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I'd like to do that it lots of ways. Would be really interesting to go out there, and fun to be a pioneer in the first event before it gets too mainstream. The cool guys are doing it this year instead of TCR for those reasons, but it just looks a bit too hard core / MTB for me, so pretty much certain I won't try to get a place. I also prefer here-to-there routes, like TCR, TABR, IndyPac, etc.

But I expect I'll hugely regret not entering it when it comes round, especially if I don't get a place on TCR. My heart wants to do it but my head says you haven't got the right bike, that massive climb on the first day would be too much, you'll get eaten by wolves, etc, etc.

Bad luck.
From what I know of Jesse all the entries will have been read. He's very thorough, well-organised and professional

Most obvious places to stay would be Keswick or Penrith.
I've not done the route but it definitely has a few hills.
The full route there and back in a day would be too far but, say Penrith to Whitehaven and back would be a good day ride.

Your district should already have them, or at least a pretty decent draft version. Try and contact them? I've got a list of the South (P) events

Yes, I could do that but I'm mainly interested in longer events nationwide, 12s and 100s (and I know the dates of the local ones).

Well the chairman is John Hoskins, so you could rock up at Ealing Cycles. But he is an officious type so who knows what response you'd get.
The committee members and their contacts are on a website somewhere (EDIT here: https://www.londonwestdc.co.uk/officers ). Official contact would prob be via the secretary but I'm sure others would return an email. Rachel is on there, Nick English, Mick fountain prob still is.
I was on the committee for a year but gave up as there wasn't a load I could contribute and I missed half the meetings, through work or cycling

The big ones (audaxes) are in the calendar already.
But agree re juggling events across different types, biggest pain. Especially CTT not releasing their dates until around February. It makes it a full time job to manage schedules

the a82 section between lochearnhead and Oban that bothers me the most. The rest won't be too bad. I grew up being driven along that road quite often and unless I don't think I'd ever feel comfortable cycling there, especially that section between Dalmally and Crianlarich.

Interesting. I did those bits either overnight or on the Sunday morning. we had an overnight in crianlarich so was nothing on the road then. As in literally no cars for hours on end. Also that bit was overnight on the way out so empty then. But it's a main road so I expect at other times it would be busy. I guess that is one reason it is an evening start

I was eyeing the West Highlands 1000 which is just one week earlier.

I'm thinking of trying to do that. Did about half of it 5 years ago and it was the best UK ride I've done. Not crazily hilly either.

20/94 finishers

Well done - you got promoted one place so might get an automatic entry next time!

The three who were excluded on that list, was that already known about or would they have only just found out that they didn't officially finish?

It was already known as there were provisional results a few weeks ago.

I do have two singlespeed MTBs

Given you made Mal do Henley Hilly Hundred on singlespeed, it would only be fair for you to do this with one gear...

It's only 113km per day to make it to the party. How hard can it be.... :)

Will you do it on your TT bike? Aeroz bound to be important with all the wind that high up

I've been waiting to see what this was like when it came out, but the route looks tough!
4000m col on day 1. I've ridden in the Himalaya before and, at that height, it was starting to get really hard for a lowlander like me to ride up gentle gradient on a smooth road.
And 40% descent - I might need to take a ladder!

Agree

Jesse's a bit of a tease, but that was who I inferred he meant

Jesse saying on face book that 'jensie is 95% in'

You don't need a steel frame. Roads are much better condition than here. You won't see a pothole before Adelaide, although there are some rough chip seal sections.
I'd take 2 gears: Tailwind vs headwind for 6 days on nullarbor

Are they expecting to sell out?
I reckon if you make it known to Jesse / Sarah that you are planning to ride fixed, they'd be very keen to have you.

Who won in the end? :)

Results have been emailed

Only your own, or the full list?

if you go hill climbing and run them hard/hot for a prolonged time, the proper mid drives(bosch, shimano steps etc) manage overheating better by being able to use the gears on the bike.

This is true - mid-drive is generally better for hill climbing and some of them (eg Bosch) have much more sophisticated power modulation so can use battery power much more effectively, when you really need it.

But a good hub motor can work well too. It depends on how many watts you want to put in via your legs and having decent (low) gearing on the bike so you can do it at low climbing speeds.

The bike I built outperformed commercial mid-drives on hill climbing in Exmoor because I was a reasonably ok rider. If you can put out, say, 150w for an extended period, which isn't a lot for a regular cyclist, and the motor can do similar (they can do far more for short bursts but this is for extended use without thrashing) that gives you 300w, which is very useful climbing power that you can maintain for hours on end.

Front hub motors are fine. They are great on slippery surfaces as you get 2-wheel drive.
Don't need disc brakes.
What I used, c.9 years ago, was:
Tongxin motor, which is what they always used to put in Bromptons - very small, almost silent, almost no drag when off, range of speeds
Ping LiFePO4 battery from eBay. Better than the batteries that come with commercial ebikes but can't be produced industrially. 9 years later, my mum's battery is still holding enough charge for 10+ miles
These two gave me a bike that was far better than anything commercially available, or any kits you could then buy.
Weakness was that the Tongxin controllers kept blowing, but someone on eBay sold more robust ones. Also Tongxin motors could wear out but mine never did.
I've not followed ebikes since 2009 so there could be other kit around, but if I was building one again I'd likely go for similar.
If you want to research, go to pedelecs.co.uk/forum

Debates raising it with wife...
It is very tempting. But 0bvious problem is that, like IndyPac this year, I'd be riding well out of season so probably not in good shape. And it's a long way to go for c.3 days' riding. Why didn't they make it a bit longer....?

This looks intriguing in a cheeky spring break kind of way. 1000km, mostly tarmac with an off-road climb for lolz.
http://bikingman.com/en/bikingman-oman/