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The time limit wouldn't be an issue for me!
Despite all the nonsense from the organisers, it is a bit appealing, just riding across a continent, with no crazy parcours to interrupt things like the modern TCR. And if its not so crazily expensive as I thought.
The routes are a bit dull though, not many climbs, and they tend to go through cities.
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Yes, but it's still too early in the year, it's during the school term which makes it hard. And I can just about get consent to have a couple of weeks for a big event that I've always wanted to do, but saying I'm going to tour around a bit and drink lots of beer would be a harder sell domestically!
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It might be obvious that I'd say this but I'd suggest choosing to ride off road there. The area is incredible, but it's even a lot more incredible off road. The views on the coast are spectacular, but away from the coast the paved roads often take a less interesting line. For example this https://www.bikeland.fi/en/arctic-postroad-gravel-route is pretty nice on a gravel bike and the trails like these are amazing.
But yeah anyway, it's a special area and all of the roads are pretty good usually too, can be rather narrow but not much traffic.
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https://rideyrbike.com/tabns-a-way-forward/
TABR will now be Trans Am Bike Nonstop, switching to the safer route they've been using on the Bike Nonstop for the last few years.
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One of the key things about TABR was the history of the route it follows, going back to 1976. It sold itself. Also the vibe it has; the locals loved the racers coming through their small towns. Nathan should try to lean in to the rise in gravel popularity in USA like Unbound and promote the hell out of it, get a few names to ride it, people with a social presence. There are a lot of races now and Nonstop got lost in the crowd.
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Yeah, but it's like RRA records - roads change, safety becomes a bigger concern, especially when you have 100 people on the same roads.
I didn't know anything much about its history - I think the Inspired to Ride film (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4340740/) did more to attract entrants than anything else. Same as the Tour Divide. They'd both be way less popular without the docos.
These days I'm more interested in his NonStop route than the TABR route.
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Yes, safety first for sure. I'm just sad to lose TABR watching, like IPWR did. Both have their reasons. I saw them as the big ones with TCR, an outdated idea now I suppose!
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I guess. My interest in dotwatching wanes as the longer I'm out of it, the fewer people I know riding. Compound that with the annoying FOMO I get when not 'doing' an event and I'm quite happy to leave them be and watch the Tour or something instead.
Still got Doug riding TCR and @skinny lining up for SRMR but I think the most I knew about this year's TABR was from your posts. Don't think I even loaded the tracker.
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I didn't look at tabr at all this year.
I did follow tcr a bit, mainly to see what strasser was doing different, where mikko was going and if doug was hanging in there. Also I'm a bit interested when people go places I've been. Eg I checked how strasser had avoided the illegal roads going into Sarajevo.What I like most is when people do detailed write ups. Not many of those nowadays, it's all real time / insta pics, but strasser does a good write up in his strava which is worth a read.
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Yeah, I used to like reading full blown race reports. I used to write them. But when you start doing multi-day events and then back to back multi-day events all while holding onto a job it's just not possible for me to remember stuff and document it all. I saved my tweets and started writing up TCR or TABR but I just couldn't be arsed.
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Me too. Maybe everyone does the same.
I stopped doing write ups half way through my indypac one, and never got back to it. I still have loads of half formed paragraphs in my head to write about it, and subsequent events, but I just never have got round to it, and I guess I won't now!
I always enjoyed your write ups, right back to getting lost on the 24! -
I tried to update for TABR a lot less. There was very little interest this or last year.
A race is fun when there is people from here to cheer for.
frank9755 I learn lots whenever you chip in! -
double post, so might as well post this :)
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Anyone have an experience with ulnar nerve damage in the hand? I developed it in a race earlier this year, and it took several months to heal. I did another race last week and it's back and worse than before. Only ever get it in my left hand (I'm right handed if this makes any difference), all my bikes are bike fitted and I use ergon grips on my MTB. The race I did last week was on the road though, and the numbness has started further back in my hand. I'm wondering if this is something you can strengthen, or mitigate in any other way? I'm worried if I keep racing or even just riding regularly I'm going to cause permanent damage.
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yeh I had aerobars and used them a lot in this last race – they definitely helped general comfort and provided relief in my hands but unfortunately didn't mitigate the problem. I also had them on my MTB earlier in the year for an offroad race but barely used them as the terrain just didn't suit them
hippy
frank9755
Samuli
Squaredisk
cg-
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Ultracycling
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There are rules about support cars in CTT. They limit how often the car is allowed to pass a rider and you get get feeds from cars - it has to be a supporter on foot.
RAAM has a huge amount of rules for support cars - how many, how many drivers, sections of the route where the cars have to leapfrog, sections where they have to follow with their lights on... yada yada
Unsupported ultras are by definition not allowed to involve your own cars. If you gain draft advantage (and everybody does) from passing cars, it's hardly going to make enough difference in an ultra to implement rules about it and who would police it?