Brevet, or not to brevet

[jobob]

I'm with Mimi.

[Pedal Wench]

Well, I've never been knows for my sanity, but I'm leaning hard towards doing the 600K. While the 24-hour ride sounded like fun, it's really just around a huge parking lot in a park, with about 150-feet of elevation per 1.5-mile loop. So, even if I only aimed for 300 miles, that's 30,000 feet of gain. Ouch! I would rather do the 600K. So, that's what I'm gonna do!

How bad can it be....

[Catrin]

Well, I've never been knows for my sanity, but I'm leaning hard towards doing the 600K. While the 24-hour ride sounded like fun, it's really just around a huge parking lot in a park, with about 150-feet of elevation per 1.5-mile loop. So, even if I only aimed for 300 miles, that's 30,000 feet of gain. Ouch! I would rather do the 600K. So, that's what I'm gonna do!

How bad can it be....

That's a LOT of climbing! I can see why the 600k sounds more attractive. Looking forward to reading your ride report!

[jobob]

Well then, I guess that leaves me no excuse not to go do a measly 200K brevet on Oct. 9.

[Catrin]

I have my first 200k brevet next month - any tips? This is a far more interesting topic right now than the work I am supposed to be doing...but back to the digital grindstone.

I am just getting a little nervous about it and starting to wonder if it is a totally insane idea for my first season cycling...not that it is going to stop me or anything

[Pedal Wench]

Well then, I guess that leaves me no excuse not to go do a measly 200K brevet on Oct. 9.

Why not wait and see if I finish at least 200 of my 600 first!

[Catrin]

Why not wait and see if I finish at least 200 of my 600 first!

You will do great

[Pedal Wench]

Well... my 600K turned into a 480K, but it was a blast!

The Natchez Trace is an AMAZING road for cycling. Clean, low traffic, rest houses with water/bathrooms every 30-40 miles, and gorgeous smooth pavement.

The 600K ran from Nashville to Tupelo and back, all on the Trace. The turn-around was at Tupelo, and the overnight control was 40 mile back up in Tishomongo. The ride started at 6am, and it was in the upper 90's all day, with a strong headwind. We got to the Tishomongo exit on the way down, and although we could have (somewhat) easily made it another 40 miles to Tupelo, ate dinner and come back 40 miles to the overnight, we decided to just pull in, sleep, and have a good ride back. We knew it was gonna rain the next day, and amazingly, the wind was supposed to shift for a headwind in that direction too. We had 150 miles done, and considering we had strongly thought about not even attempting anything, we bailed. Went into the camp, slept, woke up to rain, puttered around waiting for it to let up, found out the rain wasn't stopping any time soon, so we just started riding back.

The rain let up about 50 miles later, and then the sun came out but the temps stayed cool for the rest of the ride. Even got some of the full moon after the sun set. Finished with just about 300 miles, 13,000 feet of elevation, 4 chicken sandwiches, 3 orders of fries, and two Juiced Rockstars!

So, my first 600K was a failure, but my first 480K was a success! (Not really, since we probably were outside of the time limits of an official 400K, but we had fun, and that's all that counts!!!)