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

Yes, keeping an eye on goatandtricycle and Lulu Drinkwater because she took such an interesting route. In fact just checked TABR and 78 year old Thomas Camero is still out on the road. It's funny when the attention goes from the top finishers, but there are still people out there riding their race and having adventures.

Lulu is my hero, I need to fix up her other bike this week though as it looks like she'll be done soon.

^ Yep, Lulu is cool, I rode with her for 30 kms in Bosnia :)

It works for me.

Read James Wilson's site, the guy who designed the big pedals. He runs through loads of questions people have and the answers. Stiff shoes is one. He reckons that you don't need them if you have a big pedal. I partly agree with that but would ideally like something stiffer. I want to try some sod shoes with no cleats but didn't find comfortable ones in time for TCR.

I've got a list of the shoes I tried, will paste.

Here's list. I bought a couple more after but it didn't change the general picture. I won't need any new trainers for a year or ten.

I got:
sports direct trail running shoes. These are really comfortable but they have chunky heels so not right for cycling. Just got them as experiment and they were cheap - got me into the idea of trail runners.
Salamon Acro - kept these and use them for messing around in. They are comfortable. Actually wearing them now, but used them for a turbo session and I thought the soles were a bit thin.
Inov8 Terraultra 260 Trail Running Shoes - These are what I think I'll use for TCR, but not done a long ride or a hard session in them yet. I got some that had zero heel drop. They are really comfortable and can't feel the pedal.
Shimano touring SPD shoes, but to use without cleats. These were crap as I could feel the SPD attachment plate - returned
Mavic SPD shoes. Similar - returned
Giro Chamber shoes. SPD. These could ahve been good but they already had the cleat hole formed, and it was massive - no plate to go over it. - returned
Specialiazed 2FO - their version of 5-10s. These had softer soles than the 5-10s - returned.
Northwave version of five tens, was going to use them but decided not at the last minute, can't remember why.

Yes I've been happy with them. Slightly narrower than the advertised 35mm, nice to have that bit more of volume but still feels like a road tyre. No punctures.

Did anyone try Conti Sport Contact, I'd be interested to see how they compare to these? I've tried the Sport Contact in 32mm and really liked them, but they rubbed slightly under my mudguards, so I changed them out. If I got larger guards, the Urbans might be an interesting choice.

I cycle with these pedals and a pair of xero sandals. The soles are hard rubber and completely flat, also very floppy. The size of the pedals makes this combination work great. I wouldn't use a squishy sneaker, but i reckon you really don't need something with a stiff carbon sole on these pedals at all. I think using shoes that don't raise the heel, helps as well.

xero sandals

Interesting.

Agree you don't need stiff soles but what I find a bit unpleasant is when you can feel the rear edge of the pedal clearly through the sole.

For me, the Innov-8s worked ok once I put Specialized (blue) insoles in them. That made them stiff enough. With the stock insoles I could feel the pedal too much.

@GoatandTricycle now into Brittany and stopped for an extra breakfast. Seems to have opted for a hilly route across France.

Doug has finished - great effort given he is now 62.
I rode for half an hour with him on the first morning, after I crashed and lost time. I didn't ask him for help or advice, but it was still good to come across the only emergency doctor I know after having clattered my shoulder!

Pinged him congrats last night when he finished.

Hilly route across France might be a good idea given the wind was fucking everyone up anyway.

I've had a pair of the Sport Contact too, though in a bigger 42mm size, that also measured slightly narrow. They were nice tyres but felt heavier and slower than the Gp Urban. They were something like 600g per tyre while the Urban are 330g or something, someone was saying they're actually lighter than conti says.

Yeah at least here on the north coast (saint brieuc right now) it's still pretty windy, though not stormy anymore. Also rainy, but not all the time.

The Huelgoat forest along the parcours and pbp route was really nice yesterday, as we're slowly finding our way to Paris for PBP. In a car and train though.

Read James Wilson's site

Yeah, I skimmed it ages ago when first looking into these but I think I just need to get a set and try them out. Then I'll know if they work and what I need to do to make them work. Maybe I could use Transiberica as the testing ground... :S

Sounds like flat trail running shoes are where it's at.

Thanks for the list. I'll have a look through when I'm more committed to the idea.

Shouldn't have started following this thread/dotwatching.

I'm a shit rider but anyone willing to share his kit list on here? Going to start looking for other blogs but want to get some rough idea of cost if I want to commit myself to something like this..

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/337222/ might be a useful place to start. The winner's kit list was also posted just a page or so back.

thanks! also just realised kit list is something personal but I keep wondering if I'll be able to do this physique wise but also money/time wise. Probably should start riding my bike more and reading more interwebz.

Doug is >60 and finished last night. It's less about physical ability and more about a desire to finish. Ride more, ride some longer stuff and overnight stuff and see what happens. You might find you like the adventure, you might find it sucks.

Hilly route across France might be a good idea given the wind was fucking everyone up anyway.

True, but he had actually stopped as he needed new brake pads = too many hills!

I swapped my front pads in France. I've never had to swap pads during a TCR before. Metal ones too.

Mikko posts his kit list before every tcr. Having participated and finished every edition so far he might have sorted it out.

https://www.randonneurs.fi/transcontinental-race-2019-complete-kit-list/

He carries things like a camera stand and I'd die if I used his sleep setup.

After some basics, it's totally personal what to carry and the only way to find out what works is to pack a bike and test some stuff. Reading enough kit lists beforehand can save you some money on wasted kit purchases but it's hard to know what you can get away with/without until you try. Conditions and terrain also dictate clothing and sleeping selections. My setup has changed every race.

Mikko's sleep strategy is to struggle two nights with short not that great sleep and then a hotel for the third night. And then repeat.

I mostly sleep outdoors with a regular rhythm. I had a half sleepingbag and down jacket but no bivy. I had rain trousers and waterproof shoecovers which many probably didn't. A long sleeve merino baselayer instead of armwarmers, as I've had before. Rather personal choices indeed.

How much do people spend during the race, on food, accommodation, extra food etc?

about £40/£50 on food per day, which was almost exclusively eating things on the bike with food from service stations

Lots of info to be found on the ridefar.info site https://ridefar.info/races/costs/