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It was in the email :
Thank you for your application to race Transcontinental No.8. Once again we were oversubscribed, this year 613 riders applied from 60 different countries around the globe 64 of whom were women.
I think there were about 650 applicants last year, and maybe more the year before that.
Your aero improvements should be worth a lot more than the weight. But it depends on if you can push yourself to do a 12 again. Not sure I could as I don't really have a reason to (otoh, a I would really like a 4 hour 100 so that's something I'd be more likely to chase after. If also like to have got my club 24 record but I'm not sure l could mentally do a 24 again).
You're right about the standard going up. I thought there wouldn't be many finishers last year and that was wrong!
frank9755-
Ah right. I can't remember what previous editions ran at. I normally tell people there's 900ish apps and 300ish get spots but maybe that was earlier editions. Wonder how many women applied last year? Has that number gone up?
Problem is my biggest aero improvements were using a helmet I don't own and getting into a position that might not be sustainable for the 12hr, let alone doable at all with my beer gut. So, the weight isn't the issue so much as the paunch I'm now trying to make disappear. Anyone got any meth?
The one thing I've got going for motivation at the moment is simply that I've targeted the 12hr. In theory that should be enough to at least get me to the start line is some kind of shape. Whether or not I can hold the necessary power at the event as well as not fucking something else up, that's another matter.
I'm surprised you've not done a 4hr 100. I thought that'd be right up your street and pretty achievable. I'll probably try and do some 100s this year just for shakedown rides with no real goal for a fast time.
The only other 'big one' for me to go for would be an 18min 10mi. I've kinda done everything else and that's why I don't race TTs so much. For me it was almost always about numbers or club records, not winning races, and once the big ones are done, chipping off arbitrary chunks of time is a bit meh compared to racing around Spain, etc :)
What's your club 24hr record? Who's got that one? Surely one for you to get, no?
hippy
I might be faster for 25mi but I'm not sure it'll translate to 12hr. I mean, some of the aero tweaks might, if I can use them, but I don't know if I'm mentally motivated enough plus I'm older and 10kg heavier than I was in 2014 and pain for an hour is easier than suffering for 12.
Romanian people were nice but the driving was next level fucked up and the fucking dogs can get fucked. If I had endless time and money I'd ride it again but sadly, I've got to focus on other stuff.
I can see the problem with flying though - people have limited holiday time so they're less inclined to take a ferry or train when they're already using two weeks to ride around country x. I already took 1.5 months of unpaid leave to do my races last year + my holiday time and as much as I'd love to not box my bike and take a ferry I was already pushing the friendship with time off. I like what GBDuro are doing with the no-fly race. I watched the EF video of Lachlan and although off-road isn't really my thing I've kinda added that to my todo list, if I'm still in the UK in a couple of years.
Yeah, the east is always good fun. Just being that little bit different makes it more entertaining than say the flat bits of western Europe. I've done the Alps a few times, racing and not and Germany both touring and racing. I liked Burgas. It helped that we happened to book around the corner from a craft beer bar :)
How do you know that? Perhaps with so much choice of events, the similarity of the route for some of the vets, etc. people backed off?
Perhaps, but everyone (except me) is getting faster/better at racing these. There's more knowledge out there so I reckon it'll be pretty similar results. Not that I've given the route more than a cursory glance, mind.