@sowler and @Matthew_Spooner will be doing TCR leaving Belgium on 23 July and riding 4000km via Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Greece, finshining in Thessaloniki in Greece. The route crosses the Alps and Olympus mountain range and will also have an elevation over 50,000m. It’s possibly the world’s hardest self supported bike race
27 Likes
Brilliant. Will follow you both with interest, assuming there is some tracking available.
2 Likes
Am I terrified, completely! Nothing I have ever done prepare me for the Challenge. 300km per day, 4000m climbing every day…… one day would be epic 13-15 days doing this over and over again
9 Likes
Absolutely. Dot watchers are essential. I will share my tracking details when they are available.
12 Likes
Sounds great. I can’t imagine being able to.ride those kinds of distances
3 Likes
Same, dont think I could do 1 day with that distance and elevation, let alone everyday for a couple of weeks.
2 Likes
Oosh… sounds ace. Will enjoy tracking you both & reading all about it.
2 Likes
As Matt said. Utterly terrified. There isn’t much that can prepare you! I’m in a pair and he’s solo! They do a daily podcast on Spotify which is actually a really good listen to be fair. I’ll pop drop my instagram and Strava links in here for anyone remotely interested. I’m hoping to do some video updates on my insta stories on there too.
18 Likes
Incredible! Will love watching this. It is just a scale I cannot begin to comprehend.
Just checked and when you get to Thessaloniki I’m only another 4250km down the road, if you fancy a shower and a cuppa
Just need to choose between the Iraq and Syria routes, and bear in mind it could be warm in July
13 Likes
Iraq route looks like a long downhill into the finish that would be my choice.
Good luck
4 Likes
Between this, Western States and IM Wales, we are spoilt for choice on epic adventure following this year! Good luck, you;'re all mental. 
3 Likes
those roadworks near the Syria border could be a problem……INCOMING! 
3 Likes
@Matthew_Spooner - I’ve added a link, date and spelling correction (to the title) to your original post 
I didn’t realise it’s a minimum of 285km per day average 
I just assumed you were being lofty 
4,000km over 14 days.
It looks utterly grim.
How do you even prepare for that???
2 Likes
The cutoff is 17 days, so around 240km per day minimum, however, I think it’s best to factor in at least 2 days contingency for mechanicals or sickness
The final details have not been published, so exact distance not known. Last year’s winner Christopher Strasser did 4350km and 35,000m climbing, I think that this year distance appears to be shorter (3700km ish), but with over 50,000m elevation.
I have exchanged messages with some previous finishers, and expect to do 200km more than planned due to errors, diversions and unplanned events
I will ride through the first night as race starts at 10pm, however, I aim to find a bed most nights. I will sleep 5 hours at night and 1-2 hours during the day
6 Likes
Might be a silly Q given you’ll have thought longer the 10s I have, and I can imagine frequent rests being restorative… But why not just sleep 6-7 hours each night? Because I imagine the time to find a place to sleep and settle down, secure belongings etc will be a big drain each time.
2 Likes
Blimey…this is some challenge…
i think i’d prefer to run it (walk it) than ride it…
A couple of reasons, heat being the main one. The best time to ride in the summer is early morning and late evening, temperature and traffic will be lighter, so trying to maximise those times. Another reason to stop during the day is to eat and rest helps to digest. If I am riding all day, I will find it hard to eat.
Eating will be one of the biggest challenges. Riding 15 hours per day, I will be using 12-14,000 calories per day, even when sleeping I will be using up tp 50% more calories than normal as my body tries to repair muscle damage. Even experienced people struggle to consume more than 6,000 calories per day, so potentially I will have a callorie deficit of 8,000 per day. It’s a scary number, I could easily lose 10kg over a 2 week period
10 Likes
Sounds like a diet some of us could do with. How do I sign up 
13 Likes
Like you say, eating will be one of the biggest challenges to work out. I know from the little events I’ve done that the stomach starts grumbling after a couple of days constant eating. I was tipped to take Rennies ahead of time but never got round to testing. Fair to say if you can’t get the fuel in you can’t do the miles.
1 Like
I guess as well what you are eating is going to have a big impact. I know when Phelps was on his mega diet there was a lot of fat in it as adding too many complex carbs upped the fibre and meant many bathroom trips.
Just the sheer amount of admin required before even starting is blowing my mind.
Do you plan ahead of where you will sleep or is it a lightweight tent on your bike and you just find somewhere when you are tired?