Ultracycling

I've not looked into it but that one might fall foul of my principle of not entering events that take longer to get there and back than they take to ride!

Even from Germany it must take while to get to Albania. I wonder if there'll be a lot of entrants?

Feels like with riders like Marin out there they could be hoping for a few more to take his approach? Hell of a luxury to have the time to ride / train out to Albania and back though!

I said to a friend gets a bit existential. Aren’t Lost Dot a British organisation, why are they running an event in the Balklans would be my first question

A few of the LD race organisers I've spoken to aren't based in the UK and travelled to eg TPR or back from TCR by train.

I guess they've figured out there's a way to get to Albania overland, just if you're going to enter you have to REALLY want to enter.

That's a very good point!

Fundamentally what the TCR does, which involves lots of one way movement of people across Europe, is not very environmentally friendly, nor is running events in southern Europe that are mainly entered by northern Europeans. The rest of the holiday industry does that as well so they're not doing anything worse, but the green aspirations don't sit too comfortably with what they actually do.

After the 2022 TCR they did a sustainably questionnaire to the riders, asking what they could do to reduce their carbon footprint. I said the big thing was to make it start and finish in the same place, and for that place to have good rail links and be near to where most riders live.

Making it an out-and-back would take away a lot from the core proposition of the TCR, to ride across a continent (but they have moved away from that quite a bit already with zig-zag routes and hike-a-bike parcours) but good to think outside of the box if you really want to change.

With this new one, they could have put the start and finish somewhere like Zagreb and had a couple of days' ride out and back as part of the event. Or they could put on a coach. Basically they could take some of the responsibility for the carbon footprint rather than pushing it all on to their customer.

I had a quick look in Google on how to get to Shkoder and it didn't have any ideas!

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I reckon Dubrovnik would probably be the place to aim for, then probably ride over from there. But when I looked it was basically try and get a train as far as Vienna, then some sketchy-looking buses down via Zagreb, which I assume would require careful checking on bike carriage policy. From London it looked like at least a day and a half travelling.

Good luck finding insurance with a no fly reparation policy.

After I posted I looked at it a bit more and saw that google could get me to Budva in Montenegro in just under 2 days. And I once cycled from Budva to Shkoder in a day.

That included a Flixbus leg from Zagreb down to Dubrovnik. Flixbus have bike racks so that bit might work (for maybe four people per bus - how many entries are they expecting?), but it also included a Globtour Croatia bus. I checked their bike carriage policy the other day, and it says they take bagged/boxed bikes in winter but not in summer as they are too busy! If you pack your bike small and ask nicely, you might get on, but no guarantee.

Obvious answer is to all buy new bikes with couplers ;-)

I think rinko is the way. Don't need a new bike, just to be able to take the forks out.

As an aside, I enjoyed / felt stressed about this guy's journey to and from TCR / PBP via sustainable means.

Looks like there's ferries from bits of Italy into Albania too.

https://www.randonneurs.fi/intermodal-cycling-trip-around-europe-2023/?fbclid=IwAR3ygtCtEgZ4kN1oSoBHepV334nu34DAhM-LH21kAfDR-ZefhswBCNFFoSw

Mikko, he does this every year. Rations himself to one flight per year.
One time he went straight from the TCR finish to Kirgyzstan for SRMR, which he did on his road bike.
I guess the idea is #BeMoreMikko!

I thought about the ferry from Italy. I assume that is how the organiser, Andrew Philips, gets there as he lives in Italy.

not entering events that take longer to get there and back than they take to ride!

British Time Trial scene. :)

"We're happy to confirm your spot in the 2024 edition of MittelgebirgeClassique."

Well done! But how are you going to get there..?

You sure the 9:01am Eurostar to Brussels takes bikes? That would help me. How do I book?

Might help @hippy as well, there is a 15:51h Aachen arriving Mannheim 18:23h.

"You can book a space for your boxed bike by emailing travelservices@eurostar.com. ⚠️ This service is only offered on selected services between London and Paris and London and Brussels."

What is boxed?

"As well as allowing passengers to transport large bulky items, Eurostar’s oversized luggage service was also the main way to transporting cycles on the train service. From 1 June 2023, Eurostar has confirmed to Cycling UK it will now carry fully assembled and boxed or bagged bikes on its services between London and Brussels (see table below) and between London and Paris for boxed bikes.

Departure station

Time available for cycle carriage

London to Brussels

9116: 09:01 departure
9132: 13:01 departure
9142: 15:04 departure

Brussels to London

9117: 08:52 departure
9125: 10:52 departure
9135: 12:56 departure
9141: 14:52 departure
9153: 17:56 departure

It joins the Eurotunnel service operating out of Folkestone for cycle-rail travellers wishing to reach the European continent.

The train operating company has also told Cycling UK it is hopeful to offer a similar service for fully assembled cycles to Paris in the near future and Amsterdam by 2025 following station developments.

This follows nearly three years of no cycle carriage due to the impact of the pandemic, and the inherent difficulties of managing an international service over four borders with different entry policies relating to the coronavirus and border requirement changes following Brexit.

A limited service for journeys between London and Paris began on 25 January 2023 for passengers who travel with their own pre-boxed bikes, with four bike boxes/bags allowed per train where oversized luggage carriage is available (see table below). Eurostar is working closely with customs officials in order to match its service to Brussels and hopes to be able to carry fully assembled bikes in summer 2023.

Other destinations such as Amsterdam currently face space restrictions that do not permit cycle carriage or oversized luggage until Eurostar moves to a larger terminal in 2025. In the interim, the company is investigating options to support travellers with bicycles and oversized luggage, which is likely to involve travelling via Brussels.

Departure station

Time available for cycle carriage

London to Paris

All trains from 07:55 to 15:31

Paris to London

All trains from 11:13 to 18:13

Border restrictions following Brexit have added to the complications for the international train service which have prevented the carriage of non-boxed bikes to Paris. Currently fully assembled bikes cannot be carried on Eurostar for security reasons, however the train operator is looking to find a solution which will allow their carriage again.

Following a recent meeting in May 2023, Cycling UK has good reason to believe Eurostar is doing all it can to return to its pre-pandemic level of service which allowed for the carriage of assembled bikes to all main termini. We will look to update this page, our members and the cycling community as changes are made to the service.

The charity hopes to report more positive news as it does not see the current level of service as adequate as a long-term solution for cycle tourists.

For those looking to travel with their bikes on Eurostar, your bicycle needs to be registered as oversized luggage, and booking is a two-tier process. You must book either your train ticket first, and call or email separately to see if there is space on the train you want to take, or vice versa. A form is then provided for you to fill in and a link for payment to carry your bike should be dispatched. "

https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/eurostar-re-opens-cycle-carriage-brussels#msdynttrid=UO1co9lkBzlXTF4zwG1mDHYh1LjKyGfWYXrisWBRpCE

What is boxed?

A big fuck off plane, obvs.

Eurostar is doing all it can to return to its pre-pandemic level of stupidity with its two-tier booking process

But now I could get our fully assembled bikes to Germany for MC2024 using trains?

Should probably take this to Bikes on Trains or Eurostar thread.

Pure Peak Grit

Starting on Saturday 29th June 2024, the event will take in the iconic route, which will be around 600km in length, with around 13,500m of ascent. Taking in over 40 of the Peak District’s most fearsome climbs, this is the UKs hilliest ultra distance road cycling event.

Unfortunately on the same date as NC 600k and Kernow and South West 600k events.

Come on peeps, can you not spread the love a bit with the 600s. Some of us would like to ride more than one...

I've seen a few long distance people talk about nutrition and a popular thing I have seen is meal replacement stuff. If anyone is particularly keen i have about 85 bottles of ensure plus juce in apple flavour. It expired last month (10/2023) but I would imagine is completely fine.

Looking over the Via race (https://via-race.com/) and it certainly looks an interesting route.

I find it interesting that in audax, as an organiser myself - you need to cut your teeth organising 200s, 300s etc before you can just throw down a 1000km event in the calendar - 'brevets are not to be taken lightly', as I think the language goes.

No such hurdles to jump in this space it would seem, in that you can draw up a 4000km route and charge 400E or whatever entry costs right off the bat. I don't know if I know who the organiser of Via actually is, though that of course might just be my own ignorance it certainly doesn't seem obvious.

Of course there's no official governing body and these are commercial events that succeed or fail on the strength of their marketing, but the requirement to put trust / almost 2 weeks of your life in the hands of unproven / unknown organisers feels bold. Not throwing any shade on Via at all, by the way - I've just used them as an example here as I'm suddenly seeing a lot of their stuff around social media.

I guess more and more players will enter the space as these events become more commercially viable, trackers become cheaper and so on - more potential riders, more entries, more 'endurance' bikes and kit sold etc, more mapping apps and kit brands sponsoring/subsidising and it's ultimately down to the rider to decide whether or not to take the punt.