Okay, I'm not the most experienced long distance rider. I've ridden a bunch of 'century' like distances - around the 150km mark and so on. I've ridden 200km once in 9.5 hrs.

I'm sort of at the point where riding 100km is pretty straightfoward, and 150km can be done fairly comfortably, presuming I pay attention to pacing myself and eating/drinking enough. The last 150km ride I did took about 6.5 hours from memory. So I want to see how much further I can go :)

Next year I'd like to have a go at some of the longer Audax rides/brevets here i.e. 200, 300, etc. I'm not putting big pressure on myself, I just want to give them a go and try and finish, if I don't that's no big deal.

Then I started thinking - what are the things that would actually cause me to not finish?

Here are some of the potential show-stoppers I could think of:

Too slow: If you can't ride fast enough to make the time limit, then you don't finish. But I think for the distances that don't require extended stops for sleep etc, the time limit allows you to ride quite slowly. On a hilly solo ride I might average around the 25kph (16 mph) mark. This goes up if I'm in a suitably fast group, or on flat ground.

Dehydration/Severe glycogen depletion (bonking): This is the general category of 'inadequate nutrition'. I've really been working on getting this right as I seem to get flat very quickly if I don't eat regularly. I generally ride with a two bottles - one Gatorade and one water. I eat a muesli bar or similar every hour and aim for the 250kcal/1000kJ mark. This works. If we stop for a longer period I try and get something a bit more substantial but still easy to digest - e.g. a salad roll (I'm vegetarian). However, as a show-stopper, I'm pretty sure I could notice this happening and back off and eat something, rest a bit, go on. It's happened to me before and I feel like I know what to do about it.

Gastronomical distress: I guess this is what happens when you eat TOO much, or the wrong sort of food. I've never experienced this as far as I can remember. I try to stay away from junk food when riding as this seems to trip my stomach up more than anything else. But I can see how it might end a ride early.

Possible long term injury: For example, knee pain that gets worse and worse. You don't want to keep riding with this because it could damage things long term. This all stems from fit and comfort on the bike. I've also been trying to get this right. I think I'm on a saddle I like now (Specialized Avatar) and after the 200km ride I didn't have any site specific or debilitating pain, just that overall soreness which feels so good!!

Mechanical: I keep my bike well serviced, ride on Gatorskins, and carry two tubes and a repair kit and a multi-tool. Its got wheels with lots of spokes. Its a steel frame. If a mechanical failure takes me down it'll be bad luck I guess... I'm not sure what else I can do in this department. Maybe I should start carrying a chain tool...

Extreme heat/cold: TWICE in my riding history have a I had to call for a lift. Once, I got caught underdressed in the rain and the temperature plummeted and I was FREEZING. The other time it was a 40C (100F+) day and I didn't drink enough. I could barely turn the pedals over. But I think I'm getting better now.... got lots of clothes, which I carry if necessary, and know better about water and electrolyte requirements.

So what are the other show stoppers that you can think of and how do you deal with them? I'm sure there are plenty more that I haven't thought of.

Crash, sleep deprivation?
Besides a broken chain, a slashed tyre might make things difficult.

Say hello to Matt from Dave when you see him next.

Inadequate training. Excessive rain or snow (probably falls under "weather" w/ your cold & heat). Getting hopelessly lost.

this might fall under weather, but I DNF'ed a 400K Fleche due to respiratory problems from a pre-existing cold that were excacerbated by cold temperature and improper dress. But, definitely, stay healthy.

also, for brevets and self-supported distance events, I would add navigation. I DNF'ed the Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee last year largely due to getting lost twice and running out of food in the middle of empty forests in the Pioneer Valley.

finally -- do bring a chain tool and some spare links. Also bring a kevlar fiber-fix spoke so that one or two broken spokes don't take you out of the ride. I had a small crash on 50k into my first ever 200k that resulted in two bent spokes, and without a fiber fix, I would've probably DNFed and been too discouraged to do another brevet.

Great thread!! I have no answers, as I am still fairly new. I have a couple of unsupported ultra rides that I'm planning, so this is all great info. Thanks for brining it up.

Definitely pack the chain tool. I broke a link once in the middle of nowhere and would've been in bad shape without the tool. I don't carry spare links as it's no big deal to run the chain a bit short for a while.

Spoke wrench is important too. Especially on a 32 or 36 spoke wheel, a broken spoke or two is no biggie, if you can adjust tension on the neighbors to bring things back to reasonably true.

At the very least I would bring something with which to boot a cut tire. I personally just carry a spare tire folded up in my largish saddle bag, and have used it on a couple of occasions. Presumably you are carrying a pump or a large supply of Co2.

Some folks carry a pair of spare cables; one for the rear brake and one for the rear deraileur. (Rears because they can be cut down to use on the front.) This is probably something I should do, but replacing your existing cables once a year almost gaurantees against failure.

Basically, I'm set for just about anything short of bottom bracket and hub flange failure, as I can hardly think of anything more annoying than dropping out because my bike let me down.

+1 on the good thread comment.
+1 on deraileur cable. I broke my front cable yesterday on a 50-mile group ride and did the last 9 on the small chain ring--no biggie in this case, but for a century or a double with a long ways to go, it could be a show stopper or at least a major PITA. The cable is light and easily fits in the saddle bag. I will have one in mine from now on.

The only DNF I've had was on a non-brevet ride and it was caused by my being sick with the flu. I made it 89 miles.... would have finished, too... except I couldn't keep anything down. I managed to eat one banana, 3 small pieces of watermelon and a half an orange. So... what finally got to me was bonking. I could have rode it out if I'd had the energy.

That said... one thing I'd recommend on a 300 or longer ride is a spare light!!!!

My main light failed on my 400km ride... ended up riding with a tiny LED light for light, but it got me through. (Actually... my spare battery pack failed... and I'd already discharged the first pack to about 50%. I was able to use my main light to read street signs and for VERY bad areas of road)

LED lights can be pretty small and light weight.... doesn't hurt to have an extra one... or at least the tiny strap on blinkies... they're better than nothing.

You forgot a very important one .... you just don't want to do this anymore.

It stopped the show for me on the PBP. All of a sudden ... I just didn't want to do this anymore.

Don't forget hyponatremia/lack of sodium.

My experience is that that's more likely to get you than lack of food.

I gets some nasty headaches from time to time. Aura type migraines. I lose part of my vision, arm ,stomache, and tongue go numb then severe puking. I was doing a desert metric century in Borrego Springs. I was feeling so good and strong. I ate a piece of the popular Dudley's bread. I think it may have triggered the headache. 5 minutes after I left the rest stop, I lost my vision. I knew I was going to be sick. Gina (my wife) usually follows me on the rides for kicks. I stopped for a couple of minutes with the intention of calling it quits as the headaches sometimes last two days.

I drove 3 hours and paid my money, I finishing dammit! I had 30 miles to go. I couldn't see so I put my head down and followed the line on the shoulder. I pushed hard while concentrating on my thighs hoping to redirect the pain. 10 miles later I recovered my sight and began to ride strong again. At the end of the ride I couldn't eat the post ride meal. I felt really sick as soon as I dismounted the bike. So Gina drove me home while I sat there with the shakes and a puke bag on my lap.

That was a show stopper but somehow I managed to keep the show on the road!:p

Wow, great responses!

I think I will start throwing my chain tool into the saddle bag when going for longer rides. One of my riding buddies has had to repair a chain on the road before actually... a tire boot sounds like a good idea as well, and a fiber fix (although I'm fairly certain that if I broke a spoke on my wheels I could keep going, maybe with the brakes loosened off a little). Cables sound like a good idea as well.... although without a pair of diagonal cutters in the bag I'm not sure how I'd cut them to length?

spokenword/oboeguy - Navigation is something I haven't too much about but probably should. Perhaps I'll rig up some sort of map/cue sheet holder.

bmclaughlin807 - I think I've got the lighting sort of sorted.... I've got a Dinotte 5W with the Li-ion battery pack and when I ordered it he had a deal going for an extra mini pack. So mainly using low beam, with occasional high beam usage, could get me through a whole night. As for a backup - I've got a cheapy 5-LED thing at the moment but will probably grab one of those Cateye 530s for a brighter backup/supplementary light.

Machka - I like the point about just not wanting to ride anymore :) I'm not sure how I would go after riding 600km in the rain and still having another 600km to go to get home. I guess that all comes down to the motivation for doing long rides.... e.g. personal satisfaction, competitiveness, bragging rights, seeing the scenery, etc etc. The motivation has to outweigh the pain, discomfort, boredom etc.

Mr Beanz - that headache sounds nasty. I hope I never have to experience something like that. I know my mother gets migraines like that sometimes and can barely move for hours.

As for inadequate training - what exactly does that mean? Does it mean not spending enough time in the saddle to figure out what works for you in terms of nutrition/hydration/comfort? Is it a case of being physically capable of being able to ride for 12+ hrs without really stopping? This is probably a big threat to me not completing these longer rides, although I will have done a few 200km rides in training hopefully. I have read of people completing full brevet series without riding anything longer than a 'century' beforehand though...

I went through several bouts of "not wanting to do this anymore" on this years' PBP (Carhaix to Loudeac was especially horrid). I think I got through it by several means:

1. No prior frame of reference. This was my first 1200K (first ride longer than 600K, actually), so I thought they all must be this bad.
2. No idea how to get back to Paris from the (mostly) rural towns with my bike and gear.
3. Having spent a ton of $$ getting to Paris, as well as tons of $ and time training, I just wanted to finish.
4. Innate stubborness (see #3).
5. Dumb luck. No sickness, no injury, no mechanical other than one flat.

Hard to say, but probably (1) and (5) were of the greatest help. I did train a LOT for this, but I think that could be said for almost anyone there.

6. In August 2006, for my birthday, my girlfriend collected a bunch of money from friends and family to help pay for my ticket to Paris and offset the cost of a new bike. So, even though my out-of-pocket expenses weren't as steep as some others, coming home with a DNF would've meant that I couldn't look any of my friends in the eye ever again.

I think I will start throwing my chain tool into the saddle bag when going for longer rides. One of my riding buddies has had to repair a chain on the road before actually... a tire boot sounds like a good idea as well, and a fiber fix (although I'm fairly certain that if I broke a spoke on my wheels I could keep going, maybe with the brakes loosened off a little). Cables sound like a good idea as well.... although without a pair of diagonal cutters in the bag I'm not sure how I'd cut them to length? when I had my crash, I couldn't loosen my brakes enough to keep it from rubbing, and having one fiberfix got it close enough to true that I could do another 30 miles to a bike shop where a mechanic was able to replace both spokes. So, yeah, one bent spoke on a 36-spoke wheel isn't a showstopper without a fiber fix, but multiple spoke failures are a different story.

With regards to cables, I'd use the start of the 'season' as an excuse to get new parts -- new cables, new brake pads, new chain if need be. New tires, too, though I didn't follow this advice on PBP and went to France on a tire with 6,000 miles on it that failed somewhere around 3am on the return from Carhaix to Loudeac.

As for inadequate training - what exactly does that mean? Does it mean not spending enough time in the saddle to figure out what works for you in terms of nutrition/hydration/comfort? Is it a case of being physically capable of being able to ride for 12+ hrs without really stopping? This is probably a big threat to me not completing these longer rides, although I will have done a few 200km rides in training hopefully. I have read of people completing full brevet series without riding anything longer than a 'century' beforehand though... I don't think that you need to be able to do 12+ hours nonstop. When I did my first brevet season last year, my goal before my first 200k was to ride a century in less than 9 hours total time, including time spent off the bike, and that served me ok, but I got my kicked by the climbing involved, as I wasn't used to do 3000 ft. of climbing per 100k, or doing a century with 6000 ft. of climbing.

Of course, various brevets have different levels of climbing as appropriate to their regional terrain, but, in general, I'd still say that you should keep that 3000ft/100k figure in mind. That's the metric that the notable 1200s (Paris, Boston, etc.) aim for in the challenges imposed. you don't have to love climbing, but at least learn to deal with it and learn what style suits you best (stomping v. spinning, etc.)

As far as other training is concerned, get used to riding in a lot of adverse conditions. If you can commute, do so. If you can set some kind of consistent date/time for which you can ride and stick to that, regardless of weather, do so. Commuting through thunderstorms and Noreaster snowstorms helped me a lot in dealing with the weather in France.

Also, it's less important if you're looking at a 200k, and certainly more important if you're training up for a 300 and 400, but also get used to riding at night, which is a lot more isolating and (imho) tiring than riding in the daytime. Also, welcome the chance to practice doing repairs on your bike by helmet lamp. Commuting home at night and getting a flat isn't an annoyance, it's a training opportunity! :)

But, as I've told other folks in past threads -- a 200k is all you need for physical training. Everything after that is mental willpower, experience, learning to eat, learning to deal with darkness and just raw cunning -- which is just as hard to develop, if not harder, than becoming fit to ride long.

I went through several bouts of "not wanting to do this anymore" on this years' PBP (Carhaix to Loudeac was especially horrid). I think I got through it by several means:

1. No prior frame of reference. This was my first 1200K (first ride longer than 600K, actually), so I thought they all must be this bad.
2. No idea how to get back to Paris from the (mostly) rural towns with my bike and gear.
3. Having spent a ton of $$ getting to Paris, as well as tons of $ and time training, I just wanted to finish.
4. Innate stubborness (see #3).
5. Dumb luck. No sickness, no injury, no mechanical other than one flat.

Hard to say, but probably (1) and (5) were of the greatest help. I did train a LOT for this, but I think that could be said for almost anyone there.

Whereas for me, the PBP wasn't very high on my list of reasons for going to Europe. I definitely had other reasons which were quite a bit more important to me. The PBP was a good excuse to go when I did, and as it happened, it also fit my work/school schedule, so it did factor in, but not in a major way.

Plus I've done four other 1200Ks, including a previous PBP ... and I knew how to get back ... and I didn't spend much money or time on it all.

Wow, great responses!

Cables sound like a good idea as well.... although without a pair of diagonal cutters in the bag I'm not sure how I'd cut them to length?

There's no need to cut the cable. Just coil up the excess and wrap the end around the coil to secure it. Or use some of the duct tape you should have wrapped around your seatpost.

However, I'm with the others here that a once per year cable replacement pretty much eliminates breakage. If I did have a derailleur cable break, I'd use the limit screw to position the derailleur as close to the center cog in the rear, or on the center chainring on the front, and use the good derailleur to shift as necessary. For brakes, you can get by with a single brake (front or rear) by being careful.

Cables sound like a good idea as well.... although without a pair of diagonal cutters in the bag I'm not sure how I'd cut them to length?


Just loop the extra. It stays put, just like it does when you buy it.

<edit> Beat me to it!

Or use some of the duct tape you should have wrapped around your seatpost.

Great piece of cheap, practical, and painless advice. I rode the Tejas 500 this past weekend and my rear derailleur cable snapped at mile 490, much to my dismay. Having read Supcom's post prior to the event I was more than a bit miffed that I hadn't implemented the above gem. Had I had the strip of duct tape I could have taped a tire lever into the derailleur (to open it into a middle cog) rather than having to mash out the last 10 miles. Of course, I also could have scavenged the side of the road for an object that would stay in place; however, that can certainly prove to be more time consuming than having the bit of tape for a quick fix. Lesson learned. :p

I gets some nasty headaches from time to time. Aura type migraines. I lose part of my vision, arm ,stomache, and tongue go numb then severe puking. I was doing a desert metric century in Borrego Springs. I was feeling so good and strong. I ate a piece of the popular Dudley's bread. I think it may have triggered the headache. 5 minutes after I left the rest stop, I lost my vision. I knew I was going to be sick. Gina (my wife) usually follows me on the rides for kicks. I stopped for a couple of minutes with the intention of calling it quits as the headaches sometimes last two days.

I drove 3 hours and paid my money, I finishing dammit! I had 30 miles to go. I couldn't see so I put my head down and followed the line on the shoulder. I pushed hard while concentrating on my thighs hoping to redirect the pain. 10 miles later I recovered my sight and began to ride strong again. At the end of the ride I couldn't eat the post ride meal. I felt really sick as soon as I dismounted the bike. So Gina drove me home while I sat there with the shakes and a puke bag on my lap.

That was a show stopper but somehow I managed to keep the show on the road!:p

I always carry my migraine medication on the bike with me, as well as my asthma inhaler, chewable pepto bismol, and ibuprofen. I've used and given away all of the above medications (Well... the non-prescription ones) on rides. Had several rides where either I or others I was riding with WOULD have called it in without it.

Had one ride where a rider had her first ever asthma attack on the ride... Boy was I glad I had my inhaler with me on that one. She now has her own inhaler and carries it with her on rides. I grew up with asthma... I couldn't imagine what it would be like to suddenly have a first asthma attack as an adult... suddenly not being able to breathe and not knowing why. :(

As far as the migraines go... I've never had one while on a long bike ride... mine don't seem to ever trigger while I'm physically taxing my body like that.

.....I could have taped a tire lever into the derailleur (to open it into a middle cog) rather than having to mash out the last 10 miles. Of course, I also could have scavenged the side of the road for an object that would stay in place; however, that can certainly prove to be more time consuming than having the bit of tape for a quick fix.

Or you could've adjusted the limit screws of the derailleur to lock it into a mid-range gear. I've done that a few times mountain biking in the backcountry, and it works well.

But the duct tape is a good thing to have - either that, or gaffer's tape (even stronger adhesive powers).

Great piece of cheap, practical, and painless advice. I rode the Tejas 500 this past weekend and my rear derailleur cable snapped at mile 490, much to my dismay. Having read Supcom's post prior to the event I was more than a bit miffed that I hadn't implemented the above gem. Had I had the strip of duct tape I could have taped a tire lever into the derailleur (to open it into a middle cog) rather than having to mash out the last 10 miles. Of course, I also could have scavenged the side of the road for an object that would stay in place; however, that can certainly prove to be more time consuming than having the bit of tape for a quick fix. Lesson learned. :p

Congratulations on finishing the Tejas 500! I was there as well and also finished the 500 mile event. That's one tough course.

You forgot a very important one .... you just don't want to do this anymore.

It stopped the show for me on the PBP. All of a sudden ... I just didn't want to do this anymore.

This is the one that got me this year on a 600K. After pedaling 220 miles, 120 of which was directly into a 20mph wind, I asked myself the dreaded question "Why am I here?". I couldn't come up with a good answer....