PBP Book Help

[ramchip]

I'm helping a friend of mine finish her book about PBP 2019. At the age of 61 she did amazingly well completing PBP in 87 hours at the age of 61!

Before last year she was in reality just a club rider, riding 3 times a week with a local expat club here in Alicante.

She wants her book to inspire others no matter their age so she's included all her training etc in her book as she wants to help others, so in effect make her book a training guide.

She's in the final throws now so we are just debating what other chapters she should include.

She's included the likes of HR training including how she had to in effect retrain to ride at a slower hr compared to her club rides plus other training sections.

How important do you think are the following topics especially for those new to ultra events such as PBP & LEL etc.

Sleep Deprivation
Time Management
Recovery
Fluid Intake (Especially here in Spain)

[madcow]

All of those are important but the level of importance is linked to speed on the bike.
I'm 59  and  2019 was my third successful PBP.
2019 was the most enjoyable (but not my fastest) because I did more long events in training than in previous editions (3x 600km).
 
My take on it is you need to experience something like sleep deprivation so that you know the warning signs.
On the other hand some people are so quick that they have plenty of sleeping time.

Fluid intake was nearly my undoing in 2019 but I got it right in 2015 when the first night was warm and many riders missed opportunities to refill bottles.

I have never used a HR monitor and don't know that many AUKs of my acquiantance do either.
What they do use is intuition and "feel" for their condition.This comes back to experience and mindset.
In 2019,some riders packed after pushing the headwind when they had time to recover.

I don't think there is a blueprint for PBP .
 
I have always managed to get ahead of the bulge , by limiting stops early in the event.
I've always arrived at Brest in the early hours when many riders stop at Carhaix.
It's hard to leave a control when everyone else is settling down , there's only a few riders on the road and it's cold.
Confidence when riding in the dark is important if you are a full value rider.
So , I suppose that sleep management is the key.
 




 

[ramchip]

Some good points so thanks. She has a section on night riding. She had big problems with her body clock so had to work extremely hard to overcome tiredness which I think is very very important to mention. For most riding PBP I think they will have to deal with sleep deprivation.

And I agree about what you said your control stops as its too easy to lose bags of time just faffing.

Thanks for your input.

[hellymedic]

I am aware that some PBP riders have taken the opportunity for extramarital fun but I would not write a chapter on 'Sleep Depravity'...

[ramchip]

Ooopps I meant deprivation.

[hellymedic]

I know but!   

[quixoticgeek]

Fueling, both liquid and calorific. Many a newbie are curious about what is available at controls, along the route, and also what works for fuelling a 1200. As discussed in the stepping up the distance thread, for many of us, the big thing with stepping up the distance, isn't the physical endurance, it's the gastric systems handling of the input requirements.

J

[ramchip]

Fueling, both liquid and calorific. Many a newbie are curious about what is available at controls, along the route, and also what works for fuelling a 1200. As discussed in the stepping up the distance thread, for many of us, the big thing with stepping up the distance, isn't the physical endurance, it's the gastric systems handling of the input requirements.

J

Good points! She has a fuelling / nutrition chapter plus she covers how she increased her distances with her monthly training details.

[ramchip]

I know but!   

Are you talking about your own experiences?  It sounds like some had far more fun in France than I.

[hellymedic]

I've not ridden PBP but have done a ride of 1000km and helped/hindered at LEL controls.

Caffeine, confusion and hallucinations are, I suppose matters addressed in 'sleep deprivation' but they are important issues that should not be ignored.

[ramchip]

Thanks great points! Her book is going to target those thinking about riding 1000km plus events. For those who have not experienced events such as LEL or PBP etc I'm sure they think you get up each morning, ride 300km then go to sleep and do the same for 3 or 4 days. For many of us it's simply not like that. Time is evaporated with controls, comfort stops, fuelling and faffing etc. For me there is no night and day just riding then a bit of sleep when you need it.

[ramchip]

I'm can't even imagine where some find the time for depravity!

[hellymedic]

They were fast workers!

[ramchip]

Lol. I'll think I'll get her to skip the depravity chapter .

[longflaps]

In addition to the important topics suggested, I would also suggest adding something about dealing with the cold. I saw a lot of riders (and more on videos) who did not appear to have come prepared for the chilly night temperatures - I suspect quite a number bailed because of this.

Sleep deprivation was a real challenge for me on LEL (and ultimately the reason I bailed), but by PBP I had managed to address this in part by bringing a bivvy bag so that I could crash at the first sign of the dozzies without having to risk swerving up (or perhaps off!) the road to the next control (I saw lots of swerving cyclists so guess they were aiming to cycle to the next control in a zombie-like state).

No real excuses for not having enough to eat and drink on PBP with so many roadside stalls (in addition to the controls and various shops, bars and cafes, etc), but on LEL, especially during the night, this could be an issue. Might be worth mentioning that there's no obligation to buy food at controls (especially if you have to spend valuable time queuing for it) and a better option might be to grab food on the hoof from boulangeries, etc where you normally get served straight away.

Best of luck with your friends book.

[hellymedic]

Night-time chill is multifactorial. Riders are best advised they can expect to need more clothing than they would for the same temperature in daytime.

There's no sun (obv)
Metabolism slows down with a minimum at 2-4am. Everything slows, including muscles, whether you are awake or asleep.
Heat generation will be reduced if the rider is relatively unfuelled.
Wind and rain will chill as they can anywhere.

So the advice is to have warm, wind and waterproof clothing, keep well-fuelled, get out of the wind if stopped and have hot drinks if available.

Caffeine can increase metabolism and alertness.

I don't know if increases night time confusion/disorientation/hallucination.
I suspect it might.
Maybe that's just sleep deprivation.

[ramchip]

Some great points which I'm sure will be a great help for my friends book. If anybody has further comments then please do post them. Thanks again!

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

Many good points mentioned above - including the cold (I've always packed and used bib tights and a base layer for PBP - in 2007 it was 13C and heavy rain for most of the day and in 2015 it was single digit temperatures heading into Villaines on the way back.  When fatigued the body doesn't heat itself as well and ask yourself the question - if you were going for a 4 hour ride this weekend (temperature forecast 8C - what would you wear?"

One thing that would be really helpful would be something on riding with others.  Each time I've ridden PBP (and any other 1000km event)  the experience has been enhanced by the alliances I have made along the way.  Some just lasted for half a stage - such as finding a group in horrible rain at midnight between Titeniac and Fougeres in 2007 - some have lasted for most of an event (not PBP, but I rode the last 1000km of the Mille Miglia in 201o with someone I'd only met at the start.  But there have been times when I've struggled because I joined a group that went a bit too hard, faffed a bit too much, or just didn't ride in a way that suited me.  Choosing the right company I think is a component to success.

[ramchip]

Many good points mentioned above - including the cold (I've always packed and used bib tights and a base layer for PBP - in 2007 it was 13C and heavy rain for most of the day and in 2015 it was single digit temperatures heading into Villaines on the way back.  When fatigued the body doesn't heat itself as well and ask yourself the question - if you were going for a 4 hour ride this weekend (temperature forecast 8C - what would you wear?"

One thing that would be really helpful would be something on riding with others.  Each time I've ridden PBP (and any other 1000km event)  the experience has been enhanced by the alliances I have made along the way.  Some just lasted for half a stage - such as finding a group in horrible rain at midnight between Titeniac and Fougeres in 2007 - some have lasted for most of an event (not PBP, but I rode the last 1000km of the Mille Miglia in 201o with someone I'd only met at the start.  But there have been times when I've struggled because I joined a group that went a bit too hard, faffed a bit too much, or just didn't ride in a way that suited me.  Choosing the right company I think is a component to success.

Thanks you've made some great points!

[Phil W]

Sleep deprivation

Usually not a problem if I come into a ride after a number if nights of good sleep.  If you do get the dozies , stopping and having a sleep can be very important to your safety. To enable this you need to carry some form of silver blanket or warm over layer depending on the temps and weather you might be riding in.  Trying to push onto a control can rapidly turn into one of those not very good ideas.

Time management

I’ve never had a problem with this and it doesn’t need to be complicated with time checks just when you are at controls and brevet card out.

Recovery

I take it you mean during training. Depends on the rider. PBP 15 I just did a daily commute 5 days a week plus an SR series.  No training at all and only one day a week when I didn’t ride bike.  I don’t have that daily commute anymore so tend to do what you’d call training and I do build recovery days and weeks into it.  But it’s personal to the rider and intensity and duration of what they are doing in the build up.

With my 400 and 600s I go by feel as to how long I’m off the bike afterwards. Sometimes I’ll be riding my bike the day after, other times I may take 2-3 days break after.

Liquid intake

This is the one I need to keep the closest eye on as dehydration and / or gastric distress are the main cause of me not finishing a long event.  None of the above headings have really been factors.  Connected with this is heat. I’m not great in heat and will move to riding all the way through the night and sleeping during day if it gets too hot for me.

For PBP 23 I may take an additional 1.5 litre bladder to supplement water bottles for the first night. We shall see.

[Wycombewheeler]

Taking a bladder seems excessive there were many places between controls where water was available.