Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Ten things I learned from my 1st year as a Randonneur

I completed my first year as a Randonneur, finishing an R-12 and SR series. I learned a few things during the year.

1. One can start and finish a 200k with 2 broken rear spokes.
2. Handlebar bags are cool.
3. Rationing water is not fun, but a developed skill.
4. A headwind rarely turns into a tailwind on the return.
5. You can never have too much light.
6. Caffeine tablets work wonders at 4AM.
7. Without Ibuprofen I cannot ride.
8. I really want a triple.
9. Cycling to work in the morning, the long way, is excellent brevet training.
10. Powdered donuts, salty chips, cola, and chocolate milk are great mental rewards that get me to the next control.

SharpT

Interesting list. :) A couple comments ...

You shouldn't have to ration water ... it's not a great idea. Instead, follow the guideline ... if your total water quantity is down to 2/3 of what you can carry, and you've arrived at a gas station, convenience store, etc., fill it.

And I'm glad caffeine tablets work for you. They make me violently ill. I learned that in my second year of randonneuring. Instead I cut way back on my caffeine in the weeks leading up to a longer brevet, and then just use coffee or tea on the brevet.

And why is Ibuprofen necessary for you? What hurts?

Hmmmm! Why would you need to ration water, except in an emergency? That's breaking one of the most important of "Velocio's 7 Commandments" -- drink before you are thirsty.

While "vitamin i" should be part of, again, one's emergency kit, it shouldn't be a regular part of one's rando diet.

Perhaps you have some physical/ergonomic/biomechanical issues that need attending to. As Machka asked: what hurts?

Have alook around the VeloWeb RandoHub (http://www.veloweb.ca/randopage.html).

Ah yes, rationing water is just an emergency. I read quite a few ride reports where Randonneurs were knocking on doors or flagging passing motorists to get water in the 2008 Cascade1200k. I've improved through the year in water intake and storage techniques, but from time to time I've hit an unplanned long hot stretch with no services either while training or riding a brevet or permanent. Once I had to flush something out of my eye in the middle of nowhere. Luckily it hasn't yet slowed me down, or found me knocking on doors.

My knees are what cause my addiction to vitamin "I". I only need to take a "small" amount to get me through a brevet. Pre ride I take 400mg, and then 200mg every 4 hours gets me through pain free. I tried a drug free 200k a few months ago and I finished, but the pain really slowed me down. I've done a professional bike fit, and the sports doctor visit, and this has helped me actually be able to complete a brevet. In 2007 after a 200k, I was off the bike for 4 months due to injury. I continue to experiment with fit adjustments along with a new custom fitted frame arriving soon (which is supposed to have a 3rd water bottle cage as well ;).

SharpT

first off, congrats on the R-12 & SR awards!


You shouldn't have to ration water ... it's not a great idea.


Hmmmm! Why would you need to ration water, except in an emergency?

i've had to do it, and i think it is something that people should be at least ready for. one of our 600k's this summer was a "three bottle ride," with 100km stretches of no services, much less houses.

early in the season i think i would drink out of pure boredom, maybe every 5 minutes. can't make it very far like that, even with two bottles. that was something i worked on.

not that i avoid drinking now, but if on a long ride (w/ limited services), i'll definitely try to drink just enough to get by.

Nice list.

4. A headwind rarely turns into a tailwind on the return.

Quoted For Truth. A miserable truth, perhaps, but oh so frequently realized.


9. Cycling to work in the morning, the long way, is excellent brevet training. as is cycling to work everyday. I don't think it's the mileage so much as the discipline you try to breed within yourself that, everyday, regardless of conditions or personal desire, you need to go out and ride. It's easier to face a wet, windy 300k after you've done a dozen stormy commutes and find that the weather no longer fazes you.

oh and +1 to Randochap and Machka's bits about how water rationing and constant ibuprofen use are practices that shouldn't become habits. As mattm points out, if I know, going into a ride, that there's a scarcity of services on the route, or I'll be riding at night without easy access to a 24 hour convenience store, then I'll make it a point to bring a third water bottle on the bike.

i've had to do it, and i think it is something that people should be at least ready for. one of our 600k's this summer was a "three bottle ride," with 100km stretches of no services, much less houses.

early in the season i think i would drink out of pure boredom, maybe every 5 minutes. can't make it very far like that, even with two bottles. that was something i worked on.

not that i avoid drinking now, but if on a long ride (w/ limited services), i'll definitely try to drink just enough to get by.

A lot of the prairie and mountain brevets I've been on have long stretches between services. 100 km is not unusual. But what I do when I know I've got a stretch like that coming up is to stop at a convenience store and buy 2 - 500 ml bottles of orange pop and enough water to fill both my 1-litre bottles. One bottle of orange pop goes in my trunk bag, and I drink the other one.

750 ml every 1.5 hours is a reasonable amount of liquid (unless it is really hot), so with that method I have 3 litres of liquid, which can last me 6 hours, and 6 hours for 100 km is not out of the realm of possibility.

I'm sorry to say this, but the number of people who do long distance cycling and who have had a "professional bike fit" and then say they are in pain, is growing.

It seems to me that professional bike fitting is purely to optimise the short-term peformance of a cyclist's body, as in racing, rather than seek to understand the requirements of long-distance riders where maximum output is less of an objective than comfort.

I know I was caught very badly some years ago taking the fit figures conjured up by a bike fitting website, and suffered huge Achilles tendon problems on one LD ride as a result.

I went back to my original fit, which resulted from years of prior riding experience and no "professional fit" except for some advice at a bike shop in Esperance, Western Australia, on a tour. With only a few minor adjustments here and there, largely because of different frame dimensions (seat angle and top tube length, for instance) and crank length, that fit and the principles behind it have remained unchanged.

SharpT, continue to play with your fit, millimetre by millimetre. You don't identify where you knee pain is -- front, back, side -- and that could provide a clue as to where your fundamental problem lies.

I'm sorry to say this, but the number of people who do long distance cycling and who have had a "professional bike fit" and then say they are in pain, is growing.

It seems to me that professional bike fitting is purely to optimise the short-term peformance of a cyclist's body, as in racing, rather than seek to understand the requirements of long-distance riders where maximum output is less of an objective than comfort.


I would say that this can be true, to an extent. We have different needs. Therefore, it behooves the rider to A. know thyself. B. Find a pro who understands your needs, and, perhaps most importantly, ride a bike built for distance and comfort, rather than speed. It's a biomechanical picture.

The needs of a long distance rider really aren't that different to a racer who is often putting in more miles a week than a randonneur-in-training. In fact, many randonneurs are causing problems for themselves because they don't have enough quality miles in their legs before they go out and attack a full series. That's a sure recipe for problems, especially in the knees.

Any good bike fitter should certainly be able to establish if cleats need shimming, for instance. And there are few riders who don't need some kind of re-alignment to ride very long distances without injury. Find a fitter who doesn't rely on fancy gismos and standardized programs, but who has the kind of hands-on, long-term experience to assess and solve your problems.

As we age these issues become even more critical.

Good words from Rowan and Randochap. Thanks! An here I am with a 2-week-old Specialized Roubaix and a pro fit (incl. with purchase) scheduled for Monday. Have 500 miles on it now and will likely add another 120-150 this weekend. I THINK I know what it needs: raise the seat 1 cm and change the stem from a 100 mm to a 90 mm. But I won't bring these up to the fitter; I want to see what he comes up with on his own first.

I'm a re-entrant rider with about 6000 miles since last May. Several centuries, but no brevets. (Nor anything active in the local area.) If I've learned anything, it's that slowing down 1-2 mph has more to do with my long-term comfort than anything else. I swear tall gearing and HTFU were invented by orthopedic surgeons looking for work. I'm practicing STFD. :D

I would say that this can be true, to an extent. We have different needs. Therefore, it behooves the rider to A. know thyself. B. Find a pro who understands your needs, and, perhaps most importantly, ride a bike built for distance and comfort, rather than speed. It's a biomechanical picture.

The needs of a long distance rider really aren't that different to a racer who is often putting in more miles a week than a randonneur-in-training. In fact, many randonneurs are causing problems for themselves because they don't have enough quality miles in their legs before they go out and attack a full series. That's a sure recipe for problems, especially in the knees.

Any good bike fitter should certainly be able to establish if cleats need shimming, for instance. And there are few riders who don't need some kind of re-alignment to ride very long distances without injury. Find a fitter who doesn't rely on fancy gismos and standardized programs, but who has the kind of hands-on, long-term experience to assess and solve your problems.
As we age these issues become even more critical.

The standardised program bit is the critical issue as far I as can see. No-one is built identically to the "averages" that are used to calculate the fit in these programs. I like it when someone posts that a fitter spent three, four or five hours with a client, working with the client's body rather than a set of figures from a computer printout.

After a bout of ITB issues, I really haven't had any knee issues in my riding. If I get front pain, I know that the saddle is a little low; if I get rear pain, or Achilles issues, the seat is too high. If I get ITB issues, it might be the Q/tread factor (an issue in BB width when swapping from road to MTB cranks), support from the uppers of my shoes, or inappropriate cleat position (although really, it's most likely trying to push too high a gear or load up hills).

While I don't necessarily agree that you need to do "enough" quality miles to tackle a series (I've done them without doing much training at all, as have others), it does help to put in distance not just for the physical conditioning, but to get to know what tiny adjustments will make the distance comfortable on a randonnee.

It does require a critical assessment of every aspect of your bike, the fit and whatever pain manifests itself during or after an event. People are too afraid to make micro-readjustment, in the belief that they will "ride themselves" into comfort or because a fit expert said it should work right where they tightened the bolt.

Changes in things like shoes can have an influence, including what side support they offer and the thickness of the sole where the cleat interface is. Even the collapse of foam inside a seat (or the sag in a Brooks) can alter the leg extension and KOPS position enough to cause knee issues.

arkansas kid, I would be a bit cautious about going a full centimetre in lifting your seat. Try smaller increments, like 3mm or 5mm. Mark the post so you have a reference point. I,too, am interested to see your feedback on the fitting.

The standardised program bit is the critical issue as far I as can see. No-one is built identically to the "averages" that are used to calculate the fit in these programs. I like it when someone posts that a fitter spent three, four or five hours with a client, working with the client's body rather than a set of figures from a computer printout.

That's the key. I'd run from anyone who was working from some rigid, race-centric set of conventions.

And, again, nothing can replace self-analysis. At least if you have paid some attention to your own riding style and issues, you can have some kind of back and forth with a fitter. A good fitter will, for instance, have you concentrate on where your power is concentrating in your feet. It will be up to you to be able to communicate such things to the fitter. Without your direction, the fitter can't do anything worthwhile.

It's quite like visiting any "doctor."

...I would be a bit cautious about going a full centimetre in lifting your seat. Try smaller increments, like 3mm or 5mm. Mark the post so you have a reference point.

+1

I had a pro fit at a highly regarded sports clinic. I was impressed that the fitter took into consideration the actual type riding I do. Of the adjustments he made or recommended all were fine save one. He recommended moving my cleats all the way back citing recent research on long distance riding. I was nervous about such a radical change in one shot but went with it anyway. 18 miles into my next hard ride I had intense hamstring pain - and I had never before had ANY hamstring pain. I suspected the adjustments to the cleats. I moved the cleats back to their original position and the pain went away within a mile.

I don't doubt that his new position may be better in the long run but IF I eventually go to the new position I'll do it a millimeter at a time over a whole season. Right now though the memory of that pain keeps me from doing any changes.

+1

I had a pro fit at a highly regarded sports clinic. I was impressed that the fitter took into consideration the actual type riding I do. Of the adjustments he made or recommended all were fine save one. He recommended moving my cleats all the way back citing recent research on long distance riding. I was nervous about such a radical change in one shot but went with it anyway. 18 miles into my next hard ride I had intense hamstring pain - and I had never before had ANY hamstring pain. I suspected the adjustments to the cleats. I moved the cleats back to their original position and the pain went away within a mile.

I don't doubt that his new position may be better in the long run but IF I eventually go to the new position I'll do it a millimeter at a time over a whole season. Right now though the memory of that pain keeps me from doing any changes.

When the cleats go back, the saddle must come down accordingly. If the fitter didn't know this ....

Reporting back from my “pro fit” today. He did what I thought it needed without my mentioning it: raised the seat and replaced the stem with a higher angle one to both raise it and move it back. The seat height is now at the height of my previous bike, which I was afraid was too high. Not that it bothered me on the old bike, but that I thought I was extending my leg more than recommended. Before today I’d ridden the new one about 650 miles since Jan 2, including a couple of centuries, so my body had adapted to it. He raised the seat at least 1 cm, to get the leg angle right at the bottom of the stroke.

He also cautioned me to not go bonkers on mileage all at once after the adjustment. So I rode 60 miles afterwards this afternoon anyway, and sure enough, after about 40 miles the lower outside tendons of my right hamstring were very tender. I’m chalking it up to too many miles after a major adjustment, like Rowan said. I really think I’ll be fine tomorrow, and will only be riding 30 miles/day until the weekend. If not, I know how to lower it.

Of course the logical thing would have been to note how high it had to go to achieve proper extension and then incrementally work the seat up to that height. He didn’t even bring it up, to his discredit. But since he was moving it up to the height of my previous bike, I didn’t argue and I’m assuming the adaption period will be a very few days. (Side note: the higher seat completely eliminates any patella inflammation I was experiencing with the new bike. No surprise there; that's why I'd raised the old one in the first place.)

When the cleats go back, the saddle must come down accordingly. If the fitter didn't know this ....In my case, the saddle also had to come forward to get my knee back over the spindle as well. But as a side note, the bit about moving the cleats rearward can help a LOT with hot-foot.

I completed my first year as a Randonneur, finishing an R-12 and SR series. I learned a few things during the year.You probably "learned" a lot more than that. The list sounds more like some of the things you learned the hard way. Let's see what you think of your "top ten list " after this year's rides.

In my case, the saddle also had to come forward to get my knee back over the spindle as well. But as a side note, the bit about moving the cleats rearward can help a LOT with hot-foot.

Ooh. I forgot that part when I moved my cleats back.