Ultracycling

Sorry, didn't read properly - missed the bit about swelling. That's obvs a bit more serious than skin chafing.
If you've tried other things Hippy mentioned then dropping saddle down a couple of mm might also help reduce over-ankling.

I was advised by Tony Corke (bike fit dude) about 14 months before TD to put my cleats right back, and I did, while I was in for a fit, and the saddle also went down about 4mm. Really helped, and I get much less ankle swelling, but it does still come on after 6 hours without a break, at which point, I try to raise my legs for a few minutes, and slack off my shoes a bit around the top strap, and check the fore straps are tight enough that I wont slip into the shoe and get more rubbing. Never had it so bad that it's worn the skin though.

JP rocking a disc wheel for da aeroz on Route66 race.

"The only picture I have taken so far. When I am in this mode it is hard. Plus I bury my phone now a days to not be distracted.
Yes ,I hit a car last night. I was clipping along at 18mph on the shoulder of a busy road and grabbed my cues and then I was seeing stars. The lady was not nice as I was bleeding and she was only concerned about the scratches I made. That is after she climbed out of her car that was on the shoulder with no lights on. She wasted my time for about 40 minutes and I finally through her some cash and my business card. Above my eye has a nice gash, I am already getting a black eye and my cheek bone is tender. Needless to say I've been off a beat and I was a bit shaken up. I checked out early today as I wanted to clean the blood off myself and get a little better rest."

Crosswind fun! I wonder if he packed his sail?

Rear discs don't really matter in the wind, it's the deep front wheels that suck.

TCR related question

Full frame bag and waterbottles up front somehow?

Or smaller toptube bag with bottle in traditional place?

Will probably have a large Apidura seatpack but wary of packing that too full as I don't want it fucking with climbing cadence when standing up.

What solutions are there for having waterbottles up front?

Full frame bag and waterbottles up front somehow?

Yes

Or smaller toptube bag with bottle in traditional place?

Yes

Try them and find what works for you. I used a Tangle with bottles. Peeps like @skinny used a full bag with bladder. Still others had bottles mounted around the bike so you could use a framebag full of kit + bottles. Depends on what you 'need' to carry.

Look for "BTA mounts", fork bottle cages, temporary bottle cage mounts, zip tie bottle cages anywhere, etc.

My forks will have bottle mounts on them, if I need, but wondering whether that's efficient or not. Not super easy to grab, for example. Will also be able to mount an extra bottle on the underside of the downtube, but a little worried about roadcrud coating that.

I need to make a proper kit list but currently planning on sleeping bag, bivvy, inflatable matt as being the main bulky items.

The rest of the stuff will be clothing, food and tools/spares.

Should I giving a shit about aerodynamics? My (limited) understanding is that frontal area matters the most, so a full framebag seems to make the most sense...

Bottles on forks must be an aero disaster!

my thinking also. Maybe I could have one between aerobars and one on the underside of downtube - swap between them one is empty?

Aero bottles, put them behind forks... and then work out stop time for refill vs. aero penalty.

It's sort of a bikepacking race, the whole things an aero disaster :P

Next time I'm just going to ride my Shiv and take a credit card for hotels. Sorted.

BTA is about the most efficient option you have.
Bladder in a framebag is probably second because it also gives you space for storage.

BTW could be a shout. Wonder what maximum bottle size is.

I'll need to think carefully about cockpit layout, though.

things to go up front on bike:

food/gadgets bag
lights
garmin
bottle
clipon aero bars
most importantly: hands

The expert on where to fit bottles on a bike is @bananaskid

The whole things a compromise. You basically have to try as many ideas as you can be bothered to and see what you pisses you off least.

I've got piles of different bags, phone mounts, bottle cage things that were tried and discarded.

I remember I abandoned the idea of a bottle under the downtube when I worked out I could never get it out without stopping.

Inflatable mats are good but take longer to unroll and roll-up, and the blowing up wakes you up. I used an ebay foam pad, cut in half and it was comfortable enough.

Stretch those hamstrings! :P

To be honest I'd try and not put water bottles on the front. Whilst I never had any ejections on a decent length test run they were pretty close to coming out. On the front it does also make the steering feel heavier.

Personally I quite liked the water bottles behind me and I carried 2.7 litres this year which I felt was perfect although it was a fairly cold and wet year. In the first year I carried 1.5 litres which I definitely did not think was enough. If I did it again I would try out a full frame bag and camel back.

One option if you've got a frame with circular tubing could be to put some water bottles on the seat stays.

Also how tall are you/what frame size will you be riding?

6ft 5 and a 59cm frame. Geo is endurance based so should have a decent amount of room.

Do you mean bottles behind the saddle on a holster? Decent shout. Would allow me a full frame bag too.

Cold and wet? What race did you do? Was beautifully warm and sunny!

If you would want to use bottle cage under downtube, you don't need to have more than an inch between the bottle and front tire to get it out and switched to an empty bottle without stopping. That's what I do. Roadcrud hasn't been a problem.

But whatever works for you.

Day 1 (France) was nice and hot.
Day 2, 3, 4 (Fra-Swi) were overcast.
Day 5 (Swi-ITA) perfect.
Day 6 (ITA) was far too hot.
Day 7 (Cro) was overcast and windy
Day 8, 9, 10 (Cro/bos/mont/kos) were stormy
Day 11 (Mac/grc) was way too hot
Day 12 (Grc/Turk) was the night so fairly pleasant.

TCR 2014 was basically 14 days of between 'perfect' and 'too hot' so this year was pretty bad weather wise in comparison

I enjoy the heat. My body seems to deal with it well.

6ft 5 and a 59cm frame

Do you have T-Rex arms?

I saw you in your rain jacket. I was jealous you had leg warmers at the time. :P

If you would want to use bottle cage under downtube, you don't need to have more than an inch between the bottle and front tire to get it out and switched to an empty bottle without stopping.

I never felt confident enough to do that! Maybe a different bottle cage, a side loader, might work better. I was using a standard one to grip the bottle better.