clasher

Going to do the Coulee challenge this year... I would like to head to the west coast as well, there’s the cascade 1200 and the 3CR is California. I don’t know if 10days recovery between the coulee and 3CR is really smart but either ride would be awesome.

unterhausen

I did a 200k the next weekend after riding the ToC 1200k, and my legs felt dead. It definitely has been done, many times. But I wouldn't want to try it. My usual pattern is to feel good on day one, feel like misery personified the second day until about dinnertime, and then I feel ok. I wouldn't want the first two days to be misery.

Rowan

It may have changed since the last time I tried, but in order to upload a new gpx route, it has to have time stamps on it. So from what I gather, you can't create a route on RWGPS and then upload that route to Strava. At least on the free version of Strava.

CliffordK

I've done it on a few routes. Send me a public RWGPS route, and I'll try to upload it, then you can copy it.

But, like I said, it seems to be time dependent... works much better after midnight.

atwl77

Whew... done my 200k. Next up is 300k, which is either Mar 24 or May 19, but I can't decide and schedule for it yet until route details are out.


In the meantime, I wonder if I should do another 200k in between, solo this time, because yesterday felt like I wasn't really putting out enough effort to really "feel" the ride. Riding with a huge group and saving energy in the draft does that kind of thing, I suppose (even though it was a relatively hard, avg 30.2km/h pace).

unterhausen

I would definitely recommend another 200k

atwl77

There's another 200K coming up in February but I just checked the info and it looks like it's going to be held on the east continent (of my country), so I don't think I'll be shipping my bike over for that. The next 200K after that comes in April, will have to wait to see what the route looks like.

unterhausen

well, registered for mac 'n' cheese

kingston 

I'm doing the pre-ride and will be part of the GLR volunteer support crew Friday - Sunday. Perhaps I'll see you there.

GadgetGirlIL

Not doing the pre-ride but will be volunteering Friday afternoon through the end. Looking forward to meeting people in real life!

rhm

I too registered for the Mac & Cheese. Now I feel a strange mixture of anticipation and dread. I don't usually do anything you could call "training," but I'm thinking I may have to start.

atwl77

Ho boy, route details for BRM300 are out. 320km with 2100m of elevation. I am almost 100% certain I'll be registering for this... and feeling that sense of impending doom creeping up.


Those of you doing 1200K are awesome. "We who are about to ride salute you."

unterhausen

welcome to the insanity. On the 4th day of PBP in 2011, I ruminated on the fact that anyone that rode a 1200k has something very, very wrong with them and I certainly would never do it again. Then randonnesia crept in and I rode one the next year. I am looking at stepping up my training, I feel like mac 'n' cheese is going to be fine, but I'm plenty worried about BRB.

atwl77

So this is the 300K that I'm going to join in March: https://www.strava.com/routes/11831770

I'm thinking pacing on that first hill is going to be critical, get it wrong and the rest of the little molehills after that are going to be killers. So probably ride at Z2 as much as possible, though on some climbs it will be unavoidable to hit Z3-Z4, but trying to minimize that as much as possible. Then if I'm ok in the last 100km or so, I can up the pace to Z3 but saving some energy to hit that final climb before the end.

I suspect there is going to be a checkpoint at the peak, so hopefully there'll be somewhere to rest and refuel there, before the descent. It also looks like there'll be civilization around the 100-110km and 190-200km points so those are going to be the best parts for longer stops to refuel and have proper meals before continuing. A bottle of coke at the last 20km is probably going to be a good idea as well.

Anything I'm missing with my strategy?

Machka 

Rowan and I got our medals for the 2017 Audax season today.

The Cadbury 10K medal is mine from my run on January 14th, but the other three we did together and each received an award.

In the upper right corner is the Nouveau Randonneur (50 km, 100 km and 150 km).
In the lower left corner is the Petit Year Round Randonneur (a minimum of one 100 km ride in each month of the year).
In the lower right corner is the Annual Award indicating 1000 km of Audax events in 2017. And actually, we did 2350 km of Audax events, but the next award is the 2500 km, so we just missed that one.

Machka 

BNB 200K - Hot Hot Hot

We decided to do our first 200 kilometre Audax cycling event, since the one we did in Canada in June, on mainland Australia in Victoria this weekend. As some of you know, my cycling club is Audax Australia, and Audax cycling or Randonneuring is timed ultradistance cycling. Some of our events are a bit shorter 50 km or 100 km ... those are often warm-up events early in the season, or winter events later in the season. But then the bigger events start with the 200 km distance, and go up from there.

This particular event is called a 200K but that's a minimum designation. They can be a bit longer than that, and this one was 215 kilometres. But whatever the distance, it still has to be completed in 13 hours and 30 minutes.

We've cycled some of the roads included on this event before, so we had some idea what to expect, but we've done it under cooler conditions. This ended up being a very hot ride!! Our on-bike thermometres were recording over 40C out there on the road in the sun and the recorded high (always recorded in the shade) was 33C. Fortunately, the clouds did gather toward the end of the day, and the last 50 kilometres were somewhat cooler ... with a threatening storm and a decent tailwind!

There were so many birds ... living in Tasmania, I miss the melodic magpies of the mainland. And there was one large kangaroo.

And now I look like Australia ... I blend right in! I'm very reddish brown like the Australian soil.

Distance: 215.47 km
Elevation: 1,484 m
Moving Time: 10:55:56
Elapsed Time:12:34:18
Speed: Avg: 19.7 km/h | Max: 49.7 km/h


A word about equipment ...

We were on our Touring Bicycles rather than our usual distance bicycles because we're planning a little tour in the coming week. Our Touring Bicycles tend to be slightly slower because of their geometry and weight.

I need new shoes!! My feet are killing me. I got this pair of cycling shoes before my arthritis got as bad as it is, and as a result of the arthritis, my feet are wider. But the shoes are very narrow. In addition, my feet swell when riding long distances and in the heat. I did loosen the worst shoe off part way through the ride, but the damage had been done by then.

BTW - in case you wondered - I put a lot of weight on my feet when I ride.

atwl77

Went to pick up my brevet card and medal today. The little transparent jigsaw piece is produced by the local Audax club, and it's rather cheeky -- if you don't complete the full set (200, 300, 400, 600, 1000), it's going to feel incomplete. Naughty.


OI000212-small.jpg

unterhausen

I like the idea of the puzzle piece, but maybe they should only give them out to people that finish a series. That's what the Eastern PA club does.

antimonysarah

We were chatting about trying to figure out a shape for an award (probably patches) that would look nice in incomplete sets AND would make a nice shape if you earned them all. (A 2x2 square with a background that covers all of them (but each section is pretty) would work.)

But the puzzle piece is cute, and since it's in addition to the ACP medal, it's more of an encouragement. (good luck on the rest of your puzzle, atwl77 - that 300k looks like fun!)

unterhausen

there are so many diamond-shaped patches that it's a bit of a cliche, but that would work. Or, you could do something like Escher, I googled for Escher's fish and was surprised at how many variations he drew.

atwl77

Thanks, but I have doubts that I will complete the entire puzzle though. It's a five-piece set including a 1000k...


Some of the local Audax members have turned their ACP medals into fridge magnets, by gluing a magnet onto the back of the medal. Sounds like a cool idea, but not sure if I want to modify my only one 200k medal for that... thinking of joining the 200k in April (which has a nice, hilly route) just for that.

unterhausen

including the 1000k is a bit much. I assume the U.S. stats are similar to other countries, the percentage of people that would complete the puzzle are fairly low here.

atwl77

Fair point. I'd chalk it up to youth and enthusiasm -- the local Audax group here is relatively young (iirc they started in 2014?) and this is the first time that they are planning a 1000k event. So someone probably got overenthusiastic about the awards this year.

atwl77

Audax Malaysia BRM300 -- rolling, rolling, and rolling

20180324-strava-audaxbrm300.jpg
CP1: 76.8km | CP2: 160.2km | CP3: 245.8km

The checkpoints were all nicely spaced apart (roughly 80km apart, give or take), so the plan was simple: aim for an average of 25km/h and target 4 hours between each checkpoint. This gives enough time to linger at each checkpoint for rest, food and refuelling. Of course, there is that big, honking climb in the first 100km, but ideally the descent and the remaining flat course can compensate.

But as the saying goes, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

The ride started at 7:00 sharp with a nice and easy 20km roll downhill in cool morning weather. But I kept thinking to myself, we're gonna have to go back up this same way after already putting 300km in our legs!

The climb up to CP1 was relatively executed well, though I did not linger there for long as there were annoying bees. After stamping my brevet card I immediately descended and instead, stopped at a petrol station at the nearby town for a bottle of coke and some bread. Then it was a long ride to CP2 under the hot sun and through endless orchards and estates.

Before leaving CP2 I had a nice, cold bowl of Ice Kacang to cool off:

icekacang.jpg

The ride from CP2 to CP3 was where the plan completely fell apart. Despite what looked like an easy and "relatively" flat course on the elevation map, it was rolling hills all the way, some quite steep and others on roads with heavy traffic. The hot afternoon sun did no one any favours. It was taxing; I certainly could not maintain my planned avg 25km/h on these roads. At one point I found myself on a dual carriageway with heavy vehicles and busses regularly speeding along at 90+km/h. Scary stuff. I decided to wait and see if anyone turns up and it was the best decision that I had made that day. I met up with a group containing several Super Randonneurs and we rode together for the remainder of the ride.

Nightfall came before we reached CP3. It was pitch-black darkness on unlit roads; only my lights and the lights of the group were visible for most of the journey. We had a really, really tough climb (about 2km avg 8% gradient, you can see the little bump between 200-250km in the elevation profile) which would have been scary to ride alone. We reached CP3 long after 8pm and decided to have a quick dinner at a nearby restaurant before undertaking the final 75km towards the finishing point.

The last 50km were the toughest for me. My rear ached. My wrists and hands hurt. My toes, feet and ankles were in pain. Every single part of my body was telling me to just stop and get a Grab or Uber home. The sight of big trucks and busses speeding along unlit single-lane roads made that decision even more tempting. Somehow I kept on going. Perhaps it was because we had experienced Super Randonneurs leading the group. Perhaps it was a combination of pride, ego, determination and perseverance. Regardless, in the end, everyone made it safely to the finishing line. Dead tired, but safe and happy and proud.

Moving Time: 14:13:06
Elapsed Time: 18:40
Distance: 319.1km
Avg Speed: 22.4km/h
Max Speed: 60.1km/h
Elevation Gain: 2,862m

medals.jpg


On Sunday all I did was rest. After all, we finished the ride at 1:40am and I only got back home after 3am. But I also spent the day going through video footage I took with my Sony action cam and made a YouTube video of the ride!


Finally, misc/notable obsevations:

My bum began to get sore very quickly during the first big climb, which was quite unusual as I have ridden much further than that with no issues. I suspect my riding strategy for this Audax had something to do with it. I decided to try a very conservative approach to energy management, tried to keep my HR in Z2 (or Z3 and below during the climb), which resulted in very light gearing. So I lose the suspension benefits from my legs and ended up putting more weight on the saddle than usual. Plus, the jarring rough roads probably contributed to it too, and I had to keep readjusting my sitting position for the remainder of the event to stay comfortable.

I think I have a habit of carrying too much of the wrong stuff with me. I debated between bringing along a windproof gilet or a rain jacket, and ended up with a rain jacket that I did not use and took up a lot of precious space (despite being packable). Instead, the gilet would have been a better choice for the early morning start and the late night finisher.

I brought a digital camera (Sony RX100 Mark 3) for taking pictures, and never took a single picture. It was buried underneath some energy gels and bars so while on the bike, I wouldn't be able to safely remove the camera and off-bike... I already have enough things to carry (brevet card, phone, USB power bank, Garmin, action camera) to bother with yet-another-doodad.

I carried 3 inner tubes and a small, portable first aid kit. Both never used, but I think they're important enough to always keep around. Not sure if I want to find/carry epinephrine... still thinking about that one. Recently I've noticed an annoying increase in bees near my favourite cycling spots and I've always had a phobia-ish thing around them. I've never been stung before, don't know if I have any allergic reaction to them... but most certainly don't want to find out in the middle of nowhere hundreds of kms from a nearby hospital or clinic.

I didn't carry a spare tyre. Thought about it but didn't have space to carry it and left it at home. I was pretty confident of my Panaracer GravelKings... but then again, during the event one person whom I later rode with actually had a blowout, but managed to patch it with paper money until he found a place to get a change. So... maybe better safe than sorry next time?

That same person suffered a chain drop at night. His tyre levers had a hook at one end which saved us a lot of trouble getting the chain back on (it even somehow got off the derailleur pulleys -- getting the chain back onto the pulleys were tricky). I should look into getting levers like that... sure saves having dirty, oily hands without it.

The Fitbit Ionic watch is unsuitable for Audax distances, but it was only my secondary/backup ride tracker (the Garmin Edge 520 is my primary) so no loss. Problem is the battery doesn't last when recording with GPS enabled (died around 178km) and the supplied magnetic charging cable is unsuitable for charging on-bike (a bump or rough roads can cause the connection to come apart), so the only time I can attempt to charge the watch is during a stop. But it cannot charge fast enough to retain enough battery life for long distances this way.

Energy gels and electrolyte drinks:
energy.jpg

N8 is my standard go-to electrolyte drink and it has served me well for all my (big) rides. The protein bars... well... I'm not really an protein bar person but for this Audax I decided to give them a try. I only managed to eat one. The other two became a melted mess (which is still edible, if one is desparate... but ugh). And the energy gels, I only keep them around for emergency and very rarely use any on my usual rides (but turns out I had to consume both gels during the last 50km to keep going).

rhm

Pennsylvania Randonneurs 300k was yesterday.

Spring had been just around the corner for a month. Just last weekend we were out riding in sub-freezing temperatures. Thursday morning was chilly as usual. By Thursday afternoon Spring was actually here.

So yesterday was my first warm weather ride since September, I think. I assume that's true of the rest of the riders as well. And wow, it was a hard ride. It was cold at first, really really cold on the descents. At the first controle I was perusing the store's glove selection (I didn't buy... but it was tempting). By afternoon the temperature was into the upper 80's and the sun was baking us from above and below. Unbelievable amounts of water consumed. My clothes and hydration pack were lined with dried salts by the end of the day, and my face felt caked with pollen. It felt like we had headwinds the whole way, too (not true: it was actually a tail wind for the first sixty miles or so). I did this same route last year, and the hills were all taller and steeper this year. More of them, too. I hadn't realized how much topography relates to mood....

I am beat. It was definitely one of those rides where you wonder, "what was I thinking?"