Transcontinental Race No. 6 - TCR6 - #TCRN06 - 2018

Lionel has been riding for four and a half hours so far this morning and has covered 81km. 88km to go.

To put his ride into perspective, he has ridden the equivalent of a Ride London every day for the past four weeks bloody impressive.

"dafuq are you playin' at, you lazy fucker?"

Something like that?

It's a lumpy finish. Hope he can Meteora the fuck out of it today.

He should do. A finish before 10pm local time would see him in within 28 days.

Hmm, really wanted to know the answer to this question @skinny :)
(timestamp doesn't work, it's at 12:38)

https://youtu.be/Qaveka_LkO0?t=758

29 km to go....

18 km ....

Climbing to the parcours

Allez!

13km.

Nearly there Lionel, hope you get a nice welcome in meteora.

4 km

He’s done it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapeau!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now the spotlight moves to Neil

Awesome :)

excellent news. Well done #44. hope pub 38 can provide a well earned beer

Outstanding, well done Lionel

Chapeau Lionel! That's what the TCR is all about.

So now Neil Matthews is the sole racer left and aiming for the lanterne rouge, if he can finish.

We know a little more about him than we did. He has suffered. Problems with heat stroke early on in the race set him back and put hhim off his desired pace. He took to riding at night but has suffered issues with contact lenses and with his Garmin before smashing his phone. He has been rding out of the sun which has restricted his time on the bike. A storm, just before CP3 forced him to hold off for the night and meant that he had what was only his third night in a hotel since he started four weeks ago. He has been rough sleeping for a month.

What we also know about his is that, despite the hand that he has been dealt, he is determined to finish.

His average distance covered is around 80 km a day which is a pace designed to keep him on the road for a very long time. In the past few days, however, he has been riding further and longer. Yesterday his total was 144.9 km and already "today" (ie since 10 pm local time yesterday) he has covered 86.4km.

He is currently at the border between the Czech Republic and Austria. He has taken the same route back from CP3 through the Czech Republic as he took on the way out. This is probably because he detoured via Vienna on the way out hoping to resolve navigational issues.

He is 733 km away from CP4. He should be there within 5-7 days if he maintains his current pace. It will be interesting to see how he tackles that parcours. Lionel set aside a day for it, a move that proved to be very wise.

I reckon that he could easily finish within two weeks as the weather gets cooler and the days shorter but we could be in for another three or possibly longer if he reverts to his earlier pace. However much longer, one can only admire his tenacity.

Contact lenses are not a good idea for TCR

Yes. I stopped wearing contacts for cycling as I rode longer distances. Too many dry itchy eye problems. Maintaining proper hygiene is vital to avoid potentially catastrophic eye infections. Prescription photochromic glasses are just so much easier.

What about those glasses with the foam air seal thing around them? Tried them to stop eyes drying out? They were posted in the Prescription sunglasses thread I think. Still trying to find something for the missus to use (only short duration at the moment).

I use prescription / photochromic lenses.
The challenge is getting frames that work in an aero position. I went to the opticians and tried all their frames with my head down, looking through the top of them, and found some ones that had virtually no bar visible at the top.
Only problem is when it rains really hard, esp at night, and glasses are useless. It doesn't happen often but I've thought of carrying a couple of disposable lenses to use then. Chances are I wouldn't bother faffing with them in those conditions though, just take the glasses off and hope not to hit anything big.