400K alone

[Pedal Wench]

Would you or wouldn't you?

I did a 300K on my own, and I'll be honest, I wasn't happy after dark. I just did another 300K and hung back with two guys who I knew I could stay with all night long.

There's a 400K coming up - it's very, VERY hilly, so it could easily take the whole 27 hours. I'm worried that I won't have someone slower than me to drop back and ride with. I did the 300K on my own, and countless solo centuries. This is different.

Would you?

[jobob]

I hate to admit it, but no. :o

Unless I knew someone who was doing the ride and I knew would ride the nighttime part of it with me (that is, either someone who was at my speed or was willing to fake it :p ).

But, consider the source - I bailed out on the only 300K I ever attempted at about the 200K point. :rolleyes:

[maillotpois]

I did the last half of my 400k with someone (V), first half alone.

I made a point of finding someone to ride with (3 people) between 11 pm and 4 am during my 600k. But I went into it completely alone. I might just as well have been completely alone for the whole thing, and in fact that stretch was really the only part where I had company. I just focused in on making friends during the ride. (Sounds a little like your 300k experience where you focused on finding someone to ride with.) That stretch I was very concerned about the sort of people I might encounter (drunk people, meth labs, etc.) and it was completely out of cell range.

But depending on the terrain, how comfortable I felt with the area, etc., I would consider doing a 400k alone. Devil Mtn Double (with 20,000 feet of climbing) took me exactly the same amount of time as my rolly terrain 400k (well, I finished both at right about 2 am), and I did DMD completely 100% alone (in 2007, as opposed to my DNF last Saturday). So I was ok with that.

There are plenty of reasons to put in the "to do" and "don't do" columns. Only til you start filling those columns out and really evaluating how you feel will you have your answer. How comfortable are you with the area? Is it in cell range? How confident are you in your equipment? Your mental health (only slightly jesting here)? Thing about those questions.

[Pedal Wench]

So, what are y'all doing in two weeks? I'll buy the Gatorade...:rolleyes:

I'm confident in my equipment, and I know the general area. I wouldn't count on cell coverage, but I have a friend who lives in that area who would love to help out if she could. If it wasn't frowned upon by RUSA, I would have her ride SAG.

What I'm not as comfortable with are dog chases in the dark, twisty mountain roads at night, steep descents with just my lights - it was nice on the 300K to follow the other lights down hill.

Seriously - I'll buy the salty snacks too - come on to Georgia!

[Biciclista]

argh.
You mean alone alone?
Out of cellphone range?
If my husband wanted to do this, I'd have a fit! I don't like it.
When you combine sleep deprivation with dark lonely roads, anything can happen and who can help you? I believe you need to ride with someone
else on rides like this, that's my opinion.

oh, would I?? NO WAY!

[papaver]

isn't there someone who can ride with you (car) and who waits for you every 30 k or so? I wouldn't do it if it was too remote. You never know what can happen. If you'd be reachable by mobile phone, i would. (not that I would, but you got the picture :eek::D )

[kfergos]

You guys are nuts. In a good way, but nuts.

That's all.

[Blueberry]

So, what are y'all doing in two weeks? I'll buy the Gatorade...:rolleyes:

...

Seriously - I'll buy the salty snacks too - come on to Georgia!

I would..but I'm sure you'd like to finish within the limit - not in - like- 4 days:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Andrea]

Yes, I would.




(just being honest :D)

[ZenSojourner]

You mean 400k STRAIGHT? Without sleep?

Hell, I wouldn't do that with twenty people, let alone by myself.

I might ride 400k, but not all at one go. what is that around 250 miles? Sheesh, give me a 3 or 4 days at least, and that's assuming I'm conditioned and in shape which I very definitely am not at this point.

[jobob]

Ask me next year. :D :D

[Pedal Wench]

Yes, I would.




(just being honest :D)

Ummm, there are two folks coming from Tennessee for this ride -- wanna do a Team TE 400?

[Fredwina]

Riding at night on Brevets:
i'll admit - I DNF'ed the only 400K I ever attempted (left my shoes at home)
The 300Ks I've done - I was rding alone at night - I've never been sucesful at finding someone to ride on those things. most of the time I've had flat roads or had been over the road earlier in the day, so I wasn't that afraid
dog - I remeber being chased by a dog once on a 300K I did in Casa Grande, AZ I out sprinted it fairly easily - I also remember being a little spooked by howling Coyetes on another 300K I did in AZ.
Another Idea if you're a: fast and B: don't mind pushing the time limit - is to stop and take a nap during the night time I think if you search you'll find the "thread drift: Nanci did this
personal Safety: I know this is personal thing, and I'm but biased by the fact that I wind up doing most of my weekday riding early AM , but MP's advice is most excellent:)
Biciclstia - I thought RD already did a 400K Maybe I'm confusing him with someone else on BikeJournal

[Veronica]

It is legal to have SAG at the check in points so if you have a friend who is willing to meet you that would be ok.

Is this a 400K on your own or part of a series?

Veronica

[Kiwi Stoker]

The one long ride here in NZ (4 160km laps of Lake Taupo- super enduro) requires you to have a support vehicle for 3 laps following you (the last lap is when all the rest of the 160km race happens during the day so you are asked to NOT have a support vehicle then).

The people I have known who have done the 2 lap Enduro (starts at 1am) have all grouped up and had one car following them during the first lap in the night (you need the headlights as well as bike lights as you are cycling through countryside).

Most of these guys stop for 1/2- 1 hour breaks after each lap to eat a proper meal, change cycling shorts and catch a nap.

Wow - my hats off to you and all other Super Enduro riders- you guys are amazing!

[Pedal Wench]

It is legal to have SAG at the check in points so if you have a friend who is willing to meet you that would be ok.

Is this a 400K on your own or part of a series?

Veronica

It's part of a series.

I wonder if I would feel better seeing a friendly face at the check points. Thanks everyone for the advice and input. I'm still weighing it.

[Biciclista]

If this is a Randonneurs ride, she can't accept support from anyone (and continue the ride) unless they are randonneurs on that same ride. That includes things like drafting and lending bicycle pumps.

[jobob]

If this is a Randonneurs ride, she can't accept support from anyone (and continue the ride) unless they are randonneurs on that same ride. That includes things like drafting and lending bicycle pumps.

I don't think that's true, Mimi.

I'm pretty sure that on brevets (at least brevets put on by Randonneurs USA, aka RUSA, the governing body for brevets in the US), the participant is allowed to have support from others - including people who are not on that ride - but only at the official checkpoints.

I know for a fact that this is OK on a RUSA permanent -- I'm a RUSA permanent owner so I'd better know! ;) -- and I'm almost positive that's the case for RUSA brevets as well.

I'll go double check the rules on the RUSA website though ...

[jobob]

From RUSA's Rules for Riders at http://www.rusa.org/brvreg.html :

Article 6
Each rider must be self sufficient. No personal follow cars or support of any kind are permitted on the course. Personal support is only allowed at checkpoints. Any violation of this requirement will result in immediate disqualification.

(emphasis is as shown on the RUSA website, btw)

So you're right Mimi, along the route itself you can't accept "personal support" from anyone except someone else on the brevet itself (which means that person isn't "personal support"). :cool:

But at the checkpoints it's OK.

[maillotpois]

When I did my 600k, I had a plan to text message a friend periodically so she would know I was ok. (The updates were pretty funny. When I get to my other computer, I may cut and paste them for a laugh here.)

Of course, when DH asked that I do the same thing this weekend at DMD, and my phone wouldn't save the text to send when I got into cell range it all got VERY frustrating.

It might be good to have a friend at the checkpoint, but weigh that against issues of (1) now having to be at the checkpoint at a certain time for the friend; (2) possibly taking too long at the checkpoint because of the friend (3) possibly hitting a low at the checkpoint and having the friend there be an excuse not to go on. Just throwing a lot of stuff out there as stuff I would consider. For example, I purposely did the texting thing instead of calling people because I didn't want to get emotional while calling someone and that would be counterproductive toward forward progress. That was for a 600k, and it really could have happened, whereas for the 400k, it wasn't really an issue, but we all have our thresholds and they are adjustable. I just throw it out there.

[Pedal Wench]

Hmmmm, so much for getting a friend to follow. Unless I just call someone who's already finished. It would royally suck to ride the 400 only to get disqualified.

I'm still on the fence. There's a guy doing it who's the same pace, but I don't know him well except for leap-frogging a bit on the 300k. If I slow down, I'm not sure he would wait for me.

It's not the distance that's the problem - I just did 344 miles at Sebring, but it was on a closed course - no cars at night, support always 1 mile away (racetrack loops all night long.) Although the elevation on this one is a challenge, I think I can do it.

I would send text messages when I could, and keep my cell phone handy. Or just do a gorgeous century with tons of people.