Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - SiR Spring 600k Ride Report (post almost as long as the ride)

I'm still not quite sure if I actually did it or if I just dreamt it, but I have memories of riding the SIR 600k brevet this weekend. The pain in my legs is telling me that it was real, so I think I'll go with that. This is my first season as a Randonneur, and my first 600k.

About 65 riders set out from Auburn at 6:00 am Saturday. I was feeling a little unsure about how you ride a 600k, I mean what sort of pace do you set when you know you need to maintain it for the next day and a half? I also wasn't sure if I should try to find a group to ride with or go it alone. But within the first ten miles, I found myself riding with a small group that consisted of a couple of guys that I had ridden with on the 300k a couple months before (Matt and Dan), and three others who were strong riders and nice guys, so I let the group set the pace. We rode along the Tacoma waterfront, over the Narrows Bridge, up the Kitsap peninsula past Gig Harbor to the first control at Waterman Point. For the first 50 miles the pace was brisk but comfortable. At the first control we caught up to the one lone rider who was ahead of us, a guy named Ryan who is often among the first two or three to finish a brevet. He joined our group and bumped up our pace a notch putting it at something I could hang with, but just barely. Um... fun.

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The view forward and aft as we went through Fife. Ahead are three of the group I stayed with for the first 400k (l to r: Bryan, Matt and Dan).

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Crossing the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

The next 125 miles were a bit of a blur. We rode along Hood Canal, and then headed for the coast through dried up little working class towns like Matlock, Cosmopolis and Aberdeen. We were riding into a headwind, not a severe headwind, but enough that you wouldn't want to ride it alone. Pretty early on in that stretch, we dropped one of the group (Dan). We were working as pace line, taking 1 1/2 to 2 mile pulls each. I dreaded every time my pull came around, not because of my time out front, but because once I finished and dropped to the back it was all I could do to hang on. Being at the back of the line after a pull felt a little like how I've heard drowning described before. Drowning victims supposedly reach a point where they just let go and stop struggling, and a sense of calm comes over them. I'd be there at the back of the pack, struggling to hang on thinking how it would be so easy to just let go and slowly drift off to the bottom…

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Heading toward the coast (l to r: Matt, Bryan, Dan, and Ryan hiding behind Dan)

Somehow I stayed with the group to the coast, through Westport (I don't mean to bad mouth Westport, but my God in the minimart where we stopped for food and water there couldn't have been more than a dozen teeth amongst the three people working there), Grayland, Tokeland until we finally turned inland and had the wind at our backs. I had been thinking that as soon as we had a tailwind, I could let the group go and I'd ride at a less painful pace for a while. It was about that time that I got a flat tire. The group stopped and a couple of the guys helped me fix it. I had been really hurting just before the flat, but somehow getting off the bike for a few minutes to fix the flat restored me quite a bit so when we started rolling again I decided <heavy sigh> to stay with the group until the overnight control in Centralia.

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About 150 miles in and still able to fake a smile.

The last 75 miles to the overnight control weren't too bad. The first half of it is a very gentle climb, but with the wind at our backs we were still moving at better than 20 mph. I was tired and everything hurt a little bit, but I was feeling surprisingly good all things considered. We got lost looking for the control that was about 20 miles out of Centralia which added about three miles and a few minutes of pointing at cue sheets and arguing, and Ryan got a flat and went through a couple tubes before he found the piece of wire stuck in his tire, but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing and we rolled into the overnight control at about 9:30pm just as it was getting dark. 400km done, only 200km to go.

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My trusty steed resting at the Rainbow Falls Control 20 miles before Centralia

At the overnight control we were greeted by enthusiastic volunteers, mountains of real food, cold beer, and best of all, chairs! Four of our group had decided to make it a short stop and press on through the night to see if they could finish the ride in less than 24 hours. I entertained the idea of going with them for all of two seconds but instead opted to have a huge meal and try to get a few hours of sleep before getting back on the road. So, the two of us who were staying behind sent our riding buddies off into the night and grabbed a second plate of spaghetti.

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Real Food at the overnight control!

I slept for about three hours and woke up feeling pretty rested, so I figured I might as well get back on the road. The volunteers made me a huge breakfast burrito (which I ended up regretting for the next 50 miles) and some paint stripper-like coffee (yum, I like it strong). Bryan, the other guy from the group who stayed behind, was also up and ready to roll, as was a rider who had come in to the overnight around midnight, so the three of us headed out together a little after 2:30am.

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Ready to roll at 2:30am

The first 50 miles after the overnight were mostly uphill, not steep, but endless rollers that go up 200 feet, then down 100, then up 200 more and down another 100... Strangely enough I really enjoyed the riding from 2:30 until the sun came up. It’s so peaceful with no cars on the road and the tunnel of light created by the headlights makes it easy to just focus on the task and get into a rhythm. Our route took us up back roads toward Mt. Rainier to the town of Morton. The sun was up by the time we reached Morton and we knew from that point it was another 80 miles of mostly downhill. From Morton on, Bryan and I took turns sort of running out of gas and pulling each other along when the other guy was dragging (well, actually I was the one who did most of the running out of gas and Bryan who did most of the pulling). A big chunk of the last 80 miles follows the RAMROD route, and it’s some very scenic countryside, but by that point in the ride it was hard to appreciate it.

Bryan and I arrived at the finish back in Auburn at 10:50am Sunday, 28 hours and 50 minutes after leaving. We were the second group to finish, the first being the four that we rode the first 400k with. It turns out they didn’t make the sub-24 hour finish they had been shooting for, but still finished in a phenomenal 24:35.

My cycle computer mysteriously reset itself somewhere around Enumclaw, so I don’t know what the actual total miles, riding time or average speed were, but it was something like 380 miles, and about 22 hours riding time.

Completing the 600k along with the 200k, 300k, and 400k makes me an official “Super Randonneur” according to l'Audax Club Perisien, giving me the right to buy myself a shiny medal and brag about it to people who have never heard the word, "Randonneur." Woot!

Nice job, and nice writeup. I hope to accomplish the same feat next year. What did you use for lighting?

nice!

Congrats! Thanx for the nice ride report.

Great report and accomplishment. Do you ride a Soma?

Nice job, and nice writeup. I hope to accomplish the same feat next year. What did you use for lighting?

Thanks! On the front I have two Cateye HL-EL530s (http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/345) that are mounted upsidedown on the sides of my Nitto M12 front rack. On the back I have a good ol' Planet Bikes Superflash and I keep a spare Superflash in my bag. I'm really happy with the EL530s. Definitely not as bright as a nice dynohub setup, but for the price I think they do the job quite nicely. Battery life is supposedly 90 hours on four AAs.


Do you ride a Soma?

No, just the hat.:lol: I'm riding a Surly Cross Check.

Congrats! Interesting report and great time for your first 600.

Any idea how much climbing on that route?

Steve, nice report! Haven't read through it yet but damn, nice finish time for your first 600!

I was just happy to finish with more than one minute to spare this time around. Next time I'll shoot for something under 30 hours. I don't seem to have the determination/focus needed to get through these long rides fast like you guys though.

It's interesting to see your perspective on the ride - even though we were on the same ride, our experiences were somewhat different. I was hitting the sack for some rest when you were taking off from the overnight!

My initial plan was to ride through, but sleep was too inviting. And I thought that next stretch would be hellish in the dark, but it sounds like you had a great time there.

RC, the semi-official gain number was about 10,000 ft I think - though cheg's Garmin unit said about 14k. It was definitely not one of our big climbing brevets, but had plenty of little hills.

Awesome ride & report, thanks for sharing. I love the description of drowning at the back of the draft.

Thanks! On the front I have two Cateye HL-EL530s (http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/345) that are mounted upsidedown on the sides of my Nitto M12 front rack. On the back I have a good ol' Planet Bikes Superflash and I keep a spare Superflash in my bag. I'm really happy with the EL530s. Definitely not as bright as a nice dynohub setup, but for the price I think they do the job quite nicely. Battery life is supposedly 90 hours on four AAs.



No, just the hat.:lol: I'm riding a Surly Cross Check.

Thanks for the info on the lights. I haven't seen those before but they look nice for this type of application. I personally never really loved the idea of using a hub and stealing 20 or 25 watts or whatever you'd use. I need all of my output to make me go forward :D

How would one deal with the spare bulb carry requirement on the PBP, for instance with and LED I wonder. LED's should be exempt, considering their expected life span.

I personally never really loved the idea of using a hub and stealing 20 or 25 watts or whatever you'd use. I need all of my output to make me go forward :D

How would one deal with the spare bulb carry requirement on the PBP, for instance with and LED I wonder. LED's should be exempt, considering their expected life span.

I use a SON28 and Supernova E3 on my rig, and the power consumption is insignificant. Really, you don't feel any difference between when it's on and when it's off.
Spare bulbs are only a necessity with a halogen lamp, and with the output of modern dyno-driven LEDs you can safely use just that, and have a 100k hour lifetime from it. The Schmidt Edelux is truly the king of dyno LEDs, with the second place duking it out between the Supernova E3, E3 asymmetrical, and B&M's IQ Cyo and IQ Cyo-R.


lonesomesteve, mattm - nice job on your 600k finish. Maybe next year I'll be ready to join everyone on that distance... This year I'll be happy with finishing the fall series through the 400k.

I personally never really loved the idea of using a hub and stealing 20 or 25 watts or whatever you'd use.


The hub puts out 6w... so I'm not sure you'd soak up more than that... but it is insignificant - whatever the scientific amount actually is.

Completing the 600k along with the 200k, 300k, and 400k makes me an official “Super Randonneur” according to l'Audax Club Perisien, giving me the right to buy myself a shiny medal and brag about it to people who have never heard the word, "Randonneur." Woot!

Tell the ladies you can complete an around the clock endurance event, and you won't be lonesomesteve anymore...:innocent:

Steve, nice report! Haven't read through it yet but damn, nice finish time for your first 600!

I was just happy to finish with more than one minute to spare this time around. Next time I'll shoot for something under 30 hours. I don't seem to have the determination/focus needed to get through these long rides fast like you guys though.

It's interesting to see your perspective on the ride - even though we were on the same ride, our experiences were somewhat different. I was hitting the sack for some rest when you were taking off from the overnight!

My initial plan was to ride through, but sleep was too inviting. And I thought that next stretch would be hellish in the dark, but it sounds like you had a great time there.

RC, the semi-official gain number was about 10,000 ft I think - though cheg's Garmin unit said about 14k. It was definitely not one of our big climbing brevets, but had plenty of little hills.

Thanks, Matt. 30 hours was my goal this time around. I was happy to be able to get a some sleep and still make it with time to spare. I'm sure you've got the legs to do a 30 hour 600k, but like you say it takes determination or maybe just plain stupidity to keep on pushing through.

I read your report and looked at your pictures and thought the same thing about how our experiences were pretty different considering it was the same ride. I missed a lot of great scenery and interesting color along the way (like the don't-shoot-yourself-in-the-foot poster). It was all I could do to snap the very few lousy pics that I got since my focus was mostly on the wheel in front of me. I have to admit, I was a little envious of your experience. I think I may take some of the summer series brevets at a more relaxed pace to see how it feels.



Tell the ladies you can complete an around the clock endurance event, and you won't be lonesomesteve anymore...
Heh, not sure my wife would appreciate that. :) Lonesome Steve was a nickname I picked up years ago when I was in a bluegrass band just because the other members of the band thought it sounded sort of hillbilly-ish. With the wife and kids, I need to go for long rides these days to get alone time.

I use a SON28 and Supernova E3 on my rig, and the power consumption is insignificant. Really, you don't feel any difference between when it's on and when it's off.
Spare bulbs are only a necessity with a halogen lamp, and with the output of modern dyno-driven LEDs you can safely use just that, and have a 100k hour lifetime from it. The Schmidt Edelux is truly the king of dyno LEDs, with the second place duking it out between the Supernova E3, E3 asymmetrical, and B&M's IQ Cyo and IQ Cyo-R.

Wouldn't an LED user be required to carry backup lights, instead of a bulb?



lonesomesteve, mattm - nice job on your 600k finish. Maybe next year I'll be ready to join everyone on that distance... This year I'll be happy with finishing the fall series through the 400k.

Thanks, Clifton! Hope to see you at the fall series - if you do the 400, you should think about the 600 too. Jan's course for that one can't be missed!


The hub puts out 6w... so I'm not sure you'd soak up more than that... but it is insignificant - whatever the scientific amount actually is.

I think dynohubs draw about 3w, according to bicycle Quarterly. But like Clifton said, you can't really tell when it's on.

Not to say there's anything wrong with LED lights, just that dynohubs ain't all that bad.

Thanks for the info on the lights. I haven't seen those before but they look nice for this type of application. I personally never really loved the idea of using a hub and stealing 20 or 25 watts or whatever you'd use. I need all of my output to make me go forward :D

How would one deal with the spare bulb carry requirement on the PBP, for instance with and LED I wonder. LED's should be exempt, considering their expected life span.
As Clifton said, spare bulbs aren't required for LED lights, but incidentally the reason I run two headlights is primarily for backup purposes. If one should fail for whatever reason, I've still got another and one puts out enough light to keep riding. I'd probably keep my speed below 25mph or so if I only had one, but it would certainly get me through the night.

Very entertaining report. How many meal stops did you make during the ride?

Wouldn't an LED user be required to carry backup lights, instead of a bulb?


Thanks, Clifton! Hope to see you at the fall series - if you do the 400, you should think about the 600 too. Jan's course for that one can't be missed!

Like any system, redundancy is a good thing so many dyno users (LED and Halo) have a battery backup light. I'm actually going to outfit my ride with a second light, but use the asymmetrical lens version for it. That way I can have the asymm as a "primary" with the symmetrical as a high-beam for pitch dark back roads or really fast descents. (I know that there is no actual primary/2ndary for the E3, that's why it's in quotes.)

You'll see me at the start line for the 200 --> 400k, and on your return leg if any of the course is out-n-back! I'm still not much faster than I was in the early season, so I'm still hanging with the back of the pack.


Very entertaining report. How many meal stops did you make during the ride?

One of the route pre-riders posted an awesome chart of the elevation graph vs. mileage, superimposed with balloons describing their chow stops.

Very entertaining report. How many meal stops did you make during the ride?

I'm not sure I would describe any of the stops as "meal stops" except for the overnight control, unless you consider minimart food to be a "meal." There were eight controls along the way where we had to stop and I think we made two other stops outside of controls for food and water. Most of those stops were 10 minutes or less. Of course, the overnight control had an amazing feast of spaghetti, salmon, strawberry short cake, cold beer... I took in about a gazillion calories there. Otherwise, the only food I ate not sitting on the bike was a minimart sandwich and some chips on Saturday afternoon, and a sausage muffin gut-bomb sometime Sunday morning. On the bike I ate granola bars, Clif gel shots, Clif shot blocks, pop tarts, and cookies.

RC, the semi-official gain number was about 10,000 ft I think - though cheg's Garmin unit said about 14k. It was definitely not one of our big climbing brevets, but had plenty of little hills.

Not to take anything away from the route and certainly not ls's 28:50, a good time for any 600km brevet ... but for perspective, 10,000 feet would be about 1,500ft less climbing than on the Vancouver Island "Hills are Alive" 300, 3,000ft less than the original (new one in 2 weeks) Tsunami 300, and the Pacific Rim 600 we just ran totals somewhere in the vicinity of 16,000 feet of up. Photos here (http://www.veloweb.ca/bikepix.html). Report here (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/pacrim-09.html).

Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34.

Not to take anything away from the route and certainly not ls's 28:50, a good time for any 600km brevet ... but for perspective, 10,000 feet would be about 1,500ft less climbing than on the Vancouver Island "Hills are Alive" 300, 3,000ft less than the original (new one in 2 weeks) Tsunami 300, and the Pacific Rim 600 we just ran totals somewhere in the vicinity of 16,000 feet of up. Photos here (http://www.veloweb.ca/bikepix.html). Report here (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/pacrim-09.html).

Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34.

Yep, I don't have a lot of experience, but from what I hear this was an atypically flat 600k for SiR. No complaints here though. It looks like the 2nd SiR 600k of the year will make up for it with four mountain passes. Not sure how many feet it will be, but probably enough to challenge even a BC Randonneur. ;)

Not to take anything away from the route and certainly not ls's 28:50, a good time for any 600km brevet ... but for perspective, 10,000 feet would be about 1,500ft less climbing than on the Vancouver Island "Hills are Alive" 300, 3,000ft less than the original (new one in 2 weeks) Tsunami 300, and the Pacific Rim 600 we just ran totals somewhere in the vicinity of 16,000 feet of up. Photos here (http://www.veloweb.ca/bikepix.html). Report here (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/pacrim-09.html).

Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34.

Wow, you guys/gals do the most climbing in the world, eh?

If you want a pissing contest, just wait until the "return to the mountains" 600k put on by Jan Heine later this summer. =]

Not to take anything away from the route and certainly not ls's 28:50, a good time for any 600km brevet ... but for perspective, 10,000 feet would be about 1,500ft less climbing than on the Vancouver Island "Hills are Alive" 300, 3,000ft less than the original (new one in 2 weeks) Tsunami 300, and the Pacific Rim 600 we just ran totals somewhere in the vicinity of 16,000 feet of up. Photos here (http://www.veloweb.ca/bikepix.html). Report here (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/pacrim-09.html).

Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34.

i never know what to make of RCs posts. johhny does:

http://celebrityrockstarguitars.com/rock/images/johnny%2520cash%2520finger-737393.jpg





lsteve, mattm, and others - good work on a great ride. a 600k is an accomplishment, regardless of the amount of climbing, epic weather, etc. etc.
be proud. well done.

Not to take anything away from the route and certainly not ls's 28:50, a good time for any 600km brevet ... but for perspective, 10,000 feet would be about 1,500ft less climbing than on the Vancouver Island "Hills are Alive" 300, 3,000ft less than the original (new one in 2 weeks) Tsunami 300, and the Pacific Rim 600 we just ran totals somewhere in the vicinity of 16,000 feet of up. Photos here (http://www.veloweb.ca/bikepix.html). Report here (http://www.veloweb.ca/storypages/pacrim-09.html).

Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34.

It was, by their own admission, the easiest 600k course SiR has plotted. No mountain passes and no ascents over 2000', if I'm remembering the profile right. I think the planners were looking to see some PRs set on this course.
By comparision, SiR puts on the Whidbey Island 300k (~9000'), the 2009 spring 400k (~18,000'), the 3 Passes 400k (~24,000' if Veloroutes is correct), and in case you really like hills there's the Big Time Urban Pop. (100k, ~7000 feet).

i never know what to make of RCs posts.

I never know what to make of bmike's responses.

Seems I hit a nerve. I'm familiar with some of the very difficult SIR brevets and have heard plenty of stories to that effect. As I said, I was just comparing some of our Island routes, not, as I noted, taking anything away from the brevet in question.

Id like to try some of the SIR routes. In my present state of health, I'd be happy to get through a 200 ... any 200!

I wasn't tryng to rain on anyone's parade. Jeez!

The "Hills are Alive" 300k sounds like fun. I may have to look into that one for next year so I can actually lay claim to the "International" part of Seattle International Randonneurs.

I wasn't tryng to rain on anyone's parade. Jeez!
Hard to interpret your post any other way, which hopefully you understood.

It was, by their own admission, the easiest 600k course SiR has plotted. No mountain passes and no ascents over 2000', if I'm remembering the profile right. I think the planners were looking to see some PRs set on this course.
By comparision, SiR puts on the Whidbey Island 300k (~9000'), the 2009 spring 400k (~18,000'), the 3 Passes 400k (~24,000' if Veloroutes is correct), and in case you really like hills there's the Big Time Urban Pop. (100k, ~7000 feet).

Generally it comes up with estimates that are over the actual - due to noise in the data. So take any gain numbers from veloroutes with a grain of salt. (I should know, I wrote the app)

Even so, the three pass 400k was up there, but probably not 24k feet of climbing.

Randochap, no hard feelings! We're all under the same wacky tent here, and we all love "our" brevet courses. And I do want to come up there and give one of the VI brevets a shot some time.

lonesomesteve,

Fun ride report. SIR really puts on a nice brevet. Congrats on your first SR series and fast completion time. Maybe someday I'll finish a 600K with the fast riders, but for now, I'm getting my money's worth by coming in with only a couple of hours to spare.

Although it's true that you can never ride your first 600K again, the ones I've ridden have all been sufficiently different that each has felt like a "first". And I always learn new things. The biggest new things I learned on this year's 600K: 1) During the week leading up to the brevet, shift my sleep and waking times earlier so that I can get to the brevet start the night before and go to sleep at 8 pm and get almost a full-night's sleep before the start, 2) Wake up 2 hours before the brevet start, zap some pancakes and bacon, wolf down in the dark, and go back to sleep for another hour and a half, wake up charged up and ready to go, 3) At the overnight, drink three bottles of Ensure before going to sleep, wake up two hours later and drink another three, wake up two hours later feeling totally recharged and raring to go. With all that sleep, I never felt the slightest bit drowsy while riding, which was a totally new experience. I was strongly motivated to favor sleep over a faster finishing time, because this year's SR series I rode on the tandem with my wife (her first SR series). Crashing because I was drowsy would have meant the end of her randonneuring with me, plus an extended stay in the dog house :-)


Mattm,

Any idea how much climbing there is on Jan's 600K, and how the climbing compares to the Four Passes 600K from last spring? A friend is planning to ride Jan's 600K and was asking about my experience on the Four Passes. She said she's heard that if you're not a fast climber, you're at serious risk of missing the control after the overnight.

FWIW, Four Passes has 21,500 feet of climbing according to my GPS. The 600K that DC Randonneurs just finished last weekend has about 23,000 feet. Though the climbing is just _slightly_ different in character between the two brevets :-) Four passes has, of course, four really huge climbs. The DCR 600 has five or six moderate climbs and one heckuva lot of small climbs including the infamous Pigeon Hills of southern PA, which is about twenty-five miles worth of incessant little 300 to 400 foot walls. Very tandem unfriendly :-) Anyway, my friend finished in about 37 hours. Do you think she needs to worry about Jan's 600?


Everyone,

There are 600K's with lots more climbing than anything mentioned in any posts here, and with lots less. Sounds like lonesomesteve would be a fast finisher on whatever course he rides.

Nick

Randochap, no hard feelings! We're all under the same wacky tent here, and we all love "our" brevet courses. And I do want to come up there and give one of the VI brevets a shot some time.

Good. I absolutely wasn't looking for a pissing contest. Sure, we're proud of our routes here on VI and they do have a reputation as being hard. It's not so much the vertical gain as the "character" of the constant, steep rollers. They are also some of the most scenic and low traffic anywhere.

As far as the "international" flavour, you probably know that we get a good attendance from south of the border, with some Washington riders spending as much or more time riding BCRCC brevets than their own. I've hosted visiting SIR members in my own home.

I can't understand why my route comparisons elicited such virulent responses.

I offer an open invitation to anyone who wants to ride one of our Island events. PM me for details.

We have a new (easier) Tsunami 300 and a "Backroad" 400 (4,000 metres climbing) coming up.

The "Hills are Alive" 300k sounds like fun. I may have to look into that one for next year so I can actually lay claim to the "International" part of Seattle International Randonneurs.

The "Hills are Alive" has for a quarter century been the hard 300k route on the BCRCC spring calendar, as it is also the earliest. This one has a sting in its tail, with the last 50 kilometres making the most hardened rando whimper!

Times run from around 11 hours to 16 or so for mortals. I fall into the lesser end of the latter category.

See invitation above.

The "Hills are Alive" has for a quarter century been the hard 300k route on the BCRCC spring calendar, as it is also the earliest. This one has a sting in its tail, with the last 50 kilometres making the most hardened rando whimper!

Times run from around 11 hours to 16 or so for mortals. I fall into the lesser end of the latter category.

See invitation above.

Whidbey Island was my first 300k, and I rolled in at 17h 03m, mostly because I have a tendency to lollygag at the controls and stop for "just a minute" here and there to take pictures. I could have trimmed that time down to 16h if I didn't stop for some pix at the Deception bridge, and at the top of Chuckanut ridge, and a sandwich break at the informational control on the Centennial Trail, etc...

...
I can't understand why my route comparisons elicited such virulent responses.
...

I was also surprised by the response to what seemed like a fairly innocuous post. The only thing that I can think of is that you said "Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34." I assume GuessWho is you, so then maybe your comment made it seem like your post is bragging both about the amount of climbing and about how you rode it faster than the original poster. But note that the original poster replied directly to your post and didn't seem to take offense.

Nick

Although it's true that you can never ride your first 600K again, the ones I've ridden have all been sufficiently different that each has felt like a "first". And I always learn new things.

So true - which is kind of nice in a way too.


Mattm,

Any idea how much climbing there is on Jan's 600K, and how the climbing compares to the Four Passes 600K from last spring? A friend is planning to ride Jan's 600K and was asking about my experience on the Four Passes. She said she's heard that if you're not a fast climber, you're at serious risk of missing the control after the overnight.

Bikely (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/SIR08-600k-West-Ridge) says roughly 18.7k feet of climbing for the route, sounds close but I'm not sure.

I DNFd the ride last year, out of pure laziness since a friend was calling in his wife and I had a free ride home. I so regret that.

We were about to do that last climb before the overnight (White Pass), but starting it at night was a little too daunting at the time. But boy do I regret that DNF, and hope to make up for it this year.


FWIW, Four Passes has 21,500 feet of climbing according to my GPS. The 600K that DC Randonneurs just finished last weekend has about 23,000 feet. ...

Do you think she needs to worry about Jan's 600?

Everyone doing that brevet needs to worry a little, unless your name is Ryan H. or Jan H. =]

Seriously though, looking at the results (http://www.seattlerandonneur.org/sir_content/scripts/viewResults.php?id=44) from last year, most of the times are pretty close to 40 hours. And some of those riders normally come in closer to 35 hours for a 600.

But I do know that some of the riders that finished are not strong climbers - but they are very experienced/determined randos who never seem to fail on a brevet.

None of the grades are too tough, most are below or around 5%. But the FS26 "road" up to Windy Ridge gets up to 20% in a few places.. it was a beast of a climb for sure. I don't think it's an over-the-top brevet, but it's got to be up there.

I was also surprised by the response to what seemed like a fairly innocuous post. The only thing that I can think of is that you said "Fastest time (by GuessWho) was 27:34." I assume GuessWho is you, so then maybe your comment made it seem like your post is bragging both about the amount of climbing and about how you rode it faster than the original poster. But note that the original poster replied directly to your post and didn't seem to take offense.

Nick

I wish! :-) That would be an incorrect assumption. The "GuessWho" in question is the chap most often at the top of the times list: Ken Bonner. A friend joked that, due to K's "hangover" from the 2,000km/68,500 foot brevet he'd just completed, K had slowed to the fastest time he'd ever put in on that route!

The day I put in a sub-28 hour 600 will be the day genetic doping becomes available down at the local pharmacy, or I find a dead flat route with a tailwind all the way! That's why I gave the OP full marks.

Cheers

lonesomesteve,

Fun ride report. SIR really puts on a nice brevet. Congrats on your first SR series and fast completion time. Maybe someday I'll finish a 600K with the fast riders, but for now, I'm getting my money's worth by coming in with only a couple of hours to spare.

Although it's true that you can never ride your first 600K again, the ones I've ridden have all been sufficiently different that each has felt like a "first". And I always learn new things. The biggest new things I learned on this year's 600K: 1) During the week leading up to the brevet, shift my sleep and waking times earlier so that I can get to the brevet start the night before and go to sleep at 8 pm and get almost a full-night's sleep before the start, 2) Wake up 2 hours before the brevet start, zap some pancakes and bacon, wolf down in the dark, and go back to sleep for another hour and a half, wake up charged up and ready to go, 3) At the overnight, drink three bottles of Ensure before going to sleep, wake up two hours later and drink another three, wake up two hours later feeling totally recharged and raring to go. With all that sleep, I never felt the slightest bit drowsy while riding, which was a totally new experience. I was strongly motivated to favor sleep over a faster finishing time, because this year's SR series I rode on the tandem with my wife (her first SR series). Crashing because I was drowsy would have meant the end of her randonneuring with me, plus an extended stay in the dog house :-)


Thanks, TB. Sounds like good advice on the sleep and nutrition issues. I'm lucky in the sleep arena in that I've always been able to get by pretty well with not much sleep. Friday night before the 600k I went to bed at a pretty normal time for me which means I got about four hours sleep. With that and the three hours I got at the overnight control I never felt too sleep deprived while riding. Tired, yes, but not sleepy. Now a 1,200k may be another story...

Randochap, no offense taken here. I'm just glad I was able to lose my 600k virginity to a gentle and caring course. I'll definitely take you up on your invitation one of these days. I've done a couple of car trips through BC and on Vancouver Island, and the lack of traffic and scenic beauty is very appealing.

hey, if you aren't trying to rain on a parade, then don't start a post with 'Not to take anything away from ... ... but ....' and then follow up with a string of stats and times.


That is all. Congratulate the guys first. If climbing and difficulty come up, bring on some comparisons... but yeah, when you say 'GuessWho' with a time and a listing of a ton of climbing, it sure felt to me like you were raining on the parade... and patting your self on the back. Maybe its that Yankee / English translation thing.

just sayin...

"Man that red dress sure makes your ass look fat... but... you look great and all after working so hard on the dieting and working out... maybe its just not your color" SLAP.