bmclaughlin807

Well, finished my first 300k! *gives himself a big pat on the back*

Went better than my 200k, but things could have gone a lot smoother.

I took it much easier at the start, and made sure I drank plenty, but my problems started more than an hour before the ride.

Waiting for the light rail down to the ride start I was across the street from a McDonald's... figured I'd go grab breakfast. The dining area was closed, so I went through the drive through on my bike, and ordered a #3 combo. Got up to the window, and she tells me that's $6 and something! Wha??? for the bacon egg and cheese biscuit combo? "No, that's the double quarter-pounder w/ cheese meal" ... No, no... I wanted the BREAKFAST. "Sorry, we don't serve breakfast till 5"

Well, at this point they've already made the meal, so I just take it. Let me tell you, a double quarter pounder with cheese is a bit much to be eating for breakfast at 3:45 in the morning!

Well, I ate it all, anyway, I had over an hour before the ride started, so I figured it'd be ok.

Start of the ride went fine... remembering last week I took it easy at the start and did pretty good to the half way point. With the big breakfast I wasn't able to eat very much, though. Ate 1 Larabar, a tiny bit of beef jerky and a couple bags of peanuts.

On the return trip I found three riders I could hang with and we stayed together for a while, till one of them started having troubles with the hills. I hung back and rode with him to keep him company. We were doing pretty good till we got caught in the rain... it was COLD... so cold it made me ache everywhere. Trying to stay with him I waited too long before I stopped and put on my rain gear. That was a decision I'd really end up paying for.

While putting on my windbreaker a very nice lady stopped and offered me a ride back to my car so I wouldn't have to ride in the rain. I thanked her for the offer and explained that I was about 160 miles into a 187 mile ride, and the weather was just one more challenge to be overcome. She just shook her head at my craziness and said to enjoy the rest of the ride.

I was pretty comfortable riding in the rain after that, but my body ached all over from the cold earlier.

Another 15 miles and I was really paying for my lack of appetite, as it just got harder and harder to turn the pedals. About this point my riding partner rode on ahead with another rider, so I finished by myself.

Total ride distance: 191.7 miles (Including two missed turns and back-tracks) with over 12,300 feet of climbing in 15 hrs, 25 minutes

Add in the 10 miles to the start, and a mile from the bus back home, and I posted 202.7 miles for the day. My first double century!

I did get a little dehydrated towards the end, so I still need to work on the nutrition (Though I think a lighter breakfast would have been a huge help!) Overall I finished in much better shape than on the 200k.

Still debating whether I'm gonna do another 300k next weekend. I think I'd enjoy the ride (looks to be a great area with great scenery), but the 400k is only a week after that. I'll have to see how well my body recovers over this week before I make that decision.

ConstantRider

Nice! You discovered the true randonneuring secret, the one experts don't even like to share in the brevet "secrets" thread: Always start your event with a Double Quarter Pounder. Congratulions on your strong finish -- 12,300 feet in 300K, with rain, sounds like a tough ride!

bmclaughlin807

Bleh. No more Double quarter pounder with cheese meals for me!

I could hardly eat anything else all day... and paid for it at the end of the ride. Next time I'll find something a little lighter.

Edit: I'm researching the elevation... Topo USA says 12,300+, brevet leader says 'over 6,000' ... That's a HUGE discrepancy. Not sure where he got his elevation figures from. I'll check it on another site to see where it comes out.

redtires

Holy cow!!! I haven't even thought about the brevets I did years and years ago until I just saw this thread! I flaked after the 300k though...just not enough time, and I got invited to go on RAAM in '91, so off I went...twice! lol. Sometime I'll have to post my story about going to dinner with the then director of the U.S chapter of International Randonneurs while visiting my Dad in Syracuse. I don't know if he is still alive, he was in his eighties then, but still rode his fixed gear nearly every day!!! Super sweet man, have fun on those rides, you'll have memories for a lifetime!!!

bmclaughlin807

One of my goals is to qualify for RAAM either next year or the year after.

I'm really loving the rides so far! Hopefully as I get more experienced I'll get the nutrition and hydration issues worked out and figure out what my body likes on the long rides.

I think I have my base conditioning down... I'm less than 200 miles short of my 10,000 mile goal for my first 12 months back on the bike, and have over a week and a half left to get it. I've got no muscle soreness at all from the brevet, with the exception of my neck, and I blame that on not being used to the helmet. *crinkles his nose* Going from no helmet at all to over 200 miles in one day with a helmet on... yeah, I'm wearing it all the time now just to get used to it.

iceratt

I looked at your bike journal, and you are generally riding under 20 mi/d, then you jumped to over 200! How can you do that? I'm a flatlander, trying to get ready for a 202 mi ride( or 262 if I ride to the starting point) by increasing my distance gradually over 6 weeks. I'm only up to 54 miles and I have 4 weeks to go.

bmclaughlin807

Umm.... the 'daily' rides you see are my bike commutes... 25 miles a day. Plus whatever I do on weekends and after work. Hrmm... I haven't paid for a membership over on that site yet, so it doesn't look like you can see other months, just the current one, so you can't see a lot of my longer rides. The commutes make for a GREAT base mileage, though... I rode all winter long, and started the season in a lot better shape than most of the other riders.

I've put in 4,100 miles so far this year, bringing my 12 month total since I started riding at the end of May of last year to over 10,000 (my goal for the year. )

I ride EVERYWHERE, I have no car.

4 weeks isn't much time to prepare for a 200 mile ride... I started riding with groups and clubs earlier this year, and went from there.

Try to find a club near you that's interested in Randonneuring and see what kind of training rides they have available.

Also, you mention that you're only up to 54 miles, but you don't really say how often you can do those length of rides.... Someone said that if you can comfortably ride the distance every week then you can physically handle the ride, and I think that's pretty true.

In that case, you need to work on the differences between a single really long ride and a bunch of shorter rides... of which there are mainly two:

1) Bike fit. For a shorter ride (or LOTS of short rides), you can deal with a poor fit... on a long ride you'll REALLY regret it if your bike doesn't fit you very well.

2) Nutrition. Keeping yourself fueled and hydrated is EXTREMELY important, and possibly tricky... I just completed my third brevet yesterday (another 300k + extra miles) and I'm just getting the nutrition part down... still working on the hydration.

Tons of advice in this forum and the Training and Nutrition forums... look through it and see what seems applicable.

And good luck on your ride!

BAL

BMC,

I have to ask, what saddle are you using to handle the long distance riding? I am not trying to start another saddle thread but I would be interested in knowing what saddle you use and have you always been happy with the comfort?

bmclaughlin807

Umm... I'd have to go look, it's whatever came on the bike!

It's a Novara seat... probably the saddle that came new on the bike (A Novara Randonee from REI)

Yesterday was the first time I've ever been uncomfortable on it... I'll probably be looking for a new saddle soon... a Brooks, of course.