Transcontinental Race No. 5 - TCR5 - #TCRN05 - 2017

Is that because you're using mid-foot?

That but mostly because Speedplays aren't designed to walk on and certainly not designed to walk on sand, dirt, gravel, etc. It takes about two seconds and the cleat is jammed with crap.

I mean, how come you have to use speedplay, it can't be hard to drill two holes for an SPD cleat.

MTB cleats need stabilising 'pods' each side (look at the bottom of mtb shoes) so they don't rock.

So, it's easier to use Speedplay and shoes with a wide centre bit (Shimano).

This was all designed around me winning the National 24hr, remember, where I barely put a foot down. Riding across Europe was some silly thing that came later.

There's lots of people riding with plastic road cleats. One said it's good to have shoes not too comfortable to walk in, so you'll stay in the saddle.

But I use spds.

I used SPD's for TCR but I'm actually going to use my racing shoes for IPWR, which have Look Deltas, as I've had some ankle issues, and the Deltas give me more stability.
On the TCR I was pleased to have SPD's when I had to walk during gales in Croatia.

shoes not too comfortable to walk in, so you'll stay in the saddle.

If you need uncomfortable walking shoes to stay riding, you're in the wrong game...

Better walking shoes mean faster in/out of shops, etc. and less likely to fall arse over tit when doing so. Also means you don't have to stop to wash all the mud out of your cleats like me...

Indeed.
And if one uses plastic cleats, you might need to bring a spare, if you end up walking on gravel a lot or something.

I find spd sl fine to walk in a short way.

Cleat covers would do the job, no?

They're definitely better than midfoot speedplay

Most likely yes. If you don't end up climbing hiking trails on a mountain like Stéphane.

tubeless setup for the TCR - worth it?

It's not clear cut. Tubeless is good, very rarely fails but if it does, it fails badly.

I had a bad puncture last year which screwed up one of my tubeless tyres before I left Belgium. Had to buy a non-tubeless tyre and then got a couple of punctures in it. Some others had issues, some others didn't. Some people with tubes had issues, some got there with no punctures.

If I did TCR again I would most likely use them but I wouldn't feel too strongly about it.

It's not clear cut.

Pardon the pun.

Before I start looking (in July) are there any countries that need pre-approved visas? I think we talked about this already and it was no but someone mentioned border crossings which got me thinking about visas.

No. Just crossing from kosovo to serbia won't work.

Yeah I will do my usual trick of sticking to one or the other when it comes to those two.

Kosovo should be pretty easy to avoid anyway. I'd heard that some crossings into Hungary are prohibited but I asked about it on the TCr facebook group and nobody seemed to think so.

I just looked and I go through Serbia this time, skirting Kosovo. I've just tried heading further east to see if it makes a difference.

ditto - I'm going through Serbia, close-ish to the Kosovan border but not over it, then into Macedonia. Draft route, but still.

I did that Macedonian bit last year so it'd be nice to find an equal distance/climb route that goes through Bulgaria, instead, where I've not been before. A quick draw just then gave more more distance and more climbing though :(

I was trying to avoid Bulgaria after hearing a few horror stories about the driving/traffic.

I may also have routed myself onto a few motorways - should probably fix that.

The traffic is pretty fucked up all over the east so much of a muchness. Just figured it was different and this is a tour for me so outright fastest route is less important than bagging another country :)

It's a race you lazy bastard.