Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Your Brevet Calender

I've finally decided on what Brevet's I'd like to attempt this year, how about everyone else?

April 12th PA Rando 200 - Something like 4,000 meters of climbing to start the season off

April 19th NJ Rando 'Princeton Classic' 200 - Last year this destroyed me, so I'm out for revenge. A paltry 3,500 meters of climbing to keep things moving a little slower, and then extremely quickly.

May 17th NJ 300 - Similar route to the 200 but longer! Probably my toughest planned ride of the year.

June 21st NJ 400 - Suppose to be flat with a few rollers, a good test of how long my butt can stay in the saddle and it will be my longest ride.

August 10th NYC 300 - Plenty of climbing in shaded roads to keep off the August heat.

The rest of the season is up in the air, I may be moving out of the area or not.

What's your schedule?

Feb- Casa Grande, az 300k
March - 400k
April - 600k
July - Tall Pines 300k permanent in Payson, az
Sept - San Pedro and the Gila Monster 250k permanent in Florence, az
Nov - Mount Lemmon Hill Climb 200k(?) (it is not on the schedule yet but they usually do a ride in the fall in November so I am planning on it).

That should get me the RUSA 2k medal. I have several 1ks but this will be the first year for the 2k medal.

200, 300, 400, 600km in Delavan, WI.
Starting end of April and ending end of June.

I haven't decided yet if I'm going for a 1200... but time will tell.

Hocam - I'll see you at the april and may nj randos. i hope to make it out for the rest of them, but i'm starting a new job/career thing that i've been told will eat up all my time--especially june-july. this will be my first season at attempting anything like this aside from easy centuries.

All OR Rando except for the RM1200:

Spring series:
4/5 200k
4/19 300k
5/24 600k
6/14 400k

Summer Series:
7/19 200k
8/2 300k
8/23 400k
9/19 600k

...and the big 'un:
7/23-27 Rocky Mountain 1200 (BC Rando, Kamloops BC)

All of which should get me 2 Super Rando medals, and my first 1200.

I's goin' be a busy boy...

Scott P
Bend, OR

i plan on doing a full brevet series this year, with the seattle international randonneurs (http://seattlerando.org) group:

ACP brevet 200 km 3/15/08
ACP brevet 300 km 3/29/08
ACP fleche 360 km 4/11/08 - 4/13/08
ACP brevet 400 km 5/17/08
ACP brevet 600 km 6/7/08 - 6/8/08
Cascade 1200 (http://cascade1200.com) 1200 km 6/28/08 - 7/1/08

not sure if i'll go for the fleche or the 1200 this year.. my longest ride to date is a double-century, i can't wait to do more!

Hocam - I'll see you at the april and may nj randos. i hope to make it out for the rest of them, but i'm starting a new job/career thing that i've been told will eat up all my time--especially june-july. this will be my first season at attempting anything like this aside from easy centuries.

Awesome! I was in your situation last year and every bit of training helps. I hope the new job doesn't keep you from doing the other rides.

What's your schedule?

Keeping it light this year. It's the girlfriend's turn to pick an adventure and trekking in Africa is going to consume almost all of my vacation days.

One 200k in Boston to just check in on the crew. The local fleche. Maybe D2R2 if I feel like cross-training and want a rematch with a ride that kicked my ass in 2006.

Here is my goal for this year, but not sure if I'll make all of them... going for a 3000k + R-12 + SR.

1/26/2008 SF 200k - completed (brevets start early out here)
2/23/2008 SF 300k - registered
3/22/2008 Santa Cruz 200k
4/26/2008 Davis 400k
5/30/2008 Davis 600k
June - Local permanent
July - Local permanent
8/17/2008 Santa Cruz 200k
Sept - Local permanent
Oct - Rancho Cucamonga Permanent
Nov - Hopefully the Mount Lemmon Hill Climb 200k in Arizona, if Nov 6th or later
12/6/2008 Austin 200k

--
SharpT

Nov - Hopefully the Mount Lemmon Hill Climb 200k in Arizona, if Nov 6th or later

SharpT

Nice. I'll put in a good word to the RBA for Nov 6th or later. I am kicking myself for missing this last year.

Completed so far this year:

200K (2)
300K (1)
400K (1)

600K scheduled for 1 March to complete my first SR series this year. Hopefully at least one more SR series, a 1000K (my big goal) and countless other RUSA brevets and permanents.

North Texas has a very good brevet schedule.

Good god, you guys make feel like such a looser. I have been doing a solo century a month since sept last year and was feeling pretty good about myself until I read you guy's goals. I wanted to do do maybe a 200K, a 300K, and at most a 400K this year sometime down the road. I don't know about the 400K though. Sounds more painful than enjoyable.

Could you guys post pictures of your long distance bike with any and all the gear you typically carry? Can you give me a little synopsis of how you do a 400K? Example: ride for x miles, take a break every so many miles, break for how long, what do you drink/eat, how many miles/water bottle, supported breaks, etc. I typically just get on the bike and go. I take about 3 breaks per century for 10-15 min. each. I average about 18-19 MPH for the entire ride. I don't carry any gear except for a spare tubular tire and some GU gel packets. This is my bike below:

http://www.dgasmd.org/Bikes/Pedal%20Force%20Bike/finished%20bike/IMG_3411.jpg

dgasmd:
400 can be really fun. The most fun? Maybe. It's far enough that you can really go somewhere. You have to stop at each control, for the absolute minimum amount of time. You plan your activities as you ride so you do just the minimum and have a good chance at getting out of there with the same group you rode in with. Controls are usually every 40-50 miles. You'll want to have your nutrition down. That's why you should do a series: 100, 200, 300, 400, etc. Plus you'll learn about controls and etiquette and all that other good stuff.

My rando bike looks about like yours. I add Race Blade fenders with a long mudflap in back, two LED headlamps, two LED taillights, and a light seatpost rack/bag. If you have a carbon post, use a Mountain Wedge III. That's it. You'll probably choose to put on a wider range cassette.

Basically I'm just going to try Eau de Hell and take it from there. If it turns out it's not my thing, I'll just go back to being a roadie. I have a feeling rando is right up my alley though. :D

I think I'm actually going to join Randonneurs Nova Scotia and participate when I can but they don't have a schedule up yet. Other than that it'll be 120k 5-6 days a week commuting to work and wherever the wind takes me on my days off and I'm considering a 5000k fast/light tour when I move to Calgary in late August.

Good god, you guys make feel like such a looser. I have been doing a solo century a month since sept last year and was feeling pretty good about myself until I read you guy's goals. I wanted to do do maybe a 200K, a 300K, and at most a 400K this year sometime down the road. I don't know about the 400K though. Sounds more painful than enjoyable.

Could you guys post pictures of your long distance bike with any and all the gear you typically carry? Can you give me a little synopsis of how you do a 400K? Example: ride for x miles, take a break every so many miles, break for how long, what do you drink/eat, how many miles/water bottle, supported breaks, etc. I typically just get on the bike and go. I take about 3 breaks per century for 10-15 min. each. I average about 18-19 MPH for the entire ride. I don't carry any gear except for a spare tubular tire and some GU gel packets. This is my bike below:




400Ks are probably my favorite distance. You actually get out and ride for a whole day. :)

If you go to my website (see signature line below), you'll see articles, ride reports, and photos of my bicycle and gear all over the place.

As for how you do a 400K ... have a look at my 400K and 24-hour TT ride reports: http://www.machka.net/brevetstories.htm


And as for my schedule ... I might know it in about 3 weeks or so.

Good god, you guys make feel like such a looser. I have been doing a solo century a month since sept last year and was feeling pretty good about myself until I read you guy's goals. I wanted to do do maybe a 200K, a 300K, and at most a 400K this year sometime down the road. I don't know about the 400K though. Sounds more painful than enjoyable.



Don't feel like a loser. On the grand scale you are in the top 1% if you include the general population. Some would think I ride a lot but I feel like a loser compared to someone who's done a 1200k. Of course that person who has done a 1200k might feel like a loser to someone who does 3 or 4 a year. It is all relative. Even if you do a 300k or a 200k you are going far beyond the norm for road cyclists.

400Ks are probably my favorite distance. You actually get out and ride for a whole day. :) yeah, 400's have become my favorite as well. I always feel uneasy with my 300's and 200's seem to be over too soon. A 600 takes up one's entire weekend, but a 400 feels just right.

On top of Paul L.'s point -- there will always be someone harder-core than you. It's one of the impressive and humbling things about the sport. And it always pays to be humble.

OK, I get it. I think. Now, put some perspective on this for me to have something to relate to. How many hours does it usually take you guys to do a 200K, 300K, 400K, or 600K? Riding hours vs total hours. I see what the limits are for the number of hours to some of these in some places, but some look exhorbitantly high to me. That may be because I have never done them though.

My first time around on the Princeton 200k it took almost 11 hours in the saddle, 1 hour and 15 minutes resting, at controls, etc. for a little over twelve hours.

I'm shooting for 9 and a half hours in the saddle and a total time of ten and a half hours.

OK, I get it. I think. Now, put some perspective on this for me to have something to relate to. How many hours does it usually take you guys to do a 200K, 300K, 400K, or 600K? Riding hours vs total hours. I see what the limits are for the number of hours to some of these in some places, but some look exhorbitantly high to me. That may be because I have never done them though.

I calculate it all on total hours ... those are the only hours that matter when it comes to successfully completing a brevet or not.

All these rides have time limits based on a minimum speed of 15 km/h, including all breaks. That may seem agonizingly slow (and you definitely can go much faster if you are able), but when you start factoring in breaks and the fact that everyone gets slower as the ride gets longer, 15 km/h can sometimes be a challenge.

The 200K has a time limit of 13.5 hours, and I do mine somewhere between 10 and 11 hours depending on weather conditions and terrain ... including all breaks of course.

The 300K has a time limit of 20 hours, and I do mine around 16 or 17 hours, depending on ... and including breaks.

The 400K has a time limit of 27 hours, and I do mine somewhere between 20 and 25 hours, depending and including, of course.

The 600K has a time limit of 40 hours, and I do mine between 34 and 39.5 hours. That's the toughest ride for me, for some reason, although my 600K last year went quite well. This is the only distance where I'll take a nap at some point, although I have done it in 36 hours straight through with no sleep. And of course, the nap is included in the time.

Now I'll add ... I'm a slow rider. I have never been a fast cyclist.

OK, I get it. I think. Now, put some perspective on this for me to have something to relate to. How many hours does it usually take you guys to do a 200K, 300K, 400K, or 600K? Riding hours vs total hours. I see what the limits are for the number of hours to some of these in some places, but some look exhorbitantly high to me. That may be because I have never done them though.

The time limits are fairly generous, but keep in mind that randonneuring is not a race so there is no reason to set short time limits. Keep in mind also that as distances get longer, most everyone slows down and starts taking longer breaks. Also consider that 600K and up rides almost always include sleeping time and that time counts against your total.

Another consideration is that there is no extra time given for inclement weather, mechanical problems, recovering from a bonk, etc. On longer rides, these are all more likely to be factors.

I'm a "fairly fast" rider. Not a top rider by any means, but I enjoy moving my butt down the road. 200k around 8 hours, 300k 12+, 400k 15+. More difficult routes are obviously slower. And there's a philosophy thing going on. As supcom says, it's not a race. You do it in the way that's most fun for you, as long as you finish under the generous time limit. I prefer to ride in daylight, so I go fairly fast. Some randonneurs' favorite time is all alone in the dark, just toodling along.

Average time to complete a 400K in the "DC Randonneurs" area is 21 hours (1993 to 2005). Fourteen percent DNF'd. See results page at:

http://www.dcrand.org/dcr/results.php

Typical climbing on a 400K in our area would average around 18000 feet.

Well, dgasmd, you might be able to keep finishing long brevets with no more equipment than you've carried so far, but odds are against it. Go read Machka's web page. She knows what's up.

Also, keep in mind that you get zero credit for riding the first half of a brevet really, really fast and then dropping out. And while you may be able to ride a 200K really fast, the whole point of the shorter brevets is to train for the longer ones. So figure out what you need to ride a 600K, and then carry it on the shorter brevets. You won't ride the short rides as fast anymore, but when you get to the long rides you won't be in shock. My PBP bike, fully loaded, weighed just over 50 pounds. I don't think that's particularly unusual. Some pictures of my Paris-Brest-Paris bike are at:

http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2007/cc409-nickbull1207.html

I am aiming to do the OR Randonneurs Summer 200 and 400, and then the Verboort Sausage Populaire. Maybe I'll see you up there, bobbycorno!

OK, here's what I figure I'll start with:


April 19th - Red Deer 200K. I need a century for April anyway.

May 3rd - Red Deer 200K. I need a century for May too.

May 10th - Red Deer 300K.


I've got a whole list of possibilities for after that, but I will have to wait and see how the summer plays out.