an AM start might be better for you as jetlag wont be an issue. do you like riding at night? because if you get into a fast group it’s a paceline after about 150km and you just hang on and do what you can do.
i registered in 2015 with the 600km group as early as i could (like, 930am our time, i had set an alarm) - i got a spot at 5:30pm. this was a good start time for me, though it was hot that day and i should have brought another bottle for the wait - the wait was like an hour or so. i think the first start time for the racer/80hr group was 4? with heats every 15 min.
as we get closer to pbp and everyone is registered ill offer more advice about day-before and day-of events. like, if you’re traveling with someone who is not participating you can leave them in paris during registration and a rinko-bag is a smart purchase so you can use the metro (if you are staying in paris proper).
I was able to voltron together a rag tag team of ancien, rando and pre rando for the SIR fleche tomorrow. this is our route. If you would like to ride along, we’re leaving at 7am from hillsboro. Of course, you’re not going to come along but make sure to staytuned to this thread after 7am sunday and possibly into monday because i’ll update with more stories and photos hopefully.
For the uninitiated, a fleche is a team event in our niche designation of cycling. You must have a maximum of 5 machines start the event and have no less than 3 machines complete the event together at the same time at a minimum distance of 360km over 24hrs. A machine is considered to be a unicycle/bicycle/tricycle/tandem/triplet/etc. Last year there was a team in the SIR Fleche with 5 tandems - reportedly the largest team ever to participate in the SIR event. The history of the fleche event dates back to olden times when a team of riders would leave the city and ride to a country home/destination on the easter weekend.
I’ve never done a standard 24hr fleche so this is new to me.
Long time no tarck, but glad to see the old place still kicking.
I am getting ready to build a new Disc Trucker and am looking for decaleur solutions for 1 1/8" threadless stems. I’ve seen the stuff offered by Jan Heine, VO and Tanaka and am just wondering if there are any other options I should be aware of.
I will be running a Swift Ozette bag or similar. Prefer the extra stability of running the decaleur up to the bars vs something like the VO rack with integrated decaleur (although I’m not dead-set against that solution).
Because my Big Dummy is overkill for touring, and my Box Dog Pelican is not stiff enough to carry panniers + my fat ass, and I need/want an actual touring bike/Disc Trucker. With a rando bag. Because I like having ready access to my sextant and other navigational accoutrements while riding. And snacks.
So, yes, the Disc Trucker is offtopic for this subforum, but the specific question is tangentially on point. Hence my presence here amongst you good people.
Nowhere near what you dudes are throwing down, but rode 100k on Saturday with a buddy. “Spirited” pace…but we still stopped at a beergarden and dicked around in the woods for a bit.
