I have been wondering what the day to day routine will be like for a team. Will the support vehicles be driving behind their rider the whole way? Will the riders waiting for their turn in the relay be riding in the vehicle for approx 6 hours? Or can they wait (and relax) at the planned transition points?
I would love to particpate in this event. It sounds great, but I won’t like being in a car/van for 6 or even 3 hours per day. I assume this won’t be the case.
I also am glad to see the welcoming of non-competetive riders and that everyone will be starting at the same time each day. I don’t want to be riding alone for the majority of the time. I’m hoping to do my rides along side other team members at about my speed.
Each team can change riders when they want (other than the no changes in the first 10km rule). This is a race not a tour, so you are most likely not going to ride 50km in one shot. In the car you have your 2 riders, support person and the driver. Each team will get a different driver each day - these will be local volunteers who know the roads. The team just has to keep their riders rolling and fueled. You want smooth quick handoffs. They will come often enough so that I don’t think anyone on the team will be bored. Certainly you can hang out at the transition point - you don’t have to sit in your vehicle. But as I say, it is 95% certain that picking the transition points will be up to you. There will be a couple of check-points where everyone has to check in, but even then you don’t have to do a transition there.
Are there any rules about how close the support vehicles can follow or go alongside the riders? A couple of years ago a friend of mine was riding in a road race (Taranaki Round the Mountain) and a guy clipped his back wheel and then proceeded to fall into the path of a support vehicle. Not pretty and somewhat fatal
I wouldn’t want support vehicles all over the road when we are racing at full speed.
