Transcontinental Race (London - Istanbul) - #TCRNo4

Hi guys,
I hope @skinny is going well, I'm glad to see your community supporting your local riders as the French supported me during the race.
Good Ride for all.

#152 Stephane

❤️ @Katie-Coo

You're number #152?? Stepahanee Ouaja?? Hero.

#rep

Hi Stephane - Fixed Fantastic!

Chapeau!

Stephane Ouaja, the fixed rider is well past Turin. That is an amazing ride. They all are.
There are still people pedalling away towards Ventoux.

@Keiway

Clive mentioned you already in the earlier stages!

Brilliant ride. We have been following your exploits right across Europe.

What gearing were you using?

Actually, the real question should be why? but I am very glad you did!

Hero! ♥

Well done folks - mind blowing stuff all round

@fussballclub yeah I have read the full topic this afternoon :)

@cliveo there is many reason why I have take a fixed gear bike.
I think the most suited bike you can get for a TCR is one you feel comfortable with. The longer you can ride without pain, the farther you go. That why I chooses my everyday bike for work. I remember Ultan saying he feels very good on his TT bike, still a good reason to choose a TT bike.
I also like to challenge myself, so why not, and I'm not looking for a good rank on first try TCR.
I don't have money to afford a 5k€ bike.
And last reason, I love my bike, and as a 6years old Langster, it getting old for an aluminum frame, I wanted to do one last epic ride with it, this bike took me so far and gave me a lot of pleasure.

I was using 42x15 for endurance flat, and 42x19 for power climbing Alpes.

Wanted to give some precision about the ferries strategy.
First it was about 25% less elevation than the normal route.
Next, 200-500km less than others riders route.
the ferry is during the night, others normal guys go sleep at the same time, so I'm not loosing 10hours, but more like 4-6 hours, but I gain around 200km that I don't need to ride (again a win).
If I was aiming for the win, I would not ride a fixed gear bike, and I would take the normal route where I don't need to care about an accurate timing.
At CP 2 I'm 37, and at the finish 13
Gareth who took the ferry with me did the good choice at Sofia and he reach the top8.
The ferry strategy was clearly an awesome one.

That is still quite a gear to hit the mountains with. A remarkable and impressive effort.

Leo Tong now well into Greece with 589 km to go. His Instagram writing (and pictures) seem to get better the longer he suffers.

Great write-up

27 riders still out on the road and still moving. Huge respect to David Coulton who is still going for it. Just past Venice still 447 km to CP3.

David Coulton appears to have stopped for lunch not too far from the Slovenian border. Ignoring the dots that haven't moved for days, it seems that the rider ahead of him is just about to arrive at CP4. By my calculation, this will have the intrepid David arriving a week or more after him.

Enjoy the ride, David and have a great lunch!

Thanks you guys :)

Thank you. It has been really enjoyable following this race over the past couple of weeks (and probably still for the next couple as well). Your ride was inspiring.

Yeah, I'm enjoying checking out the back markers and willing them towards Istanbul. Does #130 David Coulon have a twitter we can follow?

Couldn't find one. I think he is ex army and now works for the limbless veteran association. But I may have mis-Googled.

I'm finding it interesting watching riders go past places I've visited on holidays, Leo Tong going through Thessaloniki right now.

I wish I had the chops to do this! (Never say never)

Heavy stuff reading this simple statement from #152

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Morning update

Leo Tong is now only 357 km from the end. He rode through the night and has been stopped for the past hour. Still in Greece but should reach the border today. Could possibly finish by the end of tomorrow.He was hoping to get there tonight but now concedes that he won't. Another excellent Instagram post.

David Coulon has stopped for the past 15 hours just short of the Slovenian border. I mis-spelt his name in my Google search yesterday.. Only David Coulon I can find is a partner in PwC but nothing about him cycling.

Nine or ten riders will finish today leaving a similar number out on the road.

Leo letting the dogs out

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David Coulon is moving and in Slovenia.

@skinny is riding to Croatia and may soon be passing Leo Tong.

Go TONG!