Calling all randos...

[Biciclista]

hm, that's the ride my DH just backed out of.
Pay really good attention to any minor irritations. A wrinkle in your shorts early on can result in nasty damage 200 miles later.

Seems like you already figured out; take short breaks... if you're not fast, that's a great equalizer.

Good luck

[Pedal Wench]

I like my Garmin 705 so much for brevets - I can set it on a really, really low backlight and see it all night long - plus, I load the route ahead of time so it beeps to alert me for all upcoming turns. Makes seeing the cue sheet at night less essential.

Great idea on bringing lots of food. I had one emergency promeal bar, and was about 20 miles away from a control when I needed it. Broke it open, took a bite and was gonna nibble from my bento box. Sure enough, I hit a bump on a descent and it bounced out. Desperate, I turned around to go get it, just in time to see a car completely nail it - totally smushed. Guess there were some happy squirrels later that day. So, yeah, some backup food is a great idea.

Add a few hours to your battery life on lights - you never know what could happen that could throw off your timing and as you know, getting caught even for a mile without enough lights is really scary.

I wish I could come and ride with you!

[Pedal Wench]

Disclaimer -- I have NOT done a 600K, but a 400, a few 300's and two 200K's, a fleche (360K), and a few 24-hour (road) races, where I did about 344 miles, so about a 555k! . So, no advice on how to handle an overnight. On the fleche, I was SUPER jealous of the guys who brought a change of shorts (actually, they changed into tights at night). I would have paid big bucks to have had new, CLEAN shorts.

[Susan Otcenas]

I was SUPER jealous of the guys who brought a change of shorts (actually, they changed into tights at night). I would have paid big bucks to have had new, CLEAN shorts.

I'll have leg warmers for morning and evening. Fresh change of clothes in my overnight bag. I imagine that event the guys who plan to ride straight through might change clothes at that point. I sure would!

[Susan Otcenas]

At 6am tomorrow morning, I'm heading out on my 600K adventure! And, oh boy, is it gonna be an adventure.

Forecast for tomorrow on the coast is high 40s, low 50s, 60% chance of rain. On the bright side, weather.com removed the predicted T-storms from the forecast. Also, the wind direction forecast has changed slightly as well. It was predeicted from the SW @ 10-15, which would really have sucked given that we are heading south. Now it's predicted out of the West, which isn't perfect, but better. A few of the coastal towns even showed winds out of the NW, which would be stellar!

I've got my Pearl AMfib gloves, my Gore goretex jacket, my helmet cover and plenty of wool socks and baselayers ready to go. I chill easily, so I prefer wool against as many body parts as possible. I also have extra socks and a dry baselayer packed so I can change if necessary. I'm debating swapping out one of my waterbottles for a thermos so I can carry warm liquids. Actually, come to think of it, I have a Polar bottle somewhere which does a decent job of keeping liquids warm too. I have to see if it will fit on my bike (My new bike frame is really compact.)

I've packed lighter weight stuff into my overnight bag, as the weather is supposed to be sunnier with only 10% chance of rain.

[maillotpois]

Good luck and HAVE FUN!! I can't wait to read the report!

[Biciclista]

there WILL be a report, right?
good luck.

[Tri Girl]

Good luck, Susan!!! I hope the cycling gods smile upon you, and that your day is blessed with good weather, a happy bum and stomach, and positive mental energy!!!
I can't wait to hear all about it!!!!