Transcontinental Race No. 7 - TCR7 - #TCRN07 - 2019

wet and cold

Probably also the wettest TCR, maybe the coldest too.

Vranje to the alps

Yeah, that was pretty flat but other than heading into Sofia I didn't think the roads were as busy as some of the ones I'd been on in previous editions. I'd need to see a side-by-side of our routes to see where we both went. I think my route was a similar distance to yours with maybe a bit more climbing. I think it was the second hardest route on paper but probably the hardest in practice due to my wonderful ability to find all the stormy weather.

The wettest of the ones I've done and probably coldest.

Here's my route profile. Spot the bits that I planned vs the parcours!

Great flat track DC with tailwind into Sofia
A fair bit of traffic on the A1 in Serbia (although I had to come off it for a few km as there was a cars only sign)
Busy road with lots of trucks in Vovodinja (north of the Danube to Novi Sad) - this bit was really fast.
Quite a lot of traffic on the run through Croatia - Slovenia - Austria. Tried the Osijek bypass but had to come off it as there was a cars only sign (Kristof and Josh Ibbet have used it in the past, so may be new) for the DC section - and the SC section wasn't fast as headwind.
But then was busy all the way to Klagenfurt.

The only time I thought the E-W was a factor was the final run into Brest. It was hella stormy. I'm used to fighting headwinds and shit coming from a flat desert but I've not often been blown around with such force for so long. It was kind of a freak weather day though

I spared a thought for the TCR racers on Friday. I'd planned to go for a ride on the way back from a work trip but the 38 degrees plus the high winds anywhere outside the valleys just made it seem like a really bad idea. So I had a couple of beers instead.

Kudos for riding through it.

Mine's all chopped up and I don't have the totals I calculated.
I chose to go through Italy which added 1000m but saved 50k but other than that I thought it was flat enough. The one obvious fuckup was the day before the climby climby parcours when I went over some 15% climb cutting a corner where most people went the two long sides and saved this stupid climb.

I'm still over 4000k and 44,000m

That's what you said before the start. I remember being surprised how hilly it was!

Right. So, similar distance but you had 5000m less climbing. Where was the reduced climbing though? I did Italy which was (just checked again) almost 2000m extra climbing (Mont Cenis) to lose 66k compared to my Swiss option.

There were a couple of road closures which would've added to my climb too.

Remember I spent fuck all time optimising my route. I can't sit in front of a PC all day and then again all night staring at maps.

In hingsight I should've gone with the flatter options but I'd basically committed to Italy in my head before the start.

List of Fiona's kit: https://www.apidura.com/journal/fiona-kolbingers-transcontinental-race-winning-kit/

I spent a lot of time optimising my route.
I cut out 1500m going north of Belgrade where it was pan flat and fast, saved lots in Switzerland, and did loads of iterations in France, gradually getting it down by over a thousand from my first attempt.
All to no avail though as I couldn't ride it. Ironically, my flat route through Serbia meant I was on the aerobars virtually all the time, which I've never done for so long before, and that did my neck in. If I'd taken your route, I might have been OK!

Interesting, hope it doesn't make a return for PBP.

without the crash

When did you crash? I missed that. Must have been when I was still riding.

I went north of Belgrade too for a flatter route. My initial route was south but that was shorter and hillier. Didn't use my Swiss route, which was possibly a mistake but I prefer Italy.

I meant to ask - how did your shoes go? Which shoes did you use and did it work out alright?

Somewhere in Austria, after getting lost and rushing to the (wrong) hotel. Massive clusterfuck of a night, basically.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Gasthaus+Pension+Waldwirt,+Waldhofweg+4,+9122+Srejach,+Austria/Gasthof+Waldwirt,+Josefiwaldweg+2,+9020+Klagenfurt+am+W%C3%B6rthersee,+Austria/@46.639582,14.3645986,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x477005a70f2d286d:0x934b5d7fabfe3983!2m2!1d14.5946805!2d46.6280403!1m5!1m1!1s0x4770738b92971c7d:0x7d324cb466c093!2m2!1d14.274406!2d46.6358533!3e1

I'm not riding PBP so you'll be fine. ;)

OK - not sure where you found the bonus 5,500m! I did spend ages on my route though, shaving off a few metres here and there, so maybe it was lots of small things.

I found the traffic volumes vary more by time of day there - in the evening / morning there was very little on the main roads but I hit the one that goes over the Danube near Smederevo around mid-afternoon and it was truck after truck. 4 would go past me in a row and my speed went up from maybe 24km/h to 30+.

I might have said it before but that bit made me think I was in Australia again (not the bit most people know but the bit you see on Indypac) - sun, trucks skimming past, small country towns with low-rise buildings laid out in grid patterns and the smell of rotting animal from road-kill.

My shoes / pedals were great. Ended up using Innov-8 trail runners. Ideally I'd have had something a bit stiffer, but couldn't find anything in time so went with them as they are really comfortable and lightweight / breathable for hot weather. Most flat pedal MTB shoes like 5-10s are massively overbuilt and hot for summer riding.

Obviously pushing the bike up CP2, and running round shops was easier, but the main thing is that I had none of the niggles with knees, ankles and achilles that I have had on long rides before. I did have sore heels on about day 4, but slightly changing my position took the pressure off them and they were fine on my last day. For a change, at one point I switched from pedalling midfoot to using my soles for an hour. Just shuffled back in the saddle a bit and it was fine, no cleat adjustment required! I don't think I'll use cleats again, other than for racing.

Funny - they should agree who has first claim on that name!

not sure where you found the bonus 5,500m!

You using RWGPS? Maybe I added it wrong or maybe it was RWGPS poor estimates. I can put the actual in Strava and we could compare.

You didn't have problems with the grooves on the soles locking your feet in odd positions?

Funny in hindsight. Not at the time though. Rough night, that was.

Yes, RWGPS.

Sole locking in odd positions on the pedal pins was a concern I had beforehand but it didn't happen in practice. It's actually more of an issue with 5-10s: the Innov-8s are a little bit less grippy so it is easier to fine-tune your foot position. But they are still quite grippy. At one point I was convinced that I was using SPDs as they did stick to the pedals well.

The only time my foot bounced off was very early on going across a rough farm track (just before I fell) when I was trying to do high cadence on bumpy surface. You need to be clipped in for that, but I just dropped cadence so not an issue any more.

Would you use those tyres again? They're only available in 35mm right, but come up smaller? I'm tempted to buy one to see if fits in my frame, unless someone in London has one or two they want to get rid of?

You reckon I should get some of those pedals and give it a go? I've only got skate shoes (5-10s actually) so what other shoes did you consider that might work well? I'm used to very stiff carbon soles - bit worried trainers might flex too much and cause foot pain. The other thing is getting used to not being clipped in but i guess that will come with time - I ride my fixed gear on flats to/from the pub so it can't be that tricky :)

Doug almost on the parcours..
https://trackleaders.com/transconrace19i.php?name=Douglas_Migden

Ross getting Angersry:
https://trackleaders.com/transconrace19i.php?name=Ross_Thomas