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

Thanks. That biycle only road looks steep! Fun.

To all involved, I'm very much looking forward to living vicariously through your adventures. I'm not really arsed with professional racing any more, this sort of stuff seems the purest kind of bike-based pursuit/competition. Bon Chance all!

You know I love a good climb..

FYI the race manual bans a tunnel on SS52 which isn't in the Google Map.

Richard Dunnett is Rules Monitor according to the manual.

So they do effectively have a master rules dude to confirm stuff. Whether or not he's notifying people of infractions during the race is another matter.

the purest kind of bike-based pursuit/competition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOjx6qI2sIk

Ballet thread >>>

Whether or not he's notifying people of infractions during the race is another matter.

Unlikely. The dot watcher info says you might get told if it is just before a control but most likely not until after the end

It still says that but that may have been a result of Mike being on the road with the race. I wonder if RD is going to do the same?

All decisions should be make in good time, after the race. Making decision during the race just leads to complications, mistakes and issues.

The way Mike did it was right.

Why? If a rider is on a banned road, issue penalty, job done.
Anything else can be discussed, amended after the race.

I don't really care, since I will be self-penalising with pub stops but it's nice to have as close to a proper finish order asap.

But what's the penalty? How long were they on the road? Were they on the road, or a bike path right next to it... You see it gets complicated.

12hrs.
Irrelevant.
If there's doubt, decision waits.

Yeah, but easiest to just make decision afterwards. And make it final. As Frank said, it takes resources they don't have to make such decisions during the race. Plus not all tracker data is 100%.

IMO if someone knowingly uses a banned road it should be DQ.

How do you define 'knowingly'? You mean if someone uses a banned road, full stop, DQ.

Problem with banned roads is not all are signed, some are poorly signed, it's hard to tell in Austria or Germany with no StreetView, some are legal but banned by organisers, some are banned but regularly used by local cyclists, some are legal but frowned on by local authorities...

I mean a TCR banned road, rather than a locally banned road.

Yeah, well ignoring the organiser's ban is just fucking stupidity or flagrant rule breaking so yeah DQ makes sense.

I wonder if RD is going to do the same?

I was telling you what was in this year's dot watcher manual, which I assume you have not seen

Can't tell if serious...

In the racer manual it says riders will most likely not know about penalties until the end.

Of course, the most fun could be had by telling the rider of disqualification the moment that the rider reaches the finish. Video the reaction for extra giggles.

"Welcome! You're name is Dennis Quaid, yes?"
"No"
"That's strange, I have you down here as DQ. Say cheese!"

"Well done, you're arrived in good time for the after race party. Pity you are no longer invited."

"Finishers showers are over there. You can make your own arrangements".

From looking at skinny's maps it looks like riders will be coming through Luxembourg. It'll be a short country visit but if anyone wants any local "knowledge" let me know. Word of advice though, if you're rolling through late night, there's VERY little open even in the city (unless you're stopping to go clubbing). Also, keep an eye out for early morning weekend piss-heads, it's still very much a drink-driving culture here.

You can see my maps?
Cock.