If you want to know more about the event - Lachlan Morton did it last year: https://www.youtube.com/...b_channel=RaphaFilms

Hayden in 2nd is one of my athletes. He was hallucinating too, put himself in a bad place.

https://bikepacking.com/tracker/2021badlands/

You can track the race here

ali currently sitting in tenth. damn!

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

What happened? Edit he's now in 5th!

I remember when triathlon was a grand adventure. I just hope that the "serious people" don't ruin the spirit of Bikepacking/Touring..
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Dropped down to 13th now.

Last update was that Ali had suffered around 5 punctures

AB is currently 100 k behind 3rd, and 135 k behind 1st, so apparently NOT drafting!
On a positive note, the main “pack” is spread from 30k - 100k behind him

Oh man - brutal!

sitting in 8th...however, really impressive

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

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These things are hard,very hard and it takes a different kind of person to excel.I'll be interested to see the video package of the event once it is posted and Ali's reaction to the race.
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still holding 9th place, though he's got a handful of riders close-ish behind him. first place is absolutely flying, though.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Still in 9th place, I can't work out how long is left of this.

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All the info is on the race site..The leader should be done in around 5hrs and Ali in half a day but given that Ali is stopping far,far more, his finish time will most likely be a longer than the current projection.

Go to the map and click on the athlete Dots to find out all the relevant real time info.
LIVE: Badlands 2021 | GPS Tracking powered by Follow My Challenge
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They've cut out a lot of the course compared to last year, not nearly as far up the mountain. 2155m max compared to topping over 3000m.
Still brutal, just can't compare the times to what Lachie did.

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I wasn't comparing anything to Lochie's time last year..
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I was getting in before Dev turns up ;-)

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Yeah,I thought about that as soon as I hit enter... Hahaha..

It is funny,in the 30 years that I have been doing Ironman's and ultra's and bike touring I have never been interested in geek numbers or tech or any of that shit. It took my entering the laid back,low tech IndiPac for me to finally break down and buy a three Garmins.Hell I didn't even have a camera to take any photo's of my trips until 2008 and only, begrudgingly, got a smart phone two years ago.
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Should be finished very soon in 6th OA.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

Yep. 6th! Not bad at all, especially with all the punctures.

Last I checked his moving time would have put him in contention for the win. Although it’s not directly comparable since he is resting a bit when fixing all the punctures.

...and spent a bunch more time not riding, even when not fixing flats. LOL

I don't know how many flats he had or how long he spent fixing them. I do know (from the video) that he was traveling very light, though. I'm sure he's wondering if slightly slower/tougher tires would have been faster overall.

6th is still impressive for his first time.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

I did wonder at the 303s and relatively skinny tyres. Looks from the average speed that 650bs and some bigger tyres would have been more optimal?

Someone seemed to suggest the extra stopping was puncture related. No idea personally 😂

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Moving time/speed is irrelevant in these events it is the ability to keep going without sleep.The down time/overall times are key.People assume Ali was "racing" but it is pretty clear that he wasn't (we don't know what his plan was) as he spent 15hrs not moving compared to the winners 2hrs off the bike. Mechanicals and flats are all part of being prepared for these, self sufficient, sleep deprived races and the "best" athletes on paper often don't finish first.
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Exactly.

Judging from the video and the fact that nothing had been posted on this forum until I happened to stumble across it after the race had already started, I don't think he was taking it too seriously. More just seeing what it was all about.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

You definitely need to consider much more than rolling resistance & aerodynamics when choosing tires for something like this. There's durability, of course, but also comfort. Multiple sleep-deprived days on mixed surfaces can (will) beat the crap out of you. You can have World Tour power, but you're not going to be able to take advantage of it if your body is wrecked.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights

So where did he come in the end then? I'm guessing this race suits the Military type, be surprised if there isn't ex/current serving among the top 10.

6th

I wasn’t approaching this from the point of view that I thought he was racing to win. Just an observation that his average moving speed was up there, when he wasn’t lazing about testing or fixing punctures in the Spanish backcountry :D

To be fair in “spectating” an event like that there isn’t much wise other than data to look at

Probably a good event for him to do... with no Kona to peak for, it gives him a change of focus away from the normal performance pressures. It's also a very long, tough event that will have thrown up all sorts of problems that he'd have to just deal with and carry on - Good mental training for handling Ironman race days I'd imagine.

Actually he was 7th apparently. Random as he definitely showed 6th at the time.

For anyone not following him on Instagram, this is his post-race post; https://www.tri247.com/...dlands-2021-reaction

Came 2nd in a gravel bike race today apparently making him the unofficial British gravel bike champion?

I see he is now the unofficial British Geavel champion https://www.instagram.com/...utm_medium=copy_link

will the guy be ready for Kona in Feb? In good shape and with a good strategy he can be a monster....

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Spaniard. Sorry for my english for the sensitive ones :P

Not sure what the go his with his injury? Has he had the operation yet? Or are his Gravel adventures because he can't run at the moment?

What's the weather like in Kona in Feb? A cooler Kona will be an advantage for him.

I think he had ankle surgery this summer, and is still recovering. can obviously ride but isn't up to full speed on the run . . .

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

turns out that ruth astle won the women's race, and india lee came second. good day for the triathletes!

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/