Preparing for North Cape-Tarifa Race

It seemed like a good idea at the time …

Andy Buchs—who I met at last year’s Indian Pacific Wheel Race across Australia had the idea for a race from the northernmost part of Europe in Norway, to the southernmost in Spain: the North Cape-Tarifa (NCT) race. Sounded like quite the adventure so I signed up and we start the inaugural race at midnight on 20 June. I’ve just been sent the final route and it’s a bit more than I expected: 7,389 km with 85,000 metres of climbing. Ouch. I’m prepared as best as I can be all things considered, but will be interesting to see how things go!

Training

I had an extended time off the bike after my major crash in the Tour Aotearoa in February. At least for me. I didn’t ride for two weeks and then spent six more weeks just on my trainer. Not good if you have another crash while recovering from a concussion! The recovery for which took longer than I hoped, but I’m a lot better now.

Knowing that I’d have a big ride ahead of me, I adopted an aggressive training program using Xert to manage it. This meant each week about two hours each day on the bike, along with a couple of long rides of 4+ hours.  Due to my heavy work and travel demands that meant on the bike around 05:00 most days, and after a few months I’m fit, but really tired. So starting my taper a bit early. Xert says that I’m in a good shape so hopefully I’ll be OK fitness wise. I’ve still a few legacy issues from the February crash, but hopefully they won’t be a problem.

The Gear

I’m using a variation of the same setup I took last year for the IPWR across Australia. My trusty BMC, but with a few refinements:

• Using a Sinewave Beacon for the light and USB power. Must be better than my B&M Luxos U which stopped working due to heavy rain.
• I’ve a Lupine Pico as a backup light with a 6000 mAh battery. The latter also is a backup USB supply should I need it.
• Using Schwalbe One Pro tyres, tubeless as long as my Maker wheels let me. Unfortunately, they are problematic when it comes to running tubeless. I’ve gone to the new Finish Line sealant. We’ll see how it works.
• A few clothing changes: Pactimo Stratos bib shorts as I had a few issues with my Exocets on the Tour Aotearoa; using an Showerspass IMBA rain jacket; and an Eddie Bauer DWR down jacket.
• Swapped out my home made Di2 aerobar shifters for proper ones from Shimano.
• After breaking my carbon bars in the IPWR aluminium handlebars of course.
• I’m running Absoluteclack oval chain rings. I love them.

My gear list is at the end, along with where I store it. A few photos of the kit is below. The weight of everything is almost exactly 6 kg. Would be 4 kg if I did not take the bivy/matt/sleeping bag.

For bags, I have a new custom made Stealth frame bag. This has three compartments. I got Dave to put velcro on the inside of the top compartment. This holds my pump. I modified the Porcelain Rocket frame with two feed bags on the outside, and a mesh compartment on the top. Also cable tied my spare tire to the bottom. My downtube parts bag only contains water impervious things as even though it is waterproof it still leaked last time! I’ve an Alpamayo   harness and handlebar bag, with an Alpkit 13 litre Airlok duo dry bag. My gastank bag is from Topeak.

Here is the bike fully kitted out except for my Wheelworks Maker race wheels. There are 3 x 1 Litre Magnum bottles on the frame; I have two more light weight 1 L bottles folded up for when I need to carry more. The top two bottles use a special NZ made frame which I modified to load them higher up and out of the way.

Here is a shot of my cockpit. The blue button on the left controls the Lupine Pico which is mounted beneath the red Sinewave light. I made the bracket for the lights by using Profile Design bridge mount clips with a longer plastic bridge. On the right under the aero bars is the OT Buckshot Bluetooth speaker and USB power bank.

Navigation and More

I’m using my Garmin 1000 again. I had hoped to use my new Karoo as a backup, but it’s not able to load routes so not viable. Every race I’ve had my 1000 pack up on me so need a backup. This time I’m using my old Sony Z3 Experia which I will run Strava on to record the daily travel should (when?) it fails this trip.

My backup navigation is OSMand+ which is great. I’ve downloaded all the maps of Europe to it and it displays not only the route but also POIs. Here’s a great guide to using it.

I’m also using an app I’ve had written ‘GPX-POI’ which loads in all the POIs ahead of you on the route and tells you how far to the next one. The screen shot to the right shows how far away POIs in Poland are—from Golden Bay!

The other app which I’ll be using is ‘Epic Ride Weather’ which takes the GPX route and tells you what to expect over the next distances as you cycle with regard to rain and wind (both speed and direction). I’ve given it a review here. Absolutely essential.

Technology is great, but as a backup I’ve made a set of cue cards which list the supply places along the route. These are laminated and I tape to the back of my phone so I can glance and see what’s ahead.

We will be using www.mapprogress.com for our tracking. I’m also always showing on my personal SPOT page—at least once the race starts!

Musings

This will be my last endurance bike race until I take a sabbatical or retire. The demands of work at the World Bank are increasing, and juggling that with our family time and training is proving too much. So probably a return to triathlon next year, unless I get smart and move on sooner than planned! It’s been a challenging year so far, and I’m really looking forward to the adventure. Hopefully meeting Lis in Bolzano 4+ weeks after I start for some hiking in the Italian alps. Hiking for her. I’ll be sleeping and eating!

Gear

Bike	1 x Continental 4 Seasons 700c tyre (spare)
Bike	4iiii Power Meter
Bike	Garmin 1000
Bike	Lezyne Femto Light
Bike	Lezyne Micro Floor Drive Pump
Bike	Lupine Pico Light with 6000 mAh battery
Bike	Night Rider Solas 150 Light
Bike	OT Buckshot 2400 mAh Battery and Bluetooth Speaker
Bike	Sinewave Beacon Light
Bike	Specialized SWAT Top Tube Chain Tool
Bike	SPOT GPS in Bedrock frame SPOT case
Downtube – Toolbag	2 x Park tyre boots
Downtube – Toolbag	2 x tubes
Downtube – Toolbag	2 x tyre irons
Downtube – Toolbag	BMC derailleur hanger
Downtube – Toolbag	Cable ties
Downtube – Toolbag	Di2 Cable connector/removal tool
Downtube – Toolbag	Tubeless tyre patching kit
Framebag	2 x 1 L roll up water bottles
Framebag	200 x Salt stick electrolyte pills
Framebag	3 x spokes
Framebag	80 x BCAA pills
Framebag	90 x Sports legs pills
Framebag	Noxgear night time riding light/vest
Framebag – Tools	2 x REI velcro straps
Framebag – Tools	8 mm pedal hex adapter
Framebag – Tools	Aerobar 5 mm extended hex key
Framebag – Tools	Otto Lock
Framebag – Tools	Silca T-ratchet with M3/M4/M5 hex keys
Framebag – Tools	Smoove lube and cloth in plastic bag
Gastank	Google Pixel2 cell phone
Gastank	Headhunter SPF 30 lip balm
Gastank	Leatherman Squirt PS4 multi-tool
Gastank	Specialized EMT Cage Mount multi-tool
Gastank	Valve adapter – Presta-Shraeder
Handlebar	60 x 200 mg caffeine pills
Handlebar	Dental Tape
Handlebar	Di2 Charger
Handlebar	Epipen
Handlebar	Eye glasses/Sun glasses
Handlebar	First aid kit
Handlebar	Katadyn water purification tablets
Handlebar	Lip ointment
Handlebar	Microtowel
Handlebar	Petzl head torch
Handlebar	Purell hand sanitizer
Handlebar	Razor
Handlebar	Re-Skin Silicon Skin anti-chafing patches
Handlebar	Sawyer Insect repellent
Handlebar	Sea-to-summit micro insect head net
Handlebar	Sea-to-summit Ultra-sil 22 dry day pack
Handlebar	Sea-to-summit x-cup
Handlebar	Sony Xperia Z3 Backup Phone/GPS
Handlebar	Spare Assos recovery creme
Handlebar	Spare chamois creme
Handlebar	Spare Headhunter SPF 30 lip balm
Handlebar	Spork
Handlebar	Toilet Paper in plastic bag (Coleman’s Backpacking Toilet Paper)
Handlebar	Toothbrush toothpaste (Toob travel toothbrush)
Handlebar – Power	1 x Long Universal USB Mini/Micro-C Cable
Handlebar – Power	1 x Short USB extension cable
Handlebar – Power	2 x Short Micro-B Cable
Handlebar – Power	4 x AAA SPOT batteries
Handlebar – Power	4 x CR2032 batteries
Handlebar – Power	Headphones
Handlebar – Power	MicroSD – USB reader
Handlebar – Power	OTG Cable
Handlebar – Power	USB AC Adapter
Harness	Borah Gear eVent Snowyside Bivy bag
Harness	Sea-to-summit Ultralight sleeping mat
Harness	Z Pack sleeping bag
Harness	Pegs and pole
Harness – Sleeping	2XU Recovery tights
Harness – Sleeping	Ambien Sleeping Pills
Harness – Sleeping	Assos post-ride salve
Harness – Sleeping	Earplugs
Harness – Sleeping	Ground Effect merino socks
Harness – Sleeping	Long sleeve merino shirt
Harness – Sleeping	Shorts for sleeping in/wearing during laundry, etc.
Harness – Sleeping	Sleeping mask
Harness – Sleeping	Sleeping mat patch kit
Seat	1 x Large Kinesys SPF30 suntan lotion
Seat	Eddie Bauer Microtherm Stormdown DWR Jacket
Seat	Endura MT500 rain pants
Seat	Extremeties Tough Bags Goretex over mitts
Seat	Gore Road Overshoe
Seat	Kathmandu light weight cold weather riding gloves
Seat	Pearl Izumi vest
Seat	Rocky Road Goretex socks
Seat	Showers Pass IMBA rain jacket
Seat	Spare dry bag
Seat	Spare toilet paper in plastic bag
Seat – Mesh	1 x asthma inhaler
Seat – Mesh	1 x Headhunter Zinc SPF50 bar
Seat – Mesh	1 x satchels of chamois crème
Seat – Mesh	1 x Small Kinesys suntan lotion
Seat – Mesh	2 x CR2032 batteries
Seat – Mesh	4 x AAA SPOT batteries
Seat – Mesh	Bodyglide
Seat – Partsbag	1 x chain super link
Seat – Partsbag	Boa shoe torx wrench
Seat – Partsbag	Busch and Muller e-Werk dynamo-USB converter
Seat – Partsbag	Chain hook
Seat – Partsbag	Chainring bolt
Seat – Partsbag	Cleat + Bolts
Seat – Partsbag	Di2 cable
Seat – Partsbag	Disc brake pad set
Seat – Partsbag	Disc rotor bolt
Seat – Partsbag	Fibre fix spoke
Seat – Partsbag	Garmin twist mount and spare bands
Seat – Partsbag	Patch kit With Adhesive and vulcanizing patches
Seat – Partsbag	Sinewave Beacon USB cable
Seat – Partsbag	Son dynamo cable
Seat – Partsbag	Tenacious tape
Seat – Partsbag	Tube vulcanizing patch kit
Seat – Partsbag	Tubeless patch kit
Seat – Partsbag	Wrench for Porcelin Rocket seatpost clamp
Wear	Buff
Wear	Garmin ANT+ heart rate monitor
Wear	Ground Effect long sleeve SPF 30 riding shirt
Wear	Ground Effect merino socks
Wear	Groundeffect Jolly Roger head protector
Wear	ICEdot ID tag with emergency contacts
Wear	Kathmandu buzzGuard hat
Wear	Lake MX-331 cycling shoes
Wear	Pactimo Stratos 12 H Bibs
Wear	RoadID Dog tag with emergency contacts
Wear	Specialized Body Geometry Gloves