Balls, so close as well, what an effort from them.
1 Like
Yes, and I think itās partly to make it not a simple road bike event, you can read Jamesās reports from years back e.g. My TCR No.6 story ā James Mark Hayden - day 7 had the gravel climb tere.
3 Likes
Bad news about the @Sowler team. Hope Matt is still trucking. 
1 Like
Yep, Matt on his way past Larissa then up through some hills and o to the coast
Just having a coffee and then leaving Larissa. Itās slow going today due to heat and fatigue
20 Likes
Aah, just seen on FB that CP4 closed at 12 today, that explains why the Sowler team were pushing overnight last night. I thought they had another day.
9 Likes
I see 81, the ferry taker, seems to have finished in 53rd?!
2 Likes
Where did they take a ferry; down the coast?
1 Like
I first spotted 81 because he was stopped for a long time in the middle of nowhere in southern Slovenia, I realised that he was having a kip just off the road when he started moving again. Matt was level with him (more or less) down the coast but 81 pulled away by cycling longer hours - Matt would catch him during the day but then be some way behind the next morning.
I think if nothing had gone wrong, Matt would be finishing at a similar time +/- half a day.
Anyway, at the moment Matt is on the final parcours so should finish this afternoon / evening. Itās been a real eye opener following this, more so than the last time (@ed_m at GB_Duro a couple of years ago). It has inspired me to actually get out and do my own trip in September (if the weather is better!)
11 Likes
If you zoom right out on the dotwatcher map, you can see where people DNFād.
Thereās someone still riding in Slovenia, a couple in Bosnia and (to my surprise), quite a number are doing parcours 3 in Albania (c10 riders). I would have thought, being timed out, that they would just skip that bit and cycle between checkpoints.
6 Likes
@Matthew_Spooner loving the daily updates. I watched the transcontinental film yesterday on netflix and I find your updates more personal, informative and inspiring into what it takes to complete this race. Iām in awe of your tenacity and positivity - thank you for taking us on your journey with you. Good luck on the final parcour and final miles 
14 Likes
I can imagine riders still wanting to complete the course, even though they have been timed out.
3 Likes
Yeah, what I really meant was that I would skip it 
1 Like
Do the TCR leave people manning the cps for a period of time after they close?
This final Parcours section looks awful on a map let alone riding it, itās also absolutely massive compared to the previous
1 Like
You know youāre in a long race when +/- half a day is ācloseā 
4 Likes
I had a look at the section round the lake just coming up on Google streetview and it looks fairly flat, with nice views.
3 Likes
Will give a quick update now then more later. CP4 closed at 12 midday not at the evening and we realised we were a bit behind our (revised) schedule so knew we needed to get over the mountain between 4a and 4b that night. Differently to Matt this time we found we had to mostly walk up and down most of the track pushing our bikes with it being so loose and steep drops off the edge. Sarah also really struggled to ride much of the down. It took us a good 5 hours to get up and over. Sarah ate gravel a bunch going down and fucked up her wrist. We slept for an hour at the start of 4a and Sarah said she couldnāt continue so I headed off into the night. Got about 20km but my head was all over the place. Needed to sleep some more so got my head down for another 1.5 hours, soon realised I had no food left and there was no resupply options for 50km+ and I hadnāt eaten much since the evening before. My rear tyre was needing to be pumped up more regularly (now realised just needed more fluid, it was empty) when your soo tired your decision making goes to absoulte shit. And the idea of riding in 40+ heat for 2.5 more days was really putting me off. Me and Sarah had supported each when the other was down and held it together to keep the other going and when thatās completely gone it really messes with you head. So with all of the above I decided I couldnāt go on. Itās very frustrating but we are happy with how we did and performed considering we are complete beginners to this game. Holding 2nd/3rd place throughout and also now seeing we got 2nd fastest (of everyone including solos) time on Parcours 3.
Regarding tyre choice. Both on Pathfinder Pro 38. Check our average moving speed. We were fast, faster than I think all of the pairs and alot of solos, we just liked a longer break/sleep, we could definitely have improved our moving time efficiency if we were more disciplined. Donāt think anyone can say being on those tyres and gravel bikes is slow. We had zero tyre issues bar picking up two glass punctures and needing some extra tubeless fluid. Stupidly already thinking about next year 
36 Likes
Rest up and enjoy some proper food! You both did brilliantly!
5 Likes