RATN 2020

[Frank9755]

Probably taking a lead from the TCR?

I think it's more about people competing on equal terms. That said I think velomobiles won't be approved due to them just being too quick.

J

Those of us who have read the manual will know that that would be taking a lead from TCR! 

[quixoticgeek]

Those of us who have read the manual will know that that would be taking a lead from TCR! 

Oh, I haven't read the manual since prior to last years race.

I did have a nice chat with Michael tho about it, as I was curious if I could try it in a velomobile, and he gave lots of good reasons why he didn't want velo's riding.

That said, the gates in Friesland are a pain on an upwrong, on a velo they would drive you insane...

J

[rob]

You are on the right lines thinking through your packing in advance.  I now have mine sorted out but I recall a frantic couple of hours in a hotel in Geraardsbergen, packing what I was going to take on TCR that evening into the bags I had decided to use, and realising that it was the first time that I had tried to do it
<snip>

Oh, that would stress me out!  Good news is that the Bivy/mat/bag sleeping gear all fits nicely in a dry bag &!harness under the tri bars  now I need to actually try sleeping in it, but that does feel like a good step forward in prep terms 

I've not bought tri-bars for the new bike yet so that needs sorting.   Lighting I'm OK with.   I need a bigger rear bag as I tide a 52cm frame and there's no room for a frame bag around the bottles.   I'm probably not going to carry any sleeping gear as it's my intention to use hotels as required.   I'll need to start on some route research in the next week or so.

I have booked my ferries and will sort my before/after hotels out next week as well.   I'm probably a little unprepared.

[quixoticgeek]

I've not bought tri-bars for the new bike yet so that needs sorting.   Lighting I'm OK with.   I need a bigger rear bag as I tide a 52cm frame and there's no room for a frame bag around the bottles.   I'm probably not going to carry any sleeping gear as it's my intention to use hotels as required.   I'll need to start on some route research in the next week or so.

I have booked my ferries and will sort my before/after hotels out next week as well.   I'm probably a little unprepared.

If you are planning to use hotels, you may want to read the advice I wrote prior to last years race (link in sig). There are sections that are not over endowed with hotels, and most hotels do not have good check in times from an ultraracers point of view. I ended up paying €160 for a night at one point as it was the only hotel for 100km with 24 hour checkin. It was about €30 per hour of sleep achieved... Do your research.

I'll be writing a follow up to the above article in the coming weeks.

J

[rob]

I've not bought tri-bars for the new bike yet so that needs sorting.   Lighting I'm OK with.   I need a bigger rear bag as I tide a 52cm frame and there's no room for a frame bag around the bottles.   I'm probably not going to carry any sleeping gear as it's my intention to use hotels as required.   I'll need to start on some route research in the next week or so.

I have booked my ferries and will sort my before/after hotels out next week as well.   I'm probably a little unprepared.

If you are planning to use hotels, you may want to read the advice I wrote prior to last years race (link in sig). There are sections that are not over endowed with hotels, and most hotels do not have good check in times from an ultraracers point of view. I ended up paying €160 for a night at one point as it was the only hotel for 100km with 24 hour checkin. It was about €30 per hour of sleep achieved... Do your research.

I'll be writing a follow up to the above article in the coming weeks.

J

Thanks.   I'm planning to have a list of potential hotels and then book as I go.  I usually have a pretty good idea of what distance I can cover in a fixed time and can then build some slippage around this.   I do normally ride straight through the first night and well into day 2 before taking a break and would like to do similar.   When I did the Dutch Capitals 1400 I had hotels booked on nights 3 & 4 (Groningen and Utrecht) but ended up staying in Arnhem night 2 and then skipping Utrecht*, preferring to ride through the last night.   That time it was very hot, though, and nighttime riding became preferable.

Fitness-wise I'm back on course but may not get everything I need in 10 weeks.   This is a build for a longer event in July so I don't mind arriving a little undercooked.   My coach is aware and we have a bit of a plan.



* I did ride through the red light district very late on Saturday night with a German guy on a recumbent and we ended up having a massive fit of the giggles.   I think this is the same night we got wrist slapped by the police for riding on the road instead of the path.

[mattc]

I presume they don't have the same "guidelines" on booking hotels that TCR has?

[quixoticgeek]

I presume they don't have the same "guidelines" on booking hotels that TCR has?

I believe that it would be considered against the spirit of the race to book a hotel before 0800 on 1st of May...

J

[rob]

I presume they don't have the same "guidelines" on booking hotels that TCR has?

I believe that it would be considered against the spirit of the race to book a hotel before 0800 on 1st of May...

J

Indeed.  Hence my careful wording earlier.

[mattc]

 

[quixoticgeek]

I had researched the hotel I wanted to use on the first night last year. And then booked it at about lunchtime when I stopped for cake. I hadn't planned beyond that. Which is lucky, as my general plan of making use of my bivvi was an epic fail.

If people wanna study my Strava, they can probably work out what hotels I used. Th for clarity (having been asked this) i actually stayed in a hotel in Groningen, not in the police station, despite where my tracker stopped moving that night...

J

[quixoticgeek]

Something to be aware of. On the north coast you're riding through a lot of sheep shit. If it's rained it's going to spray everywhere, apart from making a right mess of your bike, if you get this on your bike bottle, you may have issues. If you can, use bike bottles that have a cover over the top so that it is protected, or find a way of carrying the bottle that is out of the spray.

Oh, and if you touch your tyres, wash your hands. Alcohol hand gel may be a good idea here.

J

[Frank9755]

Or just use mudguards.

[quixoticgeek]

Or just use mudguards.

On a down tube bottle position, I don't think I'd trust just mudguards to keep the bottle valve clean.

Each unto their own.

J

[mattc]

It does work. Tried-n-tested for <mumble> decades of riding!

PBP '07 featured a lot of DNFs with stomach trouble (very wet first 24hours in rural France). There was IMHO a correlation with mudguard use. Of course that may be confirmation bias, but that's how quite a few of us saw it!

[quixoticgeek]

It does work. Tried-n-tested for <mumble> decades of riding!

PBP '07 featured a lot of DNFs with stomach trouble (very wet first 24hours in rural France). There was IMHO a correlation with mudguard use. Of course that may be confirmation bias, but that's how quite a few of us saw it!

Mud guards are good at keeping the spray from that area of the bike. I'm just saying I would not personally depend solely on the mudguards to protect my bottles. I would either put them out of the spray, or have bottles with valve covers.

My bottle was rigged up on my handlebars well out of the spray.

Oh, and don't forget the alcohol hand gel.

J

[Frank9755]

It does work. Tried-n-tested for <mumble> decades of riding!

PBP '07 featured a lot of DNFs with stomach trouble (very wet first 24hours in rural France). There was IMHO a correlation with mudguard use. Of course that may be confirmation bias, but that's how quite a few of us saw it!

I recall RUSA, or someone else from America, analysed it and found a statistically significant relationship between DNF and no mudguards.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Jan Heine AFAIR.

http://postrestant.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2015/06/BQPBPEquipsurvey.pdf

[LMT]

It does work. Tried-n-tested for <mumble> decades of riding!

PBP '07 featured a lot of DNFs with stomach trouble (very wet first 24hours in rural France). There was IMHO a correlation with mudguard use. Of course that may be confirmation bias, but that's how quite a few of us saw it!

I recall RUSA, or someone else from America, analysed it and found a statistically significant relationship between DNF and no mudguards.

This needs drilling down some more. Did those packing, pack because of gut ache from drinking from shit covered bidons. Or was it that they could not handle some water being thrown up at them from the road?

[rob]

It does work. Tried-n-tested for <mumble> decades of riding!

PBP '07 featured a lot of DNFs with stomach trouble (very wet first 24hours in rural France). There was IMHO a correlation with mudguard use. Of course that may be confirmation bias, but that's how quite a few of us saw it!

I recall RUSA, or someone else from America, analysed it and found a statistically significant relationship between DNF and no mudguards.

I'm pretty sure that 07 was a rare year that I didn't have mudguards.   I can't for the life of me remember why but the photos confirm it.

I also seem to have had a different bike each time.   I'm not sure whether to be proud of that or not.

[LMT]

FWIW I move so fast I leave water behind.

[simonp]

I had mudguards in 2007 and 2011, and none in 2015 and 2019.

I had stomach trouble in 2007, but only on the way back to the UK - projectile vomiting on the car deck of the ferry as we were about to disembark.

[Rowan]

It does work. Tried-n-tested for <mumble> decades of riding!

PBP '07 featured a lot of DNFs with stomach trouble (very wet first 24hours in rural France). There was IMHO a correlation with mudguard use. Of course that may be confirmation bias, but that's how quite a few of us saw it!

Mud guards are good at keeping the spray from that area of the bike. I'm just saying I would not personally depend solely on the mudguards to protect my bottles. I would either put them out of the spray, or have bottles with valve covers.

My bottle was rigged up on my handlebars well out of the spray.

Oh, and don't forget the alcohol hand gel.

J

quite a lot of livestock transport round here, sometimes when they blast past (esp on a windy day)  can be left with some unpleasant tastes in the mouth. It can't be very healthy.

[slugbait]

As part of an audax that I'm organizing, I had a meeting with the owner of the hotel/pub in Pieterburen (Hotel Waddenweelde, on the North coast). Last year they were quite puzzled by all the RAtN riders that entered the pub late at night, completely exhausted and looking for food and beverages. Just a small message from her: if you call ahead, then she is willing to put you up for the night (subject to availability). She doesn't mind odd hours, but officially the reception is closed.

On the livestock excrement issue: Is it possible to develop a resistancy against this? I live "up North" (in the Netherlands) and the roads here are typically covered in cow and sheep deposits. Riders around here don't have issues with contaminations, even when cycling on rainy days without mudguards.

[quixoticgeek]

As part of an audax that I'm organizing, I had a meeting with the owner of the hotel/pub in Pieterburen (Hotel Waddenweelde, on the North coast). Last year they were quite puzzled by all the RAtN riders that entered the pub late at night, completely exhausted and looking for food and beverages. Just a small message from her: if you call ahead, then she is willing to put you up for the night (subject to availability). She doesn't mind odd hours, but officially the reception is closed.

That's Really useful, I went in there for a drink at about 1700 I think. I pondered to eat or not, but pushed on, in the end eating at Lauwersoog. Which was a hell of a gamble. I arrived with less than 20 mins until they shut the kitchen.

The place I ate in Lauwersoog is not longer showing as a business on Google maps. I don't know if that's google being pants, or if they have since shut.

On the livestock excrement issue: Is it possible to develop a resistancy against this? I live "up North" (in the Netherlands) and the roads here are typically covered in cow and sheep deposits. Riders around here don't have issues with contaminations, even when cycling on rainy days without mudguards.

Yes, to an extent. But it would suggest you've had it at least once...

J

[L CC]

On the livestock excrement issue: Is it possible to develop a resistancy against this? I live "up North" (in the Netherlands) and the roads here are typically covered in cow and sheep deposits. Riders around here don't have issues with contaminations, even when cycling on rainy days without mudguards.

Yes. There's nothing particularly untowards about animal excrement per-se, it's the bacteria in it, which, being ruminants, there's a lot of. If your gut biome reflects theirs, you wont be overwhelmed. You'll be vaccinated by low dose from childhood onwards.