Atlas Mountain Race

He could have covered the distance faster if he slept 1h30 each night.

Might just've wanted to test/push limits.

Just to add marathons also have issues of hyperthermia - people can consciously push their exertion beyond biological safeguards, especially in marathons where pacing removes another safeguard in that people usually self limit/regulate their activity levels and but keeping pace pushes past this

Re sleeping bags, good to know, just my two cents from following event medicine, this being the first ultra I've ever followed
Just a concern that in a field where pushing yourselves to extremes is rewarded, not everyone will be able to hit these levels of focus/exertion safely if sport keeps growing - I'm also coming from a safety conscious perspective of worrying about the long term health effects - might sleep deprivation be seen in the same light as repetitive concussions in sports?
Otherwise smashing ride! - I still appreciate how these races show an aspect of human performance and grit like nothing else and wouldn't want to see that watered down

It's hard. You can ride it all on 40c tyres, but doing that in the dark after 4 daya racing will not be easy and you will get more fatigue.

Sofiane was on a niner air, so rigid with 2.2 racing ralps.

Everyone has different ideas of what is suitable. But personally my hardtail weighs less that most people fancy gravel bikes and the fork locks out, so what is the draw back? None! Then when you get to the descent you can point and shoot. Plus at 3am wheb knackered you dint need to worry about your line, I can just bulldoze over shit with a 2.4 front tyre.

This stuff is hard, why make it harder.

Gravel is just a marketing illusion

Nah. Just how he likes to ride.

Did you know the gap to Sofiane or were you just riding your own race? Well done btw :)

... that's what i call borderline triathlete

Unlike you sponsored bitches I am just using the bike I have #warrantyreplacementcrashycrashy.

If it can take 50mm tyres I'll have 50mm tyres on it.

But yeah, just seemed like a high level of problems.

JayP on insta

In hindsight I made a awful decision on riding a gravel bike with 50mm tires. This route absolutely dictates a true mountain bike size tire as the 2 riders ahead of me had.

A poor workman always blames his tools.

Blaming your tools >>>

Ha, what Thrasher saided

Tbf sounds more like he is blaming himself for choosing the wrong tools!

And that's after he has used gravel bike twice for SRMR.

The Traildonkey would have clearance for 27.5x2.2".

Nobody is going to convince me that riding without sleep for days is safe,
even on a velodrome.

Maybe all these guys should study their sleep patern,
like solo round the globe sailors do.
You need a lab.
Should be costly I guess.
And organise their race around it?

You need a lab. Should be costly I guess.

Sofiane is a bike messenger. He seems to be doing ok.

My own race especially at the start. I shed time at the beginning, I wasnt happy about it and didnt want to, but I couldnt keep up without blowing.

I guess with off-road stuff you need a higher level of focus on riding. You can't take your eye off the trail and look at the tracker, or fuck around with twitter, etc. Must be more tiring, hour after hour - especially the descents.

Yes and no.
But it is more tiring and fatiguung for sure. But also time passes quicker than boring tarmac.

It wasn't that long ago that 2" WAS considered a true mtb size tyre! :)

I think I have bigger tyres on my road bike at the moment that I raced XC with.

Now following this guy coz a non-cycling friend knows them through a workmate or something
https://www.instagram.com/lloydjwright/

It's not @skinny old bike is it?

Yeah it is the Italy divide one.

I remember racing on 1.5" specialized hardpacks, and some really skinny Ritchey Z-max, the brick red ones. :)

I don't think I went quite that skinny (Vredestein S-Licks on the road for commuting doesn't count) but they were less than 2" that's for sure. I do remember buying a 2.3" "downhill" tyre - maybe a Tioga DH? or something for the front of my rigid SS to make up for lack of suspension.
Punctured it during a team 24hr and swapped to my hardtail anyway so didn't really use it much.

Tioga Factory DH 2.3"

I bet there's road bikes out now that would fit that DH tyre :)

I fitted the same tioga dh to my santa cruz bullit.... I think they doubled the weight of the bike! 😂

When I swapped the Crazy Bob's for Racing Ralphs I think it was 1.5kg weight loss just in tyres.

Here

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