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

I thought motorways were definitely prohibited and sanctions would be applied to anyone found riding on them?

^^ snap

I really have to get some work done!

This is too exciting. Productivity is through the floor!

Skinny diverted off the 66 onto a slower / windier road

Bjorn has a bigger lead than it looks.

Skinny has to climb a big col now while Bjorn has a roll down the main road, then a very gentle (2%) climb to the control. They may still meet on the parcours, which would be a massive boost for skinny.

Surely they would of both been hoping to of stamped some authority on the race by now and be able to settle into a routine and get some rest at CP3 you'd think. Skinny said he believed the winner would do the course in nine days, so we are well past the half way point, instead I guess we are likely to see one of them bounce the control to maintain what ever margin they have

Ian To back to fourth, pretty sure he went to win, wonder if he's questioning his route choices, guess we'll find out in time if they pay off

Yes, to be so close after over a thousand miles is amazing.
They'll both bounce the control, nothing to stop for there. It is going to be grab and go food and short sleeps.
Mistakes, such as Bjorn's one earlier, could well decide it.
I think skinny has prepared his route very well, that might be crucial.

Looks like Bjorn has missed the left he needed to take to avoid another motorway, will have to back track.
Actually no, he may be ok...

I take it Skinny going to climb up towards D1 via 66050 now coming off 66?

Less arse drama, more routing drama, crappy lanes, sense of humour failure losing places, etc.

I've started drinking heavily to cope

If you lose because of it, yes. Motorway is illegal and risks DQ or time penalty.

At least they can get a decent coffee in Poprad.

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Bjorn would have been better to go the other side of the lake, but probably routing on the fly, the way he is going is ok.

I take it Skinny going to climb up towards D1 via 66050 now coming off 66?

I expect he'll go up the 72. It's a good road but big climb

Juju's Car was last reported as doing 130.6kmh. What's the speed limit?

Less arse drama, more routing drama, crappy lanes, sense of humour failure losing places, etc.

I've started drinking heavily to cope

You're still in 19th, 3 riders within 10km. As long as you keep riding while drinking you should be fine.

Less arse drama sounds like good news for all of us

You're in 18th now, that was quick!

130kph.

Depends what they deem motorway I guess. The green logo E roads like the E50 near Bjorn look like dual carriageway motorways and the blue logo roads like '18' are smaller fast roads like A roads over here. I assume red and green are banned but blue are ok.

The bit that Bjorn just passed follows road 18 with a junction to get onto E50, he was tracked at the service station which is on E50 rather than staying left and following road 18 across the junction to turn right (if that makes sense).

The earlier bit where he changed routes he seemed to have been confused by the red R1 road which he wouldn't have had to ride on since it turns into the blue 66 road.

Looking at Google Maps, it seems he's completely changed his route to avoid the tiniest bit of motorway. Would it really have mattered?

I wonder why he didn't ride the little section offroad along the water to end up on the 2420 https://goo.gl/maps/BFZbPaYJQo82

Who knows what it looked like at the start of that (by the Industrial Estate he went into). It may have had signs that made it look private/unsuitable. What you can see on google maps/streetview might not be what it looks like now. It may be a lot more built up now.

It would have been a bit of a gamble, especially making a decision like that quickly and when tired.

At the end of one 300km day I very briefly contemplated carrying my bike across electrified train tracks before common sense took hold and backtracked and found the path I should have taken.

(All to get to the Travelodge at the M18/M180 services near Thorne. Ended up trying to get to it from Kirton Lane via Hugh Hill Lane which is nothing but a muddy track. The correct approach for bicycles is Crook Tree Lane, over the bridge over the M18 to Old Thorne Road but then turn right at the top of the bridge and across the field to the access/slip road. It's a myth that motorway services must have a non-motorway access road although many do, they just have to have two independent roads and these services are served by the M18 and the M180.

Fascinating.)

Going to be close, I'd say that Skinny will be just 15 minutes behind Bjorn (to where the 72 meets the 18). Depends on the descent...

Bloody hell, the 72 where Skinny is right now looks beautiful.

Its pretty amazing that after however long there are 4 riders, all approaching on different roads, all so close to each other. What a race