Originally Posted by
9606
It has been suggested to me to carry a basic pair of flip flops to be used at controls to give the feet a rest from the cycling shoes.
Like most other items in my seatbag they don't weigh much, but everything adds up.
What say you anciennes?
My new goal for PBP: Get in and out of controls faster than 9606 can change in and out of his or her flip flops!
I'm semi-joking but also dead serious. I know that there's no way I can actually get in and out faster than you can change into flip flops, but I also know that I can't afford any time wastage in controls. Let's say it takes two minutes to get out of your cycling shoes, into flip flops, out of flip flops, and back into your cycling shoes. Maybe you can do it faster at the start, but I doubt you can do it faster after 1000km! With 16 controls on the route (including the two secret controls) that adds up to roughly half an hour fiddling with your flip flops. May not sound like much, but an extra half hour of sleep can be a big deal on a ride like PBP.
For the same reason, it's important as you are riding toward a control to go through your mental checklist of what you need to do at that control. For the five miles before controls, I usually am digging around through my handlebar bag for the items that I need at the control, putting them in my jersey pockets. E.g., wallet and brevet card, chamois butter, hydration powder, phone. I usually compute the next GPS route when I am close enough to the control that I know the last few turns. As I get off the bike, I put the hydration powder in the relevant bottle, pour the remaining water from part-full bottles into the hydration bottle (often this fills it enough) and then all I have to do is fill a couple of water bottles with water so I put those in my pockets. If I've done everything right, once I leave the bike I do not have to come back to it until I have done everything I need to do and am leaving the control. Extra trips back to the bike for something you forgot are a huge time-sink!
Nick