Transcontinental Race (London - Istanbul) - #TCRNo4

It would seem Josh is following Skinny. The volvo is probably on a motorway or something.

riding Muddy Hell on a Boris Bike trumps the Dunwich Dynamo

Oh my.
It does!

The ferry does mean less miles cycled. It's faster not to use the ferry, but for the people who aren't aiming to win it's one option that helps get a big block of sleep in mid-ride.

Rivoli to Vukovar =~ 1200km (avoiding motorways)

Rivoli to Ancona =~ 590km
Split to Vukovar =~ 430km

(I picked Rivoli as most people went through it anyway)

So that ferry saves ~180km, but it's an 10h45 crossing, which is why it's faster to cycle.

Split or Zadar??

One of the disadvantages I see with TransCon over TransAm is route choice. You can lose the race through no fault of your own simply because you picked a different route that might be affected by roadworks or something unpredicted whereas the TransAm route is fixed.

So that ferry saves ~180km, but it's an 10h45 crossing, which is why it's faster to cycle.

Unless you're taking 10:46 to ride ~180km at the time.

@Greenbank And you have to wait for a ferry.

Split or Zadar??

Zadar isn't an option. Split or Hvar (which is further away from Vukovar than Split).

or the rollapaluza hill climb!

Really rooting for Skinny, but surely this lack of sleep is going to catch up with him sooner or later? Josh Ibbett has had 3 3-4 hour stops, and presumably grabbed a bit of shut eye. According to this Skinny's longest stop has been about 1:28. In total, Skinny has only had 7:39 off the bike while Ibbett has had almost 18.

Presumably, for Ibbett to be only ~40km behind, his rolling speed must be higher or his route has been better?

GO SKINNY!!!!!

And presumably your average speed after a 10h45 sleep is higher than if you had simply powered on.

@skinny 's fight or flight metabolism (as consequense of no low sleep) is a little too exciting to watch #covermyeyes

Yeah, I dunno, this is the issue I mentioned with route choice. Being the faster rider but losing because you picked a worse route would suck. It doesn't matter how much research you do, there could always been changes in road conditions that ruin it for some riders.

I think that is what makes it a really exciting race. It isn't just about cycling fast its about travelling and navigating fast. Gives it a wacky racer feel. Different type of race though isn't it

Ten and a half hours sleep Vs having to ride 180km (8-9hrs??) and having to find some sleep on the road. Sure the land route will be faster for the front runners, but I'd guess we'll se more people aiming for the ferry as the middle of the pack come through.

Obviously you'd need to time it right, and it doesn't account for the difference in parcours from Split - CP3 but still, the ferry doesn't seem that silly to me - I'd probably take it.

Totally agree. Is more an adventure race rather than a pure endurance test. Great event.

Good luck skinny!

Easy to say that from here but if you lost by 20k because of roadworks or something after busting a gut for a week? It's one thing knowing you're physically weaker and accepting a loss, it's another losing because of something out of your control.

Agreed. It does add an element of luck and potential unfairness into it, so less of a pure speed/distance cycle race, but the navigating element makes it more interesting/exciting adventure race to follow.

And yes, true, easy for me to say that from my desk here...

losing because of something out of your control.

Losing control is a big winner

And, to be pedantic, you'd be pretty gutted if this happened between you and the rider in front and you were both on the same route...

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That's why you have to ride at the front, all the big team in the tdf do it

90 minute sleep cycles x 5 a day.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jul/23/nick-littlehales-the-man-who-taught-cristiano-ronaldo-how-to-sleep

Bunny hop, no prob.

I might get Skinny's face tattooed on my leg/face/whole body

Then make him my friend.