Ditch and posting stuff home, that wouldn’t be an issue. Pre sending stuff out to collect from post offices however would probably be against the spirit of things I think
@Matthew_Spooner Happy to do an interview with you if you want. You’ve got my number.
From a rules perspective, you should finish with all of the kit that you start with, however, posting stuff home is permitted, so long as you keep evidence of postal receipts. If an item is damaged beyond reasonable repair, you can ditch (eg helmet damaged in a crash), but should take photo as evidence. In reality it would be very difficult to enforce, however, rider integrity is a big part of any ultra race.
In terms of extra kit I will bring: a heavier weight rain jacket. wth a thin liner. 3/4 length rain trousers, neoprene gloves, 0 degree sleeping bag (not fully decided on this yet). All in around 1kg extra weight. Sleeping bag would be a pain as its so bulky. With close to 24 hour sun I may break my own sleep rules and plow on if the weather is bad and no hotels are available.
1st day I should make it to Bietostollen, which is a big ski resport and has a ton of hotels, its 495km - in past TCRs I’ve always managed over 500km on day 1.Day 2 I am aiming for another ski resort at Gello, 295km but a ton of gravel and a bucketfull of elevation - fun fact Gello is the mid point of the Norseman bike route.
You might find a plastic poncho would come in useful - weights little and takes up little space but can keep you and your kit dry when needed.
Thats not a bad idea
We rode through Finse last week, some sections of hike a bike as the path was blocked with snow but it’ll all be gone by TCR. Beautiful scenery and nice riding.
exactly
Perfect in a tailwind.
Probably not so much in a headwind
Instagram Live will be back and running again this year (last year I didn’t have enough followers, but now have more than 1000 so I can livestream again). Please follow me and watch my excellent daily livestreams
Anyone interested in following me, I have created a whatsapp group
Tracker has gone live today, Link below
https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/tcrno12/?lat=55.229493&lng=21.734362&z=3.34&b=0&p=0
Not sure I fancy that swim leg, careful of Vlad’s subs 
Good luick. Hope you find what you are looking for, whether it is the next checkpoint, or the meaning of life.
That ‘looks’ further than normal?
Not just further, also a lot more bumpy - 5,000km and 60,000m. The worst part is the final parcours which has 3500m elevation in 120km riding
To put that into context, my first TCR, which I found pretty bloody hard was 3800km with 38,000m
At least your bike/kit is lighter this time.
Yeah they do seem to have gone a bit mental with this. I am hoping they don’t keep going bigger and bigger with it
Got nothing else going on in your life? Try Transeurasia 2030.
Sorry couldn’t resisit it.
Joking aside on your bike weight; do you really need all that gadgetry? I seems like you’re turning the whole thing into a vlog; horses for courses, but I’d probably take a dozen mediocre photos and be done with it.
If you do the TCR and nobody likes/watches your vlogs/ reads your blogs etc., did it actually happen?
