Ultracycling

I wish.

Thanks @andyp. I remember now why I used to be a frequent visitor to the LFGSS hallowed halls. The people :) I think I'll be sticking around a bit more now.

And yes, a substantial challenge make no doubt. But broken down into 3 manageable chunks, and it's a lot easier to swallow. Shorter route inbound too!.

@skinny Are you getting an entry in? ;)

Sorry I’ve other plans brewing!

Wish you the best with it though. Great to see so many races cropping up.

Great to see so many races cropping up.

No it's not! I can't do them all! Argh!

From the makers of TransAm Bike Race...
http://www.bikenonstop.com/

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28855026

What’s different?

Edit: it’s mix terrain.

No KS. I bet many will be happy about that.

Looks interesting and just saw it doesn't replace the TABR for next year which was my initial guess. What is the effort involved in organising a race like this? Seems cookie-cut from TABR and running at the same time, just different route (for gravel fans?).

I never really had issues with Kansas and it means no NBS :(

Slightly earlier. I guess if Nathan is taking time off work it's not difficult to add another week or whatever and then zigzag to cover both (if that's his plan).

Announcing Bike Nonstop US May 26, 2019
Portland, OR to Washington D.C.
We conceived this event as a shorter option that involved as much bike path as possible with bits of gravel to avoid the main highway. For tires, we'll tell you 28mm is probably too narrow and that more than 40mm is too wide. We'll tell you that bike path only runs for the less than one third of the course, and that this is still vehicular cycling on the open roads of the United States. We'll also tell you that this course features the best bicycle crossing of Appalachia and the Eastern Divide to be found. We'll tell you that paradise lies in the bike paths of Ohio, that Missouri's Katy Trail is a gem to behold, that the Wabash Trace is the nicest slice of Iowa you'll find, and that Nebraska's Cowboy Trail is 200 miles of crushed gravel across the Great Plains. To us it wasn't a question of why, but why not. The route traverses open roads out of Portland to get to more remote portions of Idaho before sneaking into Western Wyoming, unfortunately no major bike paths exist in this part of the country so we've sent it as far off the beaten path as a gravel bike could handle. If this sounds of interest, we recommend you take a look at the route in detail at bikenonstop.com

Kind of suspicious about the use of bike paths in an ultra race to that extent, but this route too, will probably be rather amazing.

Personally find it inevitable with the increase in popularity of these events and the added scrutiny it’ll bring on liability insurance.

First rule of safety is remove the risk as much as possible.

There’s also a GARGANTUAN gravel scene in America that we really don’t see, it kinda plays to that.

Yeah, and I really like small less travelled roads and gravel too. A lot. But bike paths, that are made for leisurely riding, can be more dangerous if you're riding faster. Blind corners, tight turns and bumps on the asphalt, confusing intersections. Riding at race pace. Though I'm not sure what kind of bike paths he means by that, they might be great too.

While we as cyclists know bike paths can be a death trap of wandering dogs/kids, blind corners or even worse dog leads strung across a path most insurance companies won’t know this.

They’ll see “no cars only bikes” and assume it’s safer.

I do however think this is mostly for the gravel crowd going by the tidbit above. I think it could be a great event would make planning food etc a lot harder as gravel paths tend to not go through town centres.

Indeed, that might be the future, but let's hope it's actually a good one and not just to please the insurance company. It also sounds a lot like the North Cape -Tarifa. Not too many cars on that route, we used lots of bike paths, with some pretty shit ones in Poland and maybe 300km of gravel too. And some stunning small roads and cycling routes away from other traffic, rail trails and such. And there was surprisingly few places to get food, when the route didn't go through the towns. You'd see a town and a bigger road to the same direction on the other side of a valley, but it would've taken an hour to get there and back.

And it depends on what kind of ultra event it is and how you're riding it. If you're just trying to finish, but riding at touring pace, most bike paths can be decent. But if you're racing... Nathan seems more like a bike tourer than a racer, maybe, so I wonder what kind of route he wants it to be.

Riders beginning to finish up the JO, Ochiai was first in by a distance and a bunch behind are coming in to Tokyo now from what can be made out. Still lots of riders out there, Paul Rainbow has been posting some scenic pictures of his trip so far. Also there was a fun clip of rider Hiromu Mitsumune looking too tired to think :)

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Nice video from Apidura from the Transatlantic Way this year following Bjorn and Tomy Mulledy - a messenger from london.

https://vimeo.com/299418248

Cool film, love Bjorn's attitude.

Did anyone else stick in an entry for All Points North?

http://www.allpointsnorth.cc/

Interesting that they've decided to forego the usual spot tracking and use photographic proof of checkpoint instead. Nice, simple, low tech.

This may sound like a daft question, but do any of you carry a lock on ultra races? I've got a couple of those lockable zip ties which weigh practically nothing, but could be snipped through in a matter of seconds. I'm thinking it would be enough to deter a chancer from just riding off with it, and would plan to not let the bike out of my sight, but made me wonder what other do in this respect.

I use a very lightweight cafe lock, it's no good against anyone with tools (even a decent pair of scissors I expect) but maybe it'll be good enough for a drunk idiot who decides to try doing wheelies on my bike while I'm in the shop.

On a recent audax it also enabled me to beat the cafe control bike parking congestion, by allowing me to park on a steep slope that no one else could use without their bikes rolling away.

Small cable lock.

I use this with a small padlock http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kryptonite-kryptoflex-seatsaver-76cm-cable-bike-lock/

Audaxes (including solo ones so not dissimilar to ultras) I carry one of these:-

https://www.evanscycles.com/abus-combination-lock-1150-00104608

Still easily snipped by some wire cutters but a bit more of a visual deterrent than the wire cable/cafe locks.

Weighs very little and is usually attached to a saddle rail or top of a seatsay for easy access.

Small cafe lock. Used it a few times on TCR, didn't use it at all on IndyPac