Indian Pacific Wheel Race - IndyPac - IPWR

I've done the 'immediate roadside sleep' too in a grassy patch... and... feckin' swarm of mozzies. My fastest ever bivvy deploy :)

The good thing about bivvying in the Nullarbor is that there are no mozzies (that I saw anyway) as not much water. The bad thing is that there is no grass, for the same reason. If it has rained, all your stuff gets covered in bright orange mud.

I'd probably avoid the roadside rest areas because they're often full of rubbish and people driving in for a quick piss stop.

They vary. Some were not places to walk around at night with no shoes on.

The second one I stayed at there was a guy there who gave me the impression that he was trying to pick someone up. Having me sleeping there looked like it cramped his style

We accepting Abdullah won’t be caught or think any of the top four could charge enough?

Rhino and Dan seem to be hitting some form.

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It's abdullah's to lose. He's basically a day ahead of them and they are not catching him.

He could lose it by crashing, injury, fatigue, riding the wrong way, etc. But they can't win it just by attacking him from 400km back.

They are having a good battle for second which is spurring them on.

I think most likely is that at least one of them falls away and Abdullah extends his overall lead by Sydney.

See this?

Ouch. No thanks. Stephs arm.

https://instagram.com/p/BgnzzWfhGzl/

Saw this yesterday, give this man sunscreen protection (or UV armwarmers and a full gallon of water !
I didnt now that the hole in the Ozone was that big above Australia

I got sunburn on first day last year. Didn't use cream because it was cloudy. Mistake.
Nothing like that though.

Rhino would be faster if he didn't have to change sanitary pads every 3 hours.

And that pic is horrendous. He should stay off the bike unless totally covered up on account of that.

Correct me if I’m wrong but he’s scarred from sunburn on a tcr no?

Learn a lesson or two.

Covered or not when you have sunburn that bad it hurts to be outside. The smell of sausages can also become overwhelming.

Is Abdullah yet catching up to Kristof's pace from last year?

Good point. They'd struggle if they only had a once-yearly IPWR field to feed off :)
USA was definitely wetter for lots of it. Snow in the west and humidity in the East.
Many an out of control drive along muddy river roads, trying desperately not to get bogged...

What's that comedy film where they shine lights at a truck stop and there's 50 dudes all humping each other? I mean it's fine normally but during an ultra I just haven't got the energy...

I've done that to my entire back before. Thought I'd 'speed tan' and went riding around Sunraysia for 4hrs with no shirt on. Fuck I'm an idiot. Massive bubbles of skin, most of which were torn off in a festival mosh pit a week later.

Correct me if I’m wrong but he’s scarred from sunburn on a tcr no?

Yes that's right, he had bad sunburn at the end of TCR 2016

Rhino would be faster if he didn't have to change sanitary pads every 3 hours.

What's that, saddle sores?

I mean it's fine normally but during an ultra I just haven't got the energy...

I reckon I could have slept through anything that night...

He looks a lot more normal in this interview than his videos :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSmWBT7Tngc

But why all the beads and rings...

His instagram stories are pretty entertaining, but I think he's losing his marbles a bit.

He had a hot spot in his pants. He went slightly mental I think, and proceeded to un-stitch his chamois and bury it. Next day he went "I'm going crazy out here! Who does such a thing?". Then rode with totally cut up shorts.

Yesterday he posted another "tips from the road" snipped in which he illustrated how he's using sanitary pads and Vaseline to keep going. Followed by another "tips" video where he shows what happens to a pad after 3 hours, and how he's y the roadside pulling cotton wool out of his crack.

I any case, he's in Adelaide, riding up Greenhill road as I write this, so I assume he's obtained a new set of shorts.

This is going way to far.
:D

It's obviously working for him - he's a good bit quicker than last year!

What happened last year with rhino and his pet eagle? He’s off the chain.

Abdullah day 7 - 521.6km 1,663m @25.7km/h - 20h 19m moving time. In Portland - not that far from Melbourne now - that will be a big boost for him.

Last year he had a shot leg, no?

I don't know, he passed me on day 1, but I started early on day 2 and got ahead, then he was always behind. He didn't go to Sydney so didn't see him at the end. Did meet his uncle in Sydney, though. He used to live in London and, by coincidence, was a member of my club.