Transcontinental Challenge - Tom Humphrey tells us how and why

Meet Tom Humphrey, he's fairly new to cycling, but enjoys a challenge; the longer the better. So this year he'll be riding one of cycling's hardest solo events, the Transcontinental Race.

The Transcontinental Race (TCR) is the definitive self-supported bicycle race across Europe. It's a single stage race in which the clock never stops. Starting in Santiago de Compostella in north-western Spain, riders will choose their own route to reach the finish in Constanta, Romania.

While there are mandatory control points, riders are free to choose their own route. The control points this year are; Picos de Europa, Col de Tourmalet, Strada dell’Assietta, Siena’s Piazza del Campo and Burrel, Albania. Beyond those controls riders will ride, sleep, eat and recover, all trying to complete this incredible challenge.

We asked Tom if he'd answer a few questions about the event and what attracted him to it.

So Tom, what's your cycling background?

I started cycling about six years ago - after picking up persistent running injuries - as a complete novice with some local guys. I rode alone a lot and then started entering a few local sportives.

I heard about Audax rides and then one year, I decided to ride home to Kent; from our holiday in the Peak District. I knew nothing of long-distance rides, but I got home 22-23 hrs later, after covering 285 miles. I then decided I quite liked longer rides and the challenge of them.

Quite liked! That's a bit of an understatement, what came next?

I entered London Edinburgh London in 2022, which was a real eye-opener - I really had no idea how to tackle the 1500 km – but I did it and completed it within the time. No-one was more surprised than me.

Then I entered Paris Brest Paris (1200km) in 2023, which was also very tough, but again completed in a much better time than I anticipated. In the lead up to these, I had already completed numerous 200, 300, 400 and 600km rides. 

How do you prepare for an event like this with so many unknowns and variables?

I still regard myself as ‘naive participant, who’s prepared to have a go’ !

It is very difficult to allocate sufficient time to do the event justice and give myself the absolute best chance. This is due to work (full time) and ‘life’. However, I learnt a lot from last years’ experience and feel I am in a much better position. Time in the saddle is the hardest thing to find.

I have a general plan to build up weekly and monthly mileage towards July, with a combination of indoor training and weekend long rides. I will also try riding to work once or twice a week when it is lighter; it’s 50 miles each way. This will help, but also requires a lot of organising to do successfully. 

For me, back-to-back long rides are the key. I have family in Worcestershire so a few rides there and back at weekends is great training. It is about 200 miles each way. I will also build up the weight on the bike, one, to test the kit and two, to get muscles and ligaments used to the extra load. I also need to practice more rides through the night than last year.

How will you decide on the route?

Getting one’s route nailed down is imperative and this ideally needs to be done in great detail. TCR is such an amazing challenge that it is so much more than ‘just a bike ride’ – it is all encompassing and tests everything about oneself.

The compulsory Parcours sections are issued by the organisers and except for the ‘banned roads’ the choice of route is left for the rider to plan. I have found that one cannot go into too much detail on this. There are many things to consider, and it became very apparent to me last year that there is no real ‘silver bullet’ route.

It is very much a personal choice, and knowing what sort of a rider you are. Do you go for off road ‘shortcuts’? Do you stay as flat as possible, even if it is longer? Do you go through large cities or around them? Do you plan your route around accommodation, or access to food outlets and bike shops, or do you take the straightest line and trust to luck?

Equipment

Kit will be much better this year – last year I took far too much, and I think I paid the price for that. It is a balance between essentials and weight. I will be going much lighter this time around. 

I was told by a much more experienced ultra rider than me, to ‘lay out your kit, then get rid of half of it and take twice the amount of money you have allocated’ – not always possible but the sentiment, I think, is wise.  

Have you agonised over kit choices?

I hope I did most of that last year – this year should be less stressful. However, you never know exactly what you will need and therefore it is always a bit of a gamble on what you take and what you don’t. I think my attitude this year will be to take the bare minimum, the real essentials and keep it as light as possible. 

Do you have a target time?

To finish within the allotted time (18 days I think) would be incredible, but I am very aware that more than half the participants don’t finish, so I am under no illusion how hard this is to do.

This year, the event is the longest they have staged – around 4500/4800 km with somewhere in the region of 50/60,000 metres of ascent. It is a ‘monster’. To finish at all would be great. Someone said to me ‘You have won, if you get to the start line’. That’s obviously not true, but it is a measure of the scale of prep, training etc, just to be part of it. Also age is not particularly on my side!

What parts are you looking forward to/dreading?

During the build-up and preparations to last years’ event I didn’t really know what to expect, just that it was a very long way to ride! I found it difficult to prepare, with training, kit choices, route planning, all of the different aspects, because there is no-one ‘marking your work’. Therefore, I didn’t really know if what I was doing, was correct or not. 

It is quite scary and uncomfortable, not knowing if you are approaching things correctly or not. I found I worried about the whole thing, all of the time. When I actually started the event and was riding, I found that, on the whole, I only worried about the immediate things I could control. Like what time shops open or close, the road surface, the next junction, the dogs chasing me, water, food etc.

Then as I would get into the evening, I started to think about where I would stay that night. So actually, during the event, I found the experience more enjoyable than the preparation. I think this year will be easier and less stressful to prepare for.  

You'll be riding through the night, what's that like?

I am not a massive fan of riding at night, but it is unavoidable on TCR I think, not all the time, but certainly some nights. One has to rest and re-group just to keep some structure and control to the ride. The accumulative tiredness is very hard and very difficult to prepare for; I don’t look forward to that. It makes everything more difficult than it would otherwise be. It is important, I think, to feel you have control and can make good decisions en-route.

Riding at night also brings other choices to be made on equipment. Like power sources for GPS, phone and lights, which is a huge consideration, do I use a dynamo hub or power packs and hotels/cafes? (This is something we hope to hear more about from Tom in the future.)

There are good bits though?

In terms of what I look forward to, I love the jeopardy of it all, I love the randomness of the days and nights, the time without a ‘schedule’. I love no emails and no phone calls, the escapism, and the ‘space’ to really feel apart and separate from normal life – there are very few places or opportunities to feel like that.

Last question, WHY?

‘Why not?’ is probably the only answer I can come up with, I really have no idea! It flies in the face of everything that is comfortable, everything that a ‘holiday’ is supposed to be, and everything that is sensible. Perhaps that is why?

We will hopefully hear more from Tom as he undertakes this monster of a challenge. The Transcontinental Race starts on the 27th July and you can follow Tom's progress via the DotWatcher site.

What will Tom be riding on the Transcontinental? The Handsling A1R0evo, light, stiff, fast and with room for larger volume tyres. That last feature will definitely come in handy when Tom is tackling gravel sections like the Strada dell’Assietta in Italy or the Burrel in Bulgaria. Look out for another post from Tom on his kit selection for the TCR.