Total time moving: 10:44:26,
Total elapsed time: 12:54:07
That's 130 minutes stopped, not 70, isn't it?
I can maths, honest... You are right. 130 minutes, not 70.
It's definitely trimmable, but if it includes a repair and a couple of controls I wouldn't worry too much - I find it very difficult to spend less than 40 or 45 mins at a control where I'm eating. And you had more than half an hour in hand at the end.
I was with a small group of Germans, I followed their routine at the first control, and arrived after them at the 2nd, so was there a shorter time than them. I did ponder the relative merits of eating on the move and food choices that are easier to ingest while moving. In my rush to leave the house on Friday night I grabbed 2 800ml bottles, thinking I would put one on the pouch by the stem, and one in the bottle rack on the frame, I could then use the second pouch on the stem to store biscuits, chocolate, etc... that I can graze on without stopping. What I failed to remember is that the 800ml bottles don't fit in the frame. What's annoying is the 600ml bottles that do fit, are on the shelf next to the 800's I could have picked them up...
But then it's hard to eat when you're wearing thick gloves that seem to have far too much of a coating of chain oil on them... I'm sure they used to be yellow...
I don't think you'll gain much on the bike either (am I right in thinking you're restricted to just one bike?), though maybe a set of lighter wheels and tyres would make it feel a bit more responsive, and give a benefit out of proportion to the weight loss. (I've got Michelin Pro4 Endurance on one bike, and Schwalbe One Tubeless on another - both seem fine for audax speeds and distances on grotty roads.)
I am currently limited to a choice of 2 bikes: Brompton (16 speed heavily customised), or my self built steel bike based on the Genesis Vagabond frame. I am in discussions with a frame builder about an S&S coupled steel steed as a general purpose adventure/audax/tourer bike.
Wheel wise I switched at the start of December from Ryde DP18 rims on Shimano Deore hubs, to Pacenti TL28 rims, with a Shimano DH-T8000 front hub, and the rear is a Shimano Deore XT hub (can't remember the model off the top of my head). Wheels were built by Madmen Cycles in Amsterdam using Sapim spokes. This shaved a few hundred grams off the weight of the wheels compared to the old DP18 wheels. But I'm at the point where I'm on real diminishing returns unless I go either full carbon, or throw a lot of money at lighter hubs. I could save some rotating weight by switching from Marathon green guards to pretty much anything else tho. I'm just not sure what that would get me bar perhaps the marginalist of marginal gains on a hill.
As I said at the start of the thread, several people commented that I should investigate faster tyres, hence this thread. I'm still uncertain how much is to be gained by spending €60-100 on a new set of rubber. I'm just glad I switched from the Studded tyres to the greenguards the week before...
Doing my first 200km audax at the weekend
Congratulations, welcome to the madness.
Thanks... I sat down with a calendar last night and pencilled in all the BRM's I want to do this year. It's a full diary.
I took about the same amount of time on my first 200. If you keep doing them then you'll get faster. For the moment I wouldn't overthink it.
I was doing 80km a week of pan-flat commuting and then one Audax a month or so and my times started to come down. I was able to move through controls faster simply because I wasn't so broken when arriving at each one, I didn't need as much of a rest. I was also faster on the road.
I ride ~15km per day round trip to commute, but I've been taking longer rides home to up the milage, doing anything from 8-53km as a ride home from work.
In December I had this crazy idea of challenging myself to ride 6054km in 2018 (3x2018). Hence the longer rides. The Audax rides came separate from that goal. I'm currently 40km ahead of pace for this, but I have 5 days off the bike next week as I'm at a conference
I use 25mm GP 4 Seasons year round usually but I've done Audaxes on 23mm tyres on a carbon bike with no problems. It's not really about the bike.
Interesting.
Under 13 hours for a winter 200 including a repair? And you're in NL so it's headwind all the way. Positively flying! Sure, some will finish in less than half that time, but you have to want to.
There was a headwind for the first 80km or so. It wasn't too bad, started as a force 2, but it got stronger as we got further west. Then we turned and the wind was behind us, I went from 18pkh cruising speed to 24+kph. It was great. Then the route turned more across the wind, which sucked. Just before the last control we turned south into the wind, it was utterly brutal. There was only about 2km of it, but it was a grind I was down to about 12kph for that bit. Post control, was back up in the 20kph area, then 15k from the end turned back into the wind, with a long 1km gradient, only a few meters in ascent, barely enough to count as an up, but the combo of wind and non flat meant I was down to 10kph for that slog. Then what should be a coast down the other side (also about 1km), wasn't because of the wind.
I'm used to the idea of an Omnidirectional headwind in the Netherlands, but this ride really made me understand why some people call it the Dutch mountains. I understand why Dutch pro riders are so damn good in the hills!
J
