Transcontinental Race No. 7 - TCR7 - #TCRN07 - 2019

That's where the OGs have this idea of what self-supported means but the newbies don't and try and find ways around it since it's not clearly defined in the rules.

Some of the people that tried to use it didn't get through though and lost time rerouting.

Yeah some, but not all. All of them should've been docked a day for breaking the law.
Getting away with breaking the law doesn't mean you're not breaking the law.

Problem is grey areas. Seems clearly not in the spirit to have packages waiting/ meaning you don't have to carry as much, less so if it was a part that needed ordering to meet you somewhere in the 2 days it might take to deliver. At least to me as a newbie.

I agree with Samuli that it's important to talk openly about the spirit of the race, so that we're not just looking at the rules to determine what's allowed. Mike's video on youtube
is really clear about wanting to avoid a situation where every possible scenario has to be covered by a great big rule book.

Weird it replied to you. I pressed on Frank.

Yes I assumed we were talking about tcr. I can see why there would be confusion to a noob due to different events.

I'd say it would be great if all of these events and participants adopted the same interpretation. Though some fatbikers doing ITI might disagree, as that's a rather different environment. But some do that too without sending anything ahead.

Seems like that will change for future editions

My fault for not making it crystal clear what’s in the spirt and
what’s not so everyone is on a level playing field. My bad last year
and no blame or accusation should pass onto Brad and Matt. I would in
the future mention this as I like riders to carry everything and find
beg or borrow on route. Broadens the adventure.

link

Yes, that's what I remembered reading.

i let another rider ride with me for a few hours in the night on TCRno5 - she'd run out of batteries for her main front light.

I said no initially but she persisted and I felt bad about leaving her there in the dark. I never grassed her up but I was pretty annoyed about it. I gues ultimately there was nothing I could do to stop her except drop her (which I probably could have done, she wasn't riding fast but that felt 'wrong') or call the race and tell them.

I'd say it would be great if all of these events and participants adopted the same interpretation

For that to come about it would probably need some kind of governing body which would set the rules. It might move to that at some point in the future, as it matures.

Riding side by side for a few hours is fine, but if she is relying on your light that would obviously be against rules. And unfair to you if you are slowing down so she can keep up.

Official position would be she should surrender her card to you. I wonder if it has ever actually happened in practice

Should have told her to do one. Its unsupported.
Nothing to feel bad about.

Her fault. Her problem.

Somewhere in Albania someone told me he gave a spare tube to another racer. When I told him that it is against the rules he smiled and said "Hey, we're all in this together :). Where is he going to find another tube here?" I told him it's still not ok but he told me I was exaggerating.

This scenario is literally in the manual and the questionnaire when entering and some people still don't care.

Maybe I'm being unfair.
There are some grey times. When it's upto the racers at the scene.

But still...

Has anyone heard when the next version of the manual is likely to appear? I'd like to spend more time planning my route but, until the locations are nailed down, it might be wasted. I've not heard anything but I expect they will be busy on TPR applications for the next few weeks so I'm not expecting it very soon - but hope I am wrong.

I hope it comes out too. Have been using the cold weather as an excuse to ride a bit less and concentrate on my route. Hopefully, I will only have to amend the parcours as we know the approximate location of each of the controls.

Maybe I'm being unfair.

There are some grey times. When it's upto the racers at the scene.

But still...

It is hard to get it exactly right all the time, which is the weakness of the principles-based approach. And to be honest, there is more of an attitude of us all in it together in the middle of the race that there ever would be at the sharp end where you have been where someone challenging for a win cannot afford not to be totally clean.
When the guy in Australia asked me for a cable tie, I could have said no. We didn't have brevet cards so I couldn't ask him for that, but, if I had done I reckon he would have just told me to fuck off, got one from someone else and formed a less favourable impression of pommies than before. Also, it's a little bit different out there as, while he could get another one in the next town, the next town is 2,500km away.
When one guy asked for and received minor help from another in front of me in 2016, they joked about assistance, so they were aware of what they were doing but clearly considered it to be too minor. I could have made an issue of it but I expect they would have thought I was being a dick. So the prevailing culture won't necessarily get to the right result.

Tweaking the start will be fairly easy.
The main issue is where the parcours for CP3 finishes. It might mean having to go via Switzerland rather than the Po valley.
Also, I expect there will be a finish parcours. Ideally they will take us into Brest by the old bridge as PBP did last time and then the harbour, like they did the time before, and stay down there as it is the only half-decent part of Brest. But the start of the parcours will influence what is the best route across France. So there are at least three stages not worth planning properly yet.

It might mean having to go via Switzerland rather than the Po valley.

The manual says that the intention is to force riders to avoid Po valley.

not worth planning yet.

Nailed it.

I started the discussion on the TAW FB about those guys shipping things ahead. It's a perfect example of a grey area that Adrian has now clarified (on a private FB group that everyone racing might not read).

I'm aware it has been done in some races (Trans Am) but is explicitly against the rules in others. So I think it's more complicated than saying the answer will be clear. They did it and then wrote about it in a blog post, so they obviously didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

I'm pretty sure Adrian has edited his comment and originally it said that they asked him if it was ok prior to the race. I think it is pushing into the area of unfair advantage as I would not risk losing hundreds of pounds worth of kit if it didn't arrive in time, but for a sponsored rider, it's fine.

Yes, but Mike thought he had done that in 2016. He didn't know how much further some people were prepared to ride for flat roads!

Well done for flagging it. It's not what most people would consider to be the spirit of these events.

It was more about getting clarification rather than calling people out. I think it’s better that it’s against the rules, otherwise people could just post energy bars, recovery powder and clean bibs to every checkpoint.

I seem to remember @hippy making a solid argument for why it’s not ok to book accommodation in advance but can’t seem to find it. Can you remind me?