Kind of mad how quickly they’ve all dispersed
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Looks like a mass swim start, nice paceline forming down the left channel
184 is the mad one that’s gone way off course……
How are their trackers going to last? So they recharge them as they go?
so is there not a fixed route?
Nope. They have 2/3 mandatory checkpoints. Other than that, part of the game is planning your own route.
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It looks like a yacht race where someone has gone way off to catch the better ‘wind’. Method in the madness, maybe? 
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They’re probably SPOT trackers which don’t send updates too often and last a good time. And most people who do things like this will have a dynamo front hub which provides juice to charge devices
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What numbers are they?
@Matthew_Spooner 185 (Showing as 178th 284km)
@Sowler 337b (Showing as 27th pair? - 256km)
I guess this first 12 hours is a bit like the first mile of a marathon? 
They seem to both have gone the same way (towards Chaumont-sur-Aire), so hopefully the recce training days paid off.
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In the age of electronic devices, just downloading your route to them, and making sure everything stays working and charged is a big logistical challenge! I’m guessing a decent powerbank is de rigeur these days.
As I said, a front hub dynamo will be de rigeur for serious long distance cyclists these days
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Ah yes, I remember the guy I rode the Brevet Cymru with was testing out his kit, and it included one of those. Although tbh his front light did lack any decent ‘punch’ compared to a battery powered one.
Given how most of Europe is quite warm right now, maybe one of those foldable solar panels on the top of the bags?
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Not sure what 206 is up to. Heading towards Antwerp to get a flight?
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Don’t understand the leaderboard. Pairs leader is at 180km but @sowler is at 270km in 27th.
Is it distance as the crow flies to CP1 or the finish or some other metric?
Thanks.
I’m guessing that positions are relatively meaningless until the first couple of days are over and we get a realistic impression of how far people can cycle in a day once they have no choice but to sleep.
It looks like the last checkpoint is off the route … I presume this is to funnel everyone onto the same route to the finish?
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When do they tell riders the checkpoint locations? Just wondering how much planning time they get.
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They’ve DNF’d.
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Way back, during the entry process. Your planned route is part of your race entry
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