Indian Pacific Wheel Race

[King Boonen]

Mike is making gains on Kristoff.

If you like this kind of racing look into the Transcontinental Race (TCR) which two of my mates are doing this year, Race Across America (RAAM), Trans Am Bike Race (TABR), The Transatlantic Way and no doubt others I don't know about. There's a great film about the RAAM available:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_Dreams

 

[Lupi33x]

the girl Sarah Hammond is going amazing

into 3rd place now

Mike has had a big day. Kristof said when he pulled into Penong last evening that he'd had a bad day, but he still pushed on to Ceduna that night. He took a whole bunch of mars bars with him and various other confectionery. He mentioned he's probably burning about 20,000 calories per day, which cant be eaten. Mike Hall thought Kristof had gone out too hard. Mike looked in good spirits this morning.

The terrain is going to be changing soon to something other than flat desert.

 

[StryderHells]

No surprise Sarah is doing so well, she's one of the toughest bike riders I've ever seen. A proper Hells 500 Greystripe

 

[Lupi33x]

I'm also tracking the greek girl, 'cos she's kinda cute and she rode trans Europe a few years ago

 

[King Boonen]

the girl Sarah Hammond is going amazing

into 3rd place now

Mike has had a big day. Kristof said when he pulled into Penong last evening that he'd had a bad day, but he still pushed on to Ceduna that night. He took a whole bunch of mars bars with him and various other confectionery. He mentioned he's probably burning about 20,000 calories per day, which cant be eaten. Mike Hall thought Kristof had gone out too hard. Mike looked in good spirits this morning.

The terrain is going to be changing soon to something other than flat desert.

This sounds plausible and with the first real test coming into and out of Adelaide I think we might see a change in the leader.

 

[Lupi33x]

the girl Sarah Hammond is going amazing

into 3rd place now

Mike has had a big day. Kristof said when he pulled into Penong last evening that he'd had a bad day, but he still pushed on to Ceduna that night. He took a whole bunch of mars bars with him and various other confectionery. He mentioned he's probably burning about 20,000 calories per day, which cant be eaten. Mike Hall thought Kristof had gone out too hard. Mike looked in good spirits this morning.

The terrain is going to be changing soon to something other than flat desert.

This sounds plausible and with the first real test coming into and out of Adelaide I think we might see a change in the leader.

first real test? :lol:

you dont think they've been tested yet?

 

[Tim B]

These guys are nucking futs! I hope to see a few when they roll through Adelaide. A few are locals so will get some good support.

 

[King Boonen]

the girl Sarah Hammond is going amazing

into 3rd place now

Mike has had a big day. Kristof said when he pulled into Penong last evening that he'd had a bad day, but he still pushed on to Ceduna that night. He took a whole bunch of mars bars with him and various other confectionery. He mentioned he's probably burning about 20,000 calories per day, which cant be eaten. Mike Hall thought Kristof had gone out too hard. Mike looked in good spirits this morning.

The terrain is going to be changing soon to something other than flat desert.

This sounds plausible and with the first real test coming into and out of Adelaide I think we might see a change in the leader.

first real test? :lol:

you dont think they've been tested yet?

In terms of the races and riders like Mike and Kristof? Nope, not really. If they are Froome and Contador they've covered the flat stages, now comes a couple of days in the Massif Central. It's all relative.

 

[Lupi33x]

the girl Sarah Hammond is going amazing

into 3rd place now

Mike has had a big day. Kristof said when he pulled into Penong last evening that he'd had a bad day, but he still pushed on to Ceduna that night. He took a whole bunch of mars bars with him and various other confectionery. He mentioned he's probably burning about 20,000 calories per day, which cant be eaten. Mike Hall thought Kristof had gone out too hard. Mike looked in good spirits this morning.

The terrain is going to be changing soon to something other than flat desert.

This sounds plausible and with the first real test coming into and out of Adelaide I think we might see a change in the leader.

first real test? :lol:

you dont think they've been tested yet?

In terms of the races and riders like Mike and Kristof? Nope, not really. If they are Froome and Contador they've covered the flat stages, now comes a couple of days in the Massif Central. It's all relative.

Its not a stage race. They have no support cars, no teams, no booked accommodation and no start and end times. They've just ridden across the nullarbor plain which doesnt have a single town on it and is one of the most isolated and barren places on Earth. :lol: I dunno how you can compare this to a modern TDF.

Some of them are sleeping on the side of the road if they cant make it to a roadhouse, which some are over 100km apart.

 

[Lupi33x]

Kristof road into Ceduna this morning at about 2am after riding a full day in scorching desert and semi arid lands + headwinds. He's hardly had any sleep in a week.

Sarah literally slept (if she slept at all) on the side of the road as she was in the middle of nowhere. Literally nowhere, its no understatement in that part of the world.

 

[King Boonen]

the girl Sarah Hammond is going amazing

into 3rd place now

Mike has had a big day. Kristof said when he pulled into Penong last evening that he'd had a bad day, but he still pushed on to Ceduna that night. He took a whole bunch of mars bars with him and various other confectionery. He mentioned he's probably burning about 20,000 calories per day, which cant be eaten. Mike Hall thought Kristof had gone out too hard. Mike looked in good spirits this morning.

The terrain is going to be changing soon to something other than flat desert.

This sounds plausible and with the first real test coming into and out of Adelaide I think we might see a change in the leader.

first real test? :lol:

you dont think they've been tested yet?

In terms of the races and riders like Mike and Kristof? Nope, not really. If they are Froome and Contador they've covered the flat stages, now comes a couple of days in the Massif Central. It's all relative.

Its not a stage race. They have no support cars, no teams, no booked accommodation and no start and end times. They've just ridden across the nullarbor plain which doesnt have a single town on it and is one of the most isolated and barren places on Earth. :lol: I dunno how you can compare this to a modern TDF.

Some of them are sleeping on the side of the road if they cant make it to a roadhouse, which some are over 100km apart.

I'm using an analogy people can understand, I'm not saying it's like the TdF. I'm well aware what this kind of racing is like, I have several friends who are active in it.

 

[Lupi33x]

Well, I think they've been well and truly tested already.

 

[King Boonen]

For us mere mortals and those just hoping to finish, yes, I completely agree. For those looking to win I'm sure they had this stretch down as when they'll find out how good their legs really are.

 

[Lupi33x]

more to the point though, the dynamic of the racing will change once they hit some hills as different riders will have different levels in that sort of terrain compared to their relative strengths on the flatter stuff. Using different muscles too after training non stop for a week on flat.

 

[Lupi33x]

Kristof should make it to Kimba tonight. about another 3 hours of riding. Its partly civilised there compared to where they've been.
I dunno if he'll go further than that as there's a lot of nowhere and desert between there and Iron Knob and Port Augusta.
Mike Hall is stalking him like prey though.

Kimba is the official "halfway across Australia" town

 

[King Boonen]

Yep. People are assuming that Kristof has gone too hard and Mike will overhaul him. That might be the case and he's said himself he's had a bad day, but he might also have been easing up a bit knowing what's coming for the next ~500km. This kind of racing really is fascinating, unsure if I like it with a determined route but I'm not willing to make a judgement yet.

 

[Lupi33x]

Re:

Yep. People are assuming that Kristof has gone too hard and Mike will overhaul him. That might be the case and he's said himself he's had a bad day, but he might also have been easing up a bit knowing what's coming for the next ~500km. This kind of racing really is fascinating, unsure if I like it with a determined route but I'm not willing to make a judgement yet.

they could meet up tonight, it depends on whether Mike Hall thinks he can make it to Kimba or whether Kristof is happy to drop anchor there for the night. They're back into desert again after that and would be a risky move without rest.

 

[King Boonen]

120km for Kristof but apparently he's been fighting winds and Mike thinks they're going to drop tomorrow. Interesting to see if that plays out.

 

[Tim B]

I get up this morning and they are nearly in Pt Augusta, wow!
What happened to Steffan Streich? He was leading for the first few days and is now 700km behind, too hard to early, injury?

 

[Lupi33x]

Kristof now in Wilmington
easily over the first little mountain pass of the race (500m)

the man is a machine

https://goo.gl/maps/DXXpYFDcdF62

can he make it to A-town tonight?

 

[Lupi33x]

wow!

STARTING AGAIN: INDIAN PACIFIC WHEEL RACE RIDER JULIANA BUHRING TO RESTART AFTER SERIOUS ILLNESS

BY NAT BROMHEAD | 22 MARCH 2017

She had covered more than 1000km of the epic Indian Pacific Wheel Race, from Fremantle to Sydney, before an allergic reaction led to serious illness and her forced abandonment of the race.

Now she's returning to Perth to rest, recuperate, then start the ride all over again!
..
....

...

"Long story short, on the second night of the race I had to stop at the hospital in Norseman as I was blacking out, coughing and having trouble breathing. The doc didn't know what to look for but after some tests said I had blood in my pee and my heartbeat was irregular.

"They wanted to keep me overnight but I decided to keep riding as it didn't seem anything too serious. My knee had been a bit painful so I had started taking a painkiller to manage it and as I came on the third day I started swelling up, my breathing got harder and my heart was doing strange things. By the time I got into Caigula outpost I was in very bad shape."

"My face was so swollen I could hardly open my eyes, my head felt like it was being inflated with a bike pump, my skin was on fire and I was struggling for breath. The only thing I am allergic to is ibuprofen and peanuts. As I'd had nothing with nuts I guessed it must have something to do with the painkiller. Turns out it was from the same family as ibuprofen, same components, but 4 times stronger. Fortunately the staff at the roadhouse were really cool and got me on the phone with a doctor who told them to give me cortisone."

Read more at http://www.bicyclingaustralia.com.au/news/starting-again-indian-pacific-wheel-race-rider-juliana-buhring-to-restart-after-serious-illness#q4UREJOwXxMtFXCV.99

 

[Pricey_sky]

Only started following this yesterday, its a phenomenal race with some great stories.

The gap to Kristoff in front has been closed by about 40k's in 24 hours, but he has got over the 500m pass up to Wilmington.

 

[Lupi33x]

I noticed Mike Hall stopped off at McDonalds in Port Augusta for late lunch about an hour ago. Such is the detail you can get from the GPS tracker.

Bless him. :lol:

 

[Lupi33x]

Kristof has stopped in Wirrabara. He might be able to get a cornish pasty there.
He's traveling in arable lands now, while most of the field are still plowing through desert.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

Kristof has stopped in Wirrabara. He might be able to get a cornish pasty there.
He's traveling in arable lands now, while most of the field are still plowing through desert.

I suppose it depends on the rider, but psychologically that could make a big difference. Mike is over the pass and back to 70km behind according to the tracker. That big climb out of Adelaide is going to be interesting.