Ultracycling

And the Swiss have Génépi, which is definitely an acquired taste. Usually served from clear and suspiciously label-free bottles at the end of the evening.

I woke up some time late the next day naked on the floor of the room i was sleeping in, so lots of the things listed above sound like likely contenders.

Every euro country seems to have its own herbal spirit and/or moonshine. Some are ok. Some are like drinking petrol (leaded petrol, if you're gonna try syphoning fuel for the first time, maybe practice with water first).

Death in Race Across France. Killed by vehicle which was out of control according to the statement on this Instagram post. RIP

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfJb1nttXiU/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Collision with a vehicle, could reword that to: vehicle driven out of control collides with and kills cyclist.

Collision with a vehicle implies that the cyclist collided with the vehicle, and not the other way around.

Anyway. Shit.

It really scares me how many fatal accidents there have been with ultra cyclists lately.

I almost finished my route for the Three Peaks. I focused on safety and have quite a few small detours to avoid bigger roads. So it's not the most optimised route race-wise but hopefully less mental drain from traffic and less close passes (looking at you Italy).
Ofcourse accidents with retarded drivers can happen anywhere.

Good for you.

I really do think the days of free route races should be over.

It is interesting you say that is that because you think it encourages riders to ride on dangerous roads?

100%. It doesn't just encourage, but penalised those who don't. I'd be scared from a liability perspective as an organiser. I don't think washing your hands and saying, they planned their own route, is a defence.

I doubt if ever do one again. If I did I'd route the safe, scenic way.

Sure back roads can be dangerous too, i know that. But I think a fixed route allows - if the organiser is good - them to limit risk. Plan your own route does allow on the ground re-routing. But I think any organiser would accomodate somone who wanted to alter a fixed route as something was unsafe.

I really do think the days of free route races should be over.

I don't mind free-route events (even though I hate route planning) but why not share the routes so the hive mind or people with local knowledge can suggest removal of dangerous locations and suggest safer alternatives?

You sound like someone I know ;)

I agree. And I actually think actively disallowing it is negligent.

Because I agree with someone we know. ;)

The orgs allow input from FB randoms about "unsafe" roads that are added to banned lists, so why not allow full route sharing? Someone's great route might not be so great when others point out it's a truck route with no shoulder or has a "no bikes" section. Catching this early avoids riders having to re-route on the fly which can lead to more staring at GPS and not as much attention paid to the road.

Interesting thoughts...

I do like the route-planning aspect of TCR as I like maps and planning routes (I was the kid who would spend hours reading an atlas instead of playing football). But the safety argument is a powerful. Some thoughts:

After 8 TCRs, the best ways to get across Europe have kind of been discovered now, so - other than fairly minor tweaking in France and Germany where there are loads of route options, it's hard to get big advantages from routing. The big variations, like the ferry across the Adriatic or skipping the Alps and TTing the Po valley are very rare. It is still possible to screw up by not checking your route - like Bjorn going the wrong side of Lake Balaton and then up a mountain in Bosnia, and loads of other people in less dramatic fashion.

The ideal of total self-reliance is not realistic. I expect many / most riders to collaborate informally on their routes. And it's not a level playing field:

• people who live in, say, Switzerland, have a big advantage, as they will be more familiar with the key routes that come up every year.
  
• some people (eg Christoph Strasser) are able to go to Romania and check it out, but not realistic for most (I don't criticise him, it's good preparation and perfectly allowed, just not possible for most).
  
  

Coming back to safety, do we see many people end up on roads that are unsafe and get into a bad situation? It must happen but I haven't heard of lots of examples - your road in Romania is the one that stands out.

Another factor is that people are not always great judges of what is a safe and a dangerous road. For example, a guy who lives in Bulgaria told Anna the main road into Sofia was dangerous, but it's wide, big hard shoulder, good sight lines (and most people were on it on a Sunday and there was a screaming tailwind) - I felt it was just about the safest road I was on the whole ride. What I fear are narrow, smaller A-roads with no shoulder, lots of corners and lots of traffic.

Finally, the people who have been killed have mainly been distracted drivers on roads with good visibility (I don't know about Frank Simons / hit and run, but definitely for Mike, John Egbers and Olga) - not road sections that I would consider particularly dangerous. And two were on defined route events so, while thankfully the numbers are too small to conclude, there's no hard evidence that defined routes are safer.

I think it ultimately comes down to there being a driver out there who is going to kill each one of us because looking at phone, etc, if we are unlucky enough to be at the same place as them at the same time - ie we can't control it by making the route safer because it is the distracted or careless driver that is the threat.

I was always very careful to have a "clean" ride and I'm sure the penalties for main roads aren't enough. Somewhat ironically the only time I self-reported riding a banned thing was when I shot down a totally empty tunnel on a main road that turned out to be on their banned list (it was only afterwards when I saw a road name I remembered it and double checked).

It was empty, lit and way safer than screeching to a halt and doing the hike-a-bike alternate. But I emailed them from the hotel, copped my penalty fair and square (better than denying it and getting a DQ).

I did exactly the same

Interesting post from Strasser on facebook - on how his body responded to junk food on TCR vs his RAAM diet.
I tried to eat more protein this year, I would down a litre of yoghurt at a stop, if they had any.

Ultracycling Nutrition:
Ensure + Electrolytes vs Cola + Snickers
One of the biggest challenges in unsupported racing is nutrition. In my The Transcontinental Race I was surprised, that my body could take these crazy amounts of gas-station junk food without getting sick over more than nine days. I always had enough energy to continue riding at a good speed.
Even my power output in TCR was a bit higher than in RAAM – of course because of more sleep and more off-bike-time.
While I get my carbo-electrolyte drink “Peeroton Hi-End Endurance” and liquid nutrition “Ensure” in RAAM, which contain a well-balanced amount of carbohydrates, protein, fat and micro nutrients, in TCR I had to ride on mainly Snickers, sandwiches, white bread, Ice Tea and Coke: all of these have high sugar but nearly no proteins.
What I realized after TCR: Recovery takes much longer, I couldn't manage to return to master high-intensity rides for weeks afterwards. The most likely reason is the loss of muscle mass due to lack of protein supply and the body compensating this by drawing protein for vital mechanisms from its biggest storage... the muscle.
Would riding TCR with Ensure make me faster? Maybe.
Would recovery have been faster? Yes. I am quite sure. Recovery after RAAM is much better.
Would riding TCR with Ensure be possible? No. Because you can’t buy it in stores along the way and you can’t carry it because of weight.
What I learned from it: It is possible to ride with junk food, but the body suffers long-term from it. High quality nutrition does not exhaust you that much and recovery will happen much faster.

Yes interesting. Is there no easy way to supplement the protein along the way (other than yoghurt chugging)? Suppose he is sponsored by 'Ensure' then?

I think it's more the shit you have to eat that messes you up. Some more protein won't fix it.

First TCR I did I ate quite a lot of protein bars/shakes from about halfway onwards. Still felt terrible afterwards for weeks.

The sugar and hydrogenated fat?

I had a blood test a month after TCR (I have them regularly to monitor cholesterol as I have hereditary issues) and the doctor was concerned about diabetes, said I was borderline diabetic, which I've never had before. Also cholesterol was up.

I discussed if TCR could have been a factor (I've read that losing a lot of weight can increase cholesterol levels in the short term as the fat comes out of storage and is broken up, leading to more in bloodstream, but hard to get actual data on it).

She basically wasn't sure so will retest in a few weeks time.

Yes. And whatever else is in it.

Plus I've discussed adrenal fatigue with some doctors.

If you eat shit all the time, TCR doesn't have such a big impact :)