Straight through the middle of it..

Maybe that's why it's the Corvid edition.







(Corvid=crow, as the crow flies)
I'll get my coat

sean_iow wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:15 pm

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 5:53 pm There is not one stream in the south of England that I would ever consider drinking from even with treatment.

Genuinely curious why? My water at home comes from a steam (river) and is treated (by Southern Water) and is much safer than say bottled water brought from a shop.

Because it is full of guff stuffed into it by farmers and builders. Most rivers have sewage outlets. Your water is only safe because as you say it is treated

Cheers Dave. On the Island neither of those are an issue, I'm in the trade, but there is livestock so it does need filtering. I don't normally have to get water from steams as I know where all the taps are but I have on occasions.

As they know the gbduro route in advance I guess the riders could have researched where all the taps are on the route, although the Council here turned theirs off as part of their covid response not sure how it helped but they saved a bit of cash I guess.

Chew wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:40 pm

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:21 pm I do hope they're not travelling through any of the newly restricted areas in North England.

Straight through the middle of it....

Here’s hoping they change the route then to suit, after all the announcements were made before the race started.

Good luck to those taking part

Josh Ibbet in the lead and having covered about 30 miles in 4 hours (if he started at 0800). 7.5miles/H. Sound about right with all the excess weight and rules!!

I quite like it (maybe they have overthought it but) as their reasoning for it all is, like many others, to try and see how people can reduce their carbon footprint and forcing em to do so.

Not sure everyone will make it to the end though (if they're all following the rules to the dot) but they're all definitely hardcore (edited to make nicer as the last sentence might not have been that encouraging).

Chew wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:40 pm
ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Fri Jul 31, 2020 7:21 pm
I do hope they're not travelling through any of the newly restricted areas in North England.
Straight through the middle of it....
Here’s hoping they change the route then to suit, after all the announcements were made before the race started.

Where can I gen-up on these latest new restrictions re. North England please?

slightly wrote: ↑Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:45 pm Where can I gen-up on these latest new restrictions re. North England please?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/north-west- ... -cannot-do

Good luck everyone riding this, hardcore carrying all those supplies!

Thanks - I can't see anything there that prevents or restricts GBDURO riders passing through the north west or north of England though? Am I missing something?

How do they make batteries last more than 3-4 days? Is everyone on dynamo charging do we think?

slightly wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 11:33 am Thanks - I can't see anything there that prevents or restricts GBDURO riders passing through the north west or north of England though? Am I missing something?

How do they make batteries last more than 3-4 days? Is everyone on dynamo charging do we think?

Bury is on the list and the race route goes through it

To be fair the new restrictions are mostly about meeting in groups socially and so I don't see what the problem would be, legally, of someone quietly passing through with little to no interaction.

I wouldn't have gone ahead with the event, given the current circumstances, myself but I'm not sure laws are being broken and so it's down to individual moral compasses.

I’ll admit the restrictions are daft, you can’t see someone in their garden but you can go to the beer garden, leave the area or visit for a holiday, work in the area or you can still visit cafes/restaurants etc, even have the cleaner come into your home (how STW...!).

Weirdest restrictions ever...

Anyways, the race comes close to mine, so I’ll go and cheer them on if the timings are right

Well, I have just done my bit!

Gail and Molly have just come through the village of Stawell, just outside Bridgwater, about 5 minutes apart. The route came within 100m of my house, so I went and clapped them through the village!

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:20 pm I’ll admit the restrictions are daft, you can’t see someone in their garden but you can go to the beer garden, leave the area or visit for a holiday, work in the area or you can still visit cafes/restaurants etc, even have the cleaner come into your home (how STW...!).

Weirdest restrictions ever...

PHE and local health authorities up here have said that the rise in new cases has almost overwhelminlgly come from transmission in people's houses. Pubs and restaurants aren't seen to be an issue at all at the moment, presumably because of the increased control measures that they've introduced (or most of them at least).

There's no issue with riders passing through the areas with increased restictions.

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:20 pm I’ll admit the restrictions are daft, you can’t see someone in their garden but you can go to the beer garden, leave the area or visit for a holiday, work in the area or you can still visit cafes/restaurants etc, even have the cleaner come into your home (how STW...!).

Weirdest restrictions ever...

Don't go see your friends and family unless they accept card payments...

Couple of shots from the Racing Collective yesterday sum up the reality of carrying a ludicrous amount of food

(I met Anisa on PBP last year and she seemed a pretty determined sort of person, probably about right to tough it through an event like this).

I hadn't given it much thought before but now, I'm very surprised to see people attempting to carry loads like that on gravel bikes.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:50 am I hadn't given it much thought before but now, I'm very surprised to see people attempting to carry loads like that on gravel bikes.

They're 'Adventure Bikes' Stu

Golly that does all seem rather contrived

Ah well, HYOH

But those mismatched tyres

That pic shows the limits of the tail fin carbon rack well

When I watched the film of last year's event I had to look closely to spot that Andy Deacon was on a fat bike, despite him coming 4th, didn't fit with the image of the event?

There is lots of tarmac though? I've not looked at the route in detail but from the film I got the impression it was long stretches of road with short off road sections along the way. But that might just have been due to the difficulties of filming the off road bits.

Just watched a video of this year's start and quite a few had traditional style panniers and there was also a trailer. Looks like they should have enough food with them

Molly Weaver posted an Instagram story last night suggesting she's had to scratch already. No indication of why at the moment, but must be gutting as there must have been even more prep than normal.

Watch out for a bulk quantity of energy bars and dehydrated meals hitting the second hand market soon

Whilst it’s impressive that the riders are actually racing with the loads they are carrying, in the greater scheme of things they aren’t carrying the same weight as the average German cycle tourist

Seriously though the loads don’t look that great. Compared to some expedition loads they are comparatively light weight.
Just look at what Alpinium carries at times.
My own load on my African and Asian trips topped 40kg at times when food and water were added for isolated desert crossings.