Transcontinental Race 2014 - London to Istanbul

[Andrew G]

Would love to if it wasn't for work.

Although to be honest whilst I'd love to do a ride like this the time of year is not so great for someone with my colouring...there's only so much factor 50 you can carry on your bike and I've always had to try rooting through the baby care sections of continental chemists to find any. These southern europeans seem to prefer something more akin to mazola.

[Dominic]

Have to agree with Andrew. About the work,not rooting through the kids section of chemists

Also the slight matter of no fitness doesn't help. Went out for a couple of hours today and thought I was going to melt! Believe me I was going slowly as well!

Has got me thinking, AGAIN, of Paris Brest Paris, which is next year!

[Lee on the Condor]

Count me in for a PBP 2015
Not forgetting LEL

[quote]In August 2015, the most famous long-distance randonnée, the PARIS-BREST-PARIS Randonneur, is back for a new challenge.

Under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Cyclotourisme (FFCT) and together with our partners, the Communauté d’Agglomération de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and the Ville de Guyancourt, we look forward to welcoming you on August 15, 2015 and throughout the following days for one of the greatest experiences in your life as a cyclist.

[Marek]

I had a couple of the durano's for a while, they were not very good, cut very easily and I got quite a few punctures. I would stick with your conti 4000s if I were you, very good tyres in my opinion.

One thing to think about as well is a very good pump. If I were you I would get one of those mini track pumps that you can fit to the frame. They have a gauge on them and can pretty easily get up to 7 bar.

Cheers

Marek....

[Lee on the Condor]

Thanks Marek, been looking at pumps today. One of the other riders recommends the Partools Frame Pump
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tools-dail ... rame-pump/

Seems full size pumps are de rigueur for this event....I have don't know

[Andrew G]

Of you can get hold of one then zefal hpx frame pump is brilliant. Pump up to full pressure easily and very durable.re pressure you'll want to run a bit lower on a loaded bike than a race bike, not much lower but not 120, go full 90-100psi. You don't need a gauge to check pressure, the flick and ping test is infallible. Flick the tyre and if it pings then it's at pressure. A higher pitched ping will be 100-110 psi and a slightly duller one will be 90.

[Marek]

For peace of mind I would go for one with a gauge, else you will be standing at the side the road pinging away wondering what tone your tyre should be playing.

I can't find the one that I have on the web anymore, but it is something similar to this:
http://www.highonbikes.com/topeak-morph ... -pump.html

[Lee on the Condor]

Cheers guys, I was reading about Zefal on an Amazon review of a Park Tools Frame Pump, funny the amount of detail the chap went into. I have a fondness for Zefal, probably extends from their pump reputation. Park Tools has been recommended. I always squeeze and ping my tyres too. I'll stop at cycle shops and make silly improvised pump mimes when I see fit.

Discovered pump tools tyre boots yesterday, haven't used but they are a great innovation on patching up a tyre to get you to a place of repair.

[Lee on the Condor]

Kit weight - thinking 5kg or less split across front handle bar bag + seat post. I know my bike can handle it, it used to carry my 90kgs, 13kg less.

[Dombo]

Sounds like a great ride. Re the Garmin, have you loaded maps onto it? If just using the basemap that might be why you are just seeing a line.

[Lee on the Condor]

Hi Dom,

fixed a few things this week, first being able to mount the dynamo driven light, the bracket was interfering with the headset cup. Jim at Geoffrey Butlers sold me a longer female brake bolt so I could pack it out with a few washers giving the bracket clearance from the headset.

Jim at GBs sorted me out with some spokes and a spring for my brake, I managed to snap the spring when removing the brake. GB's saved my ride

This week all attention on the Garmin :/ I have the City Navigator SD card in the Garmin, but the CN maps are not showing up, only the basemap.
A month back I downloaded (DL) an OSM map and installed that, with success.
Q. Could I have overwritten the City Navigator map?
Q. How many OSM maps would I need to DL to get me to Istanbul?
Q. OSM maps seem to cover segments....if my route goes from one are to the next, will it continue or will I have to load a new map?
I've emailed Garmin hope to hear back from them soon.
Garmin is essential* for this trip thinking of spending £75 on new City Navigator European Map - something I don't want to do.
I've plotted my route with Strava, approx 15 sections of 100 miles to 241 miles.
I expect to export them to the Garmin in GPX format.
I want to use the track mode (line on map and follow), not a route mode (active, re-rout-able)

So you have what I want to do...In theory I have the equipment...just need to be able to do it, help.

Hi - sounds like a very exciting trip...

On the Garmin, not sure what model you have (haven't read the whole thread) but older ones can only really handle a single supplementary map at a time (which must be named gmapsupp.img) + the basemap.

So if you want to switch between Garmin and OSM maps, (like I do for road/MTB/walking) you really need to put the OSM maps on a different SD card and then switch cards.

But the newest models can handle multiple maps with different names and you can switch between them on the device (I think you can even have more than one overlaid on another). Even then, it might be more practical to put them on different cards unless there is loads of spare space on the CN card. NB I don't think you'll be able to move the CN maps to a bigger card, as they are locked in some way.

[quote]Q. Could I have overwritten the City Navigator map?

[Amy]

After Elliot's essay, I thought I'd mention a couple of things.

These [url=http://www.evanscycles.com/products/lezyne/micro-floor-drive-hv-pump-ec034091?country=GB&currency=GBP]Lezyne pumps[/url] are good: comes with a gauge.

And I've just bought this sunscreen [url=http://www.prosportsunscreen.co.uk/]Prosport[/url] - it comes in factor 15, 35 and 44. It's supposed to sweatproof which was the main reason I bought it.

[Lee on the Condor]

Thanks Amy + Elliot.

My Park Tools frame pump arrived today, 250g of it, feels heavy. Weighing up pro's and con's (I can send it back). The one you linked to Amy is 205g, I'll give it some consideration. Sun cream definitely, haven't got there yet.

Elliot I have a Garmin Edge 800, I might PM you if I have some really dumb questions, I'll read the http://www.dcrainmaker.com/ TY.

[Marek]

On the sun cream, I use P20
http://www.p20.co.uk

This stuff is amazing, I have ridden very long days in harsh weather, and I sweat like a pig and never got burnt with this. You only need to put it on once a day and you are ready to rock.

It is quite expensive but you get what you pay for.

Cheers

Marek....