A truly epic race.....

[The Thin Bloke]

For anyone thinking the modern day Tour de France is the hardest race around, I've got news for you.....it isn't!

I say this after stumbling across something called "The Transcontinental Race"

Put simply, riders go from London to Istanbul in a continuous non-stop race taking in 3 checkpoints along the way - this year the checkpoints are Paris, Stelvio Pass in Italy (altitude 2800 metres), and Mount Lovcen in Montenegro.

What makes this such an interesting event are the rules:

- No support vehicles or outside assistance

- No official overnight stops or rest points - the race is continuous

- No set route

In other words, riders are completely responsible for carrying their own kit, buying supplies along the way, choosing when to rest/sleep, and navigating their way between checkpoints using any route they want. The only permitted vehicle other than a bike is ferry crossings.

A prime example of how riders have been choosing their own route is the way everyone has headed towards Montenegro: some have ridden continuously through Italy, Slovenia and then Croatia, while others have gone down the east coast of Italy, then waited at the port of Ancona for a ferry to cross the Adriatic Sea to Croatia!

Live tracking can be seen, and it's possible to click on any rider to see their entire race route so far, and a Garmin-style movement history....the leading rider from Belgium has been riding 20 hours at a time with only 4-5 hour rest periods!

http://www.transcontinentalrace.com/

There is also more about the event and some fantastic reports and pictures from the Paris and Stelvio checkpoints here:

http://reportage.transcontinentalrace.com/

[Johan Hirlandt]

Interesting and completely nuts.