fietsbob

Some came rather unprepared and knowing little about their expensive bikes ..
but they left saturday at 6am ..

good luck , folks ..

OldTryGuy

How many were there???? Still contemplating since wife gave the OK providing I find a companion. Working on it.

fietsbob

I only helped in the shop,in town, Thursday/Friday, , I was not at the start..

Web coverage ; https://transambikerace.com/

Happy Feet

The website says 114.

fietsbob

IDK how many started from the Yorktown VA end, it was an option taken by some, last year.

CliffordK

Interesting...

I was out for an evening bike ride last night. And, as I was heading into town, I saw about 8 cyclists along my road, all lit up with good bike lights, and spaced out over a few miles. Something very peculiar to see.

So, I did my errand, then made a loop through town, and back a little further along the road, and saw a couple more on the last leg of my ride... so I turned around and talked to one guy for a mile or so.

He was about 50 or so... doing the Trans American ride for the second time. He was about 230 miles into the ride, and heading for his rest stop near Vida.... pretty tired by that time.

Anyway, apparently the Trans Am course goes within about 1/4 mile of my house, and I didn't know it.

I guess I must have seen 10% of the riders last night.

unterhausen

there was no Yorktown start option this year.

fietsbob

Last year , it seems Eastbound met the Westbound , at about the Mississippi river ,
so they were going slower, winds, traffic, and terrain not favorable, I suppose, ..


FWIW I'm 1/2 block from US 30 where they ride west out of town,
to meet US 101 [Foot of the bridge to WA]
down the coast..
but I slept in that morning




...

unterhausen

I know the only westbound finisher from last year. He says westbound is better, done it both ways. There were only two westbound starters, and one quit. The eventual westbound "winner" left the course 3 times to fly elsewhere. One of those times was to talk his wife into letting him finish

So it wasn't exactly much of a race. That's probably why there is now westbound option this year, no takers.

Bandera

Considering that it's no secret that the prevailing weather patterns move W to E in North America that should come as no surprise.

-Bandera

europa

Interesting that the top finishers from last year aren't racing this year, though I think I heard that Evan has had to look after his father.

unterhausen

Like I said, last year's only east-west finisher insists that it's better that way, and he had just as many headwinds the previous year going west-east He had one day where he bailed due to wind. He left at night after the winds had died. The people that I have met that have done the route west-east have complained pretty bitterly about the winds, so it's not guaranteed to have favorable winds in that direction by any means.

If you look at pictures of the riders now, they have been in winter clothes. I saw one person in a down jacket. If you go east-west, it's much warmer by the time you get to the rockies and further west. That was his main reason for saying it's better.

c.miller64

Ah, Vida... Brings back some bad memories. Slept on the Post Office floor there on the first night of last years Trans Am. Tore my ACL in a crash earlier that day and my knee locked up just as I rolled into town.

CliffordK

I should probably do some cleaning and organizing, and open my house for riders next year. I'm not quite to Vida, but somewhere around the 210 mile point, I think.

I'm not a member of the local church, but on friendly terms with the pastor, so perhaps they could provide rest and refreshments, and only a few yards off the course. I think they also have a lighted reader board.

Although, personally, I'd try to push through to the McKenzie Bridge area late at night, and skip the McKenzie HWY during the day. The Belnap Hot Springs would be nice, but I doubt riders would be that interested in lounging in the hot water... Maybe.

Do riders typically bring sleeping bags?

BikeLite

Some will take bags and others may try to get by with an insulated jacket and bivy sack..just depends.

antimonysarah

And the TransAtlanticWay is off as well: https://dotwatcher.cc/race/7n0p3M67eg4GMKcQkq0kKy

The first part of the course is free-route and then the rest is a specified route, which is why racers are all over the place right now.

BikeLite

The Tour Divide starts in 45 minutes...

unterhausen

I'm a lot more tempted to do Tour Divide than TABR. Then again, the only person I know that tried TD DNF'd after 200 miles. I think I would try the southern start.

Happy Feet

I really like the idea of bikepack racing but have a big problem with racing through grizzly country. It violates some of the basic principles of travel in bear country and puts the risk of a negative encounter into the realm of depending on dumb luck. Try as I might, I can't pretend that risk does not exist.
It's sad to say but, if there is a report of injury (as happened to a MTBr in Glacier a couple of years ago) because a racer quickly rounded a corner and encountered a bear on the trail with no chance of avoidance I would not be surprised. Both Grizzlies and black bear mothers with cubs would just as likely attack in defense of what they perceive as a rush predatory attack or invasion of territory than to move away. The speed at which a racing cyclist closes on them may reduce the time needed for them to decide on avoidance to nil.
To me, it's their territory/habitat and we should take care to respect it and racing through it puts them at risk. No matter the initial outcome, a bear never survives a negative human/bear conflict.

unterhausen

I have heard of a few bear encounters, but not many given the traffic. I'm fairly sure that there is little difference between these racers and an mtb'er, they might actually have a more deliberate pace given the length of their ride.

The same local guy is racing again this year.

kingston 

I just checked the trans am leader-board and a couple of the guys at the front are in velomobiles. From what I can tell on the website there isn't a separate category for different types of bikes. Can anyone confirm that?

c.miller64

No separate categories. From the official rules- " Any bike is allowed, even those that aren’t allowed in traditional grand tours (HPV etc..)"

tyrion

A velomobile seems like a significant advantage.

kingston 

No kidding. At least they list the bike in the competitor profile so I can ignore the guys in velomobiles.

tyrion

He's even got a urinal funnel/tube in there so he doesn't have to stop to pee.