Ultracycling

Seems fair. It's going to be insanely hard. I don't think people realise how hard it will be to finish, let alone race.

Piece of piss. 24hr restaurants all over those mountains...

Got a mate touring out there a while and he just laughed it off. He's a capable rider and some days he said he can barely get 50km done due to terrain/conditions. He's done that first climb in spring and his words were "that's the meat grinder"

Much excite whether I get in or not! Excuse to eat excessively and go hobo in the nmountains for the next few months

Here's some Soviet era maps for reference

I don't think has been posted yet? Oman in Feb:

"first ever self-supported, ultracycling adventure race slated to kick-off on February 28th, 2018 from Oman’s port capital, Muscat. The 621 mile (1,000km) race is the brainchild of BikingMan, a race promotion organization based in France headed by Axel Carion"

http://bicycletimesmag.com/new-ultracycling-event-in-middle-east-kicks-off-in-february/

I thought about doing that. It sounds pretty good but I reckoned it was a long way to go for 3 days riding.
On the other hand, there's not a lot else on in February so its a good time in the calendar.

Getting extremely tempted by the Silk Road Mountain Race.

It'd have to be on the cheap though. Luckily, I've already got a bike suitable for it and 90% of the equipment. My main concern and cost would sleeping arrangements. It doesn't look even remotely possible to guest house it the entire way and even if it was it would probably require some extremely short days followed by some extremely long days making it hard. I estimated that only about 20% of the route will be below 2000 metres so I imagine a decent sleeping system will be paramount. Is this going to be a tent job or will people be trying to bivvy it?

Good bivi and bag.

Yeah, I'll go for a bivvy (if I get a place) rather than tent. If there were a few wolves sniffing around outside, I'd like to at least be able to see them.

I'd want to do more research on the nighttime temperatures to decide on exactly what kit. I toured in Tibet in August and it was quite mild at 4,000+ metres, over 10 degrees at least. There I over-specc'd my sleeping bag, had a 4-season one that was basically too warm to use properly. It rained every night in August there, which would be a bit of a bore if bivvying, but this is a long way further west so no reason why climate would be the same - just need to research it.

There's a poll on facebook which says most people are thinking bivvy wiht a few opting for tents. Tarps is another question which might be worth thinking about if a lot of rain.

A good bivi is better than a tarp in heavy rain.

I think he's suggesting using both, which is better in heavy rain.

Can also use as ground sheet if cold w/ no rain.

Yes, I meant both. Nelson said he had 2 days of solid rain. Would need to carry poles, which actually don't seem too heavy.

More posts just on Facebook with a bigger challenge: there's a 560km stetch with no supplies!

That's what the wolves are for. What, you're vegetarian, no knife, oh well...

:P

Ah okay. Then yes.

I decided I won’t be going. To close after tcr. I don’t want to go being so tired. A shame to miss the inaugural edition.

You mean you'll still have a hangover from celebrating another win?

Shame, but probably makes sense. Only real crazies try to do two big rides in the same year. In the same month was mental!

As well as the rider re-supply challenge, there's potentially an ethical issue in sending 80 locust-like cyclists into an area with 1 small shop in a few hundred km. Taking the food that locals are relying on would make it unsustainable as an event.

Yeah. I knew I’d never be able to contest the 2nd. And the reality of that dawned on me. I race to be my best. Not just to get round.

Hopefully @hippy

80? Or 1, if I get there first.

What is the resupply situation like? Literally a small shop for 500k? That could definitely prove unworkable unless Nelson pre-warns them or there turns out to be other options.

Nelson on FB
"I just finished putting together an updated version of the resupply information that is included in the Race Manual with some commentary. Essentially it outlines the distances between the resupply points that everyone can count on regardless of whether you come through first or last. If you could have a look and let us know what you think that would be great. Basically the question is whether the longest stretches between reliable resupply points are too long or not. There are two stretches in particular of 374 and 563 kilometers where there are only small shops in villages that will likely not be able to handle 80 hungry cyclists. We could potentially do something about the second stretch but would need to get very creative for the first..."

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1804389736239919/permalink/1919221044756787/?comment_id=1919296208082604&notif_id=1513693153590010&notif_t=group_comment_follow

Most people saying 374km at the start is cool (3 days on this terrain, so c.5kg of food?), but 563km (or 1/3 of the race, so target of 4.5 days) midway is a bit of a challenge.

For the second stretch there are a couple of shops 2-4km off route, but they could do a delivery to the control which is in the middle of it. There'd still be maybe 300km iwth nothing though. I reckon they will either need to be able to do some sort of food drop or it won't be viable for more than say a dozen riders to do it. If you are carrying 4 days food, then it becomes a different kind of event, and the risk of someone fucking up and getting into trouble is bigger.

It's good that this is coming out for debate now as there is time to get solutions in place, but I'm not certain it will be viable.

First in, best dressed. For the slower riders like me, it's a fight to the death and winner gets first dibs on who to eat first.

Are those shops that are only 2-4km away able to actually supply 80 riders? Why not make one of those the control?

Sure, important to be at the front of the ride. In the Nullarbor it means you get the chocolate milk!

He's not sure they are, but even if they are, you still have a 300km and a 260km stretch. I'd want a lot of food for c.3 days. x80 and they would need to be big shops to cope.

Iced coffee = hippy supercharger

I guess Nelson logistics were initially based on him riding it. He's just entered the world of scaling problems and load testing :)

I guess he could see what their capacity is and work from there. Are there any other resupply points further off course? Maybe a route alteration is required to take in a larger population centre (can you tell I have zero idea about where this ride is happening). He could do a manned control but then there's costs, people will piss and moan about it not being unsupported, etc.

You really reckon it's ~100k/day riding? How steep are the hills?!

That's right.
Nelson has the best idea of how far per day but it is but it is pretty hilly, virtually all off-road and altitude will be a factor on the climbs. He's doing a finishers' party on day 15, so he must reckon it will take more than a week for most people to get round. Total distance / 15 days = 113km/day. Maybe I could do 140 or 150 but I doubt 200.
Greg Melia, the guy who you met last year in Macedonia who was touring / stalking the TCR, did a tour there this year and he reckoned he was only managing 80km per day when riding long days - but obvs not ultra-race days.
He's opening it up for debate to see what people think. You can tell from the responses that some people haven't quite grasped it, though, one guy talking about option of going light and fast instead of carrying stocks of food.
If I was Nelson I'd be looking to tweak the route to go through a couple more towns, if there are any.

Light and fast. Yeah, like that guy that lasted 2 days in TABR. :)

You can go light, but you're still only gonna go "fast" for a day and if you go too light you might not get to go fast at all.

Yeah, the other thing is look at Nelson, he weighs about as much as my left arm. He could probably do the whole route on a Snickers (okay, maybe a Snickers Duo) but imagine how much energy I need to get my bulk over the same mountains?