I'd like to be more specific but off the top of my head:
- Registration / bike check queuing in the rain ok but not great
- Start organisation, seemed to work but we spent a while watching before working out that they were running alternate groups from different directions
- Route out... the potholed gravel route out seemed comical at the start, and it seemed like there were quite a few punctures on the roadside in the first 100k or so. certainly when I encountered my friend who had a half hour head start earlier than expected it was down to a tiny piece of flint that looked like it came from the start.
- Controls generally chaotic and confusing for a newb, despite pre-reading, not sure what could be done there ! Consistent layout maybe but appreciate that's tricky.... or an idea of layout for each control in advance ?
- Again as a newb knowing what other sources of support to find where would have been handy, i.e. setting off on a 50mile stint wondering if any of the place names on the map round half way would be big enough to have a shop/café etc. Sometimes we were stuck a bit high & dry hunting for somewhere and others you'd stop somewhere not ideal and find a better option round the corner
If all those towns & rotary clubs could co-ordinate even informally on a shared map that would have been cool.
- Food at controls generally good, albeit necessarily samey.. some queues... cash or card where available worked okay.
- As mentioned, consistency between location & layout of water for filling bottles (sorry, bidons)
- Sleeps, well first one was full so in corridor, not ideal but knew it was a possibility. 2nd was cold (as others have noted).. 3rd was roasting in comparison.. but in general worked well.
- Loos, those with portaloos generally fine, those relying on finding and using those on site trickier... yes including the one with no door and only on cubicle where given no better option I just bared my arse and changed in a corner as best I could.
- Control times, now I had assumed I think based on reading around and on here that the brevets
were corrected for start time. I didn't check and by the time I was using them to do time in hand double checking I wasn't with it enough to notice. Fair enough if it was clearly stated somewhere and I missed it. Had my printed A & B plans to go by anyway.
That'll do for now