it seems a convergence of Audax with racing to me rather than a divergence of bikepacking.

That's how I viewed it, which to be fair means the 'racing' tag is perfectly legitimate and would make the approach to BC (slightly) more palatable.

I think the bikepacking tag is the unfortunate bit.

Me too but let's not forget, we're trendy. Adding a bikepacking tag will generate much more interest than anything else would but by doing so, I actually think they're doing themselves a disservice and perhaps, it even smacks of laziness.

even a bit arrogant

It does a bit but I can see why it's written like that. Regardless of what people think, as organisers, they have some responsibility even if it's moral rather than legal (grey area) and will no doubt be trying to 'put people off' who perhaps shouldn't be there ... without resorting to simply saying a and b can't enter or you must have already done x and y. On a computer screen, it all looks like a jolly adventure. We likely know it won't be but there will be many who don't have experience to draw on, who aren't veterans of the trade and who may not be able to read so deeply between the lines ... without sounding in anyway, like a tw*t, they're a potential liability.

Dave Barter wrote:I agree with the A9 comments though.

Does a section of the A66 too, a road I would avoid driving on if I could never mind cycling on.
Being picky now but it mentions going through the Yorkshire Moors and it doesn't, it goes through the Yorkshire Dales .

Having a basic grasp of national geography is not being picky, Ray.

Interesting use of ferry or train on the Wirral section!

Two of them (Stu and Toby) are customers of mine, so will quiz them next time they pop in.

Chester based, so will be heading out to see the start

And the finish if anyone comes back

One odd thing is that Stu and Toby are doing the transcontinental Europe this year, so will only give them a month to complete before heading to Europe! Now that's a tough ask

Ray Young wrote:Being picky now but it mentions going through the Yorkshire Moors and it doesn't, it goes through the Yorkshire Dales .

It also mentions the Peak District but looks like it doesn't even go close???

More than a few things not quite adding up here.

I may of sent an intent to enter (* ok, I've entered). Anyway they have sent an email this morning stating the following regarding the route:

"The Route Sections.
The route sections shown are subject to review. We will be riding them all during the next 12 months to make sure they are ridable and that we are not breaching any laws or permissions by doing so. Where we encounter problems the route will be changed. This is unlikely to affect any of the main climbs we are tackling as these are all on public highways or paths we can ride on."

Think they may be moving away from the "race" wording - see rule 6

http://www.bikepack.cc/rules.html

We will display the times of all Baa Baa riders on the website and a GPS tracking service website will also display this information. This will not be formulated to display your "final position" in the event.

Browsing the site over a brew and it's an interesting event, bridleways points and any routing concerns aside. Rule 4 is a bit different to something like the TDR, personally I agree with this. Start will all you have, buy or discard as needed.

4. No mailing supplies or equipment ahead.
> Shipping supplies or equipment ahead to Post Offices or other businesses is not permitted. This is not in the spirit of self-support. If a Baa Baa rider wants to change clothes at the halfway point they will need to carry spare clothes or purchase them along the way.

The inclusion of 100 miles of hilly chalk track is good to see, in theory. No way of riding that in damp conditions on a 25c road bike. Putting the Assietta in the TCR4 was a good call. It wasn't long enough to be decisive but this is closer to being influential.

Anyway it's not for me, they're right : ) Will watch the event with real interest though.

I've always thought that mailing ahead was going against the self supported philosophy and like rule 4.
Seems to me though that they are announcing an event that is no where near complete, they have a lot of riding to do over the next year, especially if they have to find alternatives to their proposed route for whatever reason.

Seems to me though that they are announcing an event that is no where near complete,

It did strike me as very early and somewhat half-cocked. Might be hard to sustain any great level of interest over such a long time too.

jameso wrote: The inclusion of 100 miles of hilly chalk track is good to see, in theory. No way of riding that in damp conditions on a 25c road bike. Putting the Assietta in the TCR4 was a good call. It wasn't long enough to be decisive but this is closer to being influential.

Much lolling at this James! Remember the Italian lad on the road bike + skinny tyres in Torino-Nice? I passed him several times as he minced down the off-road descents or fixed endless punctures only to be caught on the road sections. I bet he would have entered on his Pinarello, in fact I need to check the list.

Jason Woodhouse is a good bloke, met him doing Newcastle to London a couple of years ago and he has huge experience doing this, including Round the World race, TCR, Route 66 race, Trans Am, Race Around Ireland etc, nice guy too. Worth following on Twitter @boyonhisbike for his various exploits.

I dropped them a wee comment on Facebook, suggesting a couple of alterations to the section between Aviemore and Tain that would cut out the A9. They're going to be reviewing the route and plan to be up this way in September to check it out. I'm guessing that there will be similar reviews/modifications across the country before the event.

I've entered as it looked like a cheaper training option to the tour divide and great prep for the transcontinental. But ultimately it'll all be down to route Choice as to how good it is, it seems like they are open to route variations from local advice as well which makes sense as long as it doesn't stray to much from the main plan, I'd personally like a few more bridleways and byways thrown in to liven it up a bit!

I think they may have been to eager to get people's attention with taglines of bikepacking and race, me I'm just going for a ride on my bike randonneuring around the country following a gpx file someone made for me for some peace and quite!

jameso wrote: The inclusion of 100 miles of hilly chalk track is good to see, in theory. No way of riding that in damp conditions on a 25c road bike.

Nothing to stop you taking a gravel bike on 25c slicks and then putting some 35c cross tyres on for that section. You'll probably need to change tyres at some point on the route anyway

The 'R' word is now not on the front page. Apparently it's no longer a race...

Fairplay to those that enter, bloody well done to those that finish. Im out!!!

You're right Alasdair, I should have said 'race bike' rather than something on 25cs. As mentioned, a shop at one end of the SDW could sell a few 35Cs and at the other, a few lighter road tyres.

First thought was 'wind up'

Anyhow, if it's got legs that's fine. I live right at the very start of the SDW in Eastbourne, so will stock up on cross tyres and pork pies to sell to the riders

A what tyre thread has already started on Bike n Bivi on Facebook...

A what tyre thread has already started on Bike n Bivi on Facebook..

Dave, yes, I remember. Quite a few having bad tyre days I think. I'm impressed by how far the guys on skinny tyred road bikes got. Smoother riders than me, or with more patience

Apparently, there's just shy of 100 riders already signed up. I'm not sure whether this says more about the state of cycling in the UK or peoples inability to distinguish their intentions from their abilities

I'm still struggling to see the appeal?

I could understand a coast to coast, LEJOG, North/South/East/West, a set distance (1000k), all the top 100/200 uk climbs, etc...
It just sounds a bit random.

If you were talking to Dave in the pub, he'd understand that you 'raced' from the West Coast to the East Coast of America. How would you explain this to Dave?

How would you explain this to Dave?

"I raced my bike all the way around the UK Dave. Like an outline of the whole country, big wiggly loop."
"Eh? Ow far's that then?"
"3000 miles or so"
"You're barking mad.. no wonder you walk funny.."

I told someone about the Great Divide and they thought it was along the actual spine of the entire Rocky Mountains chain. Sounded less impressive when I explained it a bit more

Chew wrote:I'm still struggling to see the appeal?

That was my initial thoughts,not helped by the macho-man stuff on the website, but once they work out what they are doing and sort the route out to maximise decent roads, I can see the appeal to the insomniac Ultra-Audaxers. I hope we don't get a situation where a knackered rider is involved in an RTA on our crowded roads...

Never worried about what Dave thinks, but I think this would be easier to understand than bivying out in as many adjacent grid squares as possible...!

Each to their own.