adjustablewench wrote:Where's Chu and Stew? Are they back/lost/living-out-some-weird-bearded-Heidi-fairytale-in-the-mountains?

Shall we send a search party? . . .well probably just point jase in their general direction with Pizza and beer. . .

They're back in Blighty as of this evening afaik, what I don't know is if customs took a shine to them though.

Is Scott riding back do we know or did he come back with stu n chew :)

@Mike - I crawled back in very early this morning. Straight back to the grind this morning. Looking forward to sitting down and stitching together some of the large panorama shots from the trip.

Greetz,

S.

Chew (which we discovered is also the sound Marmots make) and myself landed back last night. Regarding the hotel, I would like to say in my defence, we only stayed there in an effort to off-set the cost of the worst meal I've never eaten ... it's a long story involving cold rice pudding served with mushrooms.

A big thank you to James for taking the time and going to way more trouble than people generally realise to get everyone to Turin for the first instalment of the Wacky Races. Also, a big thank you to all those I rode with whether all week or just for five minutes. I will scribble some edited highlights at some point to add to all the others which I'm sure will follow but for now, here's a picture of someone riding up a big hill and another of some words scrawled on the road half way up Finestre

Mrs. CT and me landed at Cafe du Cyclist yesterday afternoon. Fell off the route at the top of col de Braus due to no water or food and the Buvette was closed/a storm was coming.

More when I get back on British soil but we had a fantastic time.

To those thay may know(gairy or james?) How late would this be rideable? I still have hols to take and fancy this. Not worried about the cold, plenty of good gear, more about snow on the passes making my gravel or mtb unridable.

Amazing trip and a massive thanks to James for going to the trouble of arranging everything.

Plenty of stories to tell at some point

After Stu put 'those' shorts on we never saw an unaccompanied child....

It's not everyone who can fall a sleep on a bike while holding a bottle, wearing pants like that

I surprised you even own pants stu

Almost as bad as Craig's running shorts. Almost...

Oh Stu

Great pics guys looks like we missed a great trip. Oh stu u never wear those pants when we r out...I'm so fecking glad! but that pic is brilliant pal. Can't wait for the write ups all
Did I mention I still have a week of fantastic trail riding in amazing weather

How did everyone get on with their bike choice? Any regrets?

I surprised you even own pants stu

I don't, these were kind of undershorts ... very tight, almost see-through undershorts

How did everyone get on with their bike choice? Any regrets?

There was a real mix of bikes which did produce a proper Wacky Races feel. Perhaps strangely (given the amount of tarmac), the poorest bike choice would probably be a road bike. IMO a decent spread of gears was a real must and big volume tyres a real bonus.

Those pants!

My eyes!!!

Looks like an absolutely stonking trip.

Si

Looks amazing, going to have to see if I can get permission for next year.

benp1 wrote:How did everyone get on with their bike choice? Any regrets?

Zero regrets. Lois was vaguely exciting. Only thing that would've made it better/easier (and I keep threatening to get one) would've been a 40t extender. That said, at that point I was down to 3mph and it was just as quick to walk.

Many people commented on me running WTB Wolverine 2.2 up front; in the gravel and downhill, it was comfortable and had plenty of bite in the loose stuff. The NineLine 2.0 out back was sticky when it needed to be and fast in a straight line. Ran tubeless and had no punctures.

I'm not the worlds fastest descender, but somehow I managed to pass people on the downhills with alarming regularity. I believe braking confidence was key. A big shout out here to Pete G for the M98x brake set...they were amazing on Icetech rotors/metal pads. Single set of pads for the whole route and never a moment of fade.

I'd use the same bike again but I'd TLS. Could've saved myself an easy kilo or so there. FWIW, bike w/ 2 water bottles + tools + Revelate bar harness in CTC bag was 12.7Kg on the BA scales.

Greetz

S.

I used a giant anyroad comax with 40mm tyres working on the theory it was predominantly road.
However, with hindsight I'd have used an mtb with fast 2" tubeless tyres. The extra comfort and grip on the gravel would have more than made up for the loss of speed on the road sections.

rufus748 wrote:I used a giant anyroad comax with 40mm tyres working on the theory it was predominantly road.
However, with hindsight I'd have used an mtb with fast 2" tubeless tyres. The extra comfort and grip on the gravel would have more than made up for the loss of speed on the road sections.

What he said ^

At the last minute I switched out my Crossmarks for the 40c thinnies and whilst they worked fine I'd have been comfier on something with a little more volume.

benp1 wrote:How did everyone get on with their bike choice? Any regrets?

I also optimised a bit for the long road sections, but of course, whilst shorter in distance, the off-road was also slower, therefore more time spent on 'gravel' than expected.

Things I will do differently next time:

1. Change the rigid fork for a Lauf. The extra 250g is more than worth it for the comfort over multiple days, as my now semi-numb fingers will attest!

2. Use bigger tyres at lower pressures- again driven by comfort, something low profile like a Furious Fred would be ideal (or even fatter if on rigid forks).

3. Not use a Rohloff. It was never a deliberate choice, just what I had ready to roll. The drag in the low gears just felt like the hub was full of treacle - one of those things that can become a real distraction. It may offer some advantages, particularly in muddy conditions, but for this a conventional 2x10 or even 1x11 would have been much better.

4. Tested the new saddle. 'nuff said!

ZeroDarkBivi wrote:

benp1 wrote:
3. Not use a Rohloff. It was never a deliberate choice, just what I had ready to roll. The drag in the low gears just felt like the hub was full of treacle - one of those things that can become a real distraction. It may offer some advantages, particularly in muddy conditions, but for this a conventional 2x10 or even 1x11 would have been much better.

Was the Rohlofff new? I've not got one but always understood they were "draggy" until run-in over a goodly mileage (edit - seen 55 miles mentioned elsewhere).

Interesting, I like that the bikes were pretty diverse

Rigid and big tyres sounds like the consistent theme

Was it dry for most of the trip? Pics seem that way, must have made for nicer riding

Was it dry for most of the trip? Pics seem that way, must have made for nicer riding

We only had rain once and that was at night. Most of the time it was hot (30 degrees or so), dusty and dry ... pouring bottles of water over your head felt soooo good

Interestingly, I'd gone for MTB tyres, and would definitely go with something faster rolling next time. The drag on the long tarmac sections was er, a drag, and while I could have a little more fun on the descents, I was riding with someone else, so was waiting at the bottom to regather anyway.

I'm thinking something like a 650b 55mm tyre with a file-tread could be perfect, but if I was riding it again tomorrow and had the kit I currently do, I'd probably go for a 40mm 700c tyre.

The only things I didn't use at all were my knee warmers and spare parts. I pulled on windproof trews for the first descents of the morning, but after around 9am, it was more than warm enough for just jersey and shorts.