Pop quiz

[Susan Otcenas]

Fun!

1) Fixing flats. We three had five amongst us.
2) Yakima River Canyon. So pretty!
3) Our SECOND sunrise. <sheesh...>
4) Together to the end - Brevet organizer Paul & I rode all but the first 5 miles together.

[TsPoet]

Fun!

1) Fixing flats. We three had five amongst us.
2) Yakima RIver Canyon. So pretty!
3) Our SECOND sunrise. <sheesh...>
4) Together to the end - Brevet organizer Paul & I rode all but the first 5 miles together.

Wow, I wish I'd known you would be there. We finally have randonneuring near me. I'd thought about going down to the start to meet up with people on that ride, now I wish I had!
re: flats - yep, flat capital of the world right here. Everyone here uses at least 2 lines of protection - liners + goop or kevlar belts + liners... Still we have flats every organized ride.

[Susan Otcenas]

Wow, I wish I'd known you would be there. We finally have randonneuring near me. I'd thought about going down to the start to meet up with people on that ride, now I wish I had!
re: flats - yep, flat capital of the world right here. Everyone here uses at least 2 lines of protection - liners + goop or kevlar belts + liners... Still we have flats every organized ride.

Well, there were only 9 of us riding. 2 from PDX, one from Bend, the rest mostly from the tri-cities area I think (though I think one lives in White Salmon...)

The ride schedule for the Desert River Randonneurs is posted on the Oregon Rando website (the DRR group is not yet certified as it's own region, so our RBA administers their rides.) http://orrandonneurs.org/brevets/2011_brevets.html I think their next ride is the DRR600K June 11-12. You could contact Paul and see if they need any volunteers.

My two flats were actually the same flat. Piece of steel wire from a steel-belted-radial, I'm guessing. Missed it the first time. Second time (5 miles later) I changed the tire as well. Shoulda done that the first time!

[TsPoet]

You could contact Paul and see if they need any volunteers.

That is an excellent idea, as I'm not ready to ride!
I hope our local rides get some shorter options for me to start with, I think 200k was their shortest.

[Susan Otcenas]

That is an excellent idea, as I'm not ready to ride!
I hope our local rides get some shorter options for me to start with, I think 200k was their shortest.

I think Selah-Ellensberg-Selah would make a FANTASTIC 100K populaire. The Yakima River Canyon is so gorgeous!

[maillotpois]

One of the stores used frequently as a control here is famous for its clam chowder. Creamy, New England style clam chowder. While I love soup on a brevet, I can't even imagine clam chowder on a ride of any length. The randonneurs here love it - it is legendary. That store also has some awesome pork tamales, which are my choice for a snack when I'm there.

It's funny trying to compare distances on events. Every ride is so different that it would be hard to say categorically (as we both have just done) that we prefer X distance over Y distance. I had a crazy fast and fun 400k this year on a very similar course to the 600k. The 600k we had issues arise with a friend who tagged along with us and it caused our sleep stop plan to go completely out the window. It seems like you have really nailed (and been able to be consistent about) the sleep stop issue. For me that's been harder.

And it's also really hard for me to do rides that go more than one day. I only have 3 years til my kid is off to college. She actually enjoys spending time with me - I spent much of this weekend's 600k feeling sad that I wasn't with her. I can bang out a 300 or 400k and be home the same day if I choose a local event. For even a local 600, that's not possible. I was considering the RM 1200 for next year, but I have pretty much ruled that out. Maybe PBP 2015.

ETA: Don't worry too much about the 22 hour 400k you need for your 1000. The weather should be MUCH better, you have a lot of good quality riding under your belt since your last 400k and you should be fine. I just can't wait to read the ride report!

[OakLeaf]

Second sunrise

Dang, Susan. Wow. Congrats.

[Susan Otcenas]

One of the stores used frequently as a control here is famous for its clam chowder. Creamy, New England style clam chowder. While I love soup on a brevet, I can't even imagine clam chowder on a ride of any length.

I had some great tomato basil soup at the Safeway at 135 miles. We had a tube patching party in the deli while we ate.

It's funny trying to compare distances on events. Every ride is so different that it would be hard to say categorically (as we both have just done) that we prefer X distance over Y distance. ... It seems like you have really nailed (and been able to be consistent about) the sleep stop issue. For me that's been harder.

It IS very hard to compare events. For me, a lot depends on weather. We have soooooooo many wet and cold brevets. And I struggle terribly with my body temperature. I didn't feel my feet for at least half this ride. It makes for some longer controls, especially at night, if I need to warm up, or change socks or toe warmers, etc. My feet are very tender today from being so numb for so many hours this weekend. OTOH, I do really well in heat. It doesn't seem to affect me. Perhaps I should move to the desert.

As for sleep stops - I've done three 600s on anywhere from 1:45 to 3 hours sleep at ~360K. I wake up feeling really good typically. I've not yet woken up in the middle of a 600K so sore or tired that I didn't feel like I couldn't go on. After this 400K, I only had 2.5 hours sleep before needing to head back to Portland. I felt totally fine and wasn't particularly sore (I'm still not sore, actually) and could have gotten up and ridden another 200K. (Though, the April 400K destroyed me. It rained for the first 180 miles and it took me a solid week to feel mostly OK again. I couldn't have ridden another 200K THAT day!)

PBP 2015! I'm going to hold you to that...