On The Dot 003. Previewing Transcontinental Race No12 with Jana Kesenheimer. Plus Via Chapter III & Bright Midnight and more!

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Welcome to episode three on the dot dot COM's Race
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Focus Show, where we reviewed recent action and look ahead
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to the dots to watch in the near future. I'm
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your host Samuel Thompson, joined again by dot Watcher's fastest
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known times timekeeper, Nicki Shaw. How's it going, Niki?
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Hi? Sam All good, thank you?
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How are you brilliant? Well brilliant as I can be.
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Thank you.
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We also have a very special guest with us today
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who is soon heading to tron time for the start
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of the twelfth edition of the Transcontinental Race, which we
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will be previewing in detail, as well as recapping the
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recent action and highlighting some of the events on the
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near horizon. Returning to dot COM's after guesting on our
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roundtable about sponsorship in episode twelve, and also returned into
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the TCR as two time first female finisher and six
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overall last year, is Janna Kessenheimer. So welcome, Yana. Well,
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how's the preparation gone? And inspired you to return for
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a third successive year.
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Hi, am good to see you again and hear you Actually, yeah,
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I'm pretty excited now. It's really stressful time before the race,
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and I just couldn't resist when I saw the route
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going from north to south through so many countries where
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I haven't been before, so racing through Norway and Sweden,
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Poland Hungary, this will all be new to me. And yeah,
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this is I think one motivation. Another one, of course,
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was that, yeah, I don't know, I want to taking
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the fastest time as a woman two times in a row.
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I don't want to try it a third time. So
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I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna be competitive too.
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And finishing sixth over last year, have you aspirations being
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competitive in the overall leader board as well?
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Then yeah, sure. I just feel that Transceninential Race is
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really special in its standing, so you can expect the
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high competition besides a really special race. So I think
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you can really count on that the route that that
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Hannah and Andrew and the crew that that they designed
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will be really special. And it feels a bit like
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a big treasure hunt every time. And so far I
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didn't find something comparable as the TCR in terms of
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competitiveness and also how a special the route is.
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So yeah, well, there's plenty to talk about the with
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this upcoming edition of the Transcontinental Race. So let's get
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on to looking at it in a bit more detail,
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going through some of the key aspects of the event itself,
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the route and some of the riders to watch. So
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the Transcontinental Race is self described as the definitive self
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supported bicycle race across Europe now and it's twelfth edition.
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As Jan has already mentioned, it's running in a mainly
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north the south direction this year, from Trondheim in Norway
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finishing in Kalamata in Greece, and we've detected a bit
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of an Olympic theme with both start and finish location
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and one of the checkpoints along the way, which is
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the Winter Olympics site in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Will come on to some of the interesting aspects around
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where the route takes them there in the moment some
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of the headline details. The race starts on nineteenth of
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July at eight pm, which is the habitual evening start
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for TCR, and riders have twenty days to finish their routes.
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Lost Dot are continued some of their initiatives which encourage diversity,
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inclusion and sustainability, such as Lost Dot one hundred TCR Women,
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which is their initiative in terms of getting one hundred
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flint riders on the starting line. Also in the Mike
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Coolber three which is in its fifth year, which provides
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financial support for riders to be able to take part
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in the event, and also the low carbonives to incentivize
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overland travel too from the event, and also featuring the
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green leader board.
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Again.
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So as for the route itself, there is a mix
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of parkour, checkpoints and self navigated elements linking them up.
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We've estimated it's around five thousand kilometers this year, so.
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That's quite far as far as TCR distance goes, Is
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that right? So normally it's anything four thousand got wits,
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So yeah, it's quite a long way.
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You don't have to give us your exact numbers yaa.
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But is this a long TCR version in your opinion?
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I see that it's even a bit shorter than last year,
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I feel, especially in terms of afiluation. But yeah, quite similar.
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So the last two versions were kind of the same.
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Well, maybe you'll be taking all the gravel shortcuts then
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to make it that way, which which we can talk
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about as we as we go through some of the
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some of the park orse and checkpoints that feature along
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the way. So starting from tron time in Norway, as
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I've already mentioned as start park Or which is around
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one hundred and ninety six kilometers which takes riders deep
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into Norway, and then park Or A is an interesting one.
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It's only seven kilometers, it's all gravel, but its location
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is an interesting one in terms of where the park
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Or starts. There isn't a tarmac road that leads to
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the park Or, so either riders are going out and
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back or finding a shortcut to get there. And Parker
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one B in Norway is the Ralah Vision, which is
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a former Navy road used to build the railways, which
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is the longest mandatory gravel section that there is on
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the route, around forty kilometers gravel uphill. Again, it finishes
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with it finishes quite abruptly, so there may be a
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choice of what riders do afterwards. And I think that's
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a theme throughout some of these checkpoint some of these
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park or that even if they are paved or the
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gravel may look okay, it's there's that decision for riders
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to make either side of them.
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So what you're.
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Expecting from the Scandinavian part of the route yard is
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it something that you're looking forward to.
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Yeah, I mean, having Dodd watched Bright Midnight just recently,
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I was a bit afraid with the wedder honestly because
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it looked really demanding for the riders there. It was like,
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I don't know, three degrees and a lot of rain.
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So I hope for a better change next week because
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we're going to be in park to the same areas.
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But one thing that I'm looking forward to a lot
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is that the sun will not really go down, so
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I think there will barely be a sunset and it
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will be the first time for me writing for so
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many hours without I mean probably I will need some lights.
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I have the Dynamo Hub, but still it's going to
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be really cool for the first six hundred k I think.
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Yeah.
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I've actually ridden that part of Norway myself in the
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past at similar time of year and maybe slightly coming
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to intuitively, I actually found the mornings as the most
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difficult part because you get sunrise at about three am,
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but then you sort of expect life to start happening
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around you at that time, but it's still you get
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to six am, it's been it's been the light for
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three hours and it's still sort of body intents and purposes.
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It's still the middle of the.
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Night as far as then, are you waiting to see
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what the weather will be like before making a final decision?
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Yeah, I checked. I checked the forecast this morning and
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it looked already way better than this week, so I
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think we might be lucky. But yeah, I will bring
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some stuff to toron time anyway, because I'm going for
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the Queen Getobots, so I'm going to take the train
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and I need some some like clothes for the travel anyway,
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So I will just send a package back by post
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to my home so I can also bring some stuff
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that I might not need and decide last minute.
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Do you think probably this this edition of TCR is
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the most extreme in terms of the difference in weather
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and climate that you'll say between the start and the finish.
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Just yes, it could be. Even the change of daylight
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will be kind of extreme. I mean the nights will
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get longer and longer and longer.
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They'll feel like you've been riding for like months just
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because of that gut chere in daylight, whereas it has
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just been a match of days.
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That could be quite interesting, Yeah, I mean going through
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the Pyrenees last year to Romania also had quite a
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change of weather and temperatures, so I expected to be
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a bit similar.
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So following the Scandinavian Lake again, there is a ferry
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element in this route to get riders onto mainland Europe,
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and we're estimating this is going to come around fifteen
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hundred klometers into the race, so fairly early in comparison
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with last year. And it seems like there's a few
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options there and Lost Dot have defined this geographic boundary
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in terms of where riders can take this very very
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from to ensure that they're not not taking a huge
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ferry trips across the North Sea and cutting out too much.
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So again, Yanna, we're not asking for your detail exact
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details of your route, but did you find there was
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a few options that riders could consider this time?
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Yeah. I actually first I thought, oh, this is easier
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than last year because it's less high consequence because as
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you said, last year, there was only one ferry a
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day at the last third of the race, so it
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was quite decisive for a lot of riders. And I
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thought at this time it's going to be easier because
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it's way early in the race. There are many options,
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but then when I checked and did some research and
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did my Excel calculations, I realized that it's actually a
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bit tricky to make the perfect decisions. So there are
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many options and it's hard to say or it's really
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depending on the day also because the schedules for the
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fairies partly change from day to day, so it's not
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the same every day, So it really depends on your
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really specific situation, maybe like one hundred and eighty kilometers
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or something like that. Before that you have to decide.
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And I think this is going to be tricky too
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if you want to be really yeah, find the perfect
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fairy much.
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So we could well see people taking different ferries across
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the different places, sort of splitting and rejoining at various times.
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This time, then yeah, the FAIRI is going to take
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all the fairies, doesn't really matter which one you take,
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So I think I'm not saying too much. Now. It's
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between I think six and nine hours, so quite a
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long time, enough time to catch some proper sleep if
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everything works well.
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And this was yes, it was a strategic element that
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we saw last year as well, that sort of this
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forced break and how riders can can build it in
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and especially become, especially coming quite a bit earlier this time.
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That is something you can potentially factor in into those
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first few days of the race. Yeah.
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I still I'm pretty happy that the fairies not after
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I don't know one thousand are something, because then you
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really would need to ride through. But like this, I
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think I hope that people will sleep before.
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Yeah, well fifty Ennish kob quite quite a stretch for that.
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I'm sure they'll still pay for it afterwards. If they did. Yeah,
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then riders will head towards the Tetras Mountains. There's a
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split park or here to A and to be first
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is in Chechia to Giant Preadad. The parkour to be
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is the one that really interests me finishes on on
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the top of mountain, seemingly a dead end. And it's
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not just that they're also looking at some of the
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banned roads on that on the TCR resource map, the
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obvious diversions around this are both banned, so it's going
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to have to be some creative route making here. And
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the other option is it's potential hiker bike going south,
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but equally in this area of the Low Tatras Mountain Park,
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it's forbidden to cycle outside of particular public roads and
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mark cycle paths. And there's also some restrictions on times
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on certain routes. So I think there's going to be
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some creative solutions here for riders. And I think this
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part is a really it's going to be interesting one
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to see what people what people do.
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Definitely I think we would be allowed to walk but
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not ride in these closed times.
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But sure what is worse, it's difficult for them to
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so it's forbidden to ride your bike. So the rules
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are you have to walk and idea like carrying or
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pushing the bike. How how do they know that that's
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people will actually do that?
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They will check the speed speed yeah, average.
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Speeding, So even if you walk and make sure you
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don't walk too fast.
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Better not run.
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But I imagine a lot of people will be actually
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caught out by maybe if they haven't done no research
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or not not totally understanding the rules. I would have
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thought hopefully most people would be aware of these things.
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Yeah, but honestly, like for example last year, I mean,
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even if you make all the research and and like
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understand the rules and stuff, and with these bend roads,
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it's a lot and then you're in the race, like
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after a couple of days of sleep deprivation and you
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just follow your track and all of a sudden you
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think of oh am I at this point now, because
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of course there's no no, you have no message from
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Yobahu or whatever devising be aware like you have to
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walk now or whatever. Yeah, it's really hard to notice
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in the race.
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Yeah, I think this is a good illustration of making
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sure you are as prepared in advanced for understanding firstly
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what the rules are and then specific circumstances around this.
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And it's it's something which has been communicated to all
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the riders, so they should know that, but probably still
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wouldn't be surprised if there are some people being caught.
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Out there this.
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Yeah.
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So from there riders continue south towards CP three, which
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00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:34.080
is another really interesting one in Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina,
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which the route visits the abandoned nineteen eighty four Winter
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Olympic bobsleiy track. And when we first looked at the
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route for TCR number twelve at the end of last year,
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we're questioning whether riders were going to be actually taken
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on the bobstay track. And it turns out they are,
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so you'll be descending is around one point two kilometers
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at ten percent descending. So i'd know what the quickest
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way of doing this sort of sit in your backside
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and carry a bike down is that we're going to
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see some people doing that.
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I can actually speak a little look on Google Street
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for you actually, and there is so there's a bob
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sleigh run and then there's like a parallel service road
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that goes right next to it. So but the guy
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who was actually doing the taking the street view photos
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was in the bob sleig a bit of the vote.
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So that's obviously the fastest way to go.
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Well, it's a mandatory park orse so riders they they
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are forced to ride down and then ride back up
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at the service road to the top. So I mean
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there's gonna be some great images that come out of
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this part. And continueing the Olympic theme with Norway been
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birthplace in the Winter Olympics, then leading to this site
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in Sarajevo and the finished later which passes passes Olympia
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in Greece.
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This looks really cool. There's like a historical site that
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we might pass through right at the start of the
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finished Perkol.
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Which just before we get there, we have another control
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point in less Covic in Albania, which is a familiar
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ground for TCR. There wasn't anything which really stood out
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00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:25.279
about this one, Yanni. You would have been a couple
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00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:29.039
of times previously. Is this an area of the race
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00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:32.480
that you've enjoyed going through before into the Balkans?
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00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.319
Yeah, partly. At first I thought that it's going to
293
00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:39.759
be quite seemed in what an area? They don't know,
294
00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:41.920
But this time it's going from north to south, and
295
00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:45.119
the last edition was going from east to west in Albania,
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00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:49.200
so it's it's yeah, it's really short track that I
297
00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:51.680
actually know, so it's going to be new for me too.
298
00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:57.119
And this one is fully paved as well, and the
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00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:00.559
same as the final park or which leads riders to
300
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.559
Kalamata in Greece from Ancient Olympia. Quite a long one
301
00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.920
hundred and seventy three kilometers, but plenty of climbing around
302
00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:12.160
three thousand and seven hundred, So you're having riders all
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00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:15.200
on the same fins, and park orps will be able
304
00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:16.960
to gauge where they are.
305
00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:18.559
Exactly in relation to each other.
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00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:24.759
I mentioned some of the unpaved bits earlier, there's not
307
00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:27.920
a huge amount in terms of the mandatory park or
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00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:32.519
I've got around seventy kilometers of unpaved surfaces, but as
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00:18:32.519 --> 00:18:37.519
we hinted with a couple of those, riders are effectively
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00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:40.680
forced to do a bit of unpaved around that. So
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00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:44.640
in relation to previous years, how do you sort of
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00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.680
see the amount of unpaved When I say unpaved? Is
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that ground? Is that Champagne gravel or is that real
314
00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:54.160
hiker bike stuff yarna? Do you think is this looking
315
00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:57.160
like quite heavy on that side?
316
00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:59.920
On a map it looks a bit smoother than last year,
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00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:04.839
So considering that last year we had Asieta and like
318
00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.240
I don't know, one hundred KOs and more, even on
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00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:09.680
the Straate Bianca, there was a lot of gravel that
320
00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:13.119
was mandatory, and this year on the paper it looks
321
00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:17.119
a bit smoother. But yeah, let's see, have.
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00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:20.640
You done some research as far as street view just
323
00:19:20.680 --> 00:19:23.720
to try and see what what surfaces that the gravel
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00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:24.319
looking like?
325
00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:28.920
Yeah, for example, the gravel in Norway is even covered
326
00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:31.640
by a street view mostly so I think this is
327
00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:32.279
a good sign.
328
00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:36.519
You're sign that vehicles down there and people kind of
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00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.640
regularly go down there as well, so you'd like to
330
00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.319
imagine it's quite well surfaced.
331
00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:43.880
I usually take a view.
332
00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.880
Of if you look at a off road surface on
333
00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.640
a picture on street view and you rate of one
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00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:54.559
to five, saying five is five is Champagne gravel, one
335
00:19:54.680 --> 00:19:57.960
is mountain bike kaiker bike stuff. I'd always knock one
336
00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:01.640
or two off downwards compared to what it looks like,
337
00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:04.799
because I think in reality it's always a bit rough,
338
00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:06.240
and it looks on the on the pictures.
339
00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.039
True, yeah, but I think it can't be worse than
340
00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:11.160
last year when I took the short cut in a
341
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:15.559
bin here. That's it now, I'm laughing.
342
00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.160
It seems to it seemed to have it didn't seem
343
00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:20.799
didn't seem to have done you too much harm overall, Yana.
344
00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:24.799
Oh, I know it worked, but yeah, quitey much where
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00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.160
it's in twenty twenty four when I took the ship
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00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:30.720
short cut in Greece, I know it was like half
347
00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:34.440
a day of hiking bag of a mountain pass. So
348
00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:38.559
it looks fine, but then when you're actually on the ground,
349
00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:43.240
you you can really appreciate the elevation as well vain.
350
00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:46.680
So that's one thing you don't always see on a map.
351
00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:53.279
True, yeah, it's common common occurrets and TCR, so seeing
352
00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:56.079
what roots people take and how it how they compare.
353
00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:00.079
We've already touched.
354
00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:02.119
On another of the main themes of this one with
355
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.039
being such a distance north to south and that big
356
00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:09.119
climatic transition that you're you're going to be going for,
357
00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:13.519
especially seeing some of the some of the weather that's been.
358
00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:14.319
Going on in Norway.
359
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.759
Bright Midnight recently sort of described it as going from
360
00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:22.119
midnight sun to the bulk and furnace. You've already mentioned
361
00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:26.359
around your kit considerations yonder, does this mean you're potentially
362
00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.759
going to be carrying more than you would for a
363
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:35.799
standard west to east TCR and considering that lost dot
364
00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:38.920
to have specific rules around not jettison and kit. Is
365
00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.480
this making you sort of think of what you carry
366
00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:43.359
from the start you're going to have to be lugging
367
00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:44.240
it all the way to the end.
368
00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:50.000
I hope that I will enjoyed a bit more chill
369
00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:52.359
temperatures in the beginning because I know that in the
370
00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:55.720
end it's going to be really hot. So last year
371
00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:58.079
also this helped me when riding through the Pyrenees in
372
00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:02.000
a bit of like tris rain in the morning in
373
00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:05.400
really cool temperatures, you really try to focus on that
374
00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:07.559
this is actually nice because it's going to be thirty
375
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:11.720
degrees in more later. So yeah, I think I won't
376
00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:15.480
bring like right now the forecast as it looks okay,
377
00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:19.279
and I won't bring like too much rain gear or something.
378
00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:22.839
But yeah, And then for the for the southern section,
379
00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:28.160
have you prepared specifically for the heat and considering it's
380
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.599
going to be a little while until you get down there,
381
00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:37.000
you concerned about de acclimatizing to that before you before
382
00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.680
you reach the potential highest temperatures.
383
00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.359
I actually really like going from north to south, and
384
00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.200
I had to fit the same impression two years ago
385
00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:47.880
when going from like it was a bit more going
386
00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:49.599
from north to south and east to west at the
387
00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:54.400
same time. But I feel I like the adaptation for
388
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.720
the surrounding to get more wild step by step and
389
00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:01.799
also more yeah, hotter day by day. Like it's a
390
00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:05.640
progression in some way, and you can allow yourself to
391
00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:09.119
adapt doing the ride. So this worked pretty well for me.
392
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:11.359
I think there was one TCR edition way it was
393
00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:13.880
the other way round, and I was discussing with Fiona
394
00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:17.119
because she did it like how she experienced the difference
395
00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:19.079
going the other way round, and she said it was
396
00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:22.240
actually also good to be in the demanding, wild and
397
00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:25.640
hot conditions with still having a fresh mind and fresh
398
00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:28.519
legs because you can bear it maybe a bit better.
399
00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:34.559
But I can. I feel more like slowly adapting to
400
00:23:34.599 --> 00:23:39.759
getting more wide into more wild areas, more different surroundings
401
00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:42.720
for what I know, and also more Yeah, demanding weather.
402
00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:48.119
Is I like that more? I feel, so I allow
403
00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:51.680
myself to adapt during the race. But yeah, for yourself,
404
00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.440
for your first question, I did some heat adaption training
405
00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:59.359
in the latest heat wave here in here in Europe,
406
00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:01.799
so I went to the French Alps when it was
407
00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:07.920
really hot in France. Like questioning this decision during this ride,
408
00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:11.160
but I think it helped us to check the gear
409
00:24:11.279 --> 00:24:13.960
decision and which kid to take in the heat.
410
00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:17.200
Yeah, yeah, it's it's we talked quite a bit about
411
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:21.440
in the last episode. It's a theme that's it's going
412
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:25.720
to be more and more present and TCR every year.
413
00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:28.119
They are going to the Balkans, some of the hottest
414
00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:31.720
areas in Europe. So it's it's an unavoidable part of
415
00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:33.839
it for riders to be prepared for those conditions.
416
00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:36.960
I'm a bit concerned because increase. There are at the
417
00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:41.319
moment some wildfires because of the heat, so I hope
418
00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:43.880
that we are not confronted with.
419
00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.680
These so well, you know, I have to keep an
420
00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:49.680
eye on whether there's any adaptations to that final park
421
00:24:49.799 --> 00:24:57.400
or in particular. Yeah, okay, So coming on to the
422
00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:00.000
riders that are going to be taking part this year,
423
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.599
there are four hundred and ten solar riders and fourteen
424
00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:07.359
lots of pairs. Out of that, three hundred and fifty
425
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.039
five are solo men and there are fifty one solar
426
00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.960
women with one non binary competitor, seventeen men in pairs
427
00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.240
and eleven women in pairs, and of which two hundred
428
00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:21.319
and two are on the Green leaderboard. So for a
429
00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:25.200
start up in tron time, that's quite impressively high number.
430
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:28.400
And Yanna, you will be one of those as well.
431
00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:31.319
I was interested to.
432
00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:37.240
Look at the nationality of the riders, and the most
433
00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:40.640
dominant country is Germany with one hundred and seven riders,
434
00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:44.799
Britain a second of sixty seven, followed by France of
435
00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:48.799
forty three and Switzerland with thirty three, and quite a
436
00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:52.640
large split even of worldwide, with the rest of the
437
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:58.400
competitors coming from as far away as New Zealand one direction, Canada,
438
00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:03.400
South Africa, some from South America as well, so it's
439
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:06.119
truly a global field.
440
00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:06.559
To him.
441
00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:11.200
I've split the riders in terms of ones to watch
442
00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:16.720
into various categories. We can start with those who we
443
00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:21.640
think could be contenders for the overall victory. We've got
444
00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:27.279
three previous winners of TCR lining up, I think. I
445
00:26:27.319 --> 00:26:30.720
think headline for me has got to be Robin Imperde,
446
00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:34.119
who was winner of TC number ten twenty twenty four,
447
00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:37.920
has backed up recently with his victories at Silk Road
448
00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:42.319
and Tour Divided last year and also Unbound Excel this year.
449
00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:43.720
How about you both.
450
00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:48.039
Any of these names that stand out in terms of
451
00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:49.119
overall victory.
452
00:26:50.680 --> 00:26:55.680
I think Christopher Strasser is also one to watch, maybe
453
00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:00.880
for the for the podium, so he won in Nunder
454
00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:06.880
eight and nine, and then he has also ridden is
455
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:11.680
this his fifties now, so he's ridden the last four editions,
456
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:15.359
so he'll be back with his fifth edition it's finished
457
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:21.079
in twenty twenty four, and then fifth last year, so
458
00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.039
maybe he'll be trying to get back up for one
459
00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:24.839
of the top spots.
460
00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:28.400
So I think you can't rule out Martin Morrits after
461
00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:33.599
finishing second last year. He had a great first half,
462
00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:34.480
seemed to.
463
00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:36.359
Well.
464
00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:38.920
I think he seemed quite resigned in the second half
465
00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:42.519
once Victor had caught him for the ferry, but he
466
00:27:42.599 --> 00:27:46.720
finished second. Then there's only one step to the overall victory.
467
00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:52.680
Someone who's performed really well only sort of with any
468
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:55.119
scenehem in the ultra distant space in the past years.
469
00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:59.359
Max agu who was winner of the Transpireentees race last
470
00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:02.519
year and was second in the track of five sixty
471
00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:06.799
and unbound Excel earlier this year, seems like a step
472
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:10.559
up in distance and duration for him base he was
473
00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:13.039
a former professional rider so certainly seems to have the
474
00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:16.880
physical qualities for that. And another one putting in this
475
00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:21.720
top category who possibly had the most eventful Transcontinental race
476
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:28.200
last year is Nicola Chatterly who he was the early leader.
477
00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:30.160
There was a.
478
00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:34.400
Big polemic around him sending a early hanger to himself
479
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:38.680
and collecting it and handing it back and well. He
480
00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:41.440
was eventually disqualified for taking some band roads in Eastern
481
00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:45.920
Europe and seemed to suffer about two hundred and forty
482
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.559
six punctures along the way as well. So we'll see
483
00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.920
you see he's resolved those issues for this year, but
484
00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:54.200
over the shorter distances and a lot of the French
485
00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:58.519
events he performs very strongly. He was first in the
486
00:28:58.599 --> 00:29:01.440
race across Paris, which is found earlier this year, in
487
00:29:01.480 --> 00:29:07.319
quite dominant fashion. So he's one who seems to seems
488
00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:09.599
to have the bit between his teeth for the TCR
489
00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:11.839
this year. Some won't be surprised at least in the
490
00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:16.200
early stages to see him up there. Then some contenders
491
00:29:16.240 --> 00:29:19.440
who we think definitely have the ability to be then
492
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:20.960
in the top five.
493
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:23.799
Yanna, you're my list for this.
494
00:29:24.119 --> 00:29:27.759
I think being six overall last year again, it's just
495
00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:29.599
one more step to be in the top five. And
496
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:32.119
it sounds like sounds like you're going to this well prepared.
497
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.720
How do you see your position on the overall leaderboard?
498
00:29:35.799 --> 00:29:41.079
You motivated by say top ten, top five or is
499
00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:43.000
it a case if you do your best and that's
500
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.400
where you finished on the leaderboard.
501
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:47.599
Of course, I mean it's attractive to be in the
502
00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:50.920
top ten. So still my main goal is to just
503
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:53.119
give my best and see how it goes. I mean
504
00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:55.519
a lot of problems can come up and I just
505
00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.960
want to try to give my best and see how
506
00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:01.160
where this leads. Like last year, I was really surprised
507
00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:05.720
to finish in sixth position TC, So I'm trying to
508
00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:09.160
take that confidence for this year's race rightly.
509
00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:13.400
So, Nikki, who else did you pick out for somewhere
510
00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:15.359
somewhere around potential top five?
511
00:30:16.200 --> 00:30:19.960
So top five contenders have also made a note for
512
00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:24.440
Robert Muller. I know he he finished in fifth place
513
00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:30.400
overall on TUM nine and I remember Robert was kind
514
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.960
of famous or in famous for just never sleeping inside.
515
00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:38.759
So he finished the race having slept outside every single night.
516
00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:41.799
I get the impression of Robert Muller that he's either
517
00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:46.119
going to finish first, second, or third or not finish
518
00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:49.240
the race. That seems to be his pattern. I think
519
00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:52.440
his first major ulture was the Trans Pyrenees race in
520
00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:54.400
twenty twenty two.
521
00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:57.119
And yeah we're we also, yeah.
522
00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:00.920
That's right, And he won it on a biker he
523
00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:02.799
had borrowed because I think something went wrong with his
524
00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:06.640
bike in transit, so his fok progue.
525
00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:11.440
So with the videlight Robberts kind of getting getting to
526
00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:13.920
the start line is is half the battle, isn't it.
527
00:31:15.359 --> 00:31:18.000
I don't know how organized he is this year, but
528
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:21.279
definitely want to watch. And then another ride might be
529
00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:24.680
Tim DeWitt, so he's a super strong rider and it's
530
00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:30.680
third place in teasand and nine and then first this
531
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:35.400
year is at the Moose three Poland. So definitely having
532
00:31:35.400 --> 00:31:38.960
a strong year so so far this year. Anyone else
533
00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:41.359
on your list, Jana for.
534
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.680
The for the woman, I'm looking forward to meet Ellen
535
00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:50.359
from Monty And yeah, I think she she she won
536
00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:55.960
transparentees last year, right, And also Nicole Nicole van Bartenburg.
537
00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:59.119
I don't know if that's the right pronunciation, but I
538
00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:02.400
met her doing previous races, so I'm looking forward also
539
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:04.799
to see these two women competing.
540
00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:06.880
Yeah, I'm sure it's a bit a piece of cake
541
00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:14.039
for Nicole and not the first time I've made that
542
00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:16.759
made that one. There's a couple of other women with
543
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:22.920
interesting profiles as well. There's Anna Colquist, who was the
544
00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:25.119
first woman recently in the race through Poland had a
545
00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:30.960
really impressive race. They're finishing ninth overall. Larissa Unsin was
546
00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:33.920
the first woman at the Three Peaks bike race last year,
547
00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:36.519
repeating a feat which you've done in the past, Yanna.
548
00:32:37.160 --> 00:32:40.519
She also finished the lost out winner one base in
549
00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:44.519
fourth position, and it actually met her at the finish
550
00:32:44.759 --> 00:32:48.480
because I finished in fifth and she came in with
551
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:53.319
a huge, big smile on her face. She was in
552
00:32:53.319 --> 00:32:56.720
great spirits when she finished, and she was obviously still
553
00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:58.319
still feeling strong at that point.
554
00:32:58.440 --> 00:32:59.400
So cool.
555
00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:00.960
Definitely want to.
556
00:33:00.920 --> 00:33:04.559
Watch, and I lost be interesting to see how Sarah
557
00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:07.799
Bosslet gets on this year. She had really inspiring story
558
00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:11.079
last year riding TCR and memory of her partner who
559
00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:14.799
she'd recently lost before that race, and really strong performances
560
00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:18.240
well finishing fifth woman last year. There's really a lot
561
00:33:18.240 --> 00:33:22.200
of names on this list who I wouldn't be surprised
562
00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:25.039
to finish around the top ten just to run for
563
00:33:25.160 --> 00:33:30.039
a few more who could be there, including Omar dif Felice,
564
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:35.000
Jocelyn Roth who finished fifth last year but was disqualified
565
00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:38.920
in the end, Manuel Rudas, who was fourth last.
566
00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:41.160
Year in klustof Persteiner.
567
00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:45.039
Right, Yes, he's on the list as well. Was he
568
00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:46.359
in the top ten last year?
569
00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:48.880
Yeah, he was just the blaze behind me, So I
570
00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:51.279
think he was on seventh position because I met him
571
00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.519
during the race here and then I saw him, so
572
00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:58.279
I think he will definitely aim for the top ten again.
573
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:00.960
So We've got quite a few of the top ten
574
00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:05.039
from last year returning this year. Be interesting to see
575
00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:08.840
Powell Polowski, the organizer of race through Poland, a great
576
00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:11.239
character in the scene, who himself was finished third in
577
00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:15.559
TCR back in twenty twenty two. Thomas Bury. I'm expecting
578
00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:17.679
a strong ride from him. He's been four times in
579
00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:20.119
the top ten at this mountain race, was second in
580
00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:25.519
Transpyrenees Race last year. And also Nil Uyen who was
581
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:30.800
first at Mittel Giberg Classic last year, and Lawrence van
582
00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:34.960
Gusht who was first at Three Peaks Bike Race last year.
583
00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.679
So yeah, I.
584
00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:39.159
Could probably continue this list for a while, but I
585
00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:42.239
think essentially we're looking at a competitive field at the
586
00:34:42.280 --> 00:34:46.599
front end. There's also some really interesting stories of riders
587
00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:51.719
to highlight. There's some serial returners of the trans Continental Race,
588
00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:57.320
none less so than Miko Mackepa, who has finished every
589
00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:00.400
edition of the race to date, so he be going
590
00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:03.280
for his twelve finish. Have you met him at previous
591
00:35:03.679 --> 00:35:04.360
racist Yana?
592
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.039
Yeah, and he finished all of these races in CHZ,
593
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:10.039
so this is really special.
594
00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:15.079
Yeah, incredible, so see if you can continue that. We've
595
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:19.920
also got Doug Midgen, who I believe is seventy. He's
596
00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:23.159
back for his ninth TCR. He's finished them all but
597
00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:27.280
three times over the time limits. We didn't have ages
598
00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:29.559
for riders, so I'm not sure if he is the
599
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.519
oldest rider, but doing it at that age, I think
600
00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:37.000
it's an inspiration to all of us. A couple of
601
00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:41.360
interesting stories. There's a writer called Sonka Kreft who is
602
00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:45.760
the chief Climate Risk Strategist at the United Nations University
603
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:50.199
and is twice used this bike to travel to cops
604
00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:54.679
that's in twenty eighteen in Poland and to Glasgow in
605
00:35:54.719 --> 00:35:58.199
twenty twenty one. He finished outside the time limit of
606
00:35:58.280 --> 00:36:02.079
TCR last year and with Lanton Rouge in the Ats
607
00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:04.960
Mountain Race in twenty twenty five. But he seems to
608
00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:07.920
use his cycling to be able to highlight some of
609
00:36:07.960 --> 00:36:13.039
the climate issues that we are facing. And also Kenneth
610
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:17.360
Lamont seems like an interesting profile to me that he
611
00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:21.840
in preparation for trans Continental Race last year, which he
612
00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:28.880
unfortunately scratched, he set four world records for unsupported north
613
00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:33.480
to south crossings of various countries including Germany, Sweden, Scotland
614
00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:37.639
and Portugal, and uses this opportunity to raise funds for
615
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:40.800
the Down Syndrome charity, which is inspired by his brother
616
00:36:41.079 --> 00:36:44.719
who has Down syndrome. So not only doing impressive things,
617
00:36:45.039 --> 00:36:48.119
doing them for a good cause as well, and doing
618
00:36:48.119 --> 00:36:51.000
those sort of things. Maybe he's one we should have
619
00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:53.119
included on the competitive list as well.
620
00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:57.719
Ah, Andrew one of to organize as it's riding himself.
621
00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:00.000
Yeah, I saw that actually.
622
00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:05.480
Yeah, so riding out of GC with a friend in
623
00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:06.280
a pair.
624
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:10.039
I think I noticed that too, that they didn't have
625
00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:10.840
a CAP number.
626
00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:12.800
They were given hy A and B.
627
00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:17.159
So I presume that they just they just want to
628
00:37:17.239 --> 00:37:19.840
ride the route, but are not going to consider themselves
629
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:20.960
as part of the classification.
630
00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:24.800
Then yeah, I think because he partly scouted the route,
631
00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:25.800
so it would be unfair.
632
00:37:26.400 --> 00:37:28.679
I did think. Yeah, I wasn't aware that it was
633
00:37:29.639 --> 00:37:32.519
out of GC, but I did think obviously being part
634
00:37:32.519 --> 00:37:36.199
of the the organization, you would have a lot of
635
00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:42.559
not an advantage before setting off, So that seems like
636
00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:45.480
the fairest way for him to divide it.
637
00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:49.400
Yeah, but I can totally understand the desired wanting to
638
00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:52.320
raise TCR and I mean, if you're part of the
639
00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:55.639
organization team then you can't anymore. So I think it's
640
00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:57.599
a good a good trade.
641
00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:04.199
Off maybe to run this off. Joanna, if you could
642
00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.440
pick one part of this route that you're looking forward
643
00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:11.039
to most and one part that you are dreading the most,
644
00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:13.079
what would you choose.
645
00:38:13.639 --> 00:38:16.559
Now, I'm honestly really stressed by the first half because
646
00:38:16.599 --> 00:38:19.800
of all the things we said, like the fairy calculation
647
00:38:20.119 --> 00:38:24.639
and this times timeslots that we are allowed or not
648
00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:31.039
to allowed to write in Slovakia. So I think everything
649
00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:35.719
afterwards I will be in maybe a commerce state of mind,
650
00:38:35.760 --> 00:38:39.480
and I'm looking forward to that, especially looking forward to
651
00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.800
the Parka in Albania, because I really love the country
652
00:38:42.840 --> 00:38:46.719
and it looks like an awesome landscape, maybe with kind
653
00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:49.800
of smooth tarmark on a nice mountain, so I think
654
00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:52.519
this is going to be the highlight that I'm seeking.
655
00:38:52.559 --> 00:38:56.199
And of course the finisher parkour. I think it's designed
656
00:38:56.199 --> 00:38:58.880
in a pretty nice way because last year in Romania
657
00:38:58.920 --> 00:39:02.079
it was a bit stressful with the traffic and then
658
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:04.719
actually they changed it even during the race because the
659
00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:09.320
front riders were complaining it was too dangerous, which it
660
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:12.920
actually was pretty dangerous. So this time we're going to
661
00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:18.840
Calamata over a huge mountain range which looks way more
662
00:39:19.119 --> 00:39:21.840
remote than what we did last year for the finish line,
663
00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:24.079
so I think this is going to be really special
664
00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:24.840
to end a race.
665
00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:25.880
Mm hmm.
666
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:30.000
Well, we wish you all the best with your race.
667
00:39:31.360 --> 00:39:35.400
It be great to follow your follow your progress again.
668
00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:38.880
I'm sure we'll see you right up there. And thank you,
669
00:39:38.920 --> 00:39:41.239
thank you very much for joining us. A pleasure to
670
00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:41.880
have you on again.
671
00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:43.599
Thank you, thank you.
672
00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:47.199
Wishing you all the very best and for following your dog.
673
00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:50.480
Thank you. I learned a lot too during this episode,
674
00:39:50.480 --> 00:39:51.280
so thanks for that.
675
00:39:55.519 --> 00:39:57.960
So it's not just the trans Continent Race that's going
676
00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:01.320
on this month, and we have some other events to
677
00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:03.920
look forward to which will shortly come on to. But
678
00:40:04.119 --> 00:40:06.920
first there has been some action over the past couple
679
00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:11.280
of weeks. First up, the Three Peaks bike race started
680
00:40:11.320 --> 00:40:15.679
on the fourth of July. We've only just had the
681
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:19.199
finish in as we are recording, so we give a
682
00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:21.400
more full recap next.
683
00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:22.199
Time we are on.
684
00:40:22.639 --> 00:40:27.480
But the winner was Otto Albert who finished in five days,
685
00:40:27.519 --> 00:40:31.679
twenty three hours and twenty minutes, So well done Otto.
686
00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:35.000
Another event we've had on recently has some links to
687
00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:37.360
what we're just talking about, in the Transcontinental Race.
688
00:40:38.519 --> 00:40:41.960
Yeah, so that was the Bright Midnight which started in
689
00:40:42.239 --> 00:40:47.840
Torga on the Norway on the fifth of July. I
690
00:40:47.840 --> 00:40:50.599
think this is a loop, isn't. It's a fixed route
691
00:40:51.480 --> 00:40:54.840
mixed to rain race, so eleven hundred kilometers and a
692
00:40:54.920 --> 00:41:00.960
round about twenty meters of climbing. So looking at the
693
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:06.039
top three overall we had finishing. First was Philip eyed
694
00:41:06.599 --> 00:41:11.320
Shine finishing in two days, eight hours and twelve minutes,
695
00:41:12.039 --> 00:41:16.559
and then second was Benedict Borros finishing in two days,
696
00:41:16.599 --> 00:41:21.159
fourteen hours, twenty nine minutes, and then third was still
697
00:41:21.440 --> 00:41:24.920
dahl Ive pronounced that right, that's two days, twenty hours
698
00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:28.920
and twenty five minutes, so really quite tight or within
699
00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:32.800
the just under the three day mark rare. And then
700
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:36.519
looking at the top three women finishing in his first
701
00:41:36.519 --> 00:41:41.039
woman was Anna Koffler. She actually finished fifth overall as well.
702
00:41:42.960 --> 00:41:45.159
I was not watching and she she had a really
703
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:49.760
strong second part of the race, so she finished in
704
00:41:49.760 --> 00:41:53.679
two days, twenty two hours and thirty five minutes. And
705
00:41:53.719 --> 00:41:58.239
then running off the women's podium we had the givebb
706
00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:03.239
with the pronunciation, but it's in Slusia. And then third
707
00:42:03.280 --> 00:42:08.159
with Ivy Pederson, so well, don't everyone finish that I
708
00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:13.960
know typically Norwegian weather with a lot of cold temperatures
709
00:42:14.039 --> 00:42:14.840
even in the summer.
710
00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:21.199
I picked out a quote from the Bark Midnight instagram
711
00:42:21.360 --> 00:42:24.639
that Norway has two winters and green one is the hardest.
712
00:42:25.400 --> 00:42:30.719
And I've i mentioned earlier that I've been to Norway
713
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:33.719
at this time of year. I got snowed on, and
714
00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:36.880
so you can expect anything in Norway at any time
715
00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:40.719
of year, and it's something which the Trans Continent Race
716
00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:42.920
is going to have to be aware of, and I'm
717
00:42:42.920 --> 00:42:46.360
sure they would have been keeping it up. I was
718
00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:51.320
also interested to see Philip defend his title. I haven't
719
00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:56.480
seen him race in between, but he has got what's
720
00:42:56.559 --> 00:43:01.119
quite dominant. Benedict had some really imp results, especially over
721
00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:04.519
this sort of distance and duration, but to put six
722
00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:07.280
hours into him, it's quite a lot over that sort
723
00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:09.239
of that sort of overall time.
724
00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:13.199
I mean, it's do you think it's in the classification
725
00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:16.639
of the sprint distance? So one thousand k within three days,
726
00:43:16.679 --> 00:43:19.559
so you could you're really pushing the boundaries of the
727
00:43:19.679 --> 00:43:24.239
sleep so what can you get away with essentially, But
728
00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:27.000
it's also dictated by the ferry crossings as well, so
729
00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:29.880
there was the first ferry crossing. I think only eight
730
00:43:29.920 --> 00:43:34.840
of them made it, including Philippe well, including the top
731
00:43:34.880 --> 00:43:38.840
three finishers, so that really did decide quite early on
732
00:43:39.239 --> 00:43:40.599
who is in contention there.
733
00:43:41.719 --> 00:43:45.159
And it's interesting looking into his background as well. They
734
00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:48.880
spent nearly a decade as a professional road cyclist with
735
00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:55.119
winds in some continental level, so not the highest level
736
00:43:55.159 --> 00:43:58.760
of road racing but the step below, but even still
737
00:43:58.840 --> 00:44:02.320
silver medal at the NORWEIGI National Road Championships in twenty
738
00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:07.800
fourteen shows his pedigrees. So I wonder whether I wonder
739
00:44:07.800 --> 00:44:10.079
whether he's interested in other events or if he's just
740
00:44:10.119 --> 00:44:12.440
going to keep coming back to events in Norway and win.
741
00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:13.119
Him every year.
742
00:44:13.639 --> 00:44:16.159
Here's Norwegian so and he's only have a race as
743
00:44:16.159 --> 00:44:19.000
far as I'm aware in Norway, so I'm kind of
744
00:44:19.639 --> 00:44:25.360
he's obviously got the the skills and the strength to
745
00:44:25.400 --> 00:44:30.559
apply himself to natural distance race and win. So maybe
746
00:44:30.599 --> 00:44:36.159
he'll you know, go beyond the Norwegian banjes next year.
747
00:44:36.440 --> 00:44:37.880
Yeah, but can he can he do it in a
748
00:44:37.920 --> 00:44:39.639
hot afternoon in the south of France.
749
00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:40.960
It is the question I would ask.
750
00:44:42.719 --> 00:44:45.639
A bit of his adaptation I think is key there.
751
00:44:48.519 --> 00:44:51.840
Okay, there's a few more events that are coming up
752
00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:56.920
this month, one which we'll go into a bit more
753
00:44:56.960 --> 00:45:00.840
detail on as it's one of the long events on
754
00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:05.199
the calendar. Similar sort of format to the Transcontinental Race
755
00:45:05.480 --> 00:45:09.280
is the Via Race now and it's third chapter, starting
756
00:45:09.320 --> 00:45:13.039
on the twenty fourth July in amoron Gen in the
757
00:45:13.079 --> 00:45:18.320
Netherlands and heading up again into into Norway, finishing in
758
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:25.880
a place called Volda. It's demarked by gates, refuges, and
759
00:45:25.960 --> 00:45:30.880
park or which are well gates are unmanned controls or
760
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:32.000
specific roads.
761
00:45:31.760 --> 00:45:33.280
That riders must ride through.
762
00:45:33.760 --> 00:45:37.880
Refugees are more staff checkpoints where there are more facilities
763
00:45:37.920 --> 00:45:40.159
there for riders to make use of. And the park
764
00:45:40.280 --> 00:45:43.760
or again mandatory segments that all riders must follow. So
765
00:45:43.840 --> 00:45:48.159
between these riders have to plan their own routes. The
766
00:45:48.199 --> 00:45:51.159
overall distance is going to come out around four thousand kilometers,
767
00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:55.559
so it's another another true multi day, multi day one
768
00:45:56.840 --> 00:46:01.599
and new this year, VIA offering the Via Adventure, which
769
00:46:01.679 --> 00:46:05.519
is a fixed route of approximately two four and fifty kilometers,
770
00:46:05.599 --> 00:46:09.599
which is it's non competitive and it's sort of a
771
00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:13.280
bridge between riders who for logistic reasons or maybe they
772
00:46:13.400 --> 00:46:15.639
didn't want to do full four thousand meters and they've
773
00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:20.519
got these other options there again there's this one is
774
00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:24.360
going to potentially be defined by ferries that there's not
775
00:46:24.480 --> 00:46:29.079
just getting over to Scandinavia. They are permitting ferries across
776
00:46:29.280 --> 00:46:35.519
fjords in Norway. So Nick, you just mentioned timetables for
777
00:46:36.519 --> 00:46:40.880
in the bright midnight, it's something that consider here. I mean,
778
00:46:41.159 --> 00:46:42.679
in a lot of cases it's not much you can
779
00:46:42.800 --> 00:46:45.840
do about it in terms of when you hit these
780
00:46:46.119 --> 00:46:48.360
hit these ferries. But if some of them aren't running
781
00:46:48.360 --> 00:46:51.880
at night, there's big gaps between them, then possibly they
782
00:46:51.960 --> 00:46:54.079
are strategic implications there.
783
00:46:55.159 --> 00:46:59.159
Yeah, especially a lot of the ferries are concentrated in
784
00:46:59.159 --> 00:47:02.239
that second half I think, moving up through Norway across
785
00:47:02.280 --> 00:47:09.679
the field, so by that point the race will be
786
00:47:09.719 --> 00:47:13.840
a lot more established. So I imagine any ferries is going
787
00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:17.559
to make a bigger impact than if they were placed
788
00:47:17.559 --> 00:47:23.199
earlier on, if that makes sense. So yeah, and of
789
00:47:23.239 --> 00:47:26.239
course not all the ferries will run at night. So
790
00:47:26.320 --> 00:47:30.360
it's it is like with all or Bass, it's about
791
00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:35.400
luck as well as yeah, just timing when you get
792
00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:37.079
there and just having a bit of luck on your
793
00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:38.480
side as well.
794
00:47:39.039 --> 00:47:44.119
Yeah, they cross through some pretty amazing places up in
795
00:47:44.159 --> 00:47:48.000
that area of Norway as well. That was NIBB a
796
00:47:48.039 --> 00:47:51.079
big climb troll stick and it is quite an iconic
797
00:47:51.480 --> 00:47:54.199
one as well on the Atlantic Roads, So it's going
798
00:47:54.280 --> 00:47:55.960
to be some great images that come out of this
799
00:47:56.000 --> 00:48:01.639
when riders get up in that direction. Talking about riders,
800
00:48:02.079 --> 00:48:05.119
it's a really interesting start list for this one as well.
801
00:48:06.079 --> 00:48:11.039
The participants include all of last year's podium and eighty
802
00:48:11.079 --> 00:48:13.800
percent of the top twenty or so back again.
803
00:48:13.840 --> 00:48:15.480
It's something which we've talked about.
804
00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:18.840
We've had Ian on the podcast, the organizer of THEA
805
00:48:18.960 --> 00:48:23.440
in the past, and around how many riders are returned
806
00:48:23.480 --> 00:48:27.119
to VIA year on year, and there's going to be
807
00:48:27.159 --> 00:48:31.480
twenty five riders who will have ridden all three chapters
808
00:48:31.519 --> 00:48:36.119
of the which accumulates to twelve thousand kilometers and more
809
00:48:36.119 --> 00:48:38.800
one hundred and twenty thousand meters of climbing over that time.
810
00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:41.840
So yeah, for people to come back year on year
811
00:48:41.880 --> 00:48:44.760
and do the same event, I think shows shows what
812
00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:49.079
they're creating and that that whole atmosphere around the race.
813
00:48:49.639 --> 00:48:53.880
Yeah, it's I think from day one, from when Chapter
814
00:48:53.960 --> 00:48:58.360
one was first launched. It was kind of launched as
815
00:48:58.400 --> 00:49:02.159
a three part series, so maybe a lot of people
816
00:49:02.719 --> 00:49:06.400
would would kind of in the mind sign up to
817
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:11.239
all three series. Wee chapters, the kind of and the
818
00:49:11.360 --> 00:49:13.559
link to each other as well. It's not right with
819
00:49:13.639 --> 00:49:17.199
the twocr each edition is independent to the last. So
820
00:49:17.239 --> 00:49:19.920
I think being part of all three is being part
821
00:49:19.960 --> 00:49:22.239
of the family of THEA as well, which is something
822
00:49:22.280 --> 00:49:27.039
that Ian has really done really well to establish and
823
00:49:27.079 --> 00:49:30.079
it's got such a strong community around it, and this
824
00:49:30.159 --> 00:49:33.800
is exactly why we see people coming in coming back
825
00:49:34.159 --> 00:49:38.519
year after year to have that experience again and that continuity.
826
00:49:39.599 --> 00:49:44.679
Yeah, and those those coming back include last year's podium.
827
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:48.079
So a rider who we've talked about quite a bit
828
00:49:48.119 --> 00:49:50.639
in terms of winning every race that he enters at
829
00:49:50.679 --> 00:49:53.679
the moment is Bruno wicked. Even this year he was
830
00:49:53.719 --> 00:49:57.039
first at the two Poconi Sprint and mittel Gerberge Classic,
831
00:49:57.599 --> 00:50:00.360
and that he was first finished at last year and
832
00:50:00.400 --> 00:50:04.480
fourth in the first edition. In these recent races he
833
00:50:04.920 --> 00:50:06.639
seems to have been having the head to head battle
834
00:50:06.679 --> 00:50:09.440
with Adam Bierlek, who is also going to be lining up.
835
00:50:09.519 --> 00:50:13.039
So Adam was second in both two Volcanisprint and miss
836
00:50:13.119 --> 00:50:16.519
Tugerberg Classic this year. He won the first edition of
837
00:50:16.559 --> 00:50:19.719
the year and was second to Bruno last year, So.
838
00:50:20.840 --> 00:50:26.039
Trading spots then, so it's Bruno against Adam versus everyone else.
839
00:50:26.519 --> 00:50:28.639
Yeah, well it seems like Bruno has the pan at
840
00:50:28.639 --> 00:50:32.599
the moment, but who knows of this one. Another rider
841
00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:35.159
who's been on the podium for the last two editions
842
00:50:35.199 --> 00:50:38.599
is Lucas Becker, who is on good form after finishing
843
00:50:38.840 --> 00:50:42.760
second at the race across France just a few weeks ago.
844
00:50:43.159 --> 00:50:45.800
So he was second in the first edition and third
845
00:50:46.360 --> 00:50:50.880
last year. Someone else's had a really impressive recent performance
846
00:50:51.159 --> 00:50:55.280
is Mark Bouchel, who was second at the Hellenic Mountain Race.
847
00:50:55.760 --> 00:50:58.280
So hopefully it'll be sticking back on his road.
848
00:50:58.159 --> 00:50:59.280
Tires for this one.
849
00:50:59.719 --> 00:51:02.960
What's so Matt Downey is the North Coast five hundred
850
00:51:03.280 --> 00:51:05.679
world record holder. It's the iconic route up in the
851
00:51:05.719 --> 00:51:10.920
north of Scotland. And someone else familiar to the podcast
852
00:51:11.239 --> 00:51:15.320
who was on the same episodes that Yanna was on previously,
853
00:51:15.360 --> 00:51:18.480
as well as Jan Wilhelm Bobbink, who is also the
854
00:51:18.599 --> 00:51:22.039
organizer of the Unknown Race and took part in the
855
00:51:22.039 --> 00:51:26.000
first chapter. It's another returning rider. Well, we will look
856
00:51:26.039 --> 00:51:29.400
forward to following via as well. And although this starts
857
00:51:29.440 --> 00:51:32.440
a week after the trans Continental Race, I don't think
858
00:51:32.440 --> 00:51:35.119
any riders are going to be crossing paths but interesting
859
00:51:35.119 --> 00:51:39.039
to see two huge voyages going different directions across Europe
860
00:51:39.079 --> 00:51:43.280
at a similar time. A few other events that are
861
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:46.360
coming out in the next few weeks is Basowan, which
862
00:51:46.400 --> 00:51:51.079
starts on the twenty sixth of July, which is predominantly
863
00:51:51.159 --> 00:51:55.599
off road event in the Basque country in Spain. Who
864
00:51:55.599 --> 00:52:00.960
trekd Ultra Excel starts on the first of Augus, which,
865
00:52:01.199 --> 00:52:04.559
as the name suggests, the longer version of the utrek culture.
866
00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:07.960
I think it's around sixteen hundred kilometers. This one mother
867
00:52:08.079 --> 00:52:11.920
north going back to Norway on the second of August.
868
00:52:12.039 --> 00:52:15.119
This one is a mainly gravel event, fatally similar to
869
00:52:15.440 --> 00:52:18.159
Bride Midnight, but in a different area of Norway, which
870
00:52:18.159 --> 00:52:20.480
seems to be getting a lot of attention moments. And
871
00:52:21.519 --> 00:52:24.960
the second of the Triple Crown events in the US
872
00:52:25.119 --> 00:52:29.000
is the Colorado Trail Race, which starts on the second
873
00:52:29.039 --> 00:52:32.199
of August as well. So these will be ones with
874
00:52:33.039 --> 00:52:36.159
commentary on Dot Watcher more dots to keep your eye
875
00:52:36.199 --> 00:52:42.000
out on during these summer months. So that's all for
876
00:52:42.039 --> 00:52:44.360
this time. We are keen to hear from you about
877
00:52:44.400 --> 00:52:46.679
events that you would like to see featured in future episodes.
878
00:52:46.679 --> 00:52:48.840
So if you're an event organizer, or think that we've
879
00:52:48.840 --> 00:52:52.320
missed something that merits mention, then reach out to our
880
00:52:52.320 --> 00:52:55.599
Instagram which is at dot COM's pod, or email us
881
00:52:55.639 --> 00:52:59.960
at dot com'spod at gmail dot com. Next regular episode
882
00:53:00.039 --> 00:53:02.840
will be returning on the first Thursday month as usual,
883
00:53:02.920 --> 00:53:05.519
and we'll have another on the dot episode next month.
884
00:53:05.559 --> 00:53:07.119
But in the meantime, be sure to check out all
885
00:53:07.159 --> 00:53:10.559
the event commentaries on the dot watcher website. Nikki, you
886
00:53:10.639 --> 00:53:14.320
do any racing in the near future, I'm not.
887
00:53:14.360 --> 00:53:18.159
Actually, I'm not signed up to anything, so I've got
888
00:53:18.280 --> 00:53:21.840
quite a free summer ahead of me. I'm probably just
889
00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:27.400
going to target a few kats in and around the UK,
890
00:53:27.960 --> 00:53:32.000
so first one. But March is the way of the Roses,
891
00:53:32.440 --> 00:53:33.840
so watch this space.
892
00:53:34.639 --> 00:53:36.679
Okay. Well, I hope that goes well.
893
00:53:37.639 --> 00:53:40.239
Thanks everyone again for listening, and we'll speak to you
894
00:53:40.239 --> 00:53:40.679
next time.
895
00:53:40.920 --> 00:53:42.639
Goodbye, goodbye.
896
00:53:42.840 --> 00:53:49.079
Thanks Sam