppose you need a full crew for this like RAAM? Makes all these races so much more difficult/expensive.

Thought (high level, dilettante pipe-dream thoughts) about doing RAI about 5 years ago - RAAM crew requirements were way more stringent. Looked like if you wanted to do RAI, you could do it with a couple of mates in a Ford Fiesta full of inner tubes and Soreen. Joe Barr had his own sponsored transit van, which looked like the most swish arrangement there. Seemed a world away from the RAAM state of affairs, where every other rider seems to have a Sky-style caravan. Things may have tightened up since then.

I rode around Ireland with Joe Barr in 2009. It was a sportive though, in daily stages, not a continuous race scenario. RAI rulebook is too long.

@andy_k @skinny I think Highland Trail will continue to require qualification. It's a brutally hard route, 550 miles, and probably 50 miles of rocky/slippy/boggy hike-a-bike. Loads of people blow their Achilles from all the walking and climbing over rocks with the bike.

I've qualified serveral times over now, and it still scares me! I am doing it in 2016 though. To me it seems more of an unknown than Tour Divide was.