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This may be realistic, but it's also disappointing.
I was hoping you'd come out of it thinking that you'd conquered one challenge that you thought would be unrealistic/insurmountable and that you were ready to take on the next, bigger one.
Sounds like a sensible decision though, even if it's not a very sexy one.
tbc
andy.w
The tl version.
I will confess that for the past couple of years, I have harboured a fantasy of riding the Transcontinental. David Coulon's ride in TCRNo3 got me thinking. I had, a year before that, ridden 1600km through Italy in 8 days supported. Around 200 km a day. If one applied that to the TCR one would be looking at 20 days. David had taken 28 and so there was time to spare for more mountainous stages etc. In addition, riding as a group, there were always stops for others that would be unncessary solo. People wanted longer over lunch or wanted to stop for a coffee or a beer. Keep ploughing on. Stop in hotels. Eat rest sleep recover and ride on.
Work and other things meant that this would not be possible in the immediate future but the oldest rider on TCRNo3 had been 64 (there have been older riders since) and so the idea of doing it at the age of 65 appealed. It gave time for developments in technology to make the ride easier; it gave time to source and build the ideal bike; it gave time to get fitter and, most importantly, thinner and to practice unsupported long distance riding.
The ride I have just done was meant, in the loosest possible way, to be a tester, the first step in this journey but already I was having my doubts. The ride I have just done has convinced me that the TCR will never be an option for me. Not TRCNo6 and not TCRNo11.
OK, so I started less fit and more fat than I ought to have. I was riding a perfect bike for what I was doing. Custom fitted and built and made of titanium. It was unladen (apart from by me).
I suffered heavily in the first three days. Now, if I had been fitter this suffering would have been less but as days wore on and my fitness improved, what I found myself doing was as follows.
I woke and hour before my departure time. I ate. I ate a lot of food that was there ready for me. I drank a lot of fluid. I showered. I applied gooch related remedies. I put on clean kit. I set off.
I rode. After an hour, I ensured I had finished one bidon and refilled it. I rode more and after 100 km, I stopped for 45 minutes and ate and drank. I knew exactly what I would be eating. It was hwolesome food. On the bike I ate occasionally. What I ate the was Bounce bars, possibly the most wholesome energy bars and kind to the stomach. I had quite a stash at home.
When I arrived home, I drank more fluid and ate immediately. I then showered and lay down before getting up to eat a lovingly prepared meal, balanced carefully between protein and carbs with green veg thrown in. I then went to bed for 8+ hours.
Despite this benign regime, I was increasingly fatigued.
My diet was good. Very little sugar. The only refined sugar each day was in the small cake I allowed myself each lunchtime. Lots of good protein and carbs like spelt pasta.
I ate when I needed to eat and could build a routine around it.
I rested and I slept. Sleep is so important for recovery. Much more important than rest alone. My time out of the house was under 12 hours all days bar one.
My ride was no approximation of the work that needs to be done on a TCR.
On the TCR, one has to forage for whatever food one can find. One has to find places to sleep. Stress increases as a consequence. Sleep decreases. When I had a mechanical issue it was sorted withn an hour thanks to a message on here and Ludwig. On the TCR I would have had to find a LBS. I would also have to learn to be mechanical, something that has eluded me for 60 years.
I also would face mountains with a laden bike. I have ridden up Alps before but very slowly and with support. Support that extended to someone running after me with loo paper on an ascent so that I could pop behind one of the last remaining shrubs round then next hair pin. Riding up tough climbs fully laden, searching for water and food in the heat of the day (or as darkness falls, would not appeal. Descending even less.
As it is, after only 10 days on relatively flat terrain (1400 metres climbing a day all short climbs many undulations), my fingers are numb. 30 days and my whole arms would lack feeling. Over the past few years arthritis in my hands has gone from being a minor irritation to being a real concern. In another six years, who knows what I will be able to grip.
No, what I have learnt over the past few days is that my admiration for the riders of the TCR from @skinny to @Uber-Hero and everyone in between and all those who had the audacity to start and faced the gut wrenching decision to scratch, is higher than ever but very sadly, the idea of me ever riding it is as fanciful as the idea of me playing at Wimbledon or winning the British Open in golf. The only thing that made the fantasy appear less than a fantasy is that the TCR is more accessible than other elite sporting events. Long may it remain so. But for me, reality beckons.
I pushed myself close to my limit on my ride. The TCR would be beyond that limit. Of that I have no doubt.