Ultracycling

Do you have any issues with your lower back? Might as well be coming from your back..

Looks like Josh Reid got a 12h penalty for missing a check point. Which I think drops him to 4th.

There was a very long email from PCR organisers about checkpoints and not missing them last night.

From their version of events it sounds like Chinese whispers among riders at the front assuming that missing a checkpoint would only incur a 20min penalty, which obviously wasn't quite accurate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjr_tQY7Wo

Awks

Apart from occasional tightness in the back not really. What are you thinking?

Just personal experience.. i have a bulged disc in my lower back. It doesn't cause loads of backpain but i have some numbness at my heel and outer foot. It initially started after some (for me) bigger rides with probably not ideal bike fit..there is not much i can do about it, apart from core exercises and stretching, which I am too lazy to stick to..

Northcape 4000 has a checkpoint in the center of Paris. What a shit idea.

I agree.

TCR 2 had one in Paris too, not sure exactly where it was.

NC4000 has long been a pile of shit.

Unless you know it's the thing causing the problem.

ie. my missus was having problems during AAA SR we used to train up for ALPI4000. Changed worn out shoes and pedals and she was fine and dandy for ALPI.

So, if you KNOW what the problem is, don't let it linger but don't change stuff in the hope it will fix an issue as like Frank says, there's always a risk with unknown/new kit.

Kind of rare to actually know though. Normally you just have hypotheses that you have to test .
If you know for certain what the problem is you should have already fixed it!

Problem develops in last big training ride before goal ride.

Bike fitter consulted. Solution becomes obvious - new shoes and pedals needed.

There's a risk with implementing this before goal ride but risk of change is outweighed by known issue of worn shoes + pedals. Risk minimised by buy new version of same shoes.

Conclusion: #hippyisalwaysright

NC4000 has disqualified their 'winner', for finishing faster than the time limit. Then they have three equal first finishers who all arrived together.

If you are obsessively looking for performance, you love the fanaticism and stress typical of racing, or your concept of adventure corresponds to taking reckless risks, follow our advice, DO NOT register for the NorthCape4000.

The NorthCape4000 is an Extraordinary Bike Adventure in which you have complete freedom to set your own schedule, but always keeping in mind that this is NOT a race and that we do NOT tolerate the typical poisons of competition here.

Each Participant is free to tackle the route provided by following his personal schedule, however, to be the Finisher of the event, it is necessary to cover the route completely and arrive at the North Cape within the time window provided by the organization. Participants who arrive at the North Cape outside the scheduled time window, which includes a minimum track coverage time and a time limit, will not be registered as a Finisher.

I didn't see any rules preventing riding together in my quick skim.

Riding in groups is allowed.

So, although it sounds odd, there's no real controversy here. The first rider back should've just waited before crossing the line, like an audax.

I think "Dont do NorthCape 4000" is rule number 1.

Is there a rule about the aero boost from follow cars in ultra events? It's been known about since 2015 when this paper by Bert Blocken was published https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167610515001531 This year the UCI brought in a rule that team cars must be at least 25m behind in TTs.

Even when the car obeys the 25m rule you can still get a gain, according to new research in a paper published last month by Bert. With 2 bikes on the roof carried sideways, the rider gains 2.5 secs over 22.4km at 36 kmh. If the car is 5m back the gain is 6.4 secs. (I hope I got this bit right.)

Details here https://escapecollective.com/are-bikes-on-the-roof-affecting-time-trials/

I agree, no real controversy. Just a bit different. I expect he would have needed to have waited a few hundred km back, to find food and shelter, ideally at lower than Norwegian prices and higher overnight temperatures. Apparently its £30 for a pizza and £70 for the campsite in the nearest town, a B&B is a couple of hundred and beer is £££.

Strasser entered the NC4000 last year as his back up in case TCR didn't want him. He would have been able to take a holiday cottage for a week while he waited for the finish to open!

I have no idea about supported ultras, but I don't believe there is a rule in CTT.

Here's the RAAM rules:
https://www.raamrace.org/_files/ugd/49fb96_827b7e7cf8164604884e2c2594e1cc7d.pdf

I don't see anything on a quick skim.

I expect UMCA / RAAM probably follow UCI in a lot of stuff, but presumably the impacts are a lot lower at RAAM speeds than world tour speeds, and RAAM is not decided by a few seconds here and there, so probably not a pressing matter for them.

I think "Dont do NorthCape 4000" is rule number 1.

I tend to agree. Most of what I hear about the event puts me off. But unfortunately I am a bit fascinated by the idea of riding up there. And the other option (North Cape Tarifa) is too much time and too early in the year to work for me, so I do get drawn to it...

Well don't be too fast whatever you do!

Or slow, jesus, don't do that either.

A room at the Vandrerhjem in Honningsvåg, the nearest town, is 58 euros a night and while the food is relatively expensive, it's not quite that expensive in most of the area, it's more like 16 euros for a basic pizza. A guesthouse in Kautokeino 400 km before the finish is about 70 euros and before the border in Hetta, Finland, a small cabin at a campsite was 35 euros when I stayed there a few years ago if I remember right.

That's reassuring! I was going by what I remembered from someone's write up I read a couple of years ago.