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Harder, not sure, they were both hard. TCR was probably more physically painful with the shit roads but TABR was miserable with the sub-zero temps (give me a heatwave any day!).
TABR was mentally worse because I was on the back foot from the very start and grovelling for lots of it with mechanicals or injury. By the time I watched my goals disappear in the same way in TCR I didn't really care :) TABR is probably easier logistically with more conveniences/services available for much of it.Fitness from TABR? Ha. No, there's no fitness, just physical issues you hope don't reappear and a mental strength to keep going.
KA pushed a lot harder. With so much shit going wrong I finished TABR riding strong so the month probably was enough to recover physically but mentally perhaps I cared less about my finish position so didn't push on when I should've, although I was still trying to every time I made a move something else would go wrong and I got fed up with it going wrong. I never expected a great result in TCR but thought I could get a top 10. That disappeared pretty quick with routing issues (fucking detours) and then, for me, I don't feel the need to push as hard just to get a minor placing. I could've tried to do a Samuli but my bike was getting worse as time went on. I really should've fixed it properly.
I dunno. I'd probably race both of them again but it does take a lot of time and money and I think if I got the result I wanted in TABR I might not've pushed when I did in TCR (even though it came to nothing).
Which was the harder challenge hippy, TCR or TABR?
Any comparisons you found?
Did you find there was any spill-over in your fitness from the TABR when you were doing TCR? Did it help or hinder?
As in, was the (month?) gap in between the two races enough to feel fresh? I am just thinking of a clip where Kristof Allegaert saying he wasn't riding TCR because he hadn't recovered mentally/physically from previous racing.