I presume the ferry guy (No81???) will have been done as well. In fact would expect hardly any finishers.
Of course you did finish so in my mind you completed TCR. Having banned roads on a 2 week event where you route yourself seems utterly pointless to me ā¦ but thatās why Iād never be interested in anything that had so many rules.
Given the various mechanical issues you had, I would have thought a ācleanerā ride would be the reason to enter again, not because of a technical dq?
Itās obviously disappointing and annoying, but does the DQ have any real implications? Like as an entry requirement to other events?
You still completed the course, you still had a huge adventure and itās still a massive achievement. Considering the lengths you went to overcome your mechanical, I hope there is no implication you deliberately cheated.
Theyāre not taking a prize away from you and you made it to the finish having ridden all the way, so the only thing you donāt have is your name on a finishers list
At first itās hard for an outsider to understand some of the Ultra Cycling rules
TCR this year was about learning - you donāt qualify for Kona on your first IM. If I get the chance to race again, I think a place in the top 50 is achieveable. Mrs Maurten Mover has told me that I have to do it again
There is no implication that I deliberately cheated, I gained at most 30 mins
My time is actually on the finisher sheet - I am not included on the GC list, and there is a DQ by my result.
I am hoping that I am not banned from TCR. Could go either way, Andrew may want to give me another chance, alternatively they may consider me to be a dangerous cyclist
Now that would be harsh if they banned you for being a dangerous cyclist, especially given some of the dangerous parcours that you described on their route
Iād never heard of āUltra Cyclingā before this post. I had a quick look at the website, wonāt be bookmarking it
The very idea that you might get blacklisted for infringing (IMHO) such a pointless rule would make me go off and do something else.
Catching a ferry seems far more serious to me (although Iād happily do it as that doesnāt infringe my own internal set of rules)
Iād be hugely surprised if they blacklisted you @Matthew_Spooner I think thats very unlikely IMO. And your handling of the mechanical demonstrated you knew and understood the rules. There arenāt that many hard and fast rules and the ones there are, are fairly loose in reality once your in the event.
Regarding ferry vs banned road. It is harsh but they are ultimately trying to keep riders safe and off dangerous roads. And that specific ferry crossing was explicitly used as an example of what isnāt allowed in the race manual! A ferry isnāt dangerous its just a short cut. They donāt want people jumping on banned roads thinking well even if we get a time penalty itāll probably be worth taking the risk. We ended up on a bit of motorway that unexpectedly changed from dual carriageway in France, which the pair that came second did exactly the same. However we both realised and turned around and got off. No DQ for them. Which is just to say they arenāt militant with the rules.
Pretty sure it changed at the preceding roundabout.
TCR#09 was a leap into the unknown. For the most part I took a very sensible approach and I did a lot of things really well, I also had a pretty silly navigation error that resulted in a DQ. I will take a more competetive approach to TCR#10, watch this space
Draft Plan for 2024, different start and end, different parcours. 2024 route appears to be 250km further, elevation is similar (maybe a little less in 2024), however, cutoff is still 15 days
This time next week (Lunchtime Monday), I should be in Bonn and about to start riding down the Rhine.
Yes itās that time, its TCRNo10 and my second attempt at TCR. I am absolutely shitting myself this year. I am fitter than last year, my bike is better, I have packed much smarter, I am really pleased with my route.
Why am I shitting myself:
I know what to expect, last year I was in blissful ignorance
It has been so hard to plan a route, so many roads are banned, the parcours in Southen Bosnia is a real PITA, Kosovo!!!
Yesterday it was 45 degrees in Southern Europe. In Podgorica this morning at 5am it was 31 degrees - that is the ālowā for today. I am not a big fan of cycling at night, but I wonder if it is even possible to cycle when its 45 degrees.
Experienced TCR competitors tell me that they think that this may be the most difficult TCR ever to finish under the cutoff time
This year my route is 4171km and has 39800m of climbing. My plan is extremely agressive, with an aim to finish late evening on 3 August, this means riding more than 320km per day, and climing over 3000m.
I have optimised my setup to facilitate my daily instragam live stream. I will probably stream live very soon after the start at 8pm (CET) on 21 July. The first parcours contains Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg, Taaienberg and the Muur at Geraadsbergen. If its raining it will be hell
