Cycling specials at Aldi this Thursday!

@mdavidford Most importantly, will someone name a range of exotic (well, exotic for the 1980s) snacks after me?

@mctrials23 Nerdy sort of fact, if the RTW challenge was to cycle round the equator, which would make sense in a way with that being the longest circumference of our oblate spheroid, it would only take 8,714 kilometres of cycling as the rest of the 40,075km would be by boat.

@quiff All That Glitters

Two points. A few months I read an article about racing one of these ultra’s and the person (I can’t recall who) said that the route they used would not be safe today due to geopolitics. Secondly, 10 years ago I was chatting to Chris Bennett in NZ about his hope to race around the world. He was on about riding way up into Norway to get a load of European miles in rather than some hot places in Asia. Last year he achieved a finish in 129+ days aged 66 but he did not stick to the plan he outlined all those years ago. I believe the problem with what counts as unsupported over that time or distance is difficult to monitor. One example would be staying at a friend’s house overnight in Australia - does that count as support?

"Tough titties losers. It's natural selection. I am a high achieving go-getter and can afford a huge high up SUV to keep me and my family safe. My kids will no doubt go on to be high achieving go-getters with even bigger SUVs. Anyone who is not a high achiever deserves a bit of jeopardy to spur them on. Bring back Margaret Thatcher! Although, I have a lot of time for Farage!"

More concept bikes and more vapourware - exactly what you need after you've just laid off 320 people in search for savings!

Will I happen to run into someone who has a hot air balloon they'll sell me? Have I remembered to account for crossing the International Date Line?

@mctrials23 yeah i don't disagree, but you can't really mandate a round-the-world route i don't think, there are just too many moving parts. maybe there's a middle ground (like in the TCR) where you have to do specific sections you can pretty much guarantee will be open and rideable, but then I guess it's a new record and that would annul anything up to now.

I think it's just an allergic reaction to the badge.

Per the comment on Friday's Live Blog, this doesn't necessarily tell us much about the effectiveness of these statements on those who haven't already made a decision on what they're likely to buy. The protocol primed participants by asking them about their views before seeing the statements, creating a psychological commitment to their decision, and thereby making them less likely to be susceptible to pay attention to information that might otherwise have influenced against it.