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

I prefer to sleep every night, even if it is only short. I went back to 'mostly hotels' for TCR after having bad saddle issues again in Transpyrenees. The combo of two pairs of saddle tweak, knicks, hotels w/ showers/aircon worked to keep me comparatively pain free in that area for longer. I only had my summer bivvy so was restricted a bit with where and when I could bivvy whereas for TransPyr I had my Alpine bivvy, half bag and down jacket if I needed it.

Once again I decided not to take any longs and probably got away with it except for when I bailed into hotel in St Moritz because it was down to 2-3C and I didn't want to ride into sunrise to meet my goal of getting to Italy. I do carry waterproof shorts but I'm thinking a pair of waterproof longs might be a better addition - which waterproof trousers do you use? Are they good for cycling in?

I've used LS merino base layers for TABR where it's below zero in the mountains but I don't really like them because they're bulky and a faff to get on and off. Prefer short sleeves with full zips if possible. I did wear a very thin undershirt for the whole race, same as TransP, but really could've done with taking it off. It was mostly to stop sunburn because my jersey is so thin.

moneygun.gif

It looks like GoatandTricycle isn't far from the final parcours now!

Quick look at my Revolut shows £1491 during TCR.

That's just stuff spent in forrun so obviously doesn't include bike, kit, flights, race entry, tracker, insurance, etc.

Just today I've spent £300 for replacement shit. I still have to collect what's left of the bike from @scherrit some time this week.

The trousers are made by Craft, made for riding as they have a reinforced ass and pack small as it's only one layer of fabric. But they were a bit wide and flappy so I had them narrowed and long velcro openings added so they're easy to get on with shoes on. Don't know what model they are, it only says Craft on them. They are fine. They were fine before the modifications too.

I like to use the merino base shirt for sleeping in too. And I don't like arm warmers.

Tracker service plans are so expensive there's no point in bying one if you can rent from the organiser. I think the cheapest Spot Trace was 100€ and the basic service plan has to be bought for a year or more and that's something like 180€ with taxes.

Garmin inreach can be monthly

But as I use all this gear for other rides, camping and life too, can't really count it all as race expense. And you have to eat at home too. So it's mostly just the race entry, flights, hotels. And indeed I mostly sleep out.

Taking my bike on the flight to Burgas cost 119€ and now for the train I'm in, I had to put the bike in a box and still the conductor is saying it's not allowed and I should pay a fine of 50€.

My thin packable rain jacket is now done and I sould buy something new. Maybe a new one of the same or maybe a Rab Downpour or something.

Interesting. Can you use that as the official tracker instead of Spot in these races?

I have the Trace as that was needed for NCT and it was handy for my ride accross Finland too.

Quick look at my Revolut shows £1491 during TCR.

Is that with beer or without?

When I bought mine it was cheaper. I was doing 2 races and things like TABR would require posting the tracker back to the organiser as well as paying the rental. When you factored that in, it was cheaper to buy. But then they put their prices up and other races started using different trackers. Since the last two SPOT Trace units I've had have failed I will get mine replaced and use it, but I will cancel their stupid service this year.

It probably includes some beer. The bulk of my supply was heavy lifted along the route by a couple of Chinooks and that kind of logistics is best sorted and paid for prior to the event.

https://www.craftsportswear.com/craft/sport-36b41bcf/bike/1905014-2975/

Yeah that's what I have but all black.

That spending table makes me realise doing something like this will probably be out of my reach, maybe once I've kicked the kid out and the wife kicks me out.

That's based on 18 days and it can be done a lot cheaper if you bivvy rather than hotel and if you're less concerned with a race place versus finishing (ie. you can be smarter with food buying).

Damn, L are £35 but XL are £85. #fattax

Would be only about finishing on the cheap, but still going to be a thing for a fair few years down the line.

I've had this wave of 'I want to give this a try' to 'no fucking chance I can afford it' for the last three years now. Maybe one day.

Once the whole ultra distance thing has jumped the shark.

So you only bivvy when it's dry? Or you use a tarp? Surely just the down bits isn't enough

If it's raining you can still find somewhere dry, ie. my last sleeps were in a church toilet, a bin store and someone's car garage.

Do you ask first?
Or it's the middle of the night.

The church was at night, so was the bin store. The garage was in the middle of the day but I'm pretty sure they'd understand why I was in there. I didn't actually have the bivvy out for the last two, I'd just gone inside and laid on the dirt/concrete and fallen asleep.