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

finishing in the west should save some costs as you won't need to purchase relatively last minute flights from Istanbul/Athens etc

Didn't you just book one for the day after the finishers' party?

Yeah, it might take me longer than that to finish the climb...

Why not start now, in Dec? Then you have a slightly better chance of finishing in better weather.

No - both years I was concerned about scratching so I only booked once I got there.

Wind direction isn't fixed so that's a non-issue in my mind

Mistral:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/wind/wind-names

Yeah, in practice, on the ground it means you might have more chance of getting a cross wind or head wind, it doesn't lock it in though.

"In France, the mistral particularly affects Provence, Languedoc east of Montpellier, as well as all of the Rhône Valley from Lyon to Marseille, and as far southeast as Corsica and Sardinia. The mistral usually blows from the north or northwest, but in certain pre-alpine valleys and along the Côte d'Azur, the wind is channelled by the mountains so that it blows from east to west. Sometimes it also blows from the north-north-east toward the east of Languedoc as far as Cap Béar. Frequently, the mistral will affect only one part of the region. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_(wind)

Faultline looks pretty challenging - a fair ride!

Most of the places I ride in France seem to have fairly predictable wind patterns outside storm times. I never bother riding after midday where my folks live as you're always doing a good portion of the ride into big headwinds. To be fair, it may be true anywhere but in Luxembourg the valleys bugger it all up and the UK I can't remember very well.

http://www.the-france-page.com/france/france-weather.html

"The Atlantic coast enjoys a temperate maritime climate with mild wet winters and cool summers. The prevailing wind from the west is humid : rain and mist is frequent. Northern France is flat allowing this weather pattern to move further inland ... The west coastal area weather is influenced by the prevailing winds from the Atlantic."

Brest, average wind speed = 16.8km/h

It might not be a headwind: PBP 2011 had a tailwind both directions :) But it is more than likely that it will be.

Near Saarbrucken. They cheered me on at the roadside during TCRno5 with a wee saltire - was nice. Wife set me up with an old school friend and we did 100km round the neighbourhood (passing close to the french town of Bitche) and it was pretty great.

Faultline looks pretty challenging - a fair ride!

I'm actually mega excited cause so much of it will be new roads in Scotland!

a) been ill for 3 weeks
b) got deadlines and exams
c) barely been riding because of a) and b)

want to recover properly from this rather than go and freeze for 8 - 10 hours and get sick again.

Yeah, fair enough. I'm old enough and wise enough now to back off when I notice something's not right. Thought you were missing an opportunity is all.

Outside assistance!
;)

tbh i don't think i've ever ridden more than 150km in proper winter before. Should be a challenge for the first and last few months. I'm really looking forward to it!

@frank9755 my wife had explained the rules to them, so they were super hesitant to do anything at all. My MIL asked me if it was okay to hug me, would I get in trouble, haha.

You have to pick your days or at least, your roads, if there's ice out. But you probably get a lot more than we do so either you're more used to it or you have better gritted roads. I think for me it was actually harder in summer, because it's a pain trying to fit it in around training and racing. It's why I did a lot of DIYxGPS for mine because I couldn't do most of the calendar events.

I have mapped a 200km that uses reasonably flat coastal roads with a train home for my first one. Coastal roads should in theory be less icy anyway.

If there is ice all the way thru Jan then I might postpone til February - I rode 100km on icy roads last winter and the constant braking to near walking speeds whilst negiotating patches of road which hadn't seen sun in a month was pretty draining. I also rode about 80km in snow on studded tires last year and was done in - hello 2kg per set of tires and goodbye low rolling resistance!

Generally speaking i don't fuck with icy roads. I have a turbo trainer for that exact reason.

Studded tires (at least the ones that don't cost 120 euros) are shit indeed, but it's not that much harder if you just accept you're slower, like with headwind.

Well, I had a look at the website, thought I'd download the race manual, just to have a look, and then couldn't stop myself putting in an application. They might look kindly on me as I had a place last year then couldn't ride for medical reasons, but no guarantee.
If I don't get a place there should still be back-up options open.

I like to apply last minute so mine is on top of the pile, before they get bored reading them. ;)

Can someone link the manual? I'm interested in the checkpoints but don't want to make a fake half application.

That’s actually a really good idea

I'm actually a genius. I just choose to waste my time on here.

Submitted.

Well done!
As well as PCR, or is that a backup?

Bit crazy as I'm in a similar position to yourself I think, have a 2 week old and a 3 year old. My wife is very supportive though and I'm keeping everything crossed.

PCR is the back up, I like the idea of PCR and the ferries add a dimension. My best mate is getting married the day before though so I'd need a lot of planning just to get to the start of PCR!