Bag drops

[Nothereforafasttime]

When bag drops are available on Audaxes to what extent would a rider need to bring in terms of sleeping equipment?  In other words, what sleeping equipment is available to the rider when village halls, etc. are provided on the ride (just mattress or anything else?)

I'm just trying to work out how much stuff to put on my list.

TIA

[Wycombewheeler]

When bag drops are available on Audaxes to what extent would a rider need to bring in terms of sleeping equipment?  In other words, what sleeping equipment is available to the rider when village halls, etc. are provided on the ride (just mattress or anything else?)

I'm just trying to work out how much stuff to put on my list.

TIA

Varies too much to answer. Best ask the organiser of the event you are interested in.

[quixoticgeek]

Varies too much to answer. Best ask the organiser of the event you are interested in.

Agreed. On BPB sleeping equipment in the bag drop would be a bit over kill, as the overnight stop is a hotel. Last year I put in a load of chocolate, a 500ml bottle of coke, a change of shorts, and a packet of crisps (healthy eating I know...). I may have also put in a bottle of sun cream. I think this year I may add some protein bars.

J

[The Family Cyclist]

Just check in liquids. LEL had a no liquid rule and enforced it... although they didn't actually check was reliant on people admitting it.

[quixoticgeek]

Just check in liquids. LEL had a no liquid rule and enforced it... although they didn't actually check was reliant on people admitting it.

On BPB it was a no bidons rule. I'm guessing as most bike bottles tend to leak if anything but vertical...

J

[Tomsk]

'BD' in the event codes on the AUK calendar - specifics in the organiser's information/route sheet attachment, usually also on AUKweb, or by email if not ... linked to:  'Z' - sleeping facilities en-route [and I'm not referring to bus shelters here]!

[Ajax Bay]

When bag drops are available on Audaxes to what extent would a rider need to bring in terms of sleeping equipment?  In other words, what sleeping equipment is available to the rider when village halls, etc. are provided on the ride (just mattress or anything else?

The organiser will make it clear in the final instructions what is going to be provided. Sometimes this will vary with the later arrivals doing worse - 'life is not fair' (as my father used to intone).
Bag drops will normally be limited in volume so you will struggle to include a sleeping bag, even if you wanted to. But a sheet sleeping bag is a good option. Halls will normally be warm enough.  Sometimes blankets will be supplied. Ear plugs and eye mask or substitute well worth it. Headtorch for finding all your 'bits' in the dark, minimising disturbance to others. HTH

[Wycombewheeler]

Headtorch for finding all your 'bits' in the dark,

Really? 

[αdαmsκι]

I should have put my thermarest into my bag drop on the ALPI4000, but at least I found a foam mattress unlike others:

https://twitter.com/Dr_AAY/status/1021236107369906176?s=19

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I rely on what I find in the hall / provided by organisers.  I don't always sleep particularly well.  What really matters for me is to have a spare pair of shorts and a base layer, as it's usual after 300km to be damp either from the elements or from the effort of riding up hills, and going to sleep with a dry layer next to the skin is much easier.

[mattc]

There is a pleasing blank in my bingo card for this thread:

"If you're tired enough you can sleep anywhere."

Anyone fancy posting that view, now that I've reminded them??

[Greenbank]

There is a pleasing blank in my bingo card for this thread:

"If you're tired enough you can sleep anywhere."

Anyone fancy posting that view, now that I've reminded them??

I'll combine two in one and go for:-

"If you can't sleep at an Audax control then you've not pushed yourself hard enough."

[mattc]

<applause>
An exemplary example, well played sir.

[Greenbank]

But, as others have said, it will vary on the ride in question.

On K&SW 600 I didn't need to carry anything as the control had mattresses, blankets, etc. I think I changed my shorts but that was just because they were there (I think I carried them rather than there being a drop bag), I wasn't cold or damp so I didn't need to.

On BCM I never got there early enough to use the rest facilities, instead I'd had a power nap on a bench outside Penrhyndeudraeth.

LEL 2009 I had a inflatable mattress (in my bag drop) I got to use at Thorne twice (by sheer luck rather than planning). Other than that I slept on a tiled floor with a blanket (Eskdalemuir) and the absolute luxury of a bunk with a duvet (Alston YH).

Severn Across 400 I used to catch an hour or so on the carpeted floor of the restaurant at the services.

On more than 10 rides I've carried a silk sleeping bag inner but never actually used it. I don't struggle with sleep or cold that much. Racing snakes may have a lot more problems in this regard.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

There is a pleasing blank in my bingo card for this thread:

"If you're tired enough you can sleep anywhere."

Anyone fancy posting that view, now that I've reminded them??

Underneath a table in the cafe at Eskdalemuir, LEL2009.  At least i wasn't the rider asleep underneath the hot water urn, or the rider asleep on a window ledge.  But I got two hours kip and then had a stonking ride the next day up to Edinburgh and then 11 hours into a headwind back to Middleton-in-Teesdale.

But I've not yet had a decent kip in a bus shelter, something hugely missing from my palmares.

[phil d]

There is a pleasing blank in my bingo card for this thread:

"If you're tired enough you can sleep anywhere."

Anyone fancy posting that view, now that I've reminded them??

Underneath a table in the cafe at Eskdalemuir, LEL2009.  At least i wasn't the rider asleep underneath the hot water urn, or the rider asleep on a window ledge.  But I got two hours kip and then had a stonking ride the next day up to Edinburgh and then 11 hours into a headwind back to Middleton-in-Teesdale.

But I've not yet had a decent kip in a bus shelter, something hugely missing from my palmares.

Oh yes. So many (mainly happy, one or two worrying) memories of that night. Everyone survived. I have no doubt the locals are still talking about it in some awe.

I was provided with 30 beds, a few more blankets, as "very few riders will want to sleep at Eskdalemuir". In the event it wasn't quite enough.