L'eroica Brtiannia 2014

Anyone else out there planning to attend? Just looking for opinions on a few things.

I'm currently torn on how "true" to the original build to be. 9000'+ of climbing with 42/25 as my lowest gear is sobering to say the least. My old CLB brakes also have about the same effect as Swiss cheese on a long seep decent.

I know it's all about the challenge but is it poor form to at least change out for a 14/28?

I know the route will be marked but I guess it can't hurt to have the Garmin in the back pocket. I think pinning it to the handle bars is asking a bit much. Is this poor form?

Anyone got any knowledge of the route and the surface. 30% being "off road" I'm also querying my tyre choice. I managed 5500' over the same distance the other day on the bike I'll be using but the climbs for l’eroica seem a lot longer and steeper.