Transcontinental Race (London - Istanbul) - #TCRNo4

There is a rule of thumb for walking that x amount of ascending in a route is equivalent to adding y additional miles to the route (can't remember the numbers). Is there an equivalent for cycling?

No, because 1km@10% + 9km flat != 10km@1%

@skinny is at CP2. His tracker must've been playing up.

Are we assuming that 180 - Lara has scratched - I can't help but be very confused at making it to Lyon before hitting the checkpoint in Clermont Ferrand!?

Not that I'm aware of, and as @Nick.Earthloop says, the variation in gradients makes it near impossible to come up with a sensible rule of thumb.

I'd say, at a very rough level, a flatter route is worth 2-3 mph more in something like this, so the detour in 24 hours would have to be less than 70 miles to make it effective.

the even longer route =

1 Attachment

Yes, it would have to be a bit more sophisticated. Possibly x meters @0-5% = y km, x meters @5-8% = 2y km etc. Also possibly you'd have to factor in a reduction for downhill (then there would be how technical the descent was...) OK, I give up.

After a lengthy break, she had an almost instantaneous acceleration to 50Km/h.

I suspect she's put her bike in the back of a car.

He's past CP3

He has passed CP3

Well spotted - I wonder what she is required to do to officially scratch?

Dot watching is confusing my linguistic ability.

I wondered about that route also... He's confirmed he's going south, it'll be interesting to see which variant he choses.

Jesper Sorensen is back in Blegium

Let's hope he doesn't stop to eat in Vicenza.

#mangiagatti

Looks like he reset his tracker as he was leaving CP2... He's now storming his way along the CP2 parcours. GO SKINNY

Hippy enjoying descending, and says that the southern route will be 120km longer.

Just putting this here;

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/13006802/

@hippy has just tweeted that his current route is 120 km longer than his mountain route (which we can assume is the one most other people have taken so far).

you would have thought with gooch issues climbing might have been a good chance to stay out of the saddle. though hippy probably climbs sat down anyway due to his awesome power.

i reckon he has made a good call going for the flatter route.

this is such exciting stuff

@skinny looking cheery at CP2 https://twitter.com/transconrace/status/760474651478880256

Hope he kills all the bugs before the yellow dot gets to the red one.
(10 points if you get the film)

Skinny you awesome human

Hippy is playing to his strengths, I don't think he would mind me saying he is not a climber. He will be confident that he can make up the time on the flatter route.

Gareth Baines took a similarly audacious route choice last year and finished 8th.

Looks like Kristof Allegaert just got to the top of the Passo di Giau. Insane performance.

I have the same socks! Feel so special.