Eat, Sleep, Ride repeat...
1600km in 7 days = 230km a day on average (keeping the 10 hours in reserve)
13 hours in the saddle leaves 11 hours for eating and sleeping, so you will ride in the dark every day, but not necessarily all that much.
Aye, that's the theory. But I reckon from the 600km part, until the 1050km part, the best I can hope for is a cross wind, most likely it will be a headwind. It's going to be like doing a long climb, for 400km. Part of that is Afsluitdijk. Which is 32km across the mouth of the Waddenzee. That's the bit I'm dreading more than any other part. There's a cafe half way across, and that's about it. A cross wind with the narrow fietspad means that I'm going to have a fight to keep it within the white lines. A headwind means basically getting on the aerobars and hoping. Tailwind is very unlikely. The prevailing wind is from the South west. This means that while in theory it's a 230km per day to do it in the 7 days, and in theory it's an average speed for the whole thing of 9.6kph. It's not as easy as that. Oh, and then having done 400km up hill into the wind, we then have a short 200km rest before hitting the lumpy bits. Which while none of them are more than 167kph, they tend to be short, sharp, and punchy.
The other major complicating factor is that we have to obey Dutch law. Dutch law prohibits sleeping in public places (I kid you not). So we can only camp on actual campsites (either commercial, or the vrij paalkampen), or sleep in hostels/hotels, which of course we can't book in advance. No cheeky nap in a bus shelter... And of course, you can't book these things in advance...
A big (20Ah) USB battery pack, I like the Xiaomi V2 one, and/or a wall charger with even more than 4 ports may be sufficient to keep everything charged. Yes, you may want to write down a todo-list (laminate it, wear it around your neck ;-)) that you follow every time you stop at a hotel and maybe even restaurant to keep the faff efficient. But such a list is probably a good idea anyway, lest you forget to wash your shorts right away, forget to fill your flasks etc.
I have a 20Ah battery pack currently not too dissimilar to the one you link, I've been using it as a buffer between the USB-Werk, and what ever devices I need to charge.
Your check list idea is a good one, think I'll adopt that.
Personally, when using a dynamo rear light I would feel comfortable with just having backup rear/front lights (or a head lamp that can act like one) instead of running them in tandem; but agree that when using a battery operated rear light you'll want two running, preferably different types with different run times to avoid riding without a light when the battery dies without you noticing (regardless of the law and race rules, this is about your safety).
Aye.
btw major kudos for doing this / considering this just three months after your first audax! 
Eek, I hadn't realised it's basically 3 months from first audax to the start of the race. Eep.
Between now and the race I'm planning to do 3 audax rides (200, 200, 300), plus a 500km off road bike packing holiday (booked it last Autumn). As well as my normal 75km a week commute, plus all the training rides. I managed to wear out the first chain on the new bike in 70 days. It lasted 1287.7km during the winter. I'm hoping the new one lasts a bit longer, but I'm fully expecting to need a new chain before the race, and another one immediately after...
On the subject of not switching lights off, the failure modes as I see it are:
- Running out of power due to miscalculation or poor battery performance.
I would say this is most likely. Miscalculation, poor battery performance, and poor performance due to user not turning them off when not needed, and not factoring this into the power budget.
- Helpy people switching them off for you when you park your bike somewhere civilised. I don't think this is much of a problem, as you'll notice when you get back.
- Thieves being attracted to the lit lights. A minor risk. Not something I've had a problem with in years of using dynamo lights with standlights.
This is the Netherlands. A bike left unattended, without a lock that weighs at least 10% of the weight of the bike, with a value of ≥10% of the value of the bike will not be there when you get back. Lights left attached to the bike and turned on will either be pinched, or ignored. Walk past centraal station and you'll see lots of bikes with lights left on, noone cares. I'm hoping that any hotel/hostel/campsite I use will have proper bike storage. Any food stop will involve me staying within sight of the bike. Especially in more urban areas.
- Concerned passers-by noticing the lit bike at the roadside in the middle of nowhere (especially if lying in the verge), and either awkwardly interrupting your hedge inspection, or waking you from your power-nap to check that you haven't been hit by a car and, inevitably, requiring a 'yes really' explanation of what you're doing. Bonus points for language barriers.
Not had this experience in the Netherlands yet. Have had it in Germany tho. I did have one person pull up next to me on a recent training ride when I was pumping a tyre up, but it's the first time I've had someone stop. Perhaps I'm spending too much time round Amsterdam...
From experience of night riding, I think the latter is worth going to the effort of switching your lights off (and generally hiding, or at least making the bike look deliberately 'parked') for. I wouldn't worry about the others.
One of the "nice" things about the Netherlands is that it's flat, you can see for miles. Alas if you can see, you can be seen. On many a training ride I've struggled to find a bush suitable for irrigation purposes that doesn't also include being on display to everyone for several kilometers in every direction. And given recent court cases in .nl following women relieving themselves in public, and the legal precedent thus set, I'm kinda loathe to do anything that is too visible... So yes, that is an argument to turn the lights off, but it's also an argument against lights with a stand light as you have to wait for that to die before scuttling between the only 2 bushes for 100k...
J
