On The Dot 001. Lost Dot 101, HT550, Hellenic Mountain Race & More! With Nicky Shaw & Rob Gardiner.

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Hello and welcome to the first episode on the dot
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dot COM's Race Focus Show, where we reviewed the recent
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action and look ahead.
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To dots to watch in the near future.
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I'm your host Samuel Thompson, and joining me today are
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two of the keenest dot watchers out there who will
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be familiar to regular listeners. First up, fresh off rather
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eventful experience in Spain and Portugal, joining the Lost Dots
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one oh one which we all come onto, we have
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regular co host and dot watcher's fastest known time timekeeper,
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Nikki Sure, Hi, Nikki, thanks.
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For having me.
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How's the recovery going?
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Not too bad? Hitting there? Thanks, I don't even know.
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I think you asked me what day I finished and
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what day it is now, and I don't know the
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answer to both of those, coming up two weeks as
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I finished. So just catching up on sleep still and
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eating everything.
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And how many ice creams have you had in that
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intervening time.
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On average, probably to a day.
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It's work to be done there, I need to start
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meaning it in a little bit now.
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I'll start riding my bag again.
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And also here we have Rob Gardner following my challengees
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UK lead and event director at the pervidious Albion, which
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includes the recent wild West Country and I hear that
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you've never missed a finisher's arrival in five years of
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running the event, ROB, so I presume you've had some
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sleep to be catching up on two.
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Yeah, although it was a little better than last year.
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Last year I got food poisoning during the finishers coming in,
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so that was that was a little more challenging and
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a seventy five percent finish rate. But this year, fortunately
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people graciously scratched at a slightly higher rate and there
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was only one night where they came in all through
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the night. So yeah, well it wasn't too bad. Any
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other organizer will kind of know what I mean.
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Okay, So, as we approach peak ultra Cyclic season, our
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intention is to use these on the Dot episodes to
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dedicate more time to the events taking place in intervening
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time between main episodes and often greater informed analysis and
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opinions on the racing. We can't cover everything, but we'll
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do our best to highlight the events you're most interested
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in hearing about. First up before we start ROB. Most
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of the events that we are covering use follow by
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challenge as the as the tracking platform. There's been quite
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a few new features that have been released from follow
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by Challenge this year, especially around the analytics as well.
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What are the main ones that you think are going
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to help dot watchers to enhance their dot watching experience.
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Yeah, so the analytics tab on the map has been
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completely rebuilt from scratch.
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I think pretty much.
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The only two features it retains are the time the
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stop time chart, which people really like and are still
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really useful, and then also the heat map, which is
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obviously really only relevant to free route events. But there's
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a bunch of new tables and charts on there, and
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there's also kind of a graph generator with I think
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there's five or six preset graphs that you can generate,
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and there's a few different options there comparing things like
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moving speed versus average speed overall, and it's good to
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see kind of where people strike the balance, and the
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same with stop time versus moving time.
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And then a kind of personal.
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Favorite of my own is the distance gap over time,
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which is really good when you've got a battle between
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two riders and you can kind of see where the
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elastic snaps. So I know we're going to come on
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to the HT five fifty but you can kind of see,
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I don't I'm not spoiling anything here that your Steena's
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one quite comfortably.
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But for the first.
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Twenty hours that gap was around an hour, I think
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it was at most it was thirteen k and then
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after that it balloons and you can kind of see
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that he kind of rides away from it. But it
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gives you a view that you don't necessarily see on
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the main tracking map of kind of how that battle
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has played out. So it's quite enjoyable to sort of
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dive into the numbers and I encourage people to have
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a blick around and also for this bot any bugs,
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let us know because it is brand new.
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And it would be good for us to go through
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some examples of that as we as we talk about
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some of the events and it leads into some of
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the talking points that we've got in terms of what
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we've picked out from the analysis side. So with events
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that we're going to recap, well, as you mentioned Highland
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twelve five fifty, let's start of that. It started on
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the ninth of May up in Highlands in Scotland. The
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first finisher, as robbers already spoiled for us, was justin
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s Lavaca in three days eleven hours. Second was Ashley
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Accordingly and third overall and first woman was Kerrie McPhee.
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The second place female was Nicolette Jones, who came in
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eighth overall, and the third woman was Ruby Bidsall, who
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was tenth overall. There was a total of sixty four
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races and there was a fifty to fifty gender split here.
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So we had thirty two men thirty two women on
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the start line and thirty one of them finished, so
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fifty to fifty or around here.
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Just to quickly pick up on your finisher rate there,
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did you say that the same percentage of men had
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finished as women?
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Oh no, sorry, by that, I meant it was fifty
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percent overall finished. That haven't got the status, but I'm
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sure we can pick that up from follow my challenge, Rob.
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Oh no, just.
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Actually I was going to say that then it would
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be impressive because actually men tend to finish at a
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lower rate than women. So I was going to say
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that's actually a standout statistic, but I think that's sort
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of It's probably not as important as the fifty to
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fifty split.
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And so we had justinaus winning this by twelve hours
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in the end. You'd already mentioned Rob about that gap.
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It stayed relatively stable for the first part but then
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increased beyond that. There wasn't a huge amount of suspense
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in terms of the outcome as we went to the
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second half of the event. It seemed a challenging one
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for conditions as well.
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I think with the conditions is given, isn't it's a
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highland trail, it is May, and also wasn't earlier in
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the in the month this year as well, So.
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Yeah, it was it was moved earlier.
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Yeah, it's towards the end of May with that bank
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holiday weekend, trying to opanize weather window, but it was
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a few weeks earlier, so that might have had a
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bit of an impact.
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I think, Sorry, there was there was a benefit to
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us all of it not being kind of FKT conditions
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in that if you, I don't know if you've seen
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your Stinas's Instagram, but he clearly filmed a lot, so
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we've got the benefit of the full highlights reel of
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the entire HT five fifty basically, which I have a
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feeling if he was going for the FKT we might
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not have got. So Actually it's quite nice to see
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it because there's not a lot of coverage, you know,
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there's there were a couple of photographers out there, but
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they see a fraction of the route. So it was
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really nice to see it from his perspective. So yeah,
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if anyone hasn't seen that, I'd really encourage you to
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go and see that.
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Justine even had a five hour sleep apparently, which doesn't
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seem to be in his nature, especially for an event
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which is only three four days long.
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Quit looks sure, isn't it to have a five hour
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sleep within a three day race?
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Nearly four night Actually.
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Kerry McPhee also had a what is now a characteristically
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eventful race. Heard that she fed off a bridge part
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way through Manchester, slasher tire in the process, and I
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think she said he was she was fearful getting hypothermia
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at the time, so she used hand warmers both with
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her hands to get them back functioning, and I think
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she used them at some other place in her body
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as well, just to just to keep herself warm. And
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I think she then moved on to the next town
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to be able to repair the bike in shelter. So
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fortunately she finished, Yeah, a really great performance, finishing third
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overall from.
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Her, I think that's incredible given like what she had
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to go through to get to do get onto the podium,
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so it just goes to show what the conditions were
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for everyone else. So just have to keep going and
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then yeah, she's done well both years.
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And I was also impressed to see that Ruby finished
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on a gravel bike.
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I think, am I right?
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And I'm sure I saw a picture. There was definitely
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someone riding on a gravel bike. I think it was
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Ruby and she was because I know she was riding
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a gravel bike onours divide and I think I'm right.
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Remembering that Alan said she only owns a gravel bike,
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so that she's doing the UK Triple Crown, so obviously
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then the H two five fifty becomes the slightly more
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challenging one of those, but she did it really fast.
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There was a couple of other notable finishers there. We
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had the first ever plastic free time that was set
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by Danny Kaufman and the first mother daughter combo to
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complete the Highland twelve five fifty. It's Mandy McClung and
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Zoe Painter and in the process, Mandy was the oldest
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woman finisher at sixty two years old and it's the
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second of the UK Triple Crown NICKI.
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So the UK Triple CWN has got its own leaderboard,
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so it's made up of the three Conic crass of
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the year.
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So that's the Highland Trail, the.
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What's it the Divide sorry if there's in April, the
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Hailand Trail five point fifty and then also the North
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Wales four hundred. So I'll look at who's on the
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leaderboard for that at the moment and get the fastest
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known times site updated.
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Just looking at the leaderboard, I can I can say
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we do have quite two quite healthy leads. So Brinn
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Appleton is leading for the men with he's currently got
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a forty hour lead over Jordan Lloyd behind and Ruby
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Beetsel is. I think my math has been tested about
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fifteen hours ahead of Jade behind, so but I think
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it's worth noting there haven't been any it t T
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attempts yet, so we don't know who's sort of saving
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Dale's Divide for dry summer conditions and is going to
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go and smash that. So I think it could all
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change if people go out and start doing some mighty t's,
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especially with the conditions we've seen with Dale's Divide and
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H five fifty, there's definitely faster times out there.
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So there's no distinction between the mass start events and ITTs.
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For this leader board then no.
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No, which definitely biases Dale's Divide with the terrible weather
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they had.
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So anyone interested, wait, wait, wait for a dry weekend
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and go in the go and target these. Then that
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brings us on to the next events that we got
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to cover, which is the first edition of the Lost
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Dot one one which started on the tenth of May
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and Santiago in Spain, finished in Cordaba in South Spain
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and passed.
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Through Portugal en route.
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It was a twelve hundred kilometer Part three route some
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fixed parkour in there. We spoke about this on the
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last episode. The defining feature of this is that it's
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a race for women, non binary and trans riders only.
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The top three overall.
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We had Anna Richter, who was riding in a non
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binary category, who finished in three days, three hours and
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thirty minutes. Second overall is Amrie Koon in eighty seven
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hours and eight minutes, so that was thirteen hours behind Anna.
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Amri was the first female rider in third place overall
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Elise Sauvigner in ninety five hours and twenty five minutes,
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and then third woman fourth overall was Larissa and in
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nineteen nine hours and seven minutes. Nikki, let's start with
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your experience. You're up there for a long period of time.
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We haven't got your name on the finishers there, so
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do you want to tell us a bit about your experience?
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Yeah?
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Sure, So first of all, it was actually thirteen hundred
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kilometer ride. I think lost I divisionally advertised it as
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twelve hundred kilometers, and it was. It was a tough
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ride to say, it was advertised for people that maybe
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didn't have much experience in ultra distance flint of riders,
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so that's female, lesbian, intersex, non binary, transgender, and agender,
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so representing all those undrepresented groups.
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But it was a tough ride. So, but my personal
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experience was typical Loss DOT.
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They so tough parcuse obviously three routes, so three checkpoints
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to pass through and four parkorse so a case of
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joining the dots. I physically I say I finished fifth,
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00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:42.039
so I was the finished fifth rider to reach.
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QUARTERBA.
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But actually when I got to the finish line was
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I was told quite swiftly by Hannah and the race
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director that I had been disqualified, which was a bit
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of a surprise and a shock at the time. So
256
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there wasn't really much congratulations at that finish line because
257
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it was just straight away. They wanted to have a
258
00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.200
look at my GPX files and a certain section of
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00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:15.879
moote that I'd ridden quite early on in the race,
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00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:22.440
actually in the first half, and I hadn't even realized
261
00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.840
at the time that I'd ridden on a road that
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00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:29.559
was banned the cyclists. So this was just before checkpoint two.
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00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:35.200
It was stretch of road which was only around about
264
00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:36.879
three and a half klumeters long.
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It was a.
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00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.639
I don't say it's actual motorway, but it was the road,
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00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.799
not like in the UK you get dual carriageways that
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00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.200
link to a motorway, so it's like a linking road.
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00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:54.840
So it's this kind of road. So on paper on
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00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.840
the map it looked like obviously my routing had gone
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that way and I hadn't actually realized that it's in
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00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:08.000
Portuguese law. It was a road that was fun for cyclists,
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00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:13.679
So so that was my downfall and the crap to
274
00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:15.519
talk about it really because it's the first time I've
275
00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:18.480
been disqualified from the race, so it was a bit
276
00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:20.679
of a surprise in the shock, but also.
277
00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:25.159
The rules are there for a reason and acknowledge that,
278
00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.440
so that's why you won't see me on any of
279
00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:28.279
the leader boards.
280
00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.000
It was so efficient the way that they just scratched
281
00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.759
me from the hole from you know, there's no trace
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00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:39.039
of me whatsoever. A lot of friends that were not
283
00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.519
watching were all of a sudden like, oh, where where
284
00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:42.759
is she?
285
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:43.960
Where's the dot gone where?
286
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:47.799
Because I was late top five heading for like a
287
00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:52.759
podium finish, so obviously that took me off the leaderboard.
288
00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:58.919
Altogether, it sounds like you're reasonably accepting of it. Has
289
00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.639
your sort of feed things changed about it since that
290
00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:05.080
immediate point at the finish that you had told about him.
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00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:10.039
I think I'm quite accepting of it now. If it
292
00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:14.600
had been a case of I had finished in the
293
00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.159
first place and then I was told that I've been disqualified,
294
00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:19.240
I think it would have been a lot more for
295
00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:23.600
me to get over. But at the end of the day,
296
00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:25.720
I think what I've said to a lot of people
297
00:15:25.960 --> 00:15:29.679
is that it doesn't take anything away from the experience
298
00:15:29.799 --> 00:15:31.320
I had during the ride.
299
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I still finished strong.
300
00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.600
I had an amazing time exploring new parts of Portugal
301
00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:38.039
and Spain.
302
00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:39.559
I'd never been too poor.
303
00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:45.080
And I raced as if I was racing, so I
304
00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.840
had no idea that I wasn't even in contention anymore.
305
00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:52.480
So I'm still grateful for that experience that I had
306
00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:57.600
during the actual race. So I was, Yeah, it's just
307
00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:03.320
the acceptance that the rules and it is what it is,
308
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:08.799
really so yeah, it's made me learn lessons. Learn a
309
00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.879
few lessons in terms of being more vigilant as far
310
00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:17.000
as boot planning, and also being more aware showing the
311
00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:21.200
ride the following the route that I've planned, not just
312
00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:23.519
to follow the route, but also be aware of your
313
00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:27.240
surroundings and if you see any signs or anything that
314
00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:31.559
doesn't look quite right, then just stop and just take
315
00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:34.159
a moment just to question the route that you've planned.
316
00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:39.279
It comes into wider discussion that we've we had in
317
00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:43.759
the last episode around Tracker for instance, and how rules
318
00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:48.919
were weren't implemented there and Lost Dot obviously have this
319
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.759
have a reputation for being quite strict on rule enforcement
320
00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:59.200
and in terms of your punishment for this, I believe
321
00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:03.360
they communicated afterwards say it was around making sure that
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00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:07.039
people are vigilant about this sort of thing going forward
323
00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:10.799
with planning, making sure they're not going on illegal roads.
324
00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:13.440
But still it's something that we see very inconsistent in
325
00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:17.720
terms of application from different event organizers. I've got a
326
00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:20.240
personal example. I did a very similar thing in an
327
00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:22.400
event a couple of years ago and got one hour penalty,
328
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:26.240
and you've been disqualified for essentially the same events. So
329
00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:29.759
it's something which potentially is confusing for some people. How
330
00:17:30.359 --> 00:17:32.920
why you were disqualified, Why someone else might just get
331
00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:34.319
a slap on the wrist.
332
00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:39.319
Essentially, Yeah, it's also quite sought to say that I
333
00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:44.599
hadn't realized that I'd boken that rule and I've been disqualified.
334
00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.720
For something that was unintentional, because obviously you.
335
00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:54.160
Follow the rules to the best of your knowledge, because
336
00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:57.960
they are there to keep everyone safe, to keep you safe.
337
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:01.960
So yeah, I mean lost art.
338
00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:05.880
Obviously, they've paved the way much distance racing for a
339
00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:08.359
number of years. I think a lot of other race
340
00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:13.559
organizers look up to them as as the ones to follow,
341
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:20.240
so they do take the rules very seriously. So it's yeah,
342
00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:25.559
it was a disqualification based on quite a quite small
343
00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:29.079
error which I just have to accept.
344
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.599
I think just the conversation we're having now though, kind
345
00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:37.000
of like it proves that that why we need unfortunately,
346
00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:40.920
dose disqualifications. And I kind of I said this to
347
00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:44.200
Nicki already that I think that it's a huge personal
348
00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:45.960
loss for her and it's a horrible thing to happen,
349
00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:49.160
but it does make us all safer. And you know,
350
00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:51.680
knowing someone as experienced as Nikki can be DQ for
351
00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:54.160
a mistake kind of just shows us that when it
352
00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:57.160
doesn't matter how much experience you have, when we're all fallible.
353
00:18:57.640 --> 00:18:59.839
And I know that personally because I know Nicki and
354
00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:03.039
I I have context to that dcuber from knowing her,
355
00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:05.880
I will be far more careful with my own route
356
00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:08.519
planning because of that. So she has made me safer.
357
00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.839
So thank you, Nikki. And then I think also when
358
00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:15.119
you're saying about the being aware when you're riding to
359
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.759
kind of stop and check, I think that's really important.
360
00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:19.880
I think it's the two things. It's the prep beforehand,
361
00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.160
but it's knowing that you can't just blast through because
362
00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.720
the penalty might be the end of your race. And
363
00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:29.039
as someone who watches a lot of dots, have I
364
00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:32.720
remember seeing dots on TCR the year before last going
365
00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:35.440
into Turkish Motorvay tunnels, and I was like, I know
366
00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.359
you're gettingdq'ed, and I know you can see that's a tunnel.
367
00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:41.000
You should have stopped and checked your route because you
368
00:19:41.079 --> 00:19:43.160
must know that the penalty is a TQ for that,
369
00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:46.440
and it doesn't it doesn't matter whether you you know,
370
00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:48.920
lose your race. Really the risk is you will lose
371
00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:51.160
your life going through that tunnel. It's like a one
372
00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.920
or two klumes long tunnel. And I think that people
373
00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:57.680
need to know that the jeopardy is that high that
374
00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.240
they should stop and check their route rather than take
375
00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.680
the risk that the road is safe, because a lot
376
00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:04.519
of the time we're seeing people riding roads that are
377
00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:07.359
just not safe. And I think in nicky situation it
378
00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.400
probably was safe, but the fact is that lots of
379
00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:13.000
other people are riding or roads that are very unsafe.
380
00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:14.480
Yeah, I agree with you.
381
00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:18.319
I think the route planning sitting down looking at a
382
00:20:18.359 --> 00:20:21.599
map on the ride of GPS planning the route that
383
00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:25.920
way isn't a catch all for all those roads.
384
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:28.920
So I think I was probably.
385
00:20:28.680 --> 00:20:33.559
At fault here in making assumption that it had caught
386
00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:37.640
all those illegal roads, but actually it's not intuitive enough
387
00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:42.240
to know which roads are banned the cyclists from.
388
00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:43.559
Portugal and different countries.
389
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:48.000
The different countries have different road laws and legislations. So
390
00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.680
if it only takes ten minutes when you stop and
391
00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:55.039
get to a junction, you're questioning the route that you've planned,
392
00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.480
and you know that ten minutes could be different between
393
00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:04.119
a DQ and finishing ten minutes later, So it's a
394
00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:04.720
no brainer.
395
00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:05.000
Really.
396
00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:08.039
Well, let's come back to a couple other things to
397
00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:11.039
talk about with this race. Out of one hundred and
398
00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:17.000
forty five starters, there were only fifty two that finished, sorry,
399
00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:19.680
fifty two solo and one of the pairs finished, So
400
00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:25.319
it's quite a high scratch rate, particularly with the extended
401
00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:31.279
cutoffs for finishing within GC compared to typical lost events. Nicky,
402
00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:33.559
do you think the conditions played into this? Because I
403
00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:36.359
heard it it was quite challenging. Wasn't what you expected
404
00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:40.640
from a Spanish spring? And what was your impression of
405
00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:42.440
the overall reasons for this?
406
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:46.799
I think I said before it was a tough route
407
00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.680
to say it was for that there's a high proportion
408
00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:56.000
of first time rockies who were participating, so that in
409
00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.640
itself might have had an impact as to the high
410
00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.400
rate of scratches and your lack of experience and.
411
00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:02.960
That sort of thing.
412
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:07.039
That that also, it was an incredibly tough route twenty
413
00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:11.799
four thousand mister elevation and the park course. I mean
414
00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:14.759
I was pushing my bike up some of those park
415
00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:19.279
course because of the gradients and the distance and the
416
00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:23.279
terrain and everything. But it was also the weather conditions
417
00:22:23.279 --> 00:22:26.240
that we endured as well, especially in the first half.
418
00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.319
It started to rain pretty much as soon as we
419
00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:30.039
set off.
420
00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:35.279
From Santiago to Compostella, so that was a six pm
421
00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:36.279
start straight.
422
00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.759
Into the night. It was rainy, it was wet and cold.
423
00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:42.559
There was quite a few crashes that first night, just
424
00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:48.519
because probably a high anxiety, slippy roads, So all these
425
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:52.359
sort of things contributed towards high scratch rate, I think.
426
00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.200
And even though the cuss half times of the checkpoints
427
00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:59.920
were more relaxed, it's still it's still having to make
428
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:05.599
over two hundred klometers a day to actually reach those checkpoints. So,
429
00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:08.880
like I said before, it was marketed that there's twelve
430
00:23:08.920 --> 00:23:12.119
hundred klometers, but it was impossible to make it any
431
00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:15.480
less than thirteen hundred klometers, So that might have thrown
432
00:23:15.480 --> 00:23:18.319
a lot of people out in terms of target that
433
00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:19.880
they had to make every day.
434
00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:26.640
So yeah, typical lost out race took power course and just.
435
00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:30.000
On the nature of the events and there not being
436
00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:33.000
any mail riders there, how did you find that affected
437
00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.359
the experience for the riders?
438
00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:38.000
And I sort of got some.
439
00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:41.680
General impressions through the race media, but how did you
440
00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:44.279
find that was on the ground.
441
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.519
I felt like it was different to any race that
442
00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:53.440
I've been to before. It was an incredible feeling of community.
443
00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:58.319
There was a WhatsApp group which was extremely active with
444
00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:02.599
all the riders support both before the ride.
445
00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:03.400
And also enjoying and after.
446
00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:08.720
And for the first time I was actually the finishers party.
447
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:11.519
Normally I got back home back to work before the
448
00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:14.680
finishers parties even started, so it was actually nice to
449
00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:18.960
be there and just celebrate the achievement of everyone who
450
00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:19.720
had made it.
451
00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:22.680
And it was yeah, it was quite.
452
00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:28.680
It was quite experienced, really and very uplifting to see
453
00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.359
to see that community and there was all those got
454
00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:36.400
underrepresented riders coming together, so it was it was incredible
455
00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:37.480
to see it.
456
00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:42.599
Sounds like it was in all a really successful event
457
00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:45.480
in that sense, and I want to give a shout
458
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.000
out to lost op media coverage as well, because I
459
00:24:48.039 --> 00:24:51.400
think as is as is usual with him, it was
460
00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:55.319
it was exceptional and both the written reports by Flen
461
00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.359
caf goot Keys and the podcast by Nick Rawlings it
462
00:24:59.480 --> 00:24:59.920
really gay.
463
00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:01.720
You've a great.
464
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.640
Insight and following a lot of the riders' stories along
465
00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:09.160
the way as well, And one which one which I
466
00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:13.599
quite liked was was the rider who won the Resourcefulness
467
00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:19.839
Award afterwards. That's Emily beij Cheng who her navigation devices
468
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.519
were failing on. I think she I think she run
469
00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:24.240
out of power and I heard at one point her
470
00:25:24.279 --> 00:25:28.160
phone was on around two percent battery, and it's one
471
00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:31.480
of these things that you don't like. Obviously we should
472
00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:33.039
have backup plans for these sort of things, but this
473
00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:35.279
sounded like she was at the end of her backup
474
00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:38.359
plan and sort of had to come up with something
475
00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:40.880
genius idea to make sure she knew where she was going,
476
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.960
so she started hand drawing maps to be able to
477
00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:49.440
guide her take. She I think she had a digital
478
00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:52.279
camera with her and was taken photographs of sections of
479
00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:54.559
the route to be able to be able to still
480
00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:57.880
have that. So yeah, it's these sort of stories which
481
00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:02.279
which I really like hearing about that these you can't
482
00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:04.400
anticipate in advance that these things are going to happen,
483
00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:08.799
and often is a solution. It's just relying on your
484
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:12.200
resourcefulness and ingenuity to be able to come up with them.
485
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:15.279
Yeah, and it paid off her because she did make
486
00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:17.440
it in the end. And I think this was an
487
00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:20.759
issue that a lot of people had with phones not charging,
488
00:26:21.799 --> 00:26:25.359
navigation units failing, probably as a result of the bad
489
00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:28.680
weather and everything getting wet. So and shout out to
490
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:34.039
Lost Doc because they don't just celebrate those first place finishers.
491
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:38.000
They also celebrate, like you say, the most dishausceful person.
492
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:40.839
And they also had a Spirit of the Race award
493
00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:45.880
and the traditional lantern rouge, so everyone is celebrated, no
494
00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.440
matter whether you're first or last.
495
00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:51.480
No, I was just going to say that that was incredible,
496
00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:54.960
And even from Afar, it really felt like the whole
497
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:57.039
vibe of the race was very different from any other
498
00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:01.000
Lost Out event. Everything from like the smalls and the colors,
499
00:27:01.079 --> 00:27:06.079
to the type of route to just the media coverage.
500
00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:07.240
It did feel different.
501
00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:09.880
And I think it's it's really nice that they've created
502
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.920
something that has its own unique identity. And I even
503
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:16.279
noticed that the naming they're calling this one one on
504
00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:19.400
one Santiago, but it's not number one, So I guess
505
00:27:19.400 --> 00:27:21.839
the feeling is that perhaps it'll starts somewhe completely different
506
00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:23.920
next time, but I hope it keeps going.
507
00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:25.400
And it was.
508
00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:27.279
It was great to follow, and you know, from a
509
00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:29.599
dot watcher's perspective, I don't care about the gender of
510
00:27:29.599 --> 00:27:30.039
the riders.
511
00:27:30.039 --> 00:27:31.559
It's just great to see a race unfold.
512
00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:35.079
So it's great, you know, it's great to bring to
513
00:27:35.079 --> 00:27:37.599
to kind of to forefront, as as Dicky said, the
514
00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.640
marginalized kind of people under the flinter label. I think
515
00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:43.720
the only thing I thought was a little bit disappointing,
516
00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:46.119
and I suspect you too might not be allowed to
517
00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:48.720
say this, but there was no Dot Watcher commentator, and
518
00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:50.880
I know that they tried to get one and couldn't
519
00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:52.960
get one, and I think that's a real shame because
520
00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:57.559
I think as a community, if we want to bring
521
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:00.400
kind of coverage to these brilliant events, we need to
522
00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.279
step up and provide commentary, and you know, the people
523
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:06.319
need to volunteer. And I can say that because I
524
00:28:06.359 --> 00:28:08.079
was basically probably an event, so I couldn't have done it.
525
00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:11.599
But I think that, you know, next time, I hope
526
00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.960
that someone will step up and we can we can
527
00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:15.240
kind of really bring it to life.
528
00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:18.440
Yeah, it's just that it can be difficult sometimes with
529
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.640
it being the first inaugural race. So maybe next year
530
00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:24.720
and there will be next year that there will be
531
00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:27.559
some veterans from the race this year that that might
532
00:28:27.559 --> 00:28:29.920
be willing to take up that role.
533
00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:32.720
So in this cust it's also reminded that the dot
534
00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.720
watch commentary relies on volunteers, So if there are people
535
00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:38.279
listening to this who want to you want to help
536
00:28:38.359 --> 00:28:43.440
out in that respect, then it is appreciated by the community.
537
00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:44.079
Yeah.
538
00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:47.480
Absolutely, I've got a bit of inside knowledge actually about
539
00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:49.880
next year. I don't know if I'll have to say this,
540
00:28:49.960 --> 00:28:54.200
but it's it's probably going to be in the south
541
00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:58.799
of Spain and it will be more than likely we
542
00:28:59.039 --> 00:29:02.880
situally loop so instead of a point to point raace.
543
00:29:03.640 --> 00:29:05.279
I think one thing that's come out of the race
544
00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:10.759
is just logistics behind a point to point races can
545
00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:14.319
be incredibly hard and just getting to these places there's
546
00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:17.880
no there was no airport at either the start or
547
00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:21.119
the finish, so there's a lot of people traveling by
548
00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:24.880
train and bus, which of course lost Dot do encourage
549
00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:27.839
over on travel with a green leader board anyway, but
550
00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:32.559
I think a circular loop might just be might be
551
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.759
even more accessible to these types of riders.
552
00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:38.039
This is this is why we have you on Nikki
553
00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:40.279
to give us some give us an inside infos. So
554
00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:43.559
hopefully you haven't revealed anything too secret there.
555
00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:44.799
Hopefully not.
556
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:46.880
They're just going to keep moving it south until they
557
00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:49.200
get better weather. I think, so we'll be of a Sahara
558
00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:49.759
before we know that.
559
00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:59.640
Well. Another event, we're recording this on the twentieth of May,
560
00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:03.240
so this event is still ongoing. It's the Middle Gerberge Classic,
561
00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:07.799
which starts on the seventeenth of May. It's a fixed
562
00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:13.680
route around the Black Forest, Zura and Voges Middle Mountain ranges.
563
00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:18.599
We've had the first finishes in first overall was Bruno
564
00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:24.839
wicked in fifty one hours nine minutes. Second, we believe
565
00:30:25.079 --> 00:30:27.720
it was Adam Bieleik. His track had stopped working at
566
00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:30.480
some point, but he was seen crossing the finishing line.
567
00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:31.240
In second.
568
00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:33.640
We haven't got a time for him, but he's somewhere
569
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:35.599
between fifty one and fifty six hours. I can tell
570
00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.359
you that because in third place was Niel's oion in
571
00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:41.519
fifty six twenty three minutes. We haven't had the first
572
00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:45.599
female finisher yet, so keep an eye on the on
573
00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:51.000
the tracking for that. I think the major headlines in
574
00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:55.480
this are Bruno wicked, how he is winning everything he
575
00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:59.160
enters at the moment, it seems. And he showed his
576
00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:03.960
VPS device afterwards with his stop time against his moving time.
577
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:08.359
It's something potentially we'll go onto with you Rob about
578
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:11.279
the discrepancies between what's shown on the tracker what is
579
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:15.039
actually on GPS, because on the tracker it had his
580
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:19.200
stop time at thirty four minutes, whereas on his GPS
581
00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:21.680
was more like one hour forty but still over fifty
582
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.200
one hours. To only be a stop for that sort
583
00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.440
of time is pretty impressive. And just before we get
584
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:31.759
onto that, Bruno, he's been around for a few years now,
585
00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:34.359
started racing around twenty twenty two.
586
00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:35.960
I actually found.
587
00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:39.119
Out I wasn't aware of this, that he did do
588
00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:42.920
TCR and twenty twenty three came forty fifth. He was
589
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:46.519
with leading riders, but seem to have some injury issues
590
00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:50.480
along the way. But he's really stepped up since last
591
00:31:50.599 --> 00:31:54.559
year first place at the Unknown Race and since then
592
00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:58.680
He's won everything he's entered, so it includes race through Poland,
593
00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:03.480
the Va Race last year and already this year, the
594
00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:06.559
two Volcano Sprint, and now on the Mittegerberg's Classic. So
595
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:13.279
I think he's very understated character. It seems potentially goes
596
00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:15.839
under the radar a bit, but he's got to be
597
00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:17.640
up there of one of the leading lights in this
598
00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:18.920
sport at the moment.
599
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:20.480
Yeah.
600
00:32:20.559 --> 00:32:22.119
I think I was actually at the finish of his
601
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:24.519
if his first race was two Volcano Sprint in twenty
602
00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:27.680
twenty two. I was there and I remember him coming
603
00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:32.079
in and he was very just quiet composed, like, as
604
00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:34.519
you say, very understated guy. If I was going to
605
00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:37.000
pick anyone out of that top ten or whatever to
606
00:32:37.160 --> 00:32:41.039
go on and become completely almost undefeatable in the hills,
607
00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.920
I don't know I would have necessarily picked him.
608
00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:44.000
But he's certainly got the build for it.
609
00:32:45.160 --> 00:32:48.039
And as you say, like he's just you put him
610
00:32:48.039 --> 00:32:49.759
in a race and put in enough climbs and he
611
00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:52.519
seems to just ride away from everyone. And the last
612
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:54.279
couple of years he's really stepped up.
613
00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:56.240
I thought we.
614
00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:58.440
Might get more of a battle between him and Adam
615
00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:00.839
on this one, but it looks like he just he
616
00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:01.839
just rode away from them.
617
00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:04.359
And him and Adam seem to just be doing the
618
00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:06.400
same events as each other, doing.
619
00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:10.559
Trading top spots at the moment. Because it was Adam
620
00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:16.279
and Bruno the two BOCO spent. I think Adam winning
621
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:18.920
last year, did he and then it was a bit
622
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:21.720
for rematch this year. They do have another couple of
623
00:33:22.119 --> 00:33:26.599
faces scheduled for this year, so it would be it
624
00:33:26.599 --> 00:33:28.720
would be interesting to see who comes out for the
625
00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:29.640
next race.
626
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:33.319
I believe they're both doing via race again, and that
627
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:36.480
shows his versatility as well. It's not just these events
628
00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:41.039
of two or three days which are which Bruno seems
629
00:33:41.079 --> 00:33:44.000
to be able to push through with minimal stopping time,
630
00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:46.359
that he has done it over a week or more.
631
00:33:46.640 --> 00:33:50.160
So it's interesting the nature events he does as well,
632
00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:53.720
Like these are these are well known events in the community,
633
00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:57.279
but the potentially some of the ones which aren't don't
634
00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:04.640
get as much potential sponsor attention, and so that that
635
00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:08.159
potentially plays into him flying a bit under the radar.
636
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:11.119
Yeah, I think there's possibly a bit of a bias
637
00:34:11.159 --> 00:34:15.320
towards off road races. Outside of probably Lost Dot, there
638
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:17.679
seems to be. It seems to be things like you know,
639
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:20.079
the Mountain Ray series and bad Lands and things like
640
00:34:20.119 --> 00:34:21.719
that that seem to get more spotlight.
641
00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:23.519
And I don't know if that's the whole part.
642
00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:26.079
Of a gravel phenomenon maybe, but the fact that he
643
00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:28.400
seems to be a road only rider, but at the moment,
644
00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:30.159
who knows he might go off road and just for everyone,
645
00:34:30.199 --> 00:34:31.960
I don't know, but he hit at the moment he
646
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:33.800
seems to any ride road races, So I think that
647
00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:36.239
partly is why he's under the radar slightly.
648
00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:40.000
So get yourself at a mountain bike Bruno, and then
649
00:34:40.519 --> 00:34:41.880
the sponsors have come flooding in.
650
00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:44.920
Get himself to tracker like everyone else and see what.
651
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:46.639
I get.
652
00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:49.880
Any impression these well may be wrong, but he may
653
00:34:49.880 --> 00:34:51.639
not be the sort of character that we'll see a
654
00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:56.760
tracker in the near future. One more events we've got
655
00:34:56.760 --> 00:34:58.920
to cover, Rob. You can tell us all about this
656
00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:00.960
as you were there on the ground watching all the
657
00:35:01.079 --> 00:35:02.800
riders come in World West Country.
658
00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:04.880
Yeah.
659
00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:08.239
So it's eight hundred and forty five k loop around
660
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:12.079
the southwest of England and Nicky is very familiar with it,
661
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.519
having ridden it twice finishing.
662
00:35:16.360 --> 00:35:18.920
Was it twenty twenty four? Was it when you finished.
663
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.199
Yeah, the years scratch.
664
00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:25.719
First woman home, Yeah, yeah, and.
665
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.599
Yeah this this year was it felt a little different
666
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.880
to previous years, not just because it was definitely colder,
667
00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:37.119
but we saw for once the fastest known time not
668
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.039
not fall again and a vaguely more human time from
669
00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:43.000
Ryce Clark who came over first, but still an amazing
670
00:35:43.079 --> 00:35:46.519
ride and one that for any normal human being is outrageous,
671
00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:50.760
but it was. It was definitely an addition of kind
672
00:35:50.760 --> 00:35:53.199
of personal triumphs, so were there were a bunch of
673
00:35:53.239 --> 00:35:56.719
riders who kind of came and delivered on personal goals.
674
00:35:56.719 --> 00:36:00.519
So Ben Schwion, who is a favorite of our events
675
00:36:00.599 --> 00:36:02.480
and also transpientees, I think he might be the person
676
00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:06.280
who's done it most. He rode through the first night
677
00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:07.719
for the first time and was up at the pointy
678
00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:12.280
end and eventually finished third. And then Florian who was
679
00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:14.400
our second place rider. This was his first ride in
680
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:20.639
the UK, which is quite is quite funny. So he's from.
681
00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:20.400
Where is he from?
682
00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:24.440
Somewhere in Europe, either Germany or Austria, I need to check,
683
00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:30.039
but he he had never ridden in the UK before,
684
00:36:30.599 --> 00:36:33.199
and yeah, his first experience was sort of going up
685
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:36.719
the hills of the southwest like Dunkery Beacon at twenty
686
00:36:36.719 --> 00:36:40.360
five percent, so he was he flourished actually, but he
687
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:42.880
was a bit surprised by that. And then yeah, first
688
00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:46.199
woman home was e La Brown, who was a veteran
689
00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:51.559
of several much longer races and putting a fantastic performance
690
00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:55.960
finishing I think she was fifth overall. But then there
691
00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:58.400
were there were other, you know, little triumphs along the way.
692
00:36:58.440 --> 00:37:01.440
So Alex Graham coming back and absolutely destroying her time
693
00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:06.360
from previous year. Nikki Alli Ray coming back as second
694
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:10.159
woman home, having not been able to race last year
695
00:37:10.199 --> 00:37:14.960
because of impending baby on the way, so she's come
696
00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:19.119
back from that. And then there was also right at
697
00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:21.920
the back, Phil Weaver showing us how it's done in style,
698
00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:27.360
seeing the entire route in daylight and absolutely coming and
699
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:30.159
looking fresh as a daisy. So we should all try
700
00:37:30.199 --> 00:37:31.199
and ride like fields.
701
00:37:32.599 --> 00:37:35.079
And you probably had the best finishers rate out of
702
00:37:35.079 --> 00:37:37.840
the events that we've mentioned so far, thirty four out
703
00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:41.519
or fifty four, sorry, thirty four out of fifty five starters.
704
00:37:42.679 --> 00:37:44.639
Yeah, well we'd actually dodged the worst of the weather,
705
00:37:44.679 --> 00:37:48.559
which seems to have annihilated the finish rate every other event.
706
00:37:48.679 --> 00:37:52.840
But we did have some unseasonably cold weather, so one
707
00:37:52.880 --> 00:37:55.199
of the riders reported ice on the inside of their
708
00:37:55.199 --> 00:37:59.079
tent minus four degrees, which is you know, this is
709
00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:01.119
in May, so this is pretty crazy for the south
710
00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:04.079
of England. But yeah, a much better finish or rate
711
00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:07.280
than than when it had had torrential rain in Spain.
712
00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:10.639
Do you do you have a sort of idea of
713
00:38:10.719 --> 00:38:12.920
what sort of finishers rate you want, because it was
714
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:16.679
something that we spoke about in the previous roundtable on
715
00:38:16.719 --> 00:38:21.360
the podcast, and some organizers seem to think that if
716
00:38:21.400 --> 00:38:24.800
their finishers rates too high then their events a bit easy.
717
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:27.679
So you it's a sort of arrange in mindset you
718
00:38:27.679 --> 00:38:30.280
think sounds about right for your events.
719
00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:35.000
I think somewhere around sixty percent is pretty normal. I
720
00:38:35.039 --> 00:38:38.320
think you want more than half people finishing ideally, but
721
00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:41.599
I think that if the finishing rate is very high,
722
00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:46.079
then my feeling is that you're not going to necessarily
723
00:38:46.079 --> 00:38:48.760
get enough from the route, because I'm strongly of the
724
00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:51.360
belief that the route should provide the adversity, not just
725
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:56.440
the competition, because hard routes are usually more beautiful, and
726
00:38:56.480 --> 00:38:58.280
I think that it's very dull to get on a
727
00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:01.360
bike and just ride a thousand k without you know,
728
00:39:01.400 --> 00:39:03.320
thinking about where you are and looking at the views.
729
00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:05.559
And I think lots of people can do that. So
730
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:08.679
I think if you it's more about balancing the root adversity,
731
00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:11.360
the route beauty, and the time limits. And then you
732
00:39:11.559 --> 00:39:13.400
at the end of all that that equation you come
733
00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.039
out whether finish a rate that hopefully falls around sixty
734
00:39:16.039 --> 00:39:19.360
five percent something like that. But the longer it gets,
735
00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:22.039
the more scope there is for you know, luck to
736
00:39:22.039 --> 00:39:24.239
play a part. And if you're only riding eight hundred
737
00:39:24.239 --> 00:39:26.239
and fifty k, the chances of your wheel exploding are
738
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:29.840
you know, a much lower. The longer the route gets,
739
00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:32.760
then I think your finish a rate will will naturally
740
00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:35.760
drop because you'll have mechanicals or injuries or other things
741
00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:36.480
that will get in the way.
742
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.719
Yeah, well, you sound about right there with that finishers rate.
743
00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:46.519
So let's move on to some dots to watch over
744
00:39:46.599 --> 00:39:50.320
the next few weeks. There's a number of events even
745
00:39:50.360 --> 00:39:53.760
over the next two weeks to talk about. We'll go
746
00:39:53.880 --> 00:39:56.360
through what the routes entail and some of the riders
747
00:39:56.360 --> 00:40:00.639
to look out for. So in date order, coming up
748
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:03.960
on the twenty third of Mate, we have Utrek Ultra,
749
00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:07.960
which is a one thousand kilometer route with around six
750
00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:13.920
thousand meters climbing, majority on road, which is part fixed.
751
00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:20.639
Part three route takes people down through the Netherlands Belgium
752
00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:24.719
Inner Loop. We have a big starts list of one
753
00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:29.639
hundred and eighty three individuals and thirty pairs. A couple
754
00:40:29.639 --> 00:40:31.559
of riders I'm interested to see how they get on.
755
00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:35.440
In the pairs category. It's Lenard Nap who was first
756
00:40:35.719 --> 00:40:39.559
in twenty twenty five. He's pairing up with Bas Flaskamp,
757
00:40:40.039 --> 00:40:43.079
who another experienced rider. I believe Bas is well known
758
00:40:43.199 --> 00:40:48.320
for his creative bag construction on his bike using clingfilm.
759
00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:52.559
I believe at the TCR to make himself a homemade
760
00:40:52.719 --> 00:40:53.840
homemade frame bag.
761
00:40:55.599 --> 00:41:00.119
Pretty lightweight though, isn't it and also disposable. But I
762
00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:03.639
think the tricky thing is access.
763
00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:05.559
So how do you get in and how do you
764
00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:07.639
get you out? Again?
765
00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:08.719
Punch a hole?
766
00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:11.599
Yeah yeah.
767
00:41:11.679 --> 00:41:14.360
I think it's taped some like vulcrow tape or something
768
00:41:14.360 --> 00:41:16.679
on it. It seems to it seems to pop up
769
00:41:16.719 --> 00:41:18.920
at the start of every race that he enters that
770
00:41:18.960 --> 00:41:21.480
it almost goes via al this picture of this ridiculous frameback.
771
00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:23.039
But I think he's sort of finessed it now so
772
00:41:23.039 --> 00:41:24.559
that it's it's actually a bit more usable.
773
00:41:25.679 --> 00:41:28.719
They may may we see him offering it on the
774
00:41:28.760 --> 00:41:31.360
market at some point, so I think that's that's going
775
00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:34.400
to be an interesting interesting to watch out for how
776
00:41:34.519 --> 00:41:36.599
bad turns up at the start. But he's obviously very
777
00:41:36.599 --> 00:41:38.960
strong rider, so i'd be really especially on a route
778
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:40.559
like that'd be really interesting to see how they get
779
00:41:40.639 --> 00:41:44.159
on as a as a pair. Also, starting on the
780
00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:46.920
twenty third of May, we have the Hellenic Mountain Race,
781
00:41:46.960 --> 00:41:49.119
which is now in its fourth edition, one of the
782
00:41:49.159 --> 00:41:52.559
races in the Mountain Race series organized by Nelson Trees,
783
00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:55.400
who was on the last episode of dot COM's in
784
00:41:55.519 --> 00:41:57.559
the Round Table were talking about this and the other
785
00:41:57.599 --> 00:42:02.280
events that he puts on this year. The distance is
786
00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:05.679
around nine hundred and twenty kilometers with twenty seven eight
787
00:42:05.800 --> 00:42:06.920
hundred meters of climbing.
788
00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:08.079
It is an off road event.
789
00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.119
Fixed route is a slight change to the route this
790
00:42:11.199 --> 00:42:14.079
year that they're starting further north in Greece and heading
791
00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:17.239
straight south, so there's less of a loop in there.
792
00:42:18.280 --> 00:42:21.000
It's known for being very challenged in this one in
793
00:42:21.079 --> 00:42:24.039
terms of both the terrain and elevation.
794
00:42:23.960 --> 00:42:24.599
That's in there.
795
00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:26.800
I think it's a bit of a bigger field this year
796
00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:29.519
than previous years. There's one hundred and seventy solos and
797
00:42:29.599 --> 00:42:33.639
eighteen lots of pairs, and yeah, there's some interesting riders
798
00:42:33.639 --> 00:42:34.559
to watch out for there.
799
00:42:35.159 --> 00:42:38.159
She point outs into you Carson, who's going for the
800
00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:42.920
four Nelson. I think she's did she do it last
801
00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:44.440
year as well.
802
00:42:45.239 --> 00:42:47.760
I don't believe she's done Hellenic before, but obviously she's
803
00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:51.679
been twice first at first female at at this mountain race.
804
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:54.800
Yeah, so she'd be going for the four Nelson four
805
00:42:54.840 --> 00:42:57.599
Winds this year, so definitely want to watch there.
806
00:42:58.159 --> 00:43:00.199
And also of the.
807
00:43:00.199 --> 00:43:04.679
Women that Justina jars Cop who was first at Dell's
808
00:43:04.679 --> 00:43:08.239
Divide this year, and I think a lot of people
809
00:43:08.280 --> 00:43:11.440
are aware that she had a bike stolen while she was
810
00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:14.119
on her way home from the Dell's Divide, so in
811
00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:18.199
leads of all places, Yeah, we don't want to leave
812
00:43:18.199 --> 00:43:22.320
the bike outside petrol station in Leeds, so hopefully she did.
813
00:43:22.400 --> 00:43:24.800
She did get reunited to with with the bikes, so
814
00:43:24.840 --> 00:43:28.440
she'll be on the same bike for the Hellenic So
815
00:43:29.480 --> 00:43:34.159
definitely want to watch the battle there between Cyndia and Justina.
816
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.559
M Yeah, and with the men, I think Benedict Borsos
817
00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:42.480
probably has to be favor I would have thought with
818
00:43:43.159 --> 00:43:47.920
second at AMR, and I believe his background is actually
819
00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:50.000
as a mountain biker, and I think the route this
820
00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:52.719
from what I've heard, the Hellenic Mountain Race is the
821
00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:56.079
most technically demanding of the of the series, so you
822
00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:58.800
would think that would favor him as well as anyone
823
00:43:58.800 --> 00:44:00.519
else's who's very technically proficient.
824
00:44:02.880 --> 00:44:06.480
His performance at race for Rwanda in February was very
825
00:44:06.480 --> 00:44:09.000
impressive as well. He won that by a long way,
826
00:44:09.039 --> 00:44:11.599
and that was you only talking about a couple of
827
00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:15.599
days in Rwanda, but obviously he has done He's been
828
00:44:15.679 --> 00:44:18.960
second that transport and race last year as well, so
829
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:20.760
similar sort of duration to this one.
830
00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:22.639
Yeah.
831
00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:27.719
There's also Rick Stephen who started to Volcano Sprint this
832
00:44:27.880 --> 00:44:32.159
year and was absolutely flying. I think it was him
833
00:44:32.159 --> 00:44:34.800
that was trying to finish before his own wedding that
834
00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:35.519
he had to get to.
835
00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:36.719
Yeah, was it him?
836
00:44:37.159 --> 00:44:38.920
He was either it was either his wedding or he
837
00:44:38.960 --> 00:44:40.719
was the best man at the wedding or something like that,
838
00:44:40.760 --> 00:44:43.079
but he was. There was some crazy deadline that he
839
00:44:43.119 --> 00:44:45.639
set himself. I think he was his wedding. Yeah, so
840
00:44:45.679 --> 00:44:47.840
he's clearly a very very strong rider.
841
00:44:49.639 --> 00:44:51.840
I do to then go on to New York, which
842
00:44:51.880 --> 00:44:54.360
is where the wedding was, but then they said what
843
00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:57.760
day the wedding wasn't and he would have had to
844
00:44:57.880 --> 00:45:00.920
basically do like a fastest known time on that and
845
00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:02.639
he was on course to do it, So I think
846
00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:06.159
you clearly you can't write him off, and he's clearly
847
00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:08.599
very confident, so I think it'd be good to see
848
00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:09.280
how he.
849
00:45:09.239 --> 00:45:09.800
Does as well.
850
00:45:10.280 --> 00:45:14.280
One't of bad bands last year, of course, and another
851
00:45:14.280 --> 00:45:18.840
one Eligius Sivilis, who was another previous winn at Racer
852
00:45:18.920 --> 00:45:21.440
and Wanda in twenty twenty three and was fourth at
853
00:45:21.480 --> 00:45:25.960
Atlas Mountain Race in twenty twenty four as well. Yeah,
854
00:45:25.960 --> 00:45:29.960
and there's quite a few other familiar names to watchers
855
00:45:29.960 --> 00:45:34.239
out there. Abe Kauveman, who has taken part in Hellenic
856
00:45:34.280 --> 00:45:36.320
mount Race a couple of times in the in the
857
00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:40.079
past without finishing, so I'm sure he's very capable of
858
00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:44.760
a good result. He puts it together there, Josh Abbert,
859
00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:49.480
Max Reese, who triple Everest record holder, so he knows
860
00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:52.239
how to how to go about the elevation side of things.
861
00:45:52.519 --> 00:45:54.840
So yeah, it's a deep, deep field, so it's interesting
862
00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:58.559
to see how this one plays out. Another race that
863
00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:01.400
starts on the twenty third of Mate is the Race
864
00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:05.119
through Poland, which is now in its eighth edition. There's
865
00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:10.519
two distances on offer here, the eighteen hundred kilometer routes
866
00:46:10.599 --> 00:46:14.280
with twenty seven thousand meters of climbing or an alternative
867
00:46:14.360 --> 00:46:17.079
of nine hundred kilometers with twelve thousand meters of climbing.
868
00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:21.079
They're both mainly road focused, or I believe there is
869
00:46:21.639 --> 00:46:25.840
some options for gravel shortcuts in there because it's mostly
870
00:46:25.880 --> 00:46:30.440
free route with some parkors in there. I believe although
871
00:46:31.119 --> 00:46:33.440
it's the race through Poland, there is quite a bit
872
00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:38.400
in Slovakia this year, so I think Pico Polowski, the organizer,
873
00:46:38.400 --> 00:46:42.599
is quite liberal with where he takes riders. There's seventy
874
00:46:42.639 --> 00:46:46.920
two solo starters in eighteen hundred kilometers and two pairs
875
00:46:47.159 --> 00:46:51.519
with nine solo riders and the nine hundred kilometers riders
876
00:46:51.519 --> 00:46:55.079
to watch. We have the first two women from last
877
00:46:55.119 --> 00:46:59.880
year returning, so that's Nora Batterman and Joanna Rauminska Pietzik,
878
00:47:01.840 --> 00:47:05.920
a couple of others who are familiar riders there in
879
00:47:06.639 --> 00:47:11.159
Poland's Christian Jaquebec, who's done this on numerous occasions and
880
00:47:11.239 --> 00:47:12.440
Tim Dewitter as well.
881
00:47:13.199 --> 00:47:16.480
Tim Dewitter be be great to see if he could
882
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:19.000
finally win, because he's got i think four third places
883
00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:22.199
on his dot Watcher results and he's obviously an incredibly
884
00:47:22.239 --> 00:47:25.679
strong rider and very consistent, but he feels like he's
885
00:47:25.719 --> 00:47:27.800
always the bridesmaid and never the bride And yeah, it
886
00:47:27.840 --> 00:47:29.639
will be great to see him finish at the top
887
00:47:29.679 --> 00:47:31.559
one day, maybe this is the day.
888
00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:35.920
Also a new event for this year which is being
889
00:47:36.039 --> 00:47:39.480
organized by Angus Young, who gave us a very insightful
890
00:47:39.679 --> 00:47:42.079
voice not the last episode of dot COM's about his
891
00:47:42.119 --> 00:47:46.559
experience at Tracker, so be interested see how his own
892
00:47:46.639 --> 00:47:51.519
event plays out. Is the Ethelred Ultra, which is a
893
00:47:51.800 --> 00:47:56.039
six hundred kilometer route that starts near Salisbury in the
894
00:47:56.079 --> 00:48:00.719
southwest of the UK. It's a figure of a so
895
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:05.239
riders can come back to HQ and Angus says that
896
00:48:05.239 --> 00:48:06.960
it can change a bib sorts if they want to.
897
00:48:07.599 --> 00:48:14.840
He describes the surfaces gravel but not gravel, because he
898
00:48:14.960 --> 00:48:17.199
claims that the southwest of England has some of the
899
00:48:17.239 --> 00:48:21.119
best gravel tracks in the UK, if not the world.
900
00:48:22.159 --> 00:48:25.480
From my experience of gravel in the UK, we'll see
901
00:48:25.480 --> 00:48:29.360
about that, Angus. We've only just had the starter's list, Robert,
902
00:48:29.360 --> 00:48:31.920
that's come to you. There are any any people you
903
00:48:32.000 --> 00:48:33.880
think that we should be looking out for there?
904
00:48:34.840 --> 00:48:38.960
Yeah, I mean, unsurprisingly, it's a pretty decent lineup because
905
00:48:39.840 --> 00:48:43.320
Angus obviously knows a fair few riders. So we've got some, yeah,
906
00:48:43.400 --> 00:48:45.880
some strong names on there. I'm only just scanning through
907
00:48:45.920 --> 00:48:48.400
it now, but ones that jump out. I saw John
908
00:48:48.480 --> 00:48:51.199
Hale on there, who has done quite a few events.
909
00:48:51.239 --> 00:48:53.960
I think he finished second at World West Country few
910
00:48:54.000 --> 00:48:57.000
years ago. He's done I think the Land between did.
911
00:48:57.000 --> 00:48:59.320
He also finished quite out there. He's a very strong rider.
912
00:49:01.039 --> 00:49:01.760
And then.
913
00:49:03.800 --> 00:49:08.159
I saw that a familiar name perhaps won't be near
914
00:49:08.199 --> 00:49:10.559
the front, but he won't mind me saying this, Alan
915
00:49:10.599 --> 00:49:13.760
Goldsmith of HT five fifty fame, so I'm sure that
916
00:49:13.840 --> 00:49:16.159
he'll be. He'll have fresh legs, having only just finished
917
00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:20.079
the Highland Trail not long ago, but yeah, it's his
918
00:49:20.639 --> 00:49:23.079
close to his stomping ground actually. And then on the
919
00:49:23.079 --> 00:49:26.760
women's side, I saw we've got Ella Brown, who we
920
00:49:26.920 --> 00:49:29.280
just spoke about, who was first woman home a Wild
921
00:49:29.280 --> 00:49:33.960
West Country. And then also Eva Grange who finished quite
922
00:49:34.039 --> 00:49:37.840
high up at Dale's Divide if I remember correctly, and
923
00:49:37.880 --> 00:49:39.920
I'm yeah, I can't see any other names that jump
924
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:41.199
out right now, but I'm sure there are.
925
00:49:41.079 --> 00:49:45.239
Others, and I'll be interested to see how how angus
926
00:49:45.400 --> 00:49:50.000
enforces any drafting, any cutting corners, or any private resupply
927
00:49:50.159 --> 00:49:50.880
going on there.
928
00:49:51.679 --> 00:49:54.199
Yeah, I'm also interested to see how much gravel he
929
00:49:54.239 --> 00:49:56.880
has managed to find. Obviously round Salisbury there is quite
930
00:49:56.880 --> 00:49:59.840
a lot of decent gravel, but it is six hundred kilometers,
931
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.280
so yeah, we'll see whether people are in for a
932
00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:05.800
bit of surprise with it saying it's gravel, or whether
933
00:50:05.840 --> 00:50:07.920
actually he has managed to scout out some really nice
934
00:50:07.920 --> 00:50:08.559
smooth stuff.
935
00:50:09.760 --> 00:50:12.880
On the twenty anths of May, we have the Trans
936
00:50:12.960 --> 00:50:16.480
Balkan Race, which is in its fifth edition now. It's
937
00:50:16.760 --> 00:50:20.320
a off road a venture across the Balkans around fourteen
938
00:50:20.719 --> 00:50:24.880
one hundred kilometers with thirty thousand meters of climbing. It's
939
00:50:24.920 --> 00:50:29.000
a fixed route event and there are around one hundred
940
00:50:29.000 --> 00:50:33.559
and sixty solar riders entered, seventeen pairs. Again, a very
941
00:50:33.960 --> 00:50:37.559
deep starters list here. Who would like to start with
942
00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:38.920
some names to pick out here?
943
00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:42.199
So in the women we've got Jenny Toff.
944
00:50:44.440 --> 00:50:46.039
I hope it's just her first time to the Trans
945
00:50:46.039 --> 00:50:50.800
Balkans and she's she's a well known figure in ultra
946
00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:56.039
distance running and cycling, so she'll be shall be no doubt,
947
00:50:56.079 --> 00:50:59.719
just going for the experience and also an exciting one
948
00:50:59.760 --> 00:51:03.519
too to watch. And she's got a great substack to
949
00:51:03.519 --> 00:51:06.840
follow as well, so she might be writing upon her experience.
950
00:51:08.079 --> 00:51:12.159
Also with the women, Sammy Sorry who was second woman
951
00:51:12.199 --> 00:51:15.920
at the Silk Road Mountain Race last year and also
952
00:51:15.920 --> 00:51:20.880
a first woman in the Across Andy's last year as well,
953
00:51:21.039 --> 00:51:24.079
so she she might be aiming for the top spot.
954
00:51:24.440 --> 00:51:26.199
Got a lot of Schumacher's. We'll be interesting to see
955
00:51:26.199 --> 00:51:28.960
how she gets on because I think she's doing a
956
00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:32.840
lot of events last year traveling between them. But she
957
00:51:32.920 --> 00:51:35.480
seemed to have sort of picked up the racing bug
958
00:51:35.480 --> 00:51:37.960
as she went along as well, and seems to have
959
00:51:37.960 --> 00:51:40.400
been sort of pushing the performance aspect of things, So
960
00:51:40.559 --> 00:51:43.679
be interesting to see what her intentions are here and
961
00:51:43.400 --> 00:51:50.880
how she does perform. Rob Any names on the men's side.
962
00:51:49.519 --> 00:51:52.559
Yeah, I think Samuel Le Tonello definitely stands out as
963
00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:57.800
one to watch. He won GB Duro a few years
964
00:51:57.800 --> 00:52:01.760
ago and he's had some very high finishes elsewhere.
965
00:52:02.480 --> 00:52:03.639
He's a very strong rider.
966
00:52:04.360 --> 00:52:06.320
I do remember she came over to the UK for
967
00:52:06.880 --> 00:52:10.360
his first off road adventure was Armaison, a Finian route,
968
00:52:10.360 --> 00:52:13.079
and he confessed to me that he was expecting to
969
00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:15.280
do eighteen to twenty k an hour on our UK
970
00:52:15.360 --> 00:52:19.320
gravel and was shocked that twelve to thirteen was actually
971
00:52:19.360 --> 00:52:23.079
more realistic. But he is ridiculously strong regardless, but I
972
00:52:23.119 --> 00:52:25.920
think he will have a lot of competition elsewhere. So
973
00:52:26.079 --> 00:52:30.239
Alexander Kopp, who won the Cursed Race in twenty twenty four,
974
00:52:30.320 --> 00:52:32.480
he's obviously I mean, i'd probably put him as as
975
00:52:32.559 --> 00:52:35.920
joint favorite with some oodle, but then there's other very
976
00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:38.199
strong riders as well, and you never know with a
977
00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:40.039
race side this, there's a lot that can happen.
978
00:52:40.719 --> 00:52:43.760
And someone knows suthing interested to how he gets on
979
00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:47.599
is Flories Brutt who we've spoken about it before. I
980
00:52:47.599 --> 00:52:49.960
think it was before the Atlas Mountain Race that he's
981
00:52:50.199 --> 00:52:53.960
a previous Dutch slalom canoeist who took part in the
982
00:52:54.119 --> 00:52:57.960
two thousand and four Olympics, and he has had some very.
983
00:52:57.800 --> 00:53:00.679
Notable results in ultra cycling today, with.
984
00:53:02.119 --> 00:53:04.480
Third in the Transport and Race back in twenty twenty
985
00:53:04.519 --> 00:53:07.039
two and third at Hellenic Mountain Race last year too.
986
00:53:07.519 --> 00:53:10.559
Definitely quick pairs to watch as well, Joshua Read and
987
00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:17.920
Liam Yates, so both goutty experience, Doutish riders lots of
988
00:53:17.920 --> 00:53:22.880
experience with offload ultra distance events, so I've been interesting
989
00:53:22.920 --> 00:53:25.400
to see how they get on together as a pair.
990
00:53:26.039 --> 00:53:28.280
And I'm sure josh will have his feature length film
991
00:53:28.320 --> 00:53:29.960
ready the day after the event.
992
00:53:29.840 --> 00:53:30.480
He seems.
993
00:53:30.639 --> 00:53:34.400
I think that's it seems to be very impressive how
994
00:53:34.480 --> 00:53:37.639
quickly he can turn around his content after these events.
995
00:53:38.360 --> 00:53:40.880
It's also impressive how much he's able to carry in
996
00:53:40.960 --> 00:53:44.400
terms of cameras. I can't imagine loading myself up with
997
00:53:44.440 --> 00:53:46.800
the extra camera equipment to tackle these kind of things.
998
00:53:46.800 --> 00:53:49.239
But yeah, he just did H five fifty and I
999
00:53:49.280 --> 00:53:50.880
think he was carrying a lot of extra kit with that,
1000
00:53:51.000 --> 00:53:52.519
so yeah, that's hugely impressive.
1001
00:53:52.760 --> 00:53:55.440
I started a few years ago, didn't finish. But it
1002
00:53:55.559 --> 00:53:59.840
is just the climbing. You might have these huge out
1003
00:54:00.039 --> 00:54:03.679
I type climbs thirty kilometers long, so you can be
1004
00:54:03.719 --> 00:54:05.360
climbing for hours at a time.
1005
00:54:06.119 --> 00:54:10.079
So it's a very different beast to do.
1006
00:54:10.119 --> 00:54:13.360
You know, the UK climes which are anything up to
1007
00:54:13.840 --> 00:54:15.280
tenth hunters lot and.
1008
00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:17.119
You've also got the Bears to contend with as well.
1009
00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:20.360
Wild Bears. Yeah, don't forget the Pepospot.
1010
00:54:21.199 --> 00:54:25.480
I imagine there could be some some hotter conditions out there,
1011
00:54:25.559 --> 00:54:28.320
especially people coming from West Europe down today.
1012
00:54:28.320 --> 00:54:30.440
It's quite it could be quite contrast at this time
1013
00:54:30.480 --> 00:54:30.800
of year.
1014
00:54:32.360 --> 00:54:35.239
The final events that we've got to look forward to is,
1015
00:54:35.519 --> 00:54:39.000
and I hope I'm saying it's correctly Cronje, which starts
1016
00:54:39.039 --> 00:54:43.400
on the thirtieth of May. It's a Catalan based event
1017
00:54:44.480 --> 00:54:51.639
starting just near to Barcelona, and there are two distances
1018
00:54:51.639 --> 00:54:54.960
on offer, the Classic, which is one three and thirty
1019
00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:58.000
five kilometers with around twenty six thousand meters of climbing,
1020
00:54:58.079 --> 00:55:00.639
and the Reducts, which is eight hundred and eighty five
1021
00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:05.320
kilometers with sixteen five meters of climbing. It's the fifth
1022
00:55:05.400 --> 00:55:09.440
year of the event and this year they're keeping it
1023
00:55:09.519 --> 00:55:14.800
totally within Catalunya. The two routes follow each other the
1024
00:55:14.880 --> 00:55:17.199
first four hundred kilometers and then split off of the
1025
00:55:17.239 --> 00:55:22.559
main routes heading further deeper into the Catalan Pyrenees. Yeah,
1026
00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:26.559
it's a really beautiful area to ride in, so I'm
1027
00:55:26.559 --> 00:55:29.480
sure the riders are being for a real treat there
1028
00:55:29.800 --> 00:55:33.599
it's a fixed route, it's all on road as well.
1029
00:55:33.920 --> 00:55:37.840
There's one hundred and thirty three starters and we'll be
1030
00:55:37.880 --> 00:55:41.800
give them some really nice information from the race organizer
1031
00:55:41.960 --> 00:55:45.400
about the riders, some of the profiles to account for,
1032
00:55:45.599 --> 00:55:49.280
and some of the statistics of how this has broken down.
1033
00:55:49.400 --> 00:55:52.800
So before we come on to some of the specific riders,
1034
00:55:53.599 --> 00:55:55.840
we've got around two thirds of the entrance are taking
1035
00:55:55.880 --> 00:56:00.920
part in the longer distance. There is is an eighty
1036
00:56:01.039 --> 00:56:05.199
three percent to seventeen percent male to female gender split.
1037
00:56:06.239 --> 00:56:11.519
In terms of age the greatest well, the group of
1038
00:56:11.559 --> 00:56:15.840
the largest representation is between thirty and thirty nine, with
1039
00:56:16.199 --> 00:56:20.440
around forty percent next up to forty nine of twenty
1040
00:56:20.480 --> 00:56:22.880
five percent, So that sort of gives us an idea
1041
00:56:22.880 --> 00:56:26.039
of the profile of some of the people entering these events.
1042
00:56:26.360 --> 00:56:28.920
The majority of this one come from Spain, but there
1043
00:56:28.960 --> 00:56:37.239
is a representation from all around the world US, UK, Netherlands, Itaday, France, Belgium, Columbia, Denmark.
1044
00:56:37.679 --> 00:56:40.079
So yeah, somebody did incight to really really useful to
1045
00:56:40.119 --> 00:56:43.320
have in terms of riders to watch.
1046
00:56:44.800 --> 00:56:46.639
Nick, you've got another one that dot watch, a team
1047
00:56:47.360 --> 00:56:50.880
who I'm sure she'll be delighted to be highlighted as
1048
00:56:50.920 --> 00:56:51.639
one to watch here.
1049
00:56:51.800 --> 00:56:55.079
Yeah, so Milli Gibbons who was the first woman and
1050
00:56:55.199 --> 00:56:59.800
sticks over all last year. So Millie has recently done
1051
00:57:00.159 --> 00:57:06.159
the tripault ehoisting as well, I think near from her
1052
00:57:06.159 --> 00:57:10.400
hometown of Geronah where she currently lives, so definitely want
1053
00:57:10.440 --> 00:57:15.440
to watch there, so go merely. And then we've also
1054
00:57:15.519 --> 00:57:19.199
got Sherry Condona and Jerry on twos is that how
1055
00:57:19.280 --> 00:57:19.800
you pronounced his.
1056
00:57:19.840 --> 00:57:22.039
Name as pair?
1057
00:57:22.519 --> 00:57:27.360
So they were the first pair at TCR in both
1058
00:57:27.400 --> 00:57:31.280
twenty twenty three and twenty four, so probably one of
1059
00:57:31.280 --> 00:57:34.760
the the top pairs to keep an eye on.
1060
00:57:35.519 --> 00:57:39.599
A couple returning riders as well, Tony Calderon who was
1061
00:57:39.679 --> 00:57:43.519
first in twenty twenty three and Henry Hall who was
1062
00:57:43.840 --> 00:57:47.480
third last year. And another ride I think be interested
1063
00:57:47.519 --> 00:57:51.079
to keep an eye on is Tristian Cardu who was
1064
00:57:51.159 --> 00:57:54.599
first at l Piri in twenty twenty four, which it
1065
00:57:54.639 --> 00:57:57.480
was events I took part in as well. That takes
1066
00:57:57.480 --> 00:58:02.760
place mostly in Catalina as well, so he's familiar with
1067
00:58:02.840 --> 00:58:07.800
the area and someone who you know Rob Robbie Ultra Britain.
1068
00:58:08.519 --> 00:58:12.199
He's taking part well as Robbie is taking part.
1069
00:58:12.400 --> 00:58:16.159
And then also Andrew Phillips as well, and Robbie is
1070
00:58:16.199 --> 00:58:18.440
Andrew's coach, so it will be interesting to see that
1071
00:58:18.519 --> 00:58:24.039
battle take place. So Andrew has finished quite highly at
1072
00:58:24.360 --> 00:58:26.639
a number of races, and I think most notably one
1073
00:58:27.440 --> 00:58:31.719
twovs in was it twenty one twenty one. I think
1074
00:58:32.639 --> 00:58:36.800
Robbie doesn't have quite the Palmers in ultra cycling, but
1075
00:58:36.880 --> 00:58:40.119
he does have quite impressive record in ultra running, so
1076
00:58:40.159 --> 00:58:43.320
he was the for a while. He was the national
1077
00:58:43.320 --> 00:58:48.199
record holder for twenty four hour distance and has competed
1078
00:58:48.239 --> 00:58:53.039
at international level for the Great British team. And I
1079
00:58:53.079 --> 00:58:56.639
can tell you it doesn't matter how little cycling he's done,
1080
00:58:56.800 --> 00:59:01.199
I'm sure he will go and absolutely write to beat
1081
00:59:01.239 --> 00:59:04.760
Andrew most first of all, beat Andrew, secondly right to win.
1082
00:59:05.079 --> 00:59:08.159
So I'm really looking forward to watching that. Robbie is
1083
00:59:08.159 --> 00:59:11.559
a phenomenal athlete and also very funny, so he was
1084
00:59:11.599 --> 00:59:14.440
doing the commentary for Old West Country, so yeah, it'll
1085
00:59:14.480 --> 00:59:15.800
be great to watch that happen.
1086
00:59:16.599 --> 00:59:18.719
It's a dilemma I've come across myself if I've done
1087
00:59:18.760 --> 00:59:20.760
a couple of races with athletes that I coached, and
1088
00:59:20.760 --> 00:59:23.199
I wonder whether is it good for them to beat
1089
00:59:23.239 --> 00:59:25.800
me to show that show my prayers as a coach,
1090
00:59:26.000 --> 00:59:27.920
or should I still be beating them to show whose
1091
00:59:27.960 --> 00:59:28.960
show's boss really?
1092
00:59:29.400 --> 00:59:32.440
And the conclusion I came with is I should.
1093
00:59:33.599 --> 00:59:36.159
I'm happy if if I've beaten them by but just
1094
00:59:36.199 --> 00:59:39.920
by a bit, so I can say, yeah, I'm I
1095
00:59:39.920 --> 00:59:42.039
still know what I'm doing, but I've coached you so
1096
00:59:42.119 --> 00:59:43.639
well you're almost as good as me.
1097
00:59:45.599 --> 00:59:47.920
I like that you actually had that conversation in your head.
1098
00:59:47.960 --> 00:59:50.039
I'm fairly certain that Robbie's never had that and it
1099
00:59:50.079 --> 00:59:51.320
was always I want to be Andrew.
1100
00:59:51.360 --> 00:59:53.119
But we'll see a.
1101
00:59:53.039 --> 00:59:56.559
Couple of nice nice parts that the organizers of Corn
1102
00:59:56.760 --> 01:00:01.199
George have highlighted for us is the the youngest and
1103
01:00:01.239 --> 01:00:05.960
oldest participants. There's Elijon from Germany who will be the
1104
01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:10.159
youngest at eighteen, and new Rea Escua it's a returning
1105
01:00:10.199 --> 01:00:12.559
rider who will be the oldest in the event at
1106
01:00:12.679 --> 01:00:18.599
sixty nine years old. And one other thing which another
1107
01:00:18.639 --> 01:00:21.039
one of these positive initiatives which the event puts on,
1108
01:00:21.119 --> 01:00:26.280
which is becoming fairly common across events, is their scholarship program,
1109
01:00:26.440 --> 01:00:29.320
the sponsor Eco scholarship program.
1110
01:00:29.320 --> 01:00:30.360
Here at Corn Jage.
1111
01:00:30.800 --> 01:00:34.199
They have five riders who they've supported with free entry
1112
01:00:34.239 --> 01:00:38.239
and a lot of support as well. They term it
1113
01:00:38.320 --> 01:00:42.400
as wanting to support and encourage riders taking their first
1114
01:00:42.440 --> 01:00:47.039
steps into ultra cycling. So these all positive moves to
1115
01:00:47.079 --> 01:00:51.360
help people who potentially may have the means or the
1116
01:00:51.440 --> 01:00:53.480
experience to be able to get the most out of
1117
01:00:53.519 --> 01:00:59.400
these events. That's all that we have this time. We're
1118
01:00:59.599 --> 01:01:01.639
keen to hear from you about the events that you
1119
01:01:01.679 --> 01:01:04.480
want to see featured in future episodes, So if you're
1120
01:01:04.480 --> 01:01:06.880
an event organizer or think that we've missed something that
1121
01:01:06.960 --> 01:01:10.159
merits mentioned, then reach out to us via Instagram at
1122
01:01:10.239 --> 01:01:13.719
dot COM's pod or email us at dot com'spod at
1123
01:01:13.760 --> 01:01:17.679
gmail dot com. The next regular episode will be returning
1124
01:01:17.719 --> 01:01:20.360
on the first Thursday of the month as usual, and
1125
01:01:20.400 --> 01:01:24.119
we will have another ratiow next month. In the meantime,
1126
01:01:24.599 --> 01:01:26.480
be sure to check out the event commentaries on the
1127
01:01:26.480 --> 01:01:30.760
dot watch your website. So thank you, Rob, Thank you Nikki.
1128
01:01:31.039 --> 01:01:33.480
Just before we go, have you got any upcoming plans
1129
01:01:33.559 --> 01:01:35.679
potential races that you're doing yourselves?
1130
01:01:37.159 --> 01:01:37.599
So my.
1131
01:01:39.280 --> 01:01:39.440
Well.
1132
01:01:39.519 --> 01:01:41.840
In the meantime, I'll be recovering from the last stop
1133
01:01:42.119 --> 01:01:47.239
I won, so still catching up on sleep and still
1134
01:01:47.400 --> 01:01:51.159
eating ice cream. So other than that, I'm aiming to
1135
01:01:51.280 --> 01:01:55.639
raise the sources spent, which is on the eighteenth of June,
1136
01:01:56.000 --> 01:01:59.360
so quite quite a quick turnaround, so less than a
1137
01:01:59.360 --> 01:02:03.719
month I'll be I'll be facing on assault. It's been
1138
01:02:03.800 --> 01:02:06.559
which I've done for the last two years, so I
1139
01:02:06.599 --> 01:02:09.840
am going for the hat trick of three wings and
1140
01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:11.159
three years.
1141
01:02:12.719 --> 01:02:16.920
I have been persuaded by Phil Weaver to do blen
1142
01:02:16.920 --> 01:02:17.960
ou XL, which is.
1143
01:02:17.920 --> 01:02:19.760
The new blen Out route in Wales.
1144
01:02:21.079 --> 01:02:24.079
He inspired me with his ride at wild West Country
1145
01:02:24.320 --> 01:02:26.639
seeing the entire route of the light, and I am
1146
01:02:26.679 --> 01:02:28.159
going to sort of try and do the same thing
1147
01:02:28.159 --> 01:02:30.239
because I'm not in any shape to race right now,
1148
01:02:30.719 --> 01:02:32.400
so I want to go and ride some one hundred
1149
01:02:32.400 --> 01:02:34.960
and fifty clongs through Whales and try and see all
1150
01:02:34.960 --> 01:02:37.320
of it and try and hold back my desire to
1151
01:02:37.480 --> 01:02:39.280
race and destroy myself and just enjoy it.
1152
01:02:39.400 --> 01:02:41.239
But I'll let you know how that goes well.
1153
01:02:41.239 --> 01:02:43.519
Thanks again to both of you, and thank you to
1154
01:02:43.559 --> 01:02:45.639
everyone for listening, and we'll speak to you again next time.
1155
01:02:46.400 --> 01:02:49.119
Goodbye, Thanks a lot s thanks for thanks.
1156
01:02:49.440 --> 01:02:49.519
By