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I think this is what I have, will check tonight.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-of-britain/2023/stage-7/live

Looks like they used two sets of forks maybe?

She said she scratched because she didn't make the CP ?

They both have shared these stories on insta so not too happy with the decision.

Strange that the unsupported nature is so central to the event and yet this can still happen.

Pidcock for a day out in the break today, or wishful thinking?

Apart from occasional tightness in the back not really. What are you thinking?

Garmin Fenix 6 pro solar is completely refusing to pair with my Pixel 7, having previously worked happily for months. I've tried most of the easy fixes like turn off and on both devices, deleting blue tooth settings on the phone, factory reset the watch and nothing seems to help. Even reinstalled the Garmin Connect app and repaired my edge 530 no issues, so probably it's an issue with the watch ?

Anyone having similar problems, or got experience with Garmin warranty ? Cheers.

Mm, I guess there are always many factors that can be causing the problem.

I had similar issues on the 600 I did before the race, but that was only 3 weeks out so changing shoes felt too risky at that point.

So two and a bit weeks on from the end of the Solstice Sprint and I still have numb toes/outside of right foot and very frequent pins and needles down my right calf and into the foot.

Any thoughts on what to do and how to prevent in future ?

Dot watching for the Pan Celtic here - https://pancelticrace2023.maprogress.com

Anyone tried the 'ultra' series of bags with primaloft gold from Alpkit?

Anyone got a good technique to strap a travel buggy to a rack?

#nogifts

Ah sorry to hear that, how is the achilles now?

I mean it was a 24 hour garage so serving some fairly polite cyclists hopefully not too bad.

A little bit of post race reflection/ analysis then, now that I've some what recovered...

I had set out with a plan to ride through the first night and make it to Weymouth by the end of the second day. I had run and re-run the numbers countless times to work out what speed I would need to be averaging in order to make it by a reasonable time. It was 600k over very lumpy terrain and I knew I would have to bank some time early on, yet despite averaging over 30k an hour for the first two hours as darkness fell west of Monmouth my pace dropped off and the climbing began. For some reason I didn't take the main road to the bottom of Gospel Pass and made some silly routing errors in this section as well, which cost time.

Essentially the hotel which was meant to be a carrot quickly began to feel like scoreboard pressure - squeezing the fun out of the event. I was lucid enough to begin to realise this around day break at the River Severn and tactically changed my booking to Honiton, cutting the required distance down by c.100km. Nevertheless I still suffered badly that day, at times mostly from a sense of humour failure, with some low points including morning rush hour traffic in the Bristol environs and the ride between CP4 at Porlock and CP5 at Woolacombe. Those relentless Devon lanes with savage slope upon savage slope took their toll, I got a big feed in Barnstaple but it still took almost another 6 hours to reach Honiton from there at around 1am.

It's all relative but it often feels like other riders I bump into are enjoying these long rides more than me, I've certainly noticed I can struggle mentally until I'm comfortably beyond the half way mark. Which is something to look at and work on. Some other issues I had revolved around not spending enough time planning my route, and allowing Google maps to take the wheel when I felt my own efforts were not the best choice - doing this at night just seemed to be a poor choice as it made nav a lot harder (hallucinations between Tiverton and Honiton also didn't help).

Having suffered alone in the small Devon lanes on day 2 I decided to change tack on day 3 and hit some A-roads early doors to try and make some headway. This worked well and a day time route change to find a flatter way from Weymouth to Salisbury paid off as I picked up a few places heading into the final night.

Feeling increasingly positive and strong heading into the final night I had planned to simply keep moving until I reached the end to try and bag a top 15 finish. I was even on the ball enough to call ahead to Devizes to order food as I ticked off CP8 at Caen Hill locks. But hot damn that was a long final night with the inevitable dip in pace as the sunset somewhere in Wiltshire. Using a mix of caffeine, music and sheer will power I made it almost to Oxford by 3.30am - all the while knowing I was sailing close to the wind in terms of what I could handle. Right on cue at the peak of exhaustion I started getting terrifying double vision on the bike that I couldn't shake off, realising I would at best end up crashing into the verge or something far worse with the cars heading south out of Oxford being quite regular and veered off into a bus shelter. Lacking dexterity I fumbled my way into an emergency bivvy and closed my eyes.

I only "slept"for about 20 minutes, but I barely made any progress for the next 2-3 hours as I was still a bit out of it, and got stuck needing the loo in the middle of Oxford for what seemed like ages. During this period the close gap to 15th place became a lot bigger, and left me hoping not to be overtaken from behind before the end. Getting more sleep and feeling fresher is something to think about for next time.

Having lost so much time I necked a caffeine gel and forced myself to stay on the bike until I'd completed the final CP10 as I was just so frustrated with all the silly little stops I'd been making. At some point here I briefly thought about calling my other half for a bit of support - just the thought of her and our little boy had me bursting into tears, and this continued for several miles - a sure sign that I had everything totally nailed down and sorted...

After the final parcours and knowing the chasing pack were far enough behind I necked a cake and can of coke at a cafe before knocking off the remaining 20k. By luck the winner and other race hitters were at the finish line to clap me in, along with the organiser Liam which was a nice moment.

Apparently the route for next year is a belter - and with lots of things to be improved on I might be tempted back. The 600 miles of the race added 25% to my total mileage for the year up to that point; I know that some riders on the event had ridden over twice as many miles before reaching the start line. I simply didn't have the option to do that, and barely made it to the start line with all the illnesses that had been brought home from nursery during this spring - so overall I can be happy with the way it panned out. With some more training and better prep I think top 15 and even top 10 is possible in future.

Cheers @Po - it was a wild ride, hopefully share a few more thoughts after some rest.

Was that you I met in Abergavenny? How did you get on ?

Still one or two riders out on the road, willing them on from here.

Any other recommendations for short term insurance cover ?

Ha, fair. Yeh, not entirely.

I need to sort out my insurance tonight, and decide if I'm carrying sleeping gear or not. Looking forward to getting going really.

Nice, I'll be on an orange Mason at the start. Feeling ready for the off ?

Anyone else on here doing the Solstice Sprint this weekend ?

Loved the LEJOG write up, thanks for that.

I had a weekend off but did anyone get out?

What about 1000k instead?

Any thoughts on recovery from a 600? I had a bit of knee and achilles swelling which seems to have let up but still feeling pretty wiped out at this point.

Rode with my down jacket this time but didn't put it on until I stopped at 4am during the night at a control - was feeling pretty cold but worried I would get too warm and fall asleep if I was riding in the jacket. I had merino winter base layer, perfetto jacket and a waterproof on top with winter gloves and running tights on over bib shorts - top half was warm ish and legs were cold. Could maybe get some winter cycling tights with no pad to use during the night...

Finished the 9 counties audax in around 30 hours elapsed at the weekend, good day out, mostly enjoyed, still plenty of things that could be improved.

Sleep deprived ride report below:

9 counties you say, pfft that won't take too long right? Sure, sure... Just set off at 6am into some steep climbs before taking on 100 miles of rolling countryside and the baying frenzy of sunny Saturday motorists. Don't forget your receipts though. What's that, the route turns north... Ah but haven't we been dealing with a cross head wind, saddle up and enjoy the battering of a pure headwind for a good 60 miles - real cyclists have café stops but you are only worthy of an overpriced and underwhelming sandwich, and the nauseatingly complicated task of assembling a meal deal alludes you. Receipt! Roll on into the headwind forming brief and calculating alliances with other riders to hide from the winds might, all the while dodging the road kill you hope not to emulate. The flallands end, pointing west now the pace picks up, choppers buzz overhead, optimism briefly overwhelms you before a shower of screen wash and the warm blazing orb you've chased all days dips below the horizon and an icey chill bites. No matter, you've almost made it home before night fall, it will soon be over. The control presents an illusory safe haven, alas your race is not run and with a polite farewell you're cast back out into the wintery night. Another gratuitous climb and a rambling pep talk, we don't need to sleep, we know what we're doing. Mingle with spirited revellers "you're a tosser" , must get that sacred receipt and escape once more into the frozen wastes. Stay up right, keep moving, please stop moaning about the cold - there's a golden arches out there somewhere, sanctuary. Closed, shit. Life draining from frozen limbs, slumped over the world fades to grey...zzz. Ten minutes on and the engine grumbles back to life; coffee, receipt and on into the dawn. Freezing fog blankets the land, yet the promise of sun rise lifts the nights sluggish pace. Hope rises over the Humber bridge with 70 miles tick down, a solo mission for the last 8 hours, but wait a chance meeting and one last riders alliance is formed. Cruising south with a comforting tail wind, just might make it. Finally a McD's and one last hallowed receipt. Just 40 miles left, potholes, climbs and motorists saap the legs but the alliance holds firm. Arrivée.

Anyone doing 9 counties this weekend?