Quick fixes / Final tips before PBP

[Ian H]

'Fully laden' is the much same as for a 400 or 600 – a fairly full Barley*.  I'll be carrying somewhat more riding there and back again.

*Calculated so that it's not over-full when I'm wearing least clothing.

[jamesld8]

'Fully laden' is the much same as for a 400 or 600 – a fairly full Barley*.  I'll be carrying somewhat more riding there and back again.

*Calculated so that it's not over-full when I'm wearing least clothing.

you`re obviously better sorted than me then Ian I tried my Barley and it was very full ---ie no spare for a baguette etc  so have opted on a Nelson bag for some leeway. I did read somewhere that on PBP having a slightly too capacious bag is good idea when brain is tired and can`t think of repacking carefully or something like that

[Ian H]

A couple of toe-straps on the flaptop rings cope with, e.g., that waterproof you can't be arsed to stow properly.

[Aunt Maud]

Or a tent even, that's where mine gets stashed.

I reckon I can do camping with a Barley, but it's going to look untidy.

[mzjo]

A couple of toe-straps on the flaptop rings cope with, e.g., that waterproof you can't be arsed to stow properly.

I am not  doing PBP (although one day I would like to, as support crew probably) but something I find handy on my (big) Carradice is the bungy that I stick on it to pull it up from the tyre. Lots of things get tucked under this bungy on a temporary or semi-permanent basis. The only complication is organising it so that you don't forget to hook it back on after opening the bag (that wonderful feeling of winding up the elastic band with the back wheel; DAHIKT).

It is probably too late for anyone to try to experiment with this idea but it does work well if you have the habit.

[marcusjb]

8. Over to you...?

Pete, I have to send the Men in Black around now to wipe your memory - you've seen my secret training techniques in Richmond Park (and it's not looking awesome in a headband and purple Iridium Frogskins, that just comes naturally to me). 

Speed, speed, speed.  Riding until I can taste blood.

I've hopefully got more time to work on cycling rather than on working.  Worryingly, I appear to be sleeping 9 hours a night currently.  Think I am pretty exhausted from work. 

But hopefully, hopefully, I'll be able to drag my way around PBP based on this next few weeks of thrashing myself to within an inch of my life. 

[Pete Mas]

Mjb, I cycle home through Richmond Park every night, but still haven't managed to add another lap or two for 'training' or 'speed work'. Will try again next week.

Tomorrow, I'm getting out the tandem and picking up a partially sighted gent for a genteel spin along the towpath to Richmond for a cuppa - fun but not PBP enhancing.
Its the Kingston Wheelers B/Q  on Sunday, so I'd better justify the afternoon buffet and beers by going on the club-run in the morning!

I'm really just relying on 6 days in the Alps to tune-up my riding abilities before PBP.

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=91274.0

[Bairn Again]

Id suggest some padded insoles for your cycling shoes (or treat yourself to new ones).  Your feet will thank you after 1000km+

And, for after the event, dont forget Charlie Scotts advice from 1999(?)

"take your shorts into the garden - and burn them".   

[contango]

From a total PBP virgin whose approach to this year's ride is not to enter at all, I just wanted to second the idea of making sure the geometry is as you expect. I shipped my bike abroad, put it in the basement, and didn't ride it for three weeks. When I rode it, after 20 miles I was sore.

It was a nothing more than me being a bonehead. When I got it out of the box I just put the seatpost in to about the right height, then stored it and forgot I'd never properly set it up. It turned out the saddle was about an inch too high. With that fixed, on my next ride I was getting sore after barely 5 miles - sliding the saddle forward half an inch fixed that.

I shudder to think what state I'd have been in if I attempted to ride 1200km.

[T42]

"Training must be a pleasure," says chum most sagely to me the other day. So with that in mind:

[Aunt Maud]

A pair of 23mm Schwalbe Durano DD's for the mount, shall try them out on Hereward the Wake this Friday before committing to using them at PBP though.

[thing1]

To be fully prepared for a 2007 type ride US riders can stand under a cold shower while tearing up 100 dollar bills.

This complements the RAAM simulator rather well: sitting in an out-of-control sauna while tearing up 1,000 dollar bills.

[madcow]

Most important- Wear your  YACF,U.K club jersey or national flag of a U.K country if you want your mugshot  to appear in Arrivee.
If you dont want to be in Arrivee, wear an anonymous or trade team jersey.

[wilkyboy]

Most important- Wear your  YACF,U.K club jersey or national flag of a U.K country if you want your mugshot  to appear in Arrivee.

That only works if you own one of those jerseys, which I don't — yacf shirts don't appear to be available, I'm not a member of a UK club (except AUK, but those shirt designs aren't very nice IMO), and the Union flag shirts I found are all a bit OTT. 

Those who know me aren't going to easily miss me on PBP — say 'hi' as you pass me, take a pic and send it to Arrivée, please! — surely that should be enough to qualify for inclusion?

[Veloman]

Those who know me aren't going to easily miss me on PBP — say 'hi' as you pass me, take a pic and send it to Arrivée, please! — surely that should be enough to qualify for inclusion?

Indeed.  And there can't be many non-UK folk riding a Brompton.

[marcusjb]

Those who know me aren't going to easily miss me on PBP — say 'hi' as you pass me, take a pic and send it to Arrivée, please! — surely that should be enough to qualify for inclusion?

Indeed.  And there can't be many non-UK folk riding a Brompton.

I think the chap riding the B last time was Swedish. 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

And the one before that was Israeli, tkatzir OTP.

[Veloman]

like I said, not many!

[marcusjb]

Do we know if any Brits have ridden it on a Brompton? 

[mattc]

like I said, not many!

2 is a huge number of exceptions in the mind of internet pedants!

Anyway ...  is 1 per edition about normal then?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Do we know if any Brits have ridden it on a Brompton? 

None.

LEL01 by an Italian was the first long brevet done on Brompton that I recall.

[Ivo]

Do we know if any Brits have ridden it on a Brompton? 

None.

LEL01 by an Italian was the first long brevet done on Brompton that I recall.

Indeed, the 2001 edition. A quite tall Italian.

If I'm around your photo *could* appear in Arrivee .

[zigzag]

Indeed.  And there can't be many non-UK folk riding a Brompton.

I think the chap riding the B last time was Swedish.

if we are talking about the same guy - he's Robert from norway (we rode a fair bit of 1001miglia together). he was talking about sore hands and wrists after pbp - i can imagine!

[Hummers]

If you spend the next week pissing on the floor of your bathroom and arranging small islands of toilet paper (unused......probably) you can then spend the next few weeks practicing your balancing skills in readiness for the horrors of some of the controls.

If you have multiple bathrooms at home, make sure that only 1 is actually functional and invite over a couple of dozen of your closest mates to simulate queuing for a crap (Brest 2011 with about 3 working toilets between 5000 of us).

If you have small children, ensure that they high five you and shout encouragement at you throughout the day.

Remove all vegetables from your diet.

Remove all foodstuffs that are not grey or brown.

Orangina is fucking lovely and very refreshing, but you might as well just smash out your teeth now to save time.

Sleep on the floor or under a table or even the classic head on table snooze.

Practice your disapproving look at the French riders who are enjoying a lovely meal cooked by their supporters in their camper vans whilst they were enjoying riding their 7Kg carbon rockets.  Just not the British way at all - 10Kg of Caradice bag or you're just cheating.

Set up a mat with RFID detectors at your front door to recreate the beeping mats at controls.

Sit in on a group of fast blind riders who won't call out street furniture to simulate the first 50-100km of PBP

Playback CDs of Fred Astaire tap dancing combined with the sounds of mating elephants and farting camels to recreate the dorms.

There's nothing you can do to recreate the aroma though.  Even if you have teenage children in the house.

Study agriculture of north-western Europe because you sure do ride past a lot of fields.

But, most importantly, prepare to have the time of your life because despite all this^, PBP is fucking ace.

Brilliant Marcus 

H