What a great way to start the year! The trick is maintaining that average :-)
Riding 200K is very impressive. For me, 100K is a long ride, so anything more than that is impressive! On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 6:33 AM, Mike <mjawn...@gmail.com> wrote: > "As of last night, I'm averaging 200K per day for 2011." > > Ha! Anne, great write-up! Sounds like an epic ride and a great > introduction to randonneuring. As I head into my fourth year of > randonneuring I feel like I'm still learning a lot about packing, > eating and how to pace myself. I've learned a lot so far but have a > long ways to go. It's funny how much more there is to it than just > getting on your bike and pedaling. I mean, that's a huge part of it, > the most base part of it and yet there is so much more--packing and > where and how to carry stuff (HB bag vs saddlebag vs jersey pockets, > etc) and what to carry. Then there's the issue of what to eat and > when! It's so easy to plan this stuff out while at home thinking about > and upcoming brevet and so so different when you're out on the road. > > I remember on my first 200k it was pouring rain and I just motored > through the first half of the out and back course. At the turnaround I > latched on to the wheels of some experienced randonneurs, one who kept > a blog about distance cycling, and so rode back with them, picking the > one guy's brain (Dave Rowe) the entire way back. He talked about going > into open controls and seeing randonneurs just staring at food in the > store and being too discombobulated to figure out what they wanted, > something I had sort of experienced just a little while before. Dave > was referring more to late night controls on longer brevets but I got > a glimpse of the idea/experience. It's a phenomena I've experienced > multiple times since. It's really baffling. I'll often chuckle to > myself remembering the conversation with Dave. Anyway, that first 200k > was a complete success--no bonk, no mechanicals, and I finished with a > strong time (8:28). > > I've gone on to finish that same brevet in under 8hrs but finished > other brevets pretty close the cut-off. I once finished a 600k with > only and hour and 15 minutes to spare. I've had a few mid-brevet bonks > but so far nothing that made me DNF. And as for mechanicals so far > I've only had a fender come loose and a few flats. > > But back to you, again, a great ride report. Congrats on the strong > ride. Looking forward to hearing your report about your 300k! Do it! > That really is the best distance, it's just a good long time on the > bike without being as torturous as a 400k. And in spite of the 400k > being rather torturous, it's still something to experience. And you > know, if you've done a 200k, 300k and 400k, there's really no reason > not to do a 600k which is actually easier than a 400k because you > hopefully get to sleep a bit and who doesn't want to long epic days on > the bike? > > Oh, and as for lighting. I have yet to get a generator hub I've been > using an Ixom IQ over the past couple of years and it's fine. As for > mounting it, you have more options than you might think--on the h-bar, > mid-fork with a Gino mount if you have a mid fork braze on or even > down low with one of these VO gizmos: > > > http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/accessories/lighting/low-down-light-mount-type-i.html > > Hope you're feeling rested and enthused about your next brevet! > > --mike > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- Cheers, David Redlands, CA *...in terms of recreational cycling there are many riders who would probably benefit more from improving their taste than from improving their performance.* - RTMS -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
