Ultracycling

I'm sure he said "next year" after we'd done the Pendle. That's why its in my calendar for 2024. Something must've changed.

Yeah, earlier this month the website still had it as running in 2024:
http://web.archive.org/web/20220603082038/https://millepenninesaudax.com/

Website changed earlier this month. I definitely had MP1K in the calendar for next year.

Oh well, July just freed up somewhat.

I don't need more experience. The more I experience the less I want to ride. :P

Probably a lot warmer though.

"Motherfokkin steep"

Sounds perfect for my hill climbing physique.

How steep are we talking? Endless 25%ers?

Ahhh weird.

I might ride APN again next year if I get a place, then if I don't I'll do the Pendle. Inverness 1200 is the other one of his I'd like to ride, I couldn't make it this year.

Inverness 1200

I had that down too but something clashed. I'll look it up now.

Also looking at https://1001migliaitalia.it/

No organiser would do that, right?

No, not that extreme. It just felt neverending with +5000vm per day and sections of +15%. I live in Ghent, the only climbing close to home are the max 1km long bergs in the flemish ardennes. So I'm not used to/trained for longer climbs.

No organiser would do that, right?

You've not met @skinny then?

Fair enough. I live in London and grew up in a flat desert (some might say dessert #hippyisfat) so I'm quite familiar with the challenge of climbing anything, really.

We did MdS last year which was 1000k and a bit more climbing but I think maybe had longer climbs rather than more shorter steeper ones. I run MTB gearing these days for this reason.

Entries are open, but I don't think I can swing it. I'm doing Liège Bastogne Liège with some clubmates a couple of weeks before. I could bin that to do another ultra but I've entered now and don't like dns'ing stuff / changing my mind, or else everything unravels.

I've got the OK to do something in may, so either skinny's one or B-hard, and another in July/August.

I'm sure it's hilly but it's not going to be harder than Pendle, TCR parcours, Alps, Pyrenees, etc.

I've ridden in the black forest and it was certainly hilly but I wouldn't say it was the hardest thing I've ever done.

It doesn't seem to have a time cut, so that makes it easier than Pendle in that regard. It can't compare to TCR. It's more like MdS or Transpyrenees but with smaller climbs. I've ridden a bit in Germany (TCR and touring), I mainly want to ride in the Vosges.

Whatever, it's sold out already so we can stop thinking about it for another year!

I'm a bit Vosges-curious too. I have a half-formed plan to do a 4-5 day DIY ride down there at some point. It's just about in range from Dieppe.

Not exactly...

1 Attachment

You've entered? Well done.

I mean, I think so. They've not got my money so I dunno if I'm in or not.

Assuming I'm in, I'll probably fly to Frankfurt (another reminder that Brexit was fucking dumb) and train down to wherever the start is via Mannheim or Heidelberg

If I'd done it I was thinking of just driving it. A shitty long day but no bike disassembly.

900k / 10hrs

I probably wouldn't drive that in a day. I'm not into long haul driving at all. Used to do 6hrs to see parents pretty regularly but that was enough to make me realise I hate it. So then I'd have to add two days to each side of the trip. Besides which, I'm trying to get rid of my car! :D

It's a bit further than I thought.

In that case what I would do is get my rinko bag plans finalised so I can take my bike as carry-on luggage on Eurostar and every other train.

While I like that approach, I'm not buying another bike just because train companies attitudes to bikes are total shit.

8hrs on trains would be a pretty nice journey, really. Just Brexitstar bike policy ruins it.

8:50 AM
St Pancras International

9:31 AM
St Pancras International
Eurostar Paris Nord
2 hr 17 min

12:48 PM
Gare du Nord

1:09 PM
Gare de l'Est

3:35 PM
ICE9553 Frankfurt(M)Hbf
2 hr 26 min (2 stops)

3:41 PM
Kaiserslautern Hbf

4:04 PM
RB69(13803) Fürth(Odenw)
23 min (non-stop)

4:16 PM
Neustadt (Weinstr) Hbf
RB51(12415) Karlsruhe Hbf
7 min (2 stops)

4:23 PM
Maikammer-Kirrweiler
Walk
About 26 min, 1.1 mi

4:49 PM
Weinstraße 622

I don't need another bike. I just need to either take the forks out, or even just rotate them might be enough. I need to get the length to 85cm, but apparently they're not too strict. Then put it in a bag.

Forks out will definitely do it. I'd probably have to unbolt the brake caliper, but that doesn't look like a big deal. Rotated will get to about 95cm which might be enough, and wouldn't need to take the caliper off.

That looks far too complicated, you can go gare de l'est - kaiserslautern - Neustadt an der Weinstrasse

Or via Karlsruhe or Mannheim (no need to go as far as Frankfurt and then come back on an RB)

Homepage says 160 registrations but only 100 spots. So they'll be reviewing the applications.

If anyone is hot on black forest/Vosges/Jura, there is a superrandoneée called Belchen satt.
Homepage in the true spirit of audax: https://www.audax-breisgau.de/superrandonnee/uebersicht

On the Germany is boring, think that's a bit unfair if you only zoomed from Belgium through the flatlands to the Alps.
Black forest definitely is fun and the other Mittelgebirge I know are also ok.

First of all, thank you for your registration. We are super exited about over 160 registrations in just under four hours, which we definitely did not expect.
What happens next?
We will begin by reviewing the flood of registrations. As mentioned before, we have a limit of 100 participants...
Unfortunately, this means that there will already be a well-filled waiting list. This means that only two-thirds of those registered will have a guaranteed spot, while the rest will need to be patient. Based on our experience, there will be a certain amount of cancellations, so there is hope for those on the waiting list to still have a chance.
The email confirming the starting spots will be sent to you in the next few days.

Could just ride the route any time I want. Just like the social aspect of a bunch of stressed/tired bike nerds on one route :)

Actually, yeah, I didn't really look at the bike. There might be enough slack (or I could add a longer hydro cable) to allow the forks to be removed so it might be possible (if messy) to meet the size requirements with hydraulic discs. Aerobars are awkward, but I guess they'll sit mostly parallel to the frame - do you know the width limit of Poorostar?

It was just me bashing in my house and the start address into google. Thanks for the suggestion though. If I get in and decide to train it, I'll need to remember this thread :)

Another option might be to ride over, fucking off Poorostar and getting trains from France. Slower but could be fun.