unterhausen

I really like Joe K. and I'm glad he took over. I looked at the schedule, and I see the Catskills 600k is later in the year. I have this horrible obsession about rides that didn't go that well for me, and I might try it again. I would really like to get a 1000k in before PBP, so that might take precedence

Chris Pringle

Completed these brevets:

Dec. 6 - 200 Km
Feb. 7 - 300 Km
Feb. 28 - 400 Km
March 27 - 600 Km

The goal is now the Paris-Brest-Paris in August.

ThermionicScott 

Got my first brevet of the season (a 200k) in yesterday. I was in physically good enough shape from riding all winter, but I realized halfway through that I was not in "rando shape" and needed to tweak the fit on my rando bike. I did a better job of eating and drinking fluid throughout than I have on past brevets, but still weighed 5 lbs less the next morning. Oops.

Meanwhile, my riding companion was using this as a recovery ride from the 600k she had done the previous weekend.

rhm

Okay, I've registered for this now. Anyone else on this forum going to be there?

unterhausen

I'm waiting for the Pa 400k next weekend, but good luck on the NJ ride

rhm

Thanks! It'll be my second 300k, my first 'official' one. Gonna try to find someone I can just barely keep up with.

rhm

Update on that... ride was a success! I latched on to fastest guys in the pack at the beginning of the ride, which was perhaps not the greatest idea, but it was the speed I wanted to go. By the halfway point I just couldn't keep up with them. I slacked off my pace after that, and though I definitely struggled toward the end, finished the whole 300k in 13:33. When I rode home after hanging out and snacking for a while at the end, it was still light.

Ardo

Nice one! I completed my first 400k this weekend, now it's getting very tempting to also try a 600km.. This randonneuring-thing is getting quite addictive

rhm

Yeah, it is kinda addictive, isn't it? The same group has a 400k in a couple weeks, and I had assumed I wouldn't be able to do it. I had three reasons:

--my wife is having a party the night before, and there will be beer...
--the starts over 20 km from my home; about an hour on the bike, so I have to leave the house by 2:30 AM...
--and then it adds up to 440, maybe 445 km. That's a lot more than I've ever ridden in one day.

But, then again ... oh, why shouldn't I?

Ardo

I think you should give it a try, there will always be reasons not to participate in such events but it's so rewarding afterwards
But in your case, I wouldn't drink too much beers Anyway you still got a couple of weeks to decide

clasher

Well I've done my second official 200k and it was a total time of 9:35. 214km and 1420m climbing... that's ~4400 feet I think? I'm pretty pleased with the result and all I got for it was a sunburn too, no pain or anything. I rode this one with an experienced club member so that helped me shave an hour off the time I rode two weeks ago by myself, there was also less wind too. I'm pretty stoked to ride my first 300k this Saturday but it's got less climbing than this 200 does so that should make it easier but it also spends a lot of time on the shores of two great lakes so wind might be the bigger concern.

unterhausen

my 400k seemed harder than last year. Just couldn't get rolling, and my stomach wasn't cooperating.

I preregistered for PBP. I chose the 84 hour start. I think I will do better starting just before sunup

RR3

I did the PA Blue Mountain 400K, it was not so easy but it was also the first hot day of the year for me. Lots of navigation and a confused Garmin coupled with really rough roads added to the fun. I always dread when I am climbing and my Garmin indicates 16% and then stops registering, which is always a bad sign.

I pre-registered for PBP, off at 4:15 pm. A fellow Randonneur told me that I was crazy for registering with the 80H group, actually told me twice rather brusquely and would not listen to my reasoning. Non-Randos think we are all crazy; so, so be it. In that big Rando tent, we are all crazy to the outsiders.

ThermionicScott 

I rode my 300k this past weekend. Met up with some cool folks and rode the last 3/4 or so with them. There was a 20-25 MPH wind from the southeast the whole time, which only helped us for a brief northward stretch, and even then it wasn't a perfect tailwind. A large storm chased us during the final stretch and finally dumped on us for the last 10 miles. So our time was 18:09 -- I was hoping to do better than that, but this sport is all about dealing with the situation you're given. I did far better at staying fueled and hydrated than previous brevets, so there's that.

gecho

I made it to the end of my 300 this weekend, but my Garmin didn't. I prepared for this possibility by bringing a USB battery, but brought the wrong cable. We had about 150 km of head winds, but I've had a lot of practice going into the wind lately. I was very pleased how I was able to keep my HR and cadence in check this time out. I used to average 95 - 100 rpm, and managed to get it down to 85 on this ride and would have been lower if there had been more than two of us since I turn a heavier gear when drafting. Average HR was down 10-15 bpm keeping me in zone 2 almost the entire ride, which seemed to reduce my sweating and water usage. I also did a better job of eating regularly while riding with the addition of some storage on the front of the bike. At no point did I ever feel like I was running out of juice, and felt better at the end than I did at the finish of many of the 200s I've rode.

This year I'm reducing the amount of sunscreen I'll be using by wearing a long sleeve jersey, full finger gloves and sun sleeves on my legs. Besides bugs and dirt sticking to sunscreen it seems to impede sweat evaporation making me feel hotter.

unterhausen

I definitely felt a little crazy Saturday. I think someone that can ride the Blue Mountain 400k in 18 hours can probably finish PBP in Charly Miller time and still get some sleep along the way with some careful planning. If you kept up that pace and took the full 80 hours, you would have 26 hours to sit at a roadside cafe and toast the other riders as they go past. Which is something I'd really like to do someday.

RR3

Thank you for the words of encouragement. Charly time is completely out of the question although I did the 400k pretty much Solo Saturday. I have ridden with CM riders and they are in another league on the climbs. I can lose 20 more pounds but I can't regain 20 years.


My thoughts are to finish just before the sun rises on the third day..seeing the sun rise as I finish would be glorious...what is that like 66 hours. That gives me 14 hours for problems or some nice meals or extra sleep (I booked hotels on the route just in case) if I need it or whatever. Riding with a group is generally faster and typically more fun than Solo. On the back of the envelope, 66-70 hours on PBP seems reasonable if I am healthy and there are no issues but who knows.

What I have learned as I have gotten older is that I must ride my own ride and that my body is finicky in the heat and hills. Pacing is crucial for me as is knowing what to eat, when and how much. If I stop too long at controls, my legs lock up and get stiff pretty bad and are sore. If I keep my stops to 5 minutes, I have none of those effects. None. Not sure why. Maybe it is just me. I have studied my response in many ways. I read a lot and experiment with training, etc. It comes down to riding your own ride. I hope I can remember that lesson because I am like that bad dog who can't not chase.

What inspires and humbles me are riders who need the full 40 hours to do a 600k and do so with only catnaps or an hour or two of sleep. That is mental toughness and courage.

Only once have I ever had to work to make a control (I unsuccessfully tried to wait out snow and rain at the first control) and I found it very stressful and it gave me a sense of the challenge that others might face. I can't imagine having to budget tiny sleep stops and banking time. Thinking about it, I feel eally silly what I typed above.

I hope everyone has fun, safe, and successful Randonnees!!

unterhausen

The reason I suggested that is I think that PBP is a lot easier than the course on Saturday. I grew up in a part of Virginia where there are a lot of giant rollers, so it's like old home week. But your plan sounds good too.

For various reasons, I spent all of Endless Mountains just barely hitting control closings, and all it takes for me is some kind of warped determination. Actually, on the second day of that ride I decided not to worry about finishing, and that was helpful. Plus, Tom R. and I agreed that my prize for DNF'ing was that I got to ride to the finish anyway.

clasher

I did my first 300K last Saturday and thought I did okay... finished in 17.5 hours. The heat was unreal for May in Canada, around 85F and crazy humidity; they were calling for thunderstorms all day but they didn't start until I put my bike in the car at the end of ride. I think I did well managing my pace and keeping ahead of the water consumption. I wasted a lot of time at the controls and made the mistake of eating at subway, just a veggie sub but it still put a hurting on my gut. Subway, not even once! Had some beautiful scenery and rode along Lake Erie and Lake Ontario for a bit. Ended up being 200miles and 4128ft of climbing by the end, I took a wrong turn and rode down and then back up the Niagara Escarpment so that was a short and brutal climb, 8-10% according to ride with gps. The stretch along Lake Ontario was really cold though, in a few miles it dropped to around 60F. Strange weather but overall it was a good day of riding.

ThermionicScott 

Rode my second-ever 400k this last weekend, and it was a phenomenal improvement over my first in 2012. The weather was about as cooperative as one could hope for: overcast but never too cold, a little breezy but not too feisty, slightly drizzly a couple times but we missed the major storm that was headed to the area. My bike fit is almost perfect by this point, so my butt, feet, knees, neck, and hands were all still in great shape by the end. I think I still need to move my cleats back another mm, but the hot-spots came in late and were not nearly as severe as in the past. I kept on top of my calories, salt, and water much better than on previous rides, and that helped keep my spirits high. The route, a loop around central Iowa, was very beautiful, and the rolling hills agreed with me very nicely.

And I had excellent company! I rode nearly all of it with Michele from Minnesota, who is a fount of rando wisdom, stories, and encouragement, and just a hoot to ride with. Greg, the RBA, had not gotten a chance to pre-ride the 400k this year, so he came along and we spent a surprising amount of time with him considering that he usually rides a lot faster than the pace we try to maintain. He's a very conscientious RBA, with excellent routes, queue sheets, and road markings, and he's full of great stories about his rides and marathons (his goal is to ride a brevet or permanent, and run a marathon, in every state!) In addition, we rode with four other guys who were newer to the sport but also in great spirits. I've been making a lot of rando-friends this year.

So Michele and I had been planning an easy pace since she was recovering from the Sunshine 1200k the previous weekend, but between our company and the threat of a thunderstorm early Sunday morning, we made really good time and completed the 400k in 19:29! That's about 3.5 hours faster than I had done the other 400k, and my fiancee couldn't believe it when I texted her that we were done.

I was even in good enough shape to hop on a bike and ride another 22 miles Sunday afternoon. I found myself wondering, what if future brevets don't go this well? Am I setting myself up for disappointment past this point? We'll have to see. My first-ever 600k is in a couple weeks.

MZilliox

I am hoping to participate in my first brevet late this year, maybe a 200k. anything going on on the west coast in October?

Ardo

I signed up for my first 600km brevet next month. I will be riding from Brussels to Paris and back. Must admit I'm a bit nervous but I'm also really looking forward to this one, sounds so epic.

gecho

I did my 3rd 300 of the year (4th ever) yesterday. I didn't noticed that I sweated away much of the sunscreen from my face, so I was fairly red when I got home. Seriously considering wearing a lucha libre mask. Long sleeve jerseys, full finger gloves and sun leg sleeves / light weight tights have been working well for me. I'm going to order some expensive P20 brand 50+ sunscreen to see if it stays on better.

RR3

I successfully completed the 600K today, so, I am indeed going to PBP.

Just have to figure out a ride strategy now.

Ardo

Did my first 600km this weekend, was a really nice experience and so glad I'm a Super Randonneur now. In two weeks I'll ride another 600km, quite hooked now