Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Control Protocol -- What's yours?

With a new season just weeks away (sooner for some), I was wondering what your protocols were for randonee controls. Do you blow through as fast as possible; or do you like to savour the rest?

Last year, I spent the longest I've ever spent at an interim "control" (it was a "your choice") -- 2 hours in Fairhaven, WA, watching a concert and eating delicious buritos. It was the best control stop I've ever had! Story here. (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/hatrick.html) I plan more like it.

Do you take time to chat/make small talk with control staff, convenience store clerks, restaurateurs; or do you say: "Hey, can you sign this for me, please. Yeah, there, and put the time here." Then rush out the door without buying anything, already thinking what time you're going to hit the next control?

At large events, controls are crazy, often messy, places. Do you try to stay away from them, except for getting paperwork in order; or do you actually enjoy the "buzz" as part of the experience?

What's your approach?

Usually I like to buy a few thing's have my control card signed and blow back out within ten minutes. But I have taken as long as half an hour for a decent recharge and food.
I also try to eat on the bike as much as possible to keep my control stops as breif as they need to be.

What's your approach?

My season starts Sat. Being new at the game, I'll go for the 10 minute approach, unless I can see I'm running way ahead. I never heard of Stan Rogers, but if there is a good Grateful Dead tribute on my way, I'd consider hanging out for a set. Gotta watch the burritos at the Dead shows, though; you never know what's in there...

2 hours in Fairhaven, WA

Technically, Fairhaven is just a neighborhood in Bellingham. It was once a city long ago, though.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Dos Padres?

i spend way too much time at the controls, that's all i know.

the more experienced randos around here seem to keep their controls to about 3 minutes.. i'd like to do that, but i always end up talking and/or waiting (for someone to catch up).

however i do, always, pay for something before getting a sig - otherwise, they might not let us back!

Technically, Fairhaven is just a neighborhood in Bellingham. It was once a city long ago, though.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Dos Padres?

Yes, I know. I used to live in White Rock and spent a lot of time there ...

Yes, at Dos Padres! Yummmmmm!

however i do, always, pay for something before getting a sig - otherwise, they might not let us back!

A gentleman randonneur:thumb:

pull in, usually to the control worker (spoiled by the boston series)
stand up bike
remove control card from storage
get control card signed
replace control card

reset odometer
adjust cue sheet to next leg

wash face and hands - makes me feel human again.
eyedrops?
restroom?
sunscreen?
change lenses?

reload water
reload food
adjust clothing, raingear, luggage for next leg.



then - chat, snack, rest as needed, etc., but only after the above is complete.

roll out, mental note of time, mileage to next control.

I've been all over the map on this, from minutes to hours, depending on the mood. The RAAM-qualifying 1200K saw no stop before 600K that was more than a few minutes. A 400K last season included a several-hour stop sampling beers at a local brewery. Record time at a control was on the same RAAM-qualifying ride, where I spent nearly 9 hours in Byers, CO. I was in rough shape when I arrived, but I felt much better after a long shower, lots of salty food, six hours of sleep, and a huge breakfast at some rancher diner complete with a full pot of coffee and a leasurely read of the local newspaper. :D

The folks I learned from believe that making some purchase, however small, is the right thing to do at a merchant who served as a control, so that's what even the fast guys and gals do around these parts.

Congestion at controls can be a pain. If I care about my time I'll try to ride off the front a few miles from the control if it looks like a large group will still be together at the first control. (This can be much more of a problem at drafting-legal ultra events, where you can get dropped from the lead group if you aren't among the first folks into the checkpoint. In those events -- Calvin's, N24HC, Sebring -- jockying for position can be brutal!) If I don't care about my time, I tend to take care of everything else first -- eat, re-supply, use bathroom, change clothing, etc. -- and then use the control.

I also find that tempature can be a factor of how long I take at controls. During the much warmer summer brevets I usally take a little longer to rehydrate and hide in the shade while eating salty foods.

bmike's control routine is sort of the idealized one. Often mine involves things like the following, reported nearly exactly as it happened on a winter brevet as night is arriving:

Arrive at control, select next route on GPS and tell it to compute. Wander aisles looking for something (anything!) that looks palatable. Stand in line, pay for item and get card signed. Remember that you meant to buy batteries because the newly-charged batteries you brought from home seem to have no juice left; stand in line again ...

Open Carradice take out headlamp close Carradice so you don't forget before leaving, begin attaching headlamp to helmet (as your hands freeze in the wind). Halfway through realize that you should eat now so that you can be digesting. Put down helmet etc, eat mouthful, return to work on headlight, swap batteries, etc ...

Remember you need to refill bottles, return to store, fill super-large-Gulp full of Gatorade (only $1.69) stand in line again. (Usually I drink water, but in the winter it freezes so I switch to Gatorade.) Come back outside, realize you meant to switch from light-duty to heavy-duty gloves, open Carradice, find gloves, close Carradice. Realize you forgot to get wool hat, open Carradice get hat close Carradice take helmet off put hat on. Remove gloves to open an energy bar so you don't have to while riding, replace gloves. Tell friend you're almost ready. Remember you wanted to dump trash so you don't have to carry it. Friend wheels to parking lot as you dump trash. Roll back out onto the road. Remember you forgot to stop and pee ...

bmike's control routine is sort of the idealized one.

for sure. i only wish they would go smoothly.
i have (had?) a little cheat sheet written that i clipped to my brevet card. helped much on the last legs of the longer rides.

i've certainly dawdled - but the goal is to get the mission specific tasks out of the way. i just got tired of forgetting to reset the computer, flip the cue sheet, fill a bottle, etc... once i roll i want to be able to roll.

of course, nothing ever goes as planned...

I completed my 2nd 200k of the year last week (5th brevet lifetime) and I've been slowly cutting down my controls. Last weekend I probably spent too much time in one chatting with some new folks. If it were warmer I would have been ok but being inside too much I warmed up which made it extra cold going back outside.
I do ride a recumbent so things are positioned a little bit different. I keep all my control stuff in a fannie pack position in front that also has the que sheet in a map window that I can look down and peek at readily. The pack also has my lightweight wallet with cash, brevet card and some other essentials. Previously I had some thing seperate and lose lose a little time digging in my trunkbag hoping I didn't lose stuff.

My basic procedure is
- I'll roll up to the control
- Stand up off the bike and lean the bike nicely and out of way of pedestrians and any other hazards.
- Check the time and confirm the control time on the brevet card
- move quesheet to appropriate spot and check next control times
- If it is too close I get my card signed immediately then take care of other business.
--I read a ride report of some local folks reaching a control within a minute of close time so I don't want to miss it
- Normally I'll take care of cleaning up first including sunscreen etc
- Then I do my shopping
- Winter: I'll look for a V8 Fusion or a Gatorade and maybe something a little salty.
- Summer: In addition to winter stuff I'll grab a 3-5lb bag of ice and a gallon of water.
- Buy stuff and get card signed
- Refill bottles and/or water bladder
- Drink/Eat goodies while checking over the bike



Almost every control is a gas station that usually has some sort of either mini-diner or a subway in it. There is nothing else around so there really ain't much to see or do worth sticking around too much so best to get rolling and get relaxed for the next loose pack of dogs :twitchy:

First of all, my season is not going to start for quite some time yet ... like 5 months.

Second, about the question ...

When I rode with the Manitoba Randonneurs, I rode in a group who were all about my skill level, and we took our time at controls. Some controls we'd be quite efficient at, but the lunch and supper controls were relaxed and civilized. We'd stop at a restaurant, order up large plates of delicious food, linger over it while chatting with each other about any number of things, we'd stretch, make adjustments to our clothing, and equipment, and then hit the road in a leisurely manner. Even doing all that, we were still able to finish the rides well within the time period.

Then I came to Alberta. Alberta, as a province, is so much more high-strung than Manitoba. Manitoba is a laid-back province in general, people don't rush madly about here and there ... people take things at a more relaxed pace. And the Randonneuring world is no different.

Where in Manitoba we took things at a relaxed pace, here in Alberta the Randonneuring club is all about breaking the speed of light. The pace of the riders is much, much faster ... and they are in and out of controls in a matter of seconds. Personally, I don't like that at all, and it means I often end up riding the brevets solo. But when I ride the brevets solo, I don't end up stopping at restaurants, etc. either, and so I've struggled with food intake on my rides here ... and I end up eating junk from a convenience store.

At big events, like the 1200Ks I've done, I go to the controls for most of my dining, etc. needs.

Machka, I would love to do a brevet with you one day...
Here is France the controls are usually in villages. If it is a very small brevet (like 10-12 people) we get our card stamped anywhere in the village/city (bakery, café...). If it's a bigger/more organized one there is usually a café dedicated to the stamping. In either case I try also to keep it short, but things to do are: get a coffee, get something to eat at the bakery, pee, change the cuesheet, put on sunscreen, relax with the rest of the crowd for a minute... The whole thing lasts between 15 and 30 mn. As for meals, I'm not a big fan of stopping at restaurants (I remember a 400 where my friend and I had pizza around 9 pm because it was the only thing available and we felt like throwing up the whole night...). On my last 600 I had brought a pack of dehydrated food and we just asked for hot water in a café and ate that for dinner...
On PBP I was totally high on endorphins and hyperactive at the controls; I would eat my Overstims bar while queing for the stamp and I was out of most checkpoints in less than 10 mn... but it wasn't really civilized...

I like bmike's approach. I don't use a list, because my needs vary. I'll spend the last 1/2 hour before a control evaluating my condition, deciding what I'd like to do, and then prioritizing tasks. I usually start with the card, then potty, then some food thing, always with an eye on some group or person I'd not like to have leave before me. When they go, I go, hence the prioritizing. Unless I'm just totally out of it, in which case I do what I have to do to start feeling better.