Transcontinental Race No. 5 - TCR5 - #TCRN05 - 2017

here's the route- https://www.strava.com/activities/62544847

Anyone else keen for it?

I rode a 600 2-3 weeks before the start last year.

I had it on my list but it's the day after I return from TABR so I think I'll skip the 2017 edition.

as excuses go, that's a pretty good one.

I guess I'll see where my legs are at mid june and make a decision.

I'm hoping to do a 100, 200, 300, 400 and 600 before the start of the TCR.

Sounds like a decent progression. Get a BRM badge or whatever while you're at it.

You can get @BRM badges? Put me down for a dozen.

it seems a little silly to do an 'organised' 100k but i do like the idea of a nice badge :p

I've had a 100k on my todo list for a while. I wanted to take the missus out for one. She's never ridden that far and audax is a nice way to crack a metric tonne I reckon. I don't actually have any badges except for the 40@40 ones because they sent them out without me having to do anything but I presume I could claim them later if I was so inclined.

Do a AAA one

I'd disagree! This was a scenic ride and had a (well deserved) pub finish: http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/13-223/

The Cambridge Spring Dash is ideal for that kind of introduction.

There was enough home made cake at the finish to sink a battleship, and that was after the two best organised cafe/pub stops I've ever seen on an Audax.

Cambridge Spring Dash

Noted, cheers.

People who've been offered a place - have you got the invite and the link to deposits etc? I haven't got anything yet, and the two weeks they mentioned in the email is up on Monday...

Don't worry. Things with TCR often happen a bit slower and later than stated.
Just sit back and relax. :)

Thought that would be the case :), very chilled - just told too many people to now miss out!

Cheers

It's not out yet.

"TCRNo5 Riders:

Deposit payment forms should be live a little later this week. There'll be an email today to say the same. Make sure you have us allowed by your inboxes or you'll may need to check your junk email. There's still a few people who haven't opened their acceptance/declined email it seems. You can also log in on the registration.transcontinental.cc site and you should see the form when it is available."

Just a heads up - the price for taking a bike on Eurostar is going up very soon, according to their dude on the phone I just spoke to.

Looks like I'm on the 18.04 out of London to Brussels on Thursday 27th, if anyone is heading out on the same train...

Growing tired of these profiteering fuckers. They're not charging extra for strollers or big suitcases, why bikes? I'm likely to ride over I reckon.

In other news, some cheeky fucker already did TABR and TCR in the same year:

62 15d 16h 45m 110: Andi Buchs 75-68-63-66-62
Andi deserves special recognition as this year’s toughest guy of major bikepacking races, having completed the Trans America Bike Race (about 7000 km) about one month before doing the Transcontinental Race (4000 km), both in very respectable times. He was one of only a few people who took the Julier pass between CP2 & CP3 instead of the far more popular Albula Pass.

apparently they tried it recently and had to back down after a huge no. of complaints. It might happen again but I didn't want to risk it.

It's only supposed to be an extra £20 on top of the current £30 each way but they're trying to charge extra for boxed bikes as well. When you're at £50 each way just for the bike, flying starts to look like a more attractive option.

yeah - considering that BA don't even charge for a bike, I wonder how they are rationalising this as a smart business choice. I hope they see sense.

Actually, you just reminded me that I have eleventybillion frequent fondler points with BA. I might be able to wangle a silly cheap deal for this. Might do the cardboard bike box thing this time. I'll be less precious with the Kinesis by July I reckon.

Fuck flying. They'll loose your bike or brake it. Not worth the risk.

agreed - I don't mind flying home but putting the bike on a plane the day before the race is just too much of a risk for me.

There's a "triple crown" for off-road ultra shit... http://www.bikepacking.net/triple-crown-of-bikepacking/