Episode 007 - Transcontinental Race No11 Wrap-Up with Co-Host Millie Gibbons, Conor McKenzie & Rob Gardiner.

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Welcome to episode seven of dot COM's the audio home
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for ultra distance cycling coverage in partnership with dot Watcher.
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I'm your host Samuel Thompson, and join me today for
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this new era of the podcast is Millie Gibbons, the
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web developer, a dot Watcher and accomplished ultra racer. Hello Millie,
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thanks for joining me.
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Hello, thank you.
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So maybe I've been reading your bio on the dot
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watcher website and it tells me you enjoy quick supermarket dash.
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So what's on your shopping list?
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That actually comes from it my mum's comment and seeing
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that in all the photos from most of the races
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that they get you at the supermarket, I'm stood in
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the queue already consuming the products that I'm trying to
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buy before I've even paid for them. So that's where
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that comment comes from. What do I like very much?
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Depends very much depends. I think I usually go in
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there thinking about what I'm going to have sweets? Mmm,
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what else? Yeah? Any sweets, coke, drinks, drinks, and I.
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Go to all the classic stuff. Then, and I mentioned
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you're an accomplished ultra racer. You're first female finisher at
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Cronje this year and also first female finisher Transpientee race
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in twenty twenty three. So do you have any future
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racing plans in mind?
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I don't actually, but feel like I've been asked that
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question multiple times recently, which is making me feel like
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I need to need to find something, but something will
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will come to me that I am excited to ride
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for sure.
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I don't think there should be any pressure to race
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unless it's something which inspires you and motivates you. So
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just to clarify that, to recognize dot COM's partnership with
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dot Watcher, well, you're welcoming members of the dot Watcher
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team to co host each month. Each will bring their unique,
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informed insight into the goings on in the ultra distance
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cycling world. So talking about insight, let's go on to
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review some of the action which has gone on recently. Millie,
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would you like to lead with the Silk Road Mountain Race.
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Silk Road has just come to the end. It was
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supposedly the hardest edition yet. It was long remote, there's
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lots of hiking and multiple passes over four thousand meters.
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I've heard from riders that apparently maybe up to about
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sixty kilometers of hiking, which, yeah, that's a lot if
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you want if you like riding your bike, that's for sure.
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And the river crossings as well. I'd seen a lot
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of pictures of people having trouble crossing rivers which were
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waist deep or even higher.
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And there was a four hundred kilometer stretch with no resupply.
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That meant that riders had to be super well prepared
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and have enough food when you're hiking your bike also
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four hundred kilometers while the food is only going.
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To add to the weight that's already stands out about
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this event. It's a massively popular one, but it really
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strikes as one of the most remote events with these
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huge logistical challenges of not having much resupply, having these
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massive swings and temperature as well.
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So Robin Gemperley finished the near two thousand kilometer route
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with twenty eight thousand meters of climbing in six days,
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twenty hours and thirty six minutes, super impressive off the
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back of all win at the Divide earlier this year,
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and he's won to TCR last year, so I think
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this really solidifies his position as one of the best
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races around at the moment. Alex McCormack came second. That
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he was up there battling for the top spot early
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on but then was struck down with food poisoning. He
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spent twenty four hours very quite unwell, so to still
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finish in second at a race like that, to me
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is very impressive. But with that second place finish puts
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him as the winner of the ful Nelson, as he
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won by Atlas and Hellenic this year, so super impressive
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season for him. Also in the Full Nelson, Megan Hackenen.
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She's now the first woman to ever complete all three
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of the mountain races and actually has came second to
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Alex in the Full Nelson rankings, which to me is
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super impressive. So elite group of people that are able
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to have a clean run at those three races, and
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in decent Times two there was one hundred and thirty
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one riders that made it to the end of that route, which,
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given everything we've heard in pictures we've seen, very very impressed.
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And of that fourteen women finished the race, which is
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double the number that they've had in previous years. I
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don't know what that says about women. I'd say that
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they're really strong.
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I think that's very far from equality there, it's a
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step in the right direction. Starting on the twenty sixth
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of July, we had the VA Race, the second edition,
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which this time took riders from Giovinazzo in Italy to
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Amarongen in the Netherlands, mostly through rot spanning around four
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thousand kilometers. We had some great commentary on the dot
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watcher website by Bartek Pietzig, which I'd really recommend going
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back to check out. He goes into some great detail
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on how the race unfolded and really picks out some
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of the interesting stories. Bruno wicked won the race after
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being at one point one hundred and fifty kilometers behind
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the previous leader, Adam Bielek, who came in second place,
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but in the final two hundred kilometers Bruno closed a
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thirty minute gap, overtaking Adam to take the win. The
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first female finisher was margaretza Werlich. She finished just ahead
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of Joanna Ruminska Pietzik. One of the things which I've
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heard a lot from riders in this event is the
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community focus that the organizers seen to have done a
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great job in building a really friendly atmosphere between the riders.
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It's a race, but it's also a personal challenge and
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everyone's in it together. One of the riders who was
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really complimentary about this, who were just about to hear
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from us Sebastian Rostrepo, who's also got a really nice
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story about the end.
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Of his race.
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Yeah, raise what an awesome race. I think the organizers
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make a big effort to put the community aspect first,
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and there's a unique vibe where everybody's just making friends
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and trying to support each other. And the effort from
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the organizers shows. It's around seventy or eighty percent of
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writers who did the chapter one did chapter two, and
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most people want to do chapter three. So I think
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that says a lot about the aspect of community that
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they've built. Now regarding my race, that's awesome, but I
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guess what's relevant is what happen fifty k from the finish.
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I'm starting to get really emotional. You know, I'm about
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to be done. It's just a short ride, and just
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when I'm about to do that, and let all that
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sinking and my free hub breaks, I'm in the middle
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of nowhere between towns. I go from a very high
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emotional place to a very low, very frustrated, just walking
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and very angry, and long story short, I call a
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few backshops and then the bike shop calls me back
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and it's the owner and he wants to go where
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I am. Picked me, put me back in his truck
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and take me to his back shop. He doesn't know
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anything about the race when he does this. He goes,
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picks me up in his trucked we go to the bakeshop,
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he manages to fix the free hub, takes me back
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to the place where I was, and basically doesn't allow
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me to pay him. He just tells me, Hey, what
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you're doing, it's great, it's amazing. Just promise me you're
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going to keep doing it. And the last fifty k
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where the easiest fifty k I ever done. I was
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just so happy. So yeah, it was awesome to see
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that there's very good people out there in the world.
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Thanks that Sebastian. Really good to hear that you managed
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to finish off your race successfully. Next year, their rumors
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that Navia raised the third edition would be heading even
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further and off, so it may well see it heading
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towards Scandinavia, so we'll keep an eye out for when
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that route is announced. Also taking place recently we had
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gb Duro, which described itself as the scrappy rolling picnic
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through Britain's ever changing landscapes, and I can personally vouch
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for that. Again, we had some great coverage on the
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dot watch website by Alex Fernakis, who took a really
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creative approach to commentary. He included some video updates and
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there were interviews with both riders, previous participants and dot
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Watchers alike. First finisher was Tom Down's in eight days
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and one hour, second race Clark in eight days twelve hours,
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and we had Joe c who very nicely finished on
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her birthday, so double celebration. There only ten out of
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the twenty three races finished, so really demonstrating how difficult
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the event is and some of the conditions they had.
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The nice part of when riders finished event is there's
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a rule number ten in place which means that you
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have to buy a drink for the rider who comes
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in behind you. So another one where there's a nice
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sense of community. There's been a lot of events going
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on this month. We can't cover each and every one,
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but we'll do our best to pick out the most
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persinent ones. Another event which took place was trans Iberica,
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where there was a very impressive performance by Ada Has
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who last year took part in the same race, had
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to scratch after breaking her crank in a very remote area,
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so it was great to see her go back this year,
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finished ninth overall and first female. On looking at the track,
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I was interested to see that the women and the
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men participants were separated or indicated on the tracker by
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pink and blue dots respectively. Now there's plenty of other
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colors in the rainbow to pick from, this seemed like
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a quite a stereotypical choice. I know this isn't the
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biggest issue that we have in terms of gender equality
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in this space, but it does lead us to a
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couple of questions on whether, firstly, main and female participants
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need to be discriminated on the map itself, and whether
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there should be separate leader boards.
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I think, as a strong advocate for wanting more women
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into ultra racing, making sure we highlight the women that
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are in the race is key. I think how else
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do women get inspired and motivated to join these races
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if they're not aware of all the other women that
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are also racing. But on the flip side. It's super
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important to also register that we're doing the same race.
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Everyone's on the same start line, everyone's riding the same distances,
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and everyone's out there for the same amount of time.
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So having that overall leaderboard, and especially when someone like
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Meghan and she's up there with the men, so that's
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equally as important as highlighting that women are up there
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in as strong as the front men. To highlighting the
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women's dots is very very important, So highlighting that we're
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all in the same race is equally as.
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Important to It's something we often here often say without
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really thinking about it, as the win of the women's race,
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when you've rightly said they're both in the same race
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competing against each other. We have seen it recently. Last
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month we had an event where male and female leaderboards
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were separate. The first female was second overall. So I
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fear does that performance then get lost if they're on
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separate leader boards.
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Yeah, exactly, I think it can do. No. I don't
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know what the right answer is, but more wormen racing
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is the answer.
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Yeah, definitely. Well, moving on to tops to watch the
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events coming up in this next month. We've got a
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couple to pick out the first one is actually taking
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place at the moment, so in a bit of a
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space where let's call this ongoing preview. Instead of going
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over exactly where the action is at the moment, because
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this is likely to have evolved by the time you're hearing,
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this will just give you an outline of bad lands itself,
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of what the event entails, and some of the riders
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to pick out. This is the sick edition of the event,
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which caused itself the most important international event in the
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gravel endurance sector. Wonder any other events would like to
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disagree with that? So it started on the thirty first
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of August. The routeless year is eight hundred and sixteen
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kilometers with fourteen and a half thousand meters of altitude,
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and this year there's over two hundred kilometers of new
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ground to cover, starting and finishing in Grenada. In South Spain,
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it's mostly gravel, but there are some more technical sections
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off road riding, Millie, you've written down here what's the
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terrain like?
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I think the temperature is the key thing that YETS riders.
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You've obviously got a desert super can be super hot
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in the daytime, but it can get really, really cold
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in the night, so I know that those riders at
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the front deciding on sleep strategy and deep equipment is
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obviously not that much resupply. Again, you are in the desert,
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so yeah, need good planning and the right equipment. But
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the terrain it's beautiful. It's really cool landscape. So I
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think one of the pairs winners last year wrote on
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their story to tell the riders to make sure they
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look around at the views because it is stunning. So
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hopefully that's what the ones at the front are also doing.
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That's always advisable in these events. Take us to amazing places,
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so having your eyes open is always going to lead
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to the best experience. And yeah, some of the altitudes
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that this route takes in over two thousand meters are
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going to lend into those big temperature swings. Some of
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the riders which may be worth keeping an eye on.
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We have La Blue, who's an elite Australian rider who's
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also ridden across the country unsupported. Sarah Boslett, who's just
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off the back of her fifth female finisher at the
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trans Continental Race Jump straight Back into bad Lands. Spheniard
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Betts was in eleventh overall and second female finisher in
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the twenty twenty four bad Lands and has just recently
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finished first female at the Tracker Adventure. Zuzanna Bohakova was
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fourth overall at this year's Seven Serpents, and a Nucci
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Gargo is another one to look out for. She's an
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elaked gravel rider who is third in the Capitols this year.
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Some others Benedict Borsos, who has had a bit of
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a breakout the year, been second at the Atlas Mountain
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Race and second at Transborlcan Race. Chris Mehlman is a
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pro mountain bike and gravel racer who's finished twice in
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the top five Unbound Excel and was fourth in the
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Track of five sixty this year. Juan Antonio Fletcher, a
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former professional rider who has had some good finishes and
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ultra distance races. And Urrik Barthonomus as well, who was
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top ten bad Lands last year. One notable pair we
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have man of the moment Victor Bersony just stop for
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the back of his win at the trans Continental Racist
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lining up with Charles Nora. An event which is coming
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up this weekend is the Apups Divide. Really, you are
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very well positioned to tell us all about this heaven
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taking place in this in the cold edition of the
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event last year.
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Not even cold addition, just extreme weather edition that was
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last year. The Alps Divide is a one thousand kilometer
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route with thirty two thousand meters of climbing, which if
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you do some quick mass that's steep. There's a lot
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of riding up hill on downhill, That's what I always say.
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It starts in Menton in the south of France and
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finishes in on the Van on the Lake of Geneva.
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They market it as a mixed terrain route, consisting of
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gravel tracks, quiet paved lanes and some single track. I
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did the route on a gravel bike last year, which
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I would say I was slightly under biked, even with
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a suspension stem. I think some of the tracks are
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quite rocky, so yeah, I think most of the riders
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this year would be on mountain bikes. There are two
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from memory hiker bike sections where you definitely have to hike.
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The rest is up to your gear ratio and your
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legs whether you will be hiking or not, given the
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steepness of some of the route. But one of those
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hiker bike sections is actually being replaced with a supposedly
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still tough on the way up, but an actual rideable descent,
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whereas last year. All I recall is I was in
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gale force winds and getting to the top of that
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at night time, I decided to run down. Just needed
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to get off that mountain before even more bad whey
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they came in, so I couldn't tell you if it
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was rideable or not.
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So hypothetically, yeah.
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I think a lot of this route is hypothetically rideable.
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Some other notable sections in the route, there's the cold
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Dissimilia is where you reach up to three thousand meters.
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It's an out and back climbs. Yeah, beautiful. Neil Copeland
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will be out on the route as part of the
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media team. He also raced last year, so he'll have
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some insights ato what riders would be expecting. He'll be
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writing normal commentary on the dot watch platform, but also
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be doing some mini videos to really add to the commentary,
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which be good.
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And Toptually some normal weather this year as opposed to
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experienced last year.
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I think there's pictures of snow and frozen water fountains.
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At the second checkpoint, they have these man checkpoints and
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refuges which are super nice place to get hot food
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and a bed, but obviously with a refuge there in
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the middle of nowhere. Onto the ones to watch. There's
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a few returning riders from last year, especially in the
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women's field. Jenny Tuff and Christiana Tambarini. They both scratched,
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so I have a feeling they were doing pretty well.
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They will be looking to I guess complete in a
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strong position. We have Julie von Groon again, super strong rider,
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but she'll be in a pair. She's actually currently racing
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bad Lands, so super quick turnaround will be less than
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a week from finishing bad Lands to being on the
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start line. About Stevide, I.
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Hear she's got background in Triflon so specialist quick transitions.
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Very funny and Jade Field accomplished racer, completed racers like
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the Silk Road and Transvulcan, so she obviously known to
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come into her own and when the route gets tough.
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There's also Rachel Nylon, who has been to the Olympics
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and a World Championship silver medal thirteen year pro career.
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She's quite new to ultras, but with that long racing
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in a peloton you definitely got some legs on you.
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It'll be interesting to see how she does in the
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men's field. Joshua but is lining up. He needs no introduction,
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but he has just come off the back of scratching
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at Silk Road due to hubs I believe, so let's
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hope that he manages a clean run at this race
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and no mechanicals. George Sales he has done a few
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of the mountain races, including Atlas and Hellenic, so I
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think he'll be one to watch as well. Also, we
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have Ricardo Kuha, he was third at the Unknown race
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earlier this year, and Benjamin Schmidt who came second at
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the race around Veranda in twenty twenty four.
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So now the Digest where we bring you some white
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sized chunks of ultra distance news. Nerve caught ari one
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which was introduced at the start of the trans Continental
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Race was Lost Dots New Race, Lost Dot one oh one,
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which maybe you've got to load out on.
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Yeah, So the Lost Dot one oh one is specifically
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designed to be inclusive and competitive for the flinter riders,
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for women, non binary and trans They're aiming for a
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super inclusive format. The route will be about twelve hundred
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kilometers free route race in true lost style starting in
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Santiogo de Compostela, which is where the TCR started this year,
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and the finish is still TVC. The event aims to
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break down barriers to entry in ultra cycling, so I
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believe they'll have some more relaxed cutoff times. Comes off
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the back of the success of one hundred TCR women.
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They picked the name one oh one as it signifies
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an introductionory course, so the aim is to increase women's
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participation in a race. I'm super excited. I thought of
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a woman's only startline of an ultra race. That's really cool.
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This seems to have had really good response as well,
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so hopefully we'll see a big start line for this
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event and filter into some of the participants here then
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taking part in other events as well. I have a
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bit of news to mention this dot watcher and now
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running the Fastest Known Times website, which is a platform
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for the tracking showcasing fastest times or fkats for long
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distance routes in the UK and across Europe. Its goal
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is to promote these cycling routes, celebrate outstanding achievements and
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inspire of a cyclist. So on the website it lists
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established routes. Each of them have to adhere to principles
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of being at least one hundred klumeters long. It can
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be any surface, but it has to be a recognized
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fixed route. People can submit their own routes if they like,
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but they need to begin and end at logical points,
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for instance a landmark or trailhead or end of the
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name trail. These also have to be self supported, so
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using the widely accepted definition that any physical information or
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support needs to be available to the general public or
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carried by the rider from the start, and must be
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a solo individual time trial is also distinction with winter
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fgtees completed between November and February. I'm not sure why
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anyone want to be doing that, but these also noted
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so anyone can submit their own route. All you have
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to do is follow the guidelines and submit the GPX
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Now Mishap of the month we are inviting submissions of
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amusing anecdotes when something didn't go quite right during the
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ultra distance event. This month we have a submission from
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John Pears, who had a couple of mishaps during his
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experience at TCR Hello.
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This is John Pear's cap fifty seven, reviewing some of
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my mishaps during the TCR. The first one was one
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morning World Cup. Pretty tired and went straight to my
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top tune bag to pull out my eye drops, and
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in the same area I had my chain wax loop
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and decided to put this in my eyeball instead.
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It burnt a lot.
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Let's say I washed it out, swore alert and I
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was awake that morning, so it worked. The second incident
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was on the final partuse I hit a ramp coming
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through into Romania and blew out the sidewalk was basically
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and had to patch them up and the way back
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and I used some super glue and like a boot
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mechanism on the inside, and the super glue had sealed
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at the end, so I am in my blind rage.
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At this point I decided to just chew through the
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top of it, and the glue came out, but instead
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of going on the inside of my tie, it went
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in my mouth and my teeth and my tongue and
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stuck them together for a short while. I didn't find
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that funny at the time, but now I do, and
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I made it to the end everything was fine. So yeah,
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those are my mishaps from TCR number eleven. That will
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stick with me forever now, I guess.
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Thanks John, I hope you mentioned cleaner his eyes out
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and had a visit to a dentist about those super
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glued teeth. This month's episode supported by Assya, who provide
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ultra distance specific coaching and consulting services. You can go
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00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:09.920
to Assya dot CC to find out more and in
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00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.759
recognition of this a new section on ultra training questions.
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The question we have had in comes from a Catherine
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Nap from Bedford who asks whether sleep deprivation can be trained.
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So this is a topic which has received quite a
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bit of interest at the moment. We've seen athletes at
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the front of fields, some good examples being Victor PERSONI
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at the trans Content then to Race and Robin Gemperle
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above the Tour Divide and silk Raad Mountain Race, showing
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that having sustainable sleep patterns can really pay off through performance.
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There's long been unhealthy attitude, perhaps in this sport of
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glorifying riding in the sleep of pride state, and this
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is unfortunately picked up in some of the mainstream media.
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There was an article in the fren newspaper to keep
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recently describing someone's riding in the zombie mode and talking
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about the hellish battle of ultra distance cyclists against sleep.
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To address this, I first want to talk about the
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consequences of sleep deprivation in the short term. These can
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include things like inhibitive physical ability, decrease accuracy quickly in exhaustion,
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risk for injury, decrease, reaction time, likelihood to make poor decisions,
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and the risk for illness or immunosuppression. Equally concerning of
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potential longer term consequences. If this sleep deprivation is habitual,
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such as obese tea type of use, diabetes, blood pressure,
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and cardiovascular disease, it could be asked whether there's a
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way to train yourself to code better with sleep deprivation. Unfortunately,
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there's no evidence that we can adjust to performing better
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on sleep through training or habituation. It just can't be
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trained in the way you do a muscle to be
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stronger by lifting heavier weights. There was interestingally, one study
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which actually looked into this. It was based on a
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single subject case study where they got the subject to
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do what they described as sleep deprivation training protocol, which
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meant one night of sleep deprivation each week in addition
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to their regular physical training. The results were far from
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conclusive as they were based on subjective assessments and these
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benefits were undiscernible from the physical training. It was also
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strongly rebutted by group of researchers who have extensive experience
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in this field. Their conclusion was quite decisive, staying it
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is ineffective and dangerous and we strongly disagree from athletes
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participating in sleep deprivation training. Perhaps there are some strategies
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to cope of sleep deprivation. It's important here to recognize
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that in nultraal distance of end shooting for who recommends
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sevent to nine hours of sleep isn't likely to beat
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up to more strategy. We're named for performance in an
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event that this amount of sleep just can't be compensated
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from moving faster on the bike. Of course, there's different
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strategic implications here, but we can presume that in a
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lot of tra distance events there's going to be an
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element of short term sleep deprivation, which does imply risk.
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So this is a case of managing risk and reward
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in the consequences here. Although as we've established, we can't
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train ourselves in needless step. There's some strategies to minimize
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the risks. One of these could be familiarization with our
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mental and emotional responses to being tied. I would advise
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that this is through practice in controlled and safe environment
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and caveaty. There is true evidence lacking into supporting these techniques,
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and they are essentially psychological coping mechanisms rather than true
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physiology adaptations. One strategy which does have good evidence is
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sleep banking in the week or two before an ultra
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distance event. So this essentially involves getting extra sleep in
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that week beforehand. A couple of studies have shown that
481
00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:21.000
by doing this, both performance and alertness had been improved
482
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:24.680
when people were then subjected to being in a sleep
483
00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:28.680
deprivated state, and they found that recovery afterwards was better
484
00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:33.160
after having banking slip beforehand. It's still important to remember
485
00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:35.880
that performance is going to be less when in a
486
00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:39.000
sleep deprived state have a much sleep you've banked in advance,
487
00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:42.440
so these are more about managing the risks and attenuating
488
00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:46.759
performance drop offs. In conclusion, sleep deprivation is not something
489
00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:49.960
to be glorified. Its effects can be significant and dangerous,
490
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:53.279
both in the short term or through chronic exposure and
491
00:28:53.319 --> 00:28:55.640
a distinction has to be made through one's ability to
492
00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:58.039
train their body to function up to million and less sleep,
493
00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:01.480
for which there's no evidence employment of strategies to cope
494
00:29:01.519 --> 00:29:05.160
with its negative effects and mistigate the impact. I've written
495
00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:08.359
for us call on THEACO dot CC website, which I'll
496
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:14.640
link to show notes on. On today's roundtable, we are
497
00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:17.160
going to be wrapping up the eleventh edition of the
498
00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:22.359
trans Continental Race. Millie was a part of the dot
499
00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:25.240
Watch commentary team for this event, so as well placed
500
00:29:25.240 --> 00:29:28.680
to give us her insight and also joining us will
501
00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:33.279
be Rob Gardner and Conor McKenzie. Now Rob is a
502
00:29:33.319 --> 00:29:37.720
second time guest on dot COM's He wears more caps
503
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:41.319
than I have casquetes. One of these is leading the
504
00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:44.119
UK franchise that follow my challenge. He's also the co
505
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:47.880
founder of the Perfidious Albion events. He describes himself as
506
00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:51.319
a mediocre culture racer, but looking at pal Mara as
507
00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:53.720
he was second in the transalber Race earlier this year
508
00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:58.319
and was briefly a world record holder of the length
509
00:29:58.359 --> 00:29:59.079
of Europe.
510
00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:01.880
Thanks thank you for not mentioning the gap the first
511
00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:02.960
of Trans Alba.
512
00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:08.359
And Connor likes to ride bikes, often far, ideally around
513
00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:11.839
mountains and frequently off road. He was the winner of
514
00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:15.759
the Capitals earlier this year, and those of you following
515
00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:19.799
the commentary and dot watcher will have known of Connor's
516
00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:24.279
great analytical information that he was given on there. Connor
517
00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:27.799
is also clear that ultra distance racing is not about suffering,
518
00:30:27.880 --> 00:30:31.200
which is a stance I'm highly supported of. So welcome
519
00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:33.480
Connor and let's have some fun with his conversation.
520
00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:35.880
Yeah, looking forward, chicks.
521
00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:40.279
So just to start us off, I'm going to quickly
522
00:30:40.279 --> 00:30:42.839
recap what went on in the eleventh edition of the
523
00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:47.240
Trans Continent Worries. The TCR started in Santiago de Compostela
524
00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:51.599
in Spain and finished in Constanta, Romania, via five mandatory
525
00:30:51.640 --> 00:30:55.759
control points, including changing climbs in the pequisty Ropa and
526
00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:59.759
the iconic Colder Tormally of course, then took riders through
527
00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:03.119
it before a difficult final push through the Balkans to
528
00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:06.960
the Black Sea coast. Part of this was taken a
529
00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:10.400
ferry from Italy to the Balkans across the Adriatic Sea.
530
00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:13.920
The routes were typically between four thousand, six hundred and
531
00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:18.440
five thousand kilometers. The winner was Victor Bossoni, and at
532
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:20.880
twenty three years old, he was the youngest ever winner
533
00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:24.279
of the trans Continental Race. He finished in ten days,
534
00:31:24.480 --> 00:31:30.440
sixteen hours. Second place was Martin Morritz, who finished seven
535
00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:34.079
hours behind, and the third place was David Shann, just
536
00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:37.359
three and a half hours behind Martin. The first female
537
00:31:37.400 --> 00:31:41.960
finisher was Janna Cassenheimer, retaining her title in twelve days
538
00:31:42.039 --> 00:31:47.279
and three hours. She was notably also eighth overall. Second
539
00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:50.400
female was Cynthia Carson in twelve days and seven hours
540
00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:54.160
in the eleventh overall, and third female was Leo Wilcox
541
00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:57.559
in thirteen days and two hours, finishing twenty second overall.
542
00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:02.559
The first pairs of Matthew Garfer and Oliver Heyward. Out
543
00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:04.880
of three hundred and ninety four starters, one hundred and
544
00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:08.640
sixty one finished within the general classification, which was forty
545
00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:11.279
one percent, and there were two hundred and seven finishers
546
00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:14.640
in total, given a fifty two point five percent finishing rate.
547
00:32:15.319 --> 00:32:18.519
So picking out some of the key takeaways, We're going
548
00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:21.880
to start with Connor, what caught your eye in this edition?
549
00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:26.359
I think the key dynamic I suppose is undoubtedly the Ferry,
550
00:32:26.559 --> 00:32:28.920
my view, added a lot of excitement, and I do
551
00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:31.799
that as a positive. Maybe it's easier as someone's at home,
552
00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:34.160
I suppose to someone out there doing the race, but
553
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:37.640
tell the usual narrative of don't go too hard to
554
00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:40.599
too early on its head, and it didn't have as
555
00:32:40.680 --> 00:32:43.119
much of a negative impact as maybe we all feared.
556
00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:43.680
That.
557
00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:47.039
Being said, I wouldn't want to see it being habit
558
00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:49.640
that we see in this race every year. But I
559
00:32:49.640 --> 00:32:53.160
do think in this particular edition, I think it was useful,
560
00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:58.119
if nothing else, entertainment side, and I don't think they
561
00:32:58.240 --> 00:32:59.240
changed the result.
562
00:32:59.000 --> 00:32:59.519
Of the race.
563
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:04.400
You look at the results be roll, we found that
564
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:10.559
during the race it seemed to be that the ferries
565
00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:14.440
ran less often than we were expecting beforehand. Was this
566
00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:19.160
something you came across during the commentary and what you
567
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:21.920
said he may not have ever affected the outcome of
568
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.480
the race. Do you think there were certain positions that
569
00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:26.039
potentially decided by this?
570
00:33:28.039 --> 00:33:30.319
Maybe I would hope that the people were in the
571
00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:33.119
race were probably doing a lot of research ahead of time,
572
00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:36.000
probably more than me. But I think it was very
573
00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:39.359
clear that some riders really had done their research. I think,
574
00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:43.079
in Martin Morritz's case, is clearly aiming for that Sunday ferry,
575
00:33:43.119 --> 00:33:45.759
and all of the pacing kind of revolved around that,
576
00:33:46.160 --> 00:33:48.440
and he eventually set the tone for the rest of
577
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:50.400
the race, and everyone else had to respond to it
578
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:53.680
or potentially get that later ferry twenty four hours later.
579
00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:57.079
But the information was very difficult to come across.
580
00:33:57.319 --> 00:33:57.759
That's right.
581
00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:02.599
I suppose there are strategic implications to this. You mentioned,
582
00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:05.759
not just potentially split in the race into two parts,
583
00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:10.119
but then how people managed the Within the first three
584
00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:13.519
female finishers, they all took the first ferry, but listens
585
00:34:13.519 --> 00:34:15.880
to be different outcomes from the other side.
586
00:34:16.599 --> 00:34:19.760
I think for the women's race, it made the race,
587
00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:22.079
and again for the men's I think it's fortunate that
588
00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:25.559
there wasn't just one person on the ferry. The fact
589
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:29.199
that the top three women all made that fairy kind
590
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:31.559
of put the race as they got into the Balkans.
591
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:36.880
I think for yann And she kept as efficient as ever,
592
00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:41.079
but for Cynthia and Mayle, who were chasing, it gives
593
00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:44.159
them that opportunity to reset, and Male was quoted saying
594
00:34:44.199 --> 00:34:46.360
that she was back in the game. I also believed
595
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:49.519
that she was always counting on getting that Tuesday fairy,
596
00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:52.760
and she paced herself for that fairy, which was a
597
00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:56.079
bit of a gamble in case one of the riders
598
00:34:56.119 --> 00:35:00.360
went foster. Luckily for ended up that they or on
599
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:01.039
the same ferry.
600
00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:05.280
It must be difficult. At what point do you know
601
00:35:05.360 --> 00:35:07.280
which ferry you're going to make, and then when it's
602
00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:08.440
that decision made.
603
00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:12.880
I think from speaking to you, some of the riders
604
00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:16.880
prior to the race stayd done their calculations and their
605
00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:19.719
research for certain points of the route, whether they knew
606
00:35:19.719 --> 00:35:22.880
that they would make one ferry or not. So I
607
00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:26.800
think again it comes from good planning, a lot more
608
00:35:26.840 --> 00:35:29.119
planning than just trying to go as fast as possible
609
00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:31.920
and hope you make it. Yeah, those that really did
610
00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:34.719
their research and planned are the ones who ended up
611
00:35:34.840 --> 00:35:35.719
benefiting from that.
612
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.559
Rob You know about most events that are going on
613
00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:45.199
in this space are ferry crossings of this significance of
614
00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:48.719
this length common in other events. Have you seen any similar.
615
00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:52.039
There's certainly a number of events out there, I think,
616
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:54.840
I mean certainly that's yes, seven serpents. There's ferries in
617
00:35:54.920 --> 00:35:57.280
that trans album which I did, I think as I've
618
00:35:57.280 --> 00:36:00.159
got a loose count four or five. Whilst people who
619
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:03.280
planned well definitely benefited, there was also an element of luck.
620
00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:06.159
I think it was unlucky that there weren't as many
621
00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:08.199
erries the first couple of days when the front of
622
00:36:08.199 --> 00:36:10.320
the pack got there. I don't think that was predicted.
623
00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:13.199
The timetable was expected to be slightly better than it was.
624
00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:15.639
But you know, we were all we all benefited from
625
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:18.440
at least two riders getting the first ferry, and then
626
00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:20.239
from then on it was groups, so you still had
627
00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:22.440
that element of competition. I think it would have been
628
00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:26.599
really unfortunate if only one rider had got the first ferry, or,
629
00:36:26.639 --> 00:36:28.400
to be honest, any of those ferries if only one
630
00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:31.440
rider had got on. Can you imagine both how demoralizing
631
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:33.840
it would be for the rider but also prefer a
632
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:35.920
dot watch from perspective, you'd have such a big gap
633
00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:37.280
either side. I think that would be tough.
634
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:40.960
We can all agree that it was quite exhilarating evening
635
00:36:41.039 --> 00:36:44.559
watching Victor Psodi and Martin Morritt's race to get our
636
00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:48.320
first ferry, so it was a great dot watching spectacle.
637
00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:51.639
But you mentioned luck there. I think that's one of
638
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:56.000
the key things here. Whether having such large gaps between
639
00:36:56.000 --> 00:37:00.480
the ferries meant that it was to some extent down
640
00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:03.480
to luck who made it or not. So when the
641
00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:08.559
ferries are as rare and as significant as this, whether
642
00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:10.800
it's too much in that case, I'm.
643
00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:14.760
Not sure I necessarily agree that it's luck. I mean,
644
00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:17.360
you can go those ways, right, So in Martin's case,
645
00:37:17.440 --> 00:37:19.280
I wouldn't say it was luck at all. I think
646
00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:22.000
he very much had in mind that Sunday ferry. Everything
647
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:24.360
he did, all of the rest he took, calls, the
648
00:37:24.480 --> 00:37:26.960
speech that he aimed for each day. It all came
649
00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:29.800
down to getting that Sunday ferry, and everyone else was
650
00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:31.840
basically forced to respond to it.
651
00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:38.400
It's also the interesting differences and strategies between riders who
652
00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:42.519
had time either to wait for the next ferry and
653
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:46.639
what they did on the ferry themselves, which leading us
654
00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:49.920
towards our next topic. One of the riders who seemed
655
00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:53.519
to manage this ferry crossing particularly well was the first
656
00:37:53.519 --> 00:37:57.800
female fin the Ghijanna Kessenheimer, who seemed to take onto
657
00:37:57.800 --> 00:38:02.320
the ferry a shopping bag of food which resembled Mike
658
00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:06.199
weekly shopping and eat a lot, so that's saying a lot.
659
00:38:06.760 --> 00:38:09.599
She was very strategic in the placement of her bite
660
00:38:09.599 --> 00:38:13.480
on the ferry so that she knew the quickest way
661
00:38:13.480 --> 00:38:15.119
to get off. On the other side, I heard from
662
00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:17.559
other riders who had taken a good two hours to
663
00:38:17.559 --> 00:38:20.599
get off the ferry. So being efficient both getting on
664
00:38:20.880 --> 00:38:23.039
and getting off what you're doing at the time seemed
665
00:38:23.079 --> 00:38:26.719
to be very important. So talking with Yana and being
666
00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:30.280
the first female finisher, that brings on to our second topic,
667
00:38:30.360 --> 00:38:32.199
which really you're going to introduce.
668
00:38:33.840 --> 00:38:40.159
Yeah, so we've already touched on the hotly contesting women's podium.
669
00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:43.440
That's thanks to the Lost Top hundred Women of TCR campaign.
670
00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:45.880
They managed to get sixty three women to the start
671
00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:49.239
line this year, which is double any previous year, so
672
00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:53.360
it's no doubt that attracted the best ultra races.
673
00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:54.239
With the podium.
674
00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:57.519
Yana, Cynthia and Lay placing within the top twenty five
675
00:38:57.599 --> 00:39:00.519
out of four hundred riders did. That puts them an
676
00:39:01.360 --> 00:39:03.639
elite group of nine women to ever make it in
677
00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:07.000
the top twenty five at TCR. Not only was it
678
00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:11.880
great race between the women also performed really well against
679
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:15.800
the rest of the field too. This highly compositive women's
680
00:39:17.559 --> 00:39:21.039
exciting not watching not just with the root choices but
681
00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:22.960
also their bike setups.
682
00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:26.719
Yanna went for a lightweight climbing bike.
683
00:39:28.559 --> 00:39:31.800
More of an arrow set up and Laale went for
684
00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:36.519
suspension fork with gravel tires. I think she started forty
685
00:39:36.639 --> 00:39:40.760
mil in at the beginning and once reached the Balcons
686
00:39:40.840 --> 00:39:44.039
changed to even wider tires for the off road section.
687
00:39:44.920 --> 00:39:47.360
So I guess my point to discuss is what do
688
00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:52.199
we think of these wildly different setups and changing tires midway.
689
00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:55.800
I think with lale set up that was really kind
690
00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:57.960
of at the extreme end of the spectrum. We saw
691
00:39:58.039 --> 00:40:00.960
Robin last year adopt forty mon tires. I think they
692
00:40:00.960 --> 00:40:03.599
were semi slick or slicks, but he was certainly riding
693
00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:05.519
with the gravel in mind, and I think Lale was
694
00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:09.679
to a certain extent doing that this year. But I
695
00:40:09.679 --> 00:40:12.880
can't help but think there was some either consciousness subconscious
696
00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:16.159
kind of sponsor influence there when it came to the
697
00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:20.199
gravel suspension, because that's it's an unusual choice.
698
00:40:21.559 --> 00:40:25.519
But also Lale did go and wreckie the course prior
699
00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:28.519
and then on a road bike, which I believe would
700
00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:31.920
have been her planned setup that she was hoping to
701
00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:35.199
go with. She went and wreckued that gravel section that
702
00:40:35.320 --> 00:40:38.679
was right off the ferry and then sock bikes.
703
00:40:40.039 --> 00:40:42.320
Yeah, if you look at the route after that, that
704
00:40:42.360 --> 00:40:44.920
gravel section was only a small part of what she
705
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:47.320
then rode off the ferry. Before that, the gravel she
706
00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:50.519
rode was fairly smooth and small proportion of what she rode.
707
00:40:50.559 --> 00:40:52.199
She added in a bit more gravel than others in
708
00:40:52.199 --> 00:40:55.800
a few places, but she still mostly rode on tarmac throughout.
709
00:40:57.239 --> 00:41:02.800
Who wondered if by having wider gravel tires, you want
710
00:41:02.840 --> 00:41:06.199
to be making the most ground and taking a line
711
00:41:06.199 --> 00:41:10.159
that's slightly more risky on that gravel section, whereas if
712
00:41:10.159 --> 00:41:12.559
you're on thirty two you're going to be taking a
713
00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:16.159
lot more cautiously. And maybe that's why someone made a
714
00:41:16.199 --> 00:41:20.000
comment before about how if you've got that setup, you
715
00:41:20.039 --> 00:41:22.920
want to be maximizing and making your gains on that
716
00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:25.480
gravel section, So you're going to be in your mind
717
00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:27.840
trying to make as much progress as you can there
718
00:41:28.000 --> 00:41:32.239
and maybe not picking the most safest line.
719
00:41:32.679 --> 00:41:34.880
Yeah, I think it's interesting looking at the setup. So
720
00:41:34.920 --> 00:41:37.840
I think it's interesting looking at the individual people who.
721
00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:38.920
Chose those setups.
722
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:43.880
So I mean, in NAO's case, Nails, someone who crams
723
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:47.400
in lots of different events. Yeah, So I think prioritizing
724
00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:51.079
comfort with all of them or other objectives was quite
725
00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:54.400
clear for her in this situation, and undoubtedly forty to
726
00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:57.559
forty five milimeter tires and a suspension stone is going
727
00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:00.960
to be a lot more comfortable of that kind of distance.
728
00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:03.480
But I think Piano is a really interesting one, and
729
00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:06.159
when you kind of talk about how they approach the
730
00:42:06.199 --> 00:42:10.360
different sections, I think Jana, having done trans Continental before
731
00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:12.840
and obviously having a lot of experience with this, will
732
00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:17.039
have looked and probably calculated with it was going to
733
00:42:17.119 --> 00:42:21.039
make the most time, and the gravel sections were probably
734
00:42:21.079 --> 00:42:23.280
areas where she would try not to lose too much time,
735
00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:25.119
but actually she could try to gain most of the
736
00:42:25.159 --> 00:42:28.679
time on the road sections and particularly the climbing areas.
737
00:42:28.960 --> 00:42:32.000
I think it's interesting comparing Yana in her experience of
738
00:42:32.039 --> 00:42:37.119
doing TCR previously versus lale wrecking sections, because it's very
739
00:42:37.199 --> 00:42:40.679
rare riders go and actually wrecky significant sections of TCR
740
00:42:41.320 --> 00:42:45.119
certainly an advantage, but it shows from Rianna's approach that
741
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:47.119
it's not as good as having the experience of having
742
00:42:47.159 --> 00:42:50.320
ridden an entire TCR previously, possibly because when you choose
743
00:42:50.360 --> 00:42:52.960
to wrecky, you go and wrecky the worst bits, and
744
00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:56.519
actually if you're wrecking and you use that information that
745
00:42:56.559 --> 00:42:59.519
you've ridden so ten percent, you've got a ten percent downpour.
746
00:42:59.559 --> 00:43:02.440
But it's the worst part of his Jana is using
747
00:43:02.480 --> 00:43:05.239
that vast experience of riding those four thousand plus kilometers
748
00:43:05.280 --> 00:43:07.639
and she can make more informed judgments on what she
749
00:43:07.639 --> 00:43:08.199
wants to go for.
750
00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:11.519
Rob, you've got our next hot topic.
751
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:16.440
Yes, the subject of intervention. So during the latter stages
752
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:19.199
of the race, well the latter stages for Victor, the
753
00:43:19.360 --> 00:43:24.320
control car intercepted him before a bridge between Bulgaria and Romania.
754
00:43:24.960 --> 00:43:27.559
The bridge was a banned e road, but it became
755
00:43:27.599 --> 00:43:30.440
apparent that he and a number of other riders were
756
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:34.880
planning to use what could have generously be described as
757
00:43:34.880 --> 00:43:36.559
a footpath on the edge of the bridge, but it's
758
00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:40.280
really just a gap between well nothing and the road.
759
00:43:41.840 --> 00:43:44.679
The control car got there before him, They saw it,
760
00:43:44.920 --> 00:43:47.880
and they decided to intervene and let him know that
761
00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:51.000
he couldn't cross with other rules. I certainly can't think
762
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:53.760
of another instant like it. And there was a, you know,
763
00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:57.000
the usual colorful mix of reactions online. Quite a few
764
00:43:57.000 --> 00:43:59.119
people thinking they should have let to fall to his death,
765
00:43:59.239 --> 00:44:01.880
quite a few people thinking they should be obvision and
766
00:44:02.199 --> 00:44:05.360
aware of the condition of the size of bridges across Europe.
767
00:44:05.400 --> 00:44:08.000
I think I think obviously, you know, there's things they
768
00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.599
could have done differently. I think mostock probably should have
769
00:44:10.599 --> 00:44:13.480
banned that bridge outright to avoid even the temptation of
770
00:44:13.519 --> 00:44:16.400
getting across. But yeah, it does raise the question, you know,
771
00:44:16.440 --> 00:44:18.639
when is it right to intervene and kind of what
772
00:44:18.800 --> 00:44:20.920
threshold these to we met.
773
00:44:20.519 --> 00:44:25.880
M I I'd heard of some people online questioning, well,
774
00:44:26.119 --> 00:44:31.159
why why had Lost Dot not banned this bridge in advance?
775
00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:35.519
And should they not be wreckying every single possible road
776
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:37.360
along the route to make sure they are safe.
777
00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:40.119
I think it's a challenging one because maybe in this
778
00:44:40.199 --> 00:44:43.960
situation people do have somewhat of a point because in
779
00:44:44.199 --> 00:44:45.920
Lost Dot do you do a lot of research of
780
00:44:46.079 --> 00:44:49.280
what possible routes people could take. They even ask riders
781
00:44:49.320 --> 00:44:51.800
for their routes kind of an advance, not not all riders,
782
00:44:51.840 --> 00:44:54.199
but like a select view. Maybe no one said they
783
00:44:54.199 --> 00:44:56.039
were going to do this, but I do know the
784
00:44:56.119 --> 00:44:59.039
Lost doc really do think quite long and hard about
785
00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:01.480
where people might go, and often they're trying to funnel
786
00:45:01.519 --> 00:45:04.679
people certain ways to make the race a bit more exciting.
787
00:45:04.760 --> 00:45:06.360
So a lot of the time this is done with
788
00:45:06.440 --> 00:45:07.599
gravel sectors.
789
00:45:09.119 --> 00:45:12.760
It's a huge route, it's over four thousand kilometers. It
790
00:45:12.920 --> 00:45:16.159
expects people who worked they'd lost art to kind of
791
00:45:16.239 --> 00:45:19.159
inspect every single bridge is obviously unrealistic.
792
00:45:20.440 --> 00:45:22.760
I think all you can do is the best from them.
793
00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:25.480
A couple of points for context, it lost dot do
794
00:45:25.639 --> 00:45:31.119
provide a map of band roads across Europe, which obviously
795
00:45:31.119 --> 00:45:34.119
they put in a lot of extensive research to figure
796
00:45:34.119 --> 00:45:37.800
this out. And I also understand that during the briefing,
797
00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:42.679
riders were warned that heading north of the Danube was
798
00:45:42.800 --> 00:45:44.880
to be done at their own risk, that being able
799
00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:48.440
to cross back south was uncertain, which proved to be
800
00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:48.840
the case.
801
00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:51.320
I think the other side to it as well as
802
00:45:51.800 --> 00:45:54.039
when you choose your route, you need to balance the
803
00:45:54.119 --> 00:45:57.360
kind of risk versus rewards. So potentially Victor in this
804
00:45:57.400 --> 00:45:59.559
case saw a lot of rewards, but it did come
805
00:45:59.599 --> 00:46:02.519
with a risk, and in this case it did bite him,
806
00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:06.639
and his backup options weren't amazing. There was a fairy that,
807
00:46:07.119 --> 00:46:09.719
to be honest, I think anyone really looked at until
808
00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:12.719
the race itself, and it ended up with him missing
809
00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:15.719
the I think ten o'clock ferry and having to wait
810
00:46:15.840 --> 00:46:18.480
until six am for the next one. Could have been
811
00:46:19.199 --> 00:46:21.960
race to finding and you can blame lost Dark to
812
00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:24.400
make them the last minute Cole, Were they really going
813
00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:28.400
to that Victor potentially fall to his death to bathe
814
00:46:28.440 --> 00:46:32.480
his race or can you blame victors taking kind of
815
00:46:32.519 --> 00:46:35.119
a big risk and just falling on the wrong side
816
00:46:35.159 --> 00:46:36.079
of it in this case.
817
00:46:37.800 --> 00:46:40.119
Yeah, I think there was a difficulty with the communication
818
00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:42.039
sort of loll stop there as well, because they didn't
819
00:46:42.079 --> 00:46:44.119
really want to point fault at Victor when they made
820
00:46:44.119 --> 00:46:47.760
the announcement, understandably because you know, he's there, probably went
821
00:46:47.880 --> 00:46:49.800
up and they don't want to, you know, in any
822
00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:52.000
way criticize his actions. But as you say, it was
823
00:46:52.039 --> 00:46:54.039
a very risky choice. And if you looked into it
824
00:46:54.119 --> 00:46:57.440
in any detail, you saw the street view, it looked
825
00:46:57.440 --> 00:47:00.159
like there was no footpath and certainly not one you
826
00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:02.559
could have walked down without sort of carrying your bike
827
00:47:02.639 --> 00:47:05.480
either over the river or the road. So it was
828
00:47:05.519 --> 00:47:07.880
certainly a very risky choice. But I don't think Ostoc
829
00:47:07.880 --> 00:47:10.559
could really highlight that without you know, almost like fairly
830
00:47:10.599 --> 00:47:11.360
attacking Victor.
831
00:47:11.519 --> 00:47:14.960
He said that he warned the riders in the briefing
832
00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:19.039
that was right before the start of the race if
833
00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:21.159
the waste were going to tell you an hour before
834
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:23.800
the race that you shouldn't the north side.
835
00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:25.400
What are you going to do? Are you going to
836
00:47:25.599 --> 00:47:27.119
suddenly reroute yourself?
837
00:47:27.199 --> 00:47:30.360
And I'd be super intrigued to know how many riders
838
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:34.280
their initial route when they left, when that direction, and
839
00:47:34.760 --> 00:47:38.039
was it that he was just one of many or
840
00:47:38.079 --> 00:47:38.440
one of you.
841
00:47:40.079 --> 00:47:42.880
And this is also a consequence of the action of
842
00:47:42.960 --> 00:47:46.559
banning that bridge, that Victor, as the first rider there,
843
00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:50.119
effectively paid paid that price of being the first one
844
00:47:50.199 --> 00:47:53.000
to discover this, that those riders behind now had this
845
00:47:53.079 --> 00:47:57.039
additional information and were able, if they were keeping tabs
846
00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:00.960
on this, to change their route. So it's skill to
847
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:03.000
be able to do that on the go, but having
848
00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:05.199
information could be an advantage that those following.
849
00:48:06.320 --> 00:48:09.239
I think Miller's point about finding things out quite late
850
00:48:09.360 --> 00:48:11.320
it is a really good one. That's one of the
851
00:48:11.320 --> 00:48:14.559
reasons why so difficult for these three races if things change.
852
00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:17.199
But I think it's also the reason why the penalty
853
00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:20.000
for riding on band roads or dangerous roads is disqualification,
854
00:48:20.159 --> 00:48:23.880
is because you need to create an incentive for people
855
00:48:24.039 --> 00:48:26.800
to stop and think, oh no, I might need to reroot.
856
00:48:27.199 --> 00:48:31.000
Well, I think we've been all a bit too Vanilla.
857
00:48:31.400 --> 00:48:33.760
So far, there hasn't been a huge amount of controversy,
858
00:48:34.039 --> 00:48:37.039
so I would like to raise a topic which may
859
00:48:37.079 --> 00:48:42.480
well touch on that. We saw that there were occasions
860
00:48:42.519 --> 00:48:46.159
of both suspected and proven rule breaking during this event.
861
00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:50.719
So my question essentially is when should breaking or all
862
00:48:51.000 --> 00:48:53.440
be punished and when should it be let go. There
863
00:48:53.480 --> 00:48:58.280
was one particular incidence where a rider had arrived at
864
00:48:58.280 --> 00:49:01.239
the start in Santiago only to find out that they
865
00:49:01.719 --> 00:49:04.440
did not have their spared the earlier hanger with them.
866
00:49:04.639 --> 00:49:07.719
They then proceeded to order this online to pick up
867
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:11.840
at a locker along the way. Now, reading the rules
868
00:49:11.880 --> 00:49:14.800
of the race, which are freely available on the Lost
869
00:49:14.840 --> 00:49:20.360
the website, it states that pre arranging items to pick
870
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:24.920
up along the route is forbidden. So the organizers found
871
00:49:24.920 --> 00:49:29.199
this out, they intercepted the rider. He handed back his
872
00:49:29.239 --> 00:49:32.599
spared deralia, but received nothing more a slap on the risk.
873
00:49:33.239 --> 00:49:36.920
The question really is here, I think it's partly around
874
00:49:38.519 --> 00:49:42.880
the rules themselves, how clear they are, how they interpreted,
875
00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:46.800
and how they are enforced by the organizers, And maybe
876
00:49:46.840 --> 00:49:51.960
as a philosophical question here that should breaking the rule
877
00:49:52.199 --> 00:49:56.599
itself be punished or is it the benefit that is
878
00:49:56.639 --> 00:49:59.960
received from that, which should be punished. Who wants to start.
879
00:50:00.920 --> 00:50:03.719
How is there proof that it was just a hangar
880
00:50:03.800 --> 00:50:05.880
that he ordered and that that is all that he
881
00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:09.880
picked up. I think the topic in question was about
882
00:50:09.880 --> 00:50:13.639
maybe delivering food supplies or something, and there's there's no
883
00:50:13.719 --> 00:50:16.480
way of us knowing that what he said he did
884
00:50:16.639 --> 00:50:19.519
is what he did. But to me, the rules are
885
00:50:20.519 --> 00:50:23.400
to lily written out, and I think if you're at
886
00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:25.440
the front of the race he was leading at the time,
887
00:50:26.840 --> 00:50:30.320
you need to be aware of the rules. Entering that
888
00:50:30.400 --> 00:50:34.360
race and being at the front, my opinion is you
889
00:50:34.440 --> 00:50:38.000
should be following those rules and given lost sort of decision.
890
00:50:38.079 --> 00:50:42.039
In previous times they've enforced their rules quite strongly.
891
00:50:42.159 --> 00:50:45.480
I think it's interesting to not have done that this year.
892
00:50:46.199 --> 00:50:48.320
I would hope in this case they probably did ask
893
00:50:48.400 --> 00:50:50.519
for a receipt and you would hopefully see that there
894
00:50:50.559 --> 00:50:53.559
weren't as a patent in that order. I think the
895
00:50:53.559 --> 00:50:55.719
other side to it as well, is just like to
896
00:50:56.159 --> 00:50:59.920
assume the best and assume he was I suppose the
897
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:03.719
rules and he didn't look into them properly and completely
898
00:51:03.760 --> 00:51:07.960
taking a points that it's on point it is in
899
00:51:07.960 --> 00:51:11.559
this case, it does seem quite a fosh banishment to
900
00:51:11.960 --> 00:51:12.840
potentially just.
901
00:51:12.920 --> 00:51:16.639
Quantify someone in the no harm done and a situation
902
00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:18.760
he didn't make use of the item.
903
00:51:19.039 --> 00:51:22.400
The difference also was maybe when he ordered it, So
904
00:51:22.639 --> 00:51:25.039
if he'd have ordered it just straight after on the
905
00:51:25.079 --> 00:51:27.320
start line, it would have been fine because he did
906
00:51:27.360 --> 00:51:29.480
it before and there's no harm done.
907
00:51:29.760 --> 00:51:30.239
I don't know.
908
00:51:31.360 --> 00:51:33.039
Lost Art get a lot of sticks for being a
909
00:51:33.079 --> 00:51:36.320
bit too harsh with enforcing their rules often, and I
910
00:51:36.320 --> 00:51:37.960
think this is an example where maybe they've been a
911
00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:41.199
bit too light, and maybe it is this kind of
912
00:51:41.280 --> 00:51:44.559
ultimate kind of either way, we're going to hate Lost
913
00:51:44.599 --> 00:51:47.400
Dart because they run this big race which has a
914
00:51:47.440 --> 00:51:49.960
lot on the line for a lot of people, and yeah,
915
00:51:50.039 --> 00:51:52.639
it's hard to get everything one hundred percent right, And
916
00:51:52.679 --> 00:51:54.559
if we criticize them too much, it's probably if we
917
00:51:54.599 --> 00:51:56.239
criticize them too little, that's probably.
918
00:51:56.360 --> 00:51:58.559
You've mentioned that a couple of times Connor no harm
919
00:51:58.639 --> 00:52:02.639
was done. Perhaps ps I could draw an equivalent with
920
00:52:02.840 --> 00:52:05.840
if we're looking at breaking laws that if I go
921
00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:09.079
out breaking the speed limit in a car get pulled over,
922
00:52:09.239 --> 00:52:11.800
you could say no harm is done. You just breaking
923
00:52:11.800 --> 00:52:13.559
the law would give you a slappinger wrist. I don't
924
00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:15.679
think that's going to go down well with the police.
925
00:52:15.880 --> 00:52:20.880
So yeah, this question that you've broken her all you
926
00:52:20.920 --> 00:52:27.320
should expect to be punished, right, Maybe that disqualification isn't
927
00:52:27.360 --> 00:52:31.599
the right punishment for this sort of thing, but yeah,
928
00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:36.760
it's perhaps there is a sense of inconsistency with how
929
00:52:36.920 --> 00:52:38.519
the rules have been forced.
930
00:52:39.480 --> 00:52:41.880
I think I'm conflicted as well. But just to answer
931
00:52:42.039 --> 00:52:44.639
Corlor's point about how you prove stuff, I know for
932
00:52:44.679 --> 00:52:48.280
a fact that Lost Dot don't reveal details of evidence
933
00:52:48.320 --> 00:52:51.519
provided for the exact reason. They don't want other people
934
00:52:51.599 --> 00:52:53.679
to feel that they can then manipulate that to get
935
00:52:53.679 --> 00:52:56.239
around the rules in the future, so they don't tell
936
00:52:56.239 --> 00:52:58.800
you what evidence will rided for that reason. But yeah,
937
00:52:58.880 --> 00:53:00.760
just in terms of the of the cold leg there,
938
00:53:00.760 --> 00:53:04.159
what really doesn't sit well with me is the premeditated
939
00:53:04.239 --> 00:53:07.000
nature of this rule breaking. Whilst it's a full thing,
940
00:53:07.840 --> 00:53:10.159
I think it's a lot of the rule breaking we
941
00:53:10.239 --> 00:53:13.519
see when it comes to support, it's usually Reactually, people
942
00:53:13.599 --> 00:53:15.880
be in a bad situation mid race and they do
943
00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:18.320
something that they would probably if they thought about it properly,
944
00:53:18.360 --> 00:53:20.840
they wouldn't have done. And to do it before when
945
00:53:20.840 --> 00:53:24.920
you've supposedly got a clearer head certainly is that doesn't
946
00:53:24.960 --> 00:53:27.320
quite sit well with me, But I think we have
947
00:53:27.400 --> 00:53:29.599
to look at the sport as a whole and just
948
00:53:29.639 --> 00:53:32.239
look at, you know, the background of this rider. In particular,
949
00:53:32.360 --> 00:53:34.880
they were the native English speaker the lost or rule.
950
00:53:35.199 --> 00:53:37.639
As clear as they might be, I think the less
951
00:53:37.639 --> 00:53:40.119
clear if you don't understand the new Olds and they
952
00:53:40.199 --> 00:53:42.719
probably came from a background where certainly with the number
953
00:53:42.719 --> 00:53:44.400
of events we have these days, there are lots of
954
00:53:44.440 --> 00:53:46.679
different rules. So I think we have been mind of
955
00:53:46.679 --> 00:53:49.639
that when people come from that background and go into TCR,
956
00:53:50.199 --> 00:53:52.840
especially when you're a strong riders. Millie's already touched on this,
957
00:53:52.920 --> 00:53:55.000
but when you are in front of these events, you
958
00:53:55.039 --> 00:53:58.119
have to be squeaky clean, and it shouldn't be an
959
00:53:58.119 --> 00:54:01.880
excuse that you don't understand the full rule that even
960
00:54:01.920 --> 00:54:03.840
if it's not in your native language, that should be
961
00:54:03.880 --> 00:54:07.159
on the rider to There's enough resources out there to
962
00:54:07.159 --> 00:54:09.599
be able to translate these things or to get help.
963
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:13.119
So being harsh in it, I think when you are
964
00:54:13.119 --> 00:54:15.920
in a position that shouldn't be used as an excuse,
965
00:54:15.920 --> 00:54:19.199
and it can open up for future instance. It's for
966
00:54:19.320 --> 00:54:22.079
people to use that excuse that sorry, it wasn't my
967
00:54:22.159 --> 00:54:23.920
native language I didn't fully understand.
968
00:54:24.280 --> 00:54:27.880
So letting people off for that reason is something which
969
00:54:27.920 --> 00:54:31.000
could open up a can of worms. There was one
970
00:54:31.039 --> 00:54:35.400
of the point there on differences in rules, and clearly
971
00:54:36.039 --> 00:54:40.039
there are differences with both rules and how they are
972
00:54:40.079 --> 00:54:44.800
implemented across different events. Which one potential solution which has
973
00:54:44.840 --> 00:54:47.960
been raised is do we need a set of consistent
974
00:54:48.039 --> 00:54:52.800
rules across different events? How these rules can be managed
975
00:54:53.000 --> 00:54:56.559
whether that then implies having a government body looking over
976
00:54:56.719 --> 00:55:00.440
these self supported ultra distance events. So and want to
977
00:55:00.440 --> 00:55:02.400
see a governing body involved.
978
00:55:03.039 --> 00:55:05.440
I think that forcing uniform with you is a lazy
979
00:55:05.559 --> 00:55:08.760
response to the diversity of events we have. And I
980
00:55:08.800 --> 00:55:10.719
love the diversity events we have. They come in all
981
00:55:10.719 --> 00:55:13.920
shakesercizes think it's brilliant as a whole speacture of different rules,
982
00:55:14.280 --> 00:55:17.760
but you learn the culture and the community and you
983
00:55:17.800 --> 00:55:20.320
get to understand the rules that apply to the event
984
00:55:20.360 --> 00:55:23.559
you're entering. I think better communication and better clarity for
985
00:55:23.679 --> 00:55:26.920
organizers fine, but I don't think uniformity solves anything.
986
00:55:28.559 --> 00:55:30.760
Well, Rob, you've just shut down my idea to create
987
00:55:30.840 --> 00:55:33.519
a governing body. I already had the acronym made up
988
00:55:33.960 --> 00:55:35.920
Ultracycling International.
989
00:55:36.360 --> 00:55:36.840
You see, I.
990
00:55:38.920 --> 00:55:44.199
That's a popular one, given that there is now a
991
00:55:44.280 --> 00:55:47.199
lean to professionalism in the sport and that people are
992
00:55:47.639 --> 00:55:52.000
making a living and their sponsor contracts are dependent on
993
00:55:52.159 --> 00:55:56.280
results and things. I do think having some kind of uniformity,
994
00:55:56.400 --> 00:56:00.519
I can see that point, but I'm very much an.
995
00:56:00.440 --> 00:56:02.960
Advocate for keeping the spirit of what you're raasing alive.
996
00:56:04.559 --> 00:56:08.000
I see the point, but I think people, you know,
997
00:56:08.199 --> 00:56:11.360
it's becoming a bit more professionalized that, if anything, gives
998
00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:14.440
people a bit more time and space to figure out
999
00:56:14.440 --> 00:56:16.719
what the rules are for each individual events.
1000
00:56:16.800 --> 00:56:18.480
So I'm not sure that the.
1001
00:56:18.440 --> 00:56:22.800
Professionalization necessarily changes too much. And yeah, I think fully
1002
00:56:22.840 --> 00:56:25.320
agree with your point that if you want to maintain
1003
00:56:25.440 --> 00:56:29.480
the spirit path of vault trips, introducing kind of set rules,
1004
00:56:29.480 --> 00:56:32.000
it's not going to help your case. And we all
1005
00:56:32.119 --> 00:56:35.239
like cultras for the kind of still vibe than their
1006
00:56:35.559 --> 00:56:36.440
year mass start.
1007
00:56:37.440 --> 00:56:40.239
Maybe it's a question that become more pertinent even when
1008
00:56:40.280 --> 00:56:42.360
more money comes into the sport, and if we can
1009
00:56:42.400 --> 00:56:47.000
start seeing prize funds for winning these races. Also, to clarify,
1010
00:56:47.079 --> 00:56:51.159
we fully recognize that these are difficult decisions that the
1011
00:56:51.320 --> 00:56:55.159
organizers have to make, and I for one believe that
1012
00:56:55.199 --> 00:56:58.880
they do so in the best faith to keep these
1013
00:56:58.920 --> 00:57:03.159
events fair and equal to all participants. We're not in
1014
00:57:03.199 --> 00:57:08.360
any way criticizing the organizers' decisions. We're here to interrogate
1015
00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:11.840
and have a debate that fully recognized that they are
1016
00:57:11.880 --> 00:57:15.400
doing so in the best faith. Some interesting talking points there.
1017
00:57:16.159 --> 00:57:19.199
Thank you Connor, Rob and Milly for joining the round table.
1018
00:57:19.800 --> 00:57:20.519
Thank you Avarice.
1019
00:57:21.559 --> 00:57:22.480
Yeah, thanks for adding us.
1020
00:57:22.519 --> 00:57:29.840
Yes, we have a chapeau to give this month, and Milli,
1021
00:57:30.079 --> 00:57:31.599
you are going to introduce us.
1022
00:57:32.960 --> 00:57:37.079
Our chapeau of the month is Sarah Boslet. Sarah's partner
1023
00:57:37.159 --> 00:57:40.840
more tragically passed away while attempting a record breaking ride
1024
00:57:40.840 --> 00:57:44.280
across South America. The two of them actually first met
1025
00:57:44.559 --> 00:57:47.320
at the Transcontinental and they had been planning to ride
1026
00:57:47.360 --> 00:57:51.199
together this year. So Sarah wrote this edition of TCR
1027
00:57:51.280 --> 00:57:53.719
in his memory, and she said that it felt like
1028
00:57:53.840 --> 00:57:56.159
he was with her every step of the way, and
1029
00:57:56.199 --> 00:57:58.360
without that feeling, she couldn't have done it. So I
1030
00:57:58.400 --> 00:58:02.719
think it's a really inspired story. She's been raising funds
1031
00:58:02.719 --> 00:58:05.519
for World Bicycle Relief, which you are still able to
1032
00:58:05.519 --> 00:58:07.840
donate to, so we will put the link in the
1033
00:58:07.840 --> 00:58:10.880
show notes. And yeah, just a really inspiring story that
1034
00:58:10.920 --> 00:58:14.039
reminds us that for some people, these races mean so
1035
00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:16.199
much more than just going fast.
1036
00:58:16.440 --> 00:58:21.920
Chepe Sarah, and we're very sorry for your loss. Now
1037
00:58:22.199 --> 00:58:26.119
in Best of Bikes of, it's our visual led feature,
1038
00:58:26.719 --> 00:58:31.039
which is fundamental to have in every podcast. Each month,
1039
00:58:31.760 --> 00:58:35.000
our guest host is going to be picking a recent
1040
00:58:35.039 --> 00:58:38.519
bike and set up from the bikes of articles on
1041
00:58:38.559 --> 00:58:41.000
the dot. Watch your website, so keep an eye nose
1042
00:58:41.119 --> 00:58:43.880
for the rigs that people are riding in upcoming events.
1043
00:58:44.639 --> 00:58:46.320
MIDI which one's caught your eye recently?
1044
00:58:47.400 --> 00:58:52.480
My best bikes of is Cynthia Carson's Transcontinental Bike. It's
1045
00:58:52.519 --> 00:58:56.039
super seek and arrow, but she still put thirty four
1046
00:58:56.079 --> 00:59:01.920
seed tires on and I really admire her use of
1047
00:59:02.239 --> 00:59:07.199
frame space. As someone who also has a small small frame,
1048
00:59:07.239 --> 00:59:10.719
I don't think you have these probablyms, Sam, but being
1049
00:59:10.760 --> 00:59:13.559
able to optimize that space in the frame is super good.
1050
00:59:13.599 --> 00:59:16.599
And I think of all the TCR bikes for me,
1051
00:59:16.880 --> 00:59:20.239
that one looks like the fastest, best one i'd want
1052
00:59:20.239 --> 00:59:21.320
to ride across the continent.
1053
00:59:23.039 --> 00:59:24.920
Well, I've mentioned if it holds six pack of ice
1054
00:59:24.960 --> 00:59:27.920
cream in my frame bag, so I can appreciate how
1055
00:59:27.920 --> 00:59:30.239
important it is to maximize the space when you've got
1056
00:59:30.239 --> 00:59:33.239
a smaller frame. Well that's a wrap, so if you
1057
00:59:33.280 --> 00:59:36.360
have any submissions then please get in touch for our
1058
00:59:36.440 --> 00:59:39.360
Instagram page which is at dot COM's Pod, or you
1059
00:59:39.360 --> 00:59:42.599
can email us at dot Com'spod at gmail dot com.
1060
00:59:42.760 --> 00:59:44.719
Remember to check out the upcoming commentaries on the dot
1061
00:59:44.760 --> 00:59:48.440
watch website and the other regular features. So thanks very
1062
00:59:48.519 --> 00:59:51.119
much for joining me Millie. It's been a pleasure and
1063
00:59:52.920 --> 00:59:53.760
we'll speak to you as soon