training tips for 600kms audax events

[Mad Jack]

Don't think so. He's typing as if he's got all his fingers.

Well i@m typing this using my thumbs, how can you tell!
R click on d mouse is a different story>> 

[zigzag]

a lot of good advice here, but each person is different and the only way to find out what works and what not is by doing it. quite a lot of riders crave for some salty foot for example, but i never felt the need for salt as i sweat very little. i started and finished with the same long sleeve jersey which wasn't smelly after 1000 miles (i took a shower once during the ride).
the way i see the target helps me through the ride. if the ride is 600k, then 600 is the only number that matters during the ride. all the distance in between is irrelevant and not important. i enjoy the scenery, good company on a ride and lengthy stops at controls, but what matters most is the finishing of the event. my body likes to complain if it's been put out of comfort zone, but brain doesn't give in - it knows that after few hundred km the life will be as usual. that's where the focus should be.
regarding 400 and 600 after one week - it wouldn't be my choice, unless i needed to do it for some reason. i'd still feel a bit tired before 600, and especially if the weather is rough, i'd simply fail to start. it would be hard to find motivation. but i hope you'll have that motivation and finish all your rides successfully.

[daimountaingoat]

Thanks to everyone for their advice on this topic

[EdinburghFixed]

Little lessons I have learned in my (very short) time as a randonneur:

- spend as little time off the bike as possible.

Imagine a fifty kilometre stage between controls, and that you spend an extra fifteen minutes ordering something that isn't ready to eat and fiddling with your saddle height. Rather than ride to the next control at a healthy moving average of 15mph, you would need to average 17mph to catch up. That's a lot faster, and the longer you take off the bike, the speed required on the bike to balance out grows exponentially.

- at any control, only order something that you can see is literally ready to eat.

On my first 200k I spent a whopping forty-five minutes waiting for soup and bread, which seemed like me to be a safe choice speed-wise, but I was wrong! Compared with a hypothetical version of myself who chose a cake that existed right then, I'd have had to cover the next fifty kilometres at 23.5mph instead of 15mph.

Imagine this happened at all ten controls of a 600k - you'd have lost seven and a half hours of time, which effectively raises the required average speed from 15kph to 18.5kph.

- don't try to go fast!

You don't actually have to ride quickly to get around an audax in comfort, if you ride at just 20kph (12.5mph) you bank an hour of time for every three hours ridden, or ten hours total over a 600k. Freewheel down hills. Resist the temptation to chase riders who are a million times fitter than you.

[Hummers]

I think the value of getting the sleep budget bumped up in the week before a 600 has already been mentioned and on the three 600s I have DNFd, what happened the previous week and what I was doing the following week was a determining factor far more than my level of physical fitness.

Bearing in mind that most 600s start early on a Saturday morning, if you turn up physically fit enough but completely mentally exhausted after a tough week at work with a string of late nights/early mornings behind you then it can make the ride pretty tough. I failed on my first 600 (Bryan Chapman), another ride in 2008 (Midhust 600) and a solo Perm 600 (the Hellfire) because of this.

In terms of the following week's pressures; on the BCM I needed to be in London on the Monday morning at 8am and couldn't see how this was going to happen as I had started late and was at the back of the field in bad weather.  With the Midhurst 600 I really couldn't be arsed to spend the night lying on a bag of charcoal briquettes in a service station when there was a party to go to in Pompey. With the Hellfire, I had had a row with Mrs H and wasn't feeling well before I even started culminating in a grim turn just before the night section that left me worried about screwing up riding  LEL (which was in 3 weeks time).

In all circumstances, I would have been better off staying at home as finding you have lost the will to live or can't be arsed to continue 200k into a 600 can be a costly affair.

On a cheerier note, just because you fail once doesn't mean it's beyond your reach. Since the DNFs, I have done the Hellfire twice and the BCM once and will probably be riding the Midhurst 600 this year.

H

[Manotea]

- at any control, only order something that you can see is literally ready to eat.

And if in doubt, pick it up and start eating it. Nothing more frustrating than making a 'quick' stop in a tearoom and ordering a scone from the pile on the counter then waiting 15 minutes for them to serve it on a plate and doilly!

See also: Definition of Frustration.

[jogler]

This is an excellent thread.Very informative & much of the advice is applicable to any ride.It is to me anyways.

[Greenbank]

- at any control, only order something that you can see is literally ready to eat.

And if in doubt, pick it up and start eating it. Nothing more frustrating than making a 'quick' stop in a tearoom and ordering a scone from the pile on the counter then waiting 15 minutes for them to serve it on a plate and doilly!

If necessary, be prepared to eat things in the order they arrive, ideally after taking something from the counter there and then (cake, bread, mars bar, etc).

At Shobdon (first control on Elenith) I usually order a cooked breakfast and also get a slice of lemon drizzle cake. Service there isn't slow by an means, but the breakfast usually arrives around the time I've finished eating the lemon drizzle cake.

[LEE]

Little lessons I have learned in my (very short) time as a randonneur:

- spend as little time off the bike as possible.

Imagine a fifty kilometre stage between controls, and that you spend an extra fifteen minutes ordering something that isn't ready to eat and fiddling with your saddle height. Rather than ride to the next control at a healthy moving average of 15mph, you would need to average 17mph to catch up. That's a lot faster, and the longer you take off the bike, the speed required on the bike to balance out grows exponentially.

- at any control, only order something that you can see is literally ready to eat.

On my first 200k I spent a whopping forty-five minutes waiting for soup and bread, which seemed like me to be a safe choice speed-wise, but I was wrong! Compared with a hypothetical version of myself who chose a cake that existed right then, I'd have had to cover the next fifty kilometres at 23.5mph instead of 15mph.

Imagine this happened at all ten controls of a 600k - you'd have lost seven and a half hours of time, which effectively raises the required average speed from 15kph to 18.5kph.

- don't try to go fast!

You don't actually have to ride quickly to get around an audax in comfort, if you ride at just 20kph (12.5mph) you bank an hour of time for every three hours ridden, or ten hours total over a 600k. Freewheel down hills. Resist the temptation to chase riders who are a million times fitter than you.

This is called "NDA" _{(c) LEE@YACF} (No Dicking About).  You almost always regret dicking about in controls so it's just best not to.  If you are going to dick about then dick about in the final control, with 50km to go.

Adopt a Mantra when you arrive at a control - "don't forget brevet card, don't forget water bottles, order food, stamp brevet, get water bottles filled, eat food and go".

Basically you can sit and wait for food to arrive or you can do all those "admin jobs" whilst waiting for it to arrive.

I never do any of this and always regret it.

[L CC]

When I ride with him he orders the food and sorts the cards, I do the water bottles, use the facilities and get nagged for drinking too slowly.
Never any control DA when he's in charge.
When I ride with the good captain he is always first to say "come on then".

Choose your companions carefully...

[hellymedic]

Certainly, faffing should be minimised; I don't know if I ever could 'dick'!
Eating a 'pudding' first makes sense in many ways and certainly helped me. A nice 'quick carb' boost to recharge the muscles, while the greasy, slowly-absorbed proteins are being laboriously prepared.

[mmmmartin]

on the short and easy rides I do, which are designed for children and old ladies, I try to remain in contact with the bike at all times, and don't sit down. once one is sitting, one is doomed. obviously you can't always follow this rule, but I've found it to be quite useful.

[Ian H]

Oh dear. I'm doing it all wrong.

[Chris S]

Now would be the wrong time to own up to pubbe visits, I guess?

[Hummers]

When I ride with him he orders the food and sorts the cards, I do the water bottles, use the facilities and get nagged for drinking too slowly.
Never any control DA when he's in charge.
When I ride with the good captain he is always first to say "come on then".

Choose your companions carefully...

Yes, there is always time for DA later.

H

[ian_oli]

Eating a 'pudding' first makes sense in many ways and certainly helped me. A nice 'quick carb' boost to recharge the muscles, while the greasy, slowly-absorbed proteins are being laboriously prepared.

Control+Cake+fry up+Steep hill within next 5 miles = My imitation of British High St at 1am on a Sunday morning

[Feline]

One of the things that worries me on audaxs is leaving my bike outside places, particularly when I will be riding my N+1 with its nice Ti frame and 2 grand price ticket. Does anyone actually ride 600km with a Kryptonite lock on board? How do you all deal with going into controls and having your bike out of sight?

[Ian H]

Now would be the wrong time to own up to [censored], I guess?

Yes. We should be setting a good example.

[Ian H]

One of the things that worries me on audaxs is leaving my bike outside places, particularly when I will be riding my N+1 with its nice Ti frame and 2 grand price ticket. Does anyone actually ride 600km with a Kryptonite lock on board? How do you all deal with going into controls and having your bike out of sight?

I lock my Ti bike with a moderately hefty cable lock, but quite often leave the ancient steel fixed unsecured.

[hellymedic]

Eating a 'pudding' first makes sense in many ways and certainly helped me. A nice 'quick carb' boost to recharge the muscles, while the greasy, slowly-absorbed proteins are being laboriously prepared.

Control+Cake+fry up+Steep hill within next 5 miles = My imitation of British High St at 1am on a Sunday morning

I seldom touch fried food. Difficult to avoid at The Mariners. I kept my meal down - just. Others were not so lucky...

[Karla]

One of the things that worries me on audaxs is leaving my bike outside places, particularly when I will be riding my N+1 with its nice Ti frame and 2 grand price ticket. Does anyone actually ride 600km with a Kryptonite lock on board? How do you all deal with going into controls and having your bike out of sight?

Yes: I've ridden a 400 and a 600 with TStones of this parish, and he's carried a Krypto Mini D on both rides.  

I may take a tiny cafe lock on longer events (EDIT: The same as the one linked by Greenbank, below) , but I reckon that if I'm using commercial controls, I need never let the bike out of my sight, or at least if it's a big place then I'll wheel it into the foyer and give a 400km stinky stare to anyone who objects.  If, on the other hand, the controls are dedicated affairs like on the Seething this year, there's enough buzz around the place that I don't worry about leaving the bike outside.  

[L CC]

Now would be the wrong time to own up to [censored], I guess?

Shhh! I was trying to be all serious and that.

I suppose the point is you need to choose to have a leisurely ride with a good long [censored] in the middle, rather than accidentally discover you've wasted almost an hour in a rubbish cafe staffed by moronic 15yr olds in no hurry, when you've already spent an hour going off route /having a mechanical/ visiting every flushing facility because you've got gut rot.
Or perhaps that last one's just me.

[Nuncio]

One of the things that worries me on audaxs is leaving my bike outside places, particularly when I will be riding my N+1 with its nice Ti frame and 2 grand price ticket. Does anyone actually ride 600km with a Kryptonite lock on board? How do you all deal with going into controls and having your bike out of sight?

I lock my Ti bike with a moderately hefty cable lock, but quite often leave the ancient steel fixed unsecured.

And because Ian H is riding two bikes, he'll still have one left when the other is nicked.

(But things can still go wrong.  Where's that photo of him standing forlornly outside Bulwark Community Centre with 2 wheels?)

[vorsprung]

At Shobdon (first control on Elenith) I usually order a cooked breakfast and also get a slice of lemon drizzle cake. Service there isn't slow by an means, but the breakfast usually arrives around the time I've finished eating the lemon drizzle cake.

I don't stop at Shobdon or Builth Wells controls on the Elenith.  It's stamp and go.

The garage at Beulah is about lunchtime, I get a sandwich and a chocolate milk there.

After Beulah I stop at all the food stops, the bowling club at Tregaron, the cafe in Rhayder and the late night village place

Roll on spring and another Elenith!

[LEE]

I use a very lightweight combination cable lock a bit like this (but 4 digits)


It won't stop a professional bike thief but it may stop some "chancer" wheeling it off.

I always try to leave it against a cafe window where it's in sight. Otherwise there are so many cyclists milling about that a thief would be unsure whether the owner was around or not.

I admit that I am taking a chance by doing this.