Post by: MAC on 04 August, 2017, 04:53:15 pm
I'll still try to avoid 'the bulge' but rather than trail behind will push on thru the first night if the weather allows.
I'll still ride (or at least try to) the Brampton-Edinburgh-Brampton loop again in the daylight. Too nice to miss it in the dark.
I'll still avoid the Howardian Hills on the return leg (if they are included in the 2021 version).
I'll still be using tubes, 32 spoke wheels and tiagra/105.
I'll still be using a dynamo/front light combo.
I'll still be using an Etrex 20/AA batteries with water resistant paper back up.
I'll still be using SPD (recessed clips) but will look at a stiffer shoe.
I'll stick to the same bag drops and ride between them with the minimum kit required for the conditions.
I'll try to make greater use of any passing trains.
I'll look to change from rim to a disc brake set up.
I'll try out a tri bar add on.
I'll make greater use of gels in between controls.
What will you do the same/differently next time?
Post by: Smeth on 04 August, 2017, 08:29:46 pm
And top prep tip.. Get used to sleep deprivation. ride through nights before and learn to manage and reduce the dozies. Power nap, sing, trickle water down the back of neck.
You might not intend to ride through a night. But you might have to to make time.
Next time..
. Might book a room before and improvise on return. The campsite was fine, but had to have 7 day booking and pitching camp/fitful sleep. Could have had digs for less.Also keep lightening the load and cutting complexity. I'm going to look at my packing list soon and cut more stuff out.
Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
Post by: mcshroom on 04 August, 2017, 08:49:10 pm
One of my bits of learning from 2013 will be to book a good hotel before the event with good air conditioning. Sleeping the night before in a travelodge at 30+ oC and no way of cooling it down really didn't help me on the ride.
On start times I'm torn. I think the ideal would be to have a late checkout from the hotel, start early afternoon and ride through the first night. However this runs the risk of there being no food, and also in 2013, being at the back of the field meant I ended up helping other, earlier riders who were in distress, to the detriment of my own ride.
At the moment with the buz of the event still in my head, I really feel like riding again; but the proof will be in whether I put the effort and training in over the next 3 years. I'm nowhere like fit enough to make it round at present, and after not finishing in 2013, I will not enter unless I think I have a good chance of getting round.
Post by: jochta on 04 August, 2017, 08:57:27 pm
I'll try to make greater use of any passing trains.
If you're riding full value you won't see any IME. The only one I saw later on was a slow, ill-disciplined group of randoms which I avoided. I did pair up with riders for a while at times but didn't ride in any groups. I had a good tow from a local on a mountain bike at one point, he was a strong rider but we must have looked a right pair!!
My riding plan was wildly over optimistic. I thought I could maintain 21-22kph average and after a quick run to Louth I wasted too much of the gained time faffing there. I should have had a nap and carried on. I paid for that error for the rest of the ride, being one control behind all the way really. If you can do the Brampton - Brampton loop in one day that would be ideal. In the end I was consistently averaging 18kph on the legs which was enough to stay ahead of time but not fast enough to get much sleep.
Always have one set of dry kit with you. In my brain addled state I dumped all extraneous kit at Brampton to reduce weight knowing I had more kit at Pocklington, the apocalyptical conditions over Yad Moss was nearly ride over, if the Sun hadn't come out at Barnard Castle I would have been stuffed. As it was it was a long, hard and late ride to Pocklington having started at Innerleithen at 3am.
My gomadic AA battery box kept my Wahoo going the whole way with battery swaps as required and one Anker PowerCore 10000 kept my iPhone going and was still half full this morning!
I used a Hope 1 front light with three pre-filled battery holders ready to swap as required. It was perfect on the middle setting and lasted all night.
Post by: MAC on 04 August, 2017, 09:00:46 pm
Other than the disc brakes bit I would write an almost identical list...May I enquire why the no to disc brakes? I can set up and maintain rim brakes quite happily but find the loss of braking power in the wet a big negative. Now having a commuting bike with disc brakes I am a convert.
Post by: mcshroom on 04 August, 2017, 09:06:37 pm
Other than the disc brakes bit I would write an almost identical list...May I enquire why the no to disc brakes? I can set up and maintain rim brakes quite happily but find the loss of braking power in the wet a big negative. Now having a commuting bike with brakes I am a convert.
Nothing more than familiarity (only my MTB has discs), and not intending to change my audax bike before 2021 if possible.
Having to remove the rotors added a bit of extra complexity when we were replacing spokes at our control. I agree the extra braking in the wet would be a real bonus.
Post by: MAC on 04 August, 2017, 09:16:59 pm
...and not intending to change my audax bike before 2021 if possible.Ahh. I may be going Ti before then so other options easily become possible.
Post by: Delph Cyclist on 04 August, 2017, 09:58:29 pm
I'll try to make greater use of any passing trains.
East Coast Mainline can be expensive if just rolling up.
Post by: MAC on 04 August, 2017, 10:07:56 pm
East Coast Mainline can be expensive if just rolling up.:facepalm:
Post by: Nutbeem on 04 August, 2017, 10:22:34 pm
Be patient & don't fret or panic if there's a queue for beds. With 15 minute wake up calls beds were becoming availably quickly even at our busiest times.
Similarly be patient with the short wait to show you to your bed and checking you out after you get up*. Making sure riders are in the right bed and that the team know which beds are empty is essential for wake up calls and for making the system run as smoothly as possible.
Before you join the queue get yourself sorted; use the bathroom, get changed if you need to, have all you kit in one or two bags. That way as soon as you're shown to your bed you can get under the blanket and sleep.
Similarly keep all your kit in a bag(s) by your bed so that when you wake up you just need to grab the bag(s) and head out. Several riders had loose kit spread out all round their bed and probably lost 15 minutes of sleeping/eating/riding time trying to locate it in the dark & a few them lost even more time and energy going back into the dormitory hunting for a glove/leg warmer/phone.
And finally if you were in bed 14Z on Wednesday morning turn off the alarm on you f@@king Garmin! The continuous high pitched sound disturbed everyone except you (& it was right by your head) & it took me 20 minutes to locate the bloody thing and turn it off.
*We put 310 riders through 220 beds on each night.
Although I could see riders thought it was taking a long time from reaching the desk to be shown their bed, in reality it was no more than about 5 minutes at most.
On Tuesday morning I walked 10km taking riders to their beds and doing the wake up rounds
Post by: DrMekon on 04 August, 2017, 11:43:51 pm
Garmin Etrex 30
Tri bars
Double gel strips under bartape
35mm tyres at 35psi and a cambium and a VCLS flexy seatpost(wot chipseal?)
Rapha Core shorts
CTBM Bum Butter
Castelli Pave jacket
Endura FS260 primaloft gillet
Alkpit custom framebags plus an ortlieb
Neoprene over gloves
Sidi shots plus sealskinz with PI long tights over the top of the socks)
What didn't work so well
Udderley chamois cream
Gaviscon Advance (take more omeprazole)
My eyes
Getting 799km on 90m sleep
Post by: grams on 05 August, 2017, 12:22:39 pm
- If food is disappointing / not what you want / not what you can stomach, be prepared to walk away rather than picking at it / staring at it (see above).
- Organise bag better with no loose items, and fewer items in general.
- Ride through the first night if you can, even if it means an audax hotel partway.
- Make use of the charging facilities at most controls, as it saves worrying about running out of power later.
- If planning to sleep at a control, sleep ASAP.
- Have a non-scenic route for the ride south already plotted and saved, for when you're out of time / riding at night.
I also now regret not continuing to ride after DNFing out-of-time at Thirsk. What's another 400 km?
Post by: mcshroom on 05 August, 2017, 01:07:05 pm
Post by: Simonofthepiemans on 05 August, 2017, 01:47:31 pm
Anyone else have a view (specifically in this context and not everyday riding)?
Post by: hellymedic on 05 August, 2017, 02:31:02 pm
Post by: mcshroom on 05 August, 2017, 02:46:54 pm
Post by: Mr Larrington on 05 August, 2017, 02:51:20 pm
Post by: LeeW on 05 August, 2017, 04:50:08 pm
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 05 August, 2017, 04:59:29 pm
Post by: Whitedown Man on 05 August, 2017, 05:30:36 pm
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 05 August, 2017, 05:40:46 pm
Post by: Whitedown Man on 05 August, 2017, 05:47:20 pm
Post by: Ben T on 05 August, 2017, 05:59:08 pm
....Sleeping the night before in a travelodge at 30+ oC and no way of cooling it down
travelodges do have fans, they will give you one if you ask at reception.
Post by: geraldc on 05 August, 2017, 07:01:52 pm
+1 to wearing anything that identifies you as a member of any cycling forum, it's an instant icebreaker
Post by: Veloman on 05 August, 2017, 07:35:51 pm
....Sleeping the night before in a travelodge at 30+ oC and no way of cooling it down
travelodges do have fans, they will give you one if you ask at reception.
I was at Enfield (near Southby Station) and the 2nd floor was insufferably hot with no option of cooling other than windows which made little difference. Fortunately, some previous occupant had put a plastic bag around the smoke alarm so I moved to the much cooler 1st floor. I also noted chaps above were having a session and would no doubt be returning at some silly hour and further messing the sleep. Lucky move for me, even though it was to Rm 13.
Post by: yoav on 05 August, 2017, 08:06:26 pm
- Have a non-scenic route for the ride south already plotted and saved, for when you're out of time / riding at night.
I know it's within the rules but is it common practice to make your own route between controls even if that results in an easier and/or faster time?
Post by: MikeFromLFE on 05 August, 2017, 10:29:42 pm
I don't know the % but quite a few riders coming into Spalding from the north were not following the route. I /think/ this might have been particularly common among the faster continental riders.- Have a non-scenic route for the ride south already plotted and saved, for when you're out of time / riding at night.
I know it's within the rules but is it common practice to make your own route between controls even if that results in an easier and/or faster time?
Tapatalk puts this signature here, not me!
Post by: Veloman on 05 August, 2017, 10:49:46 pm
- Have a non-scenic route for the ride south already plotted and saved, for when you're out of time / riding at night.
I know it's within the rules but is it common practice to make your own route between controls even if that results in an easier and/or faster time?
And open the 'can of worms' regarding how AUK interprets ACP regulations for BRM events! There is a comparison of regulations here:
http://www.aukweb.net/_resources/files/official/A_comparison_of_ACP-BRM_and_AUK-BR_Regulations_2014.pdf (http://www.aukweb.net/_resources/files/official/A_comparison_of_ACP-BRM_and_AUK-BR_Regulations_2014.pdf)
Article 8 answers your question and it maybe that taking a different route might have made the event longer, e.g. a main road when quiet, but was faster due to the nature of the road. Might have even been safer if the actual route was down narrow lanes with water filled potholes or loose under the rain sodden roads.
Post by: Deano on 05 August, 2017, 11:11:13 pm
- Have a non-scenic route for the ride south already plotted and saved, for when you're out of time / riding at night.
I know it's within the rules but is it common practice to make your own route between controls even if that results in an easier and/or faster time?
It more-or-less depends upon the rider. All you need do is look at a map - the official route is one that will work for anyone, anytime, as it avoids shit A-roads, dodgy crossings, rough lanes and all the other fun of riding in the UK (where possible). But we're all adults as riders, and we can make our own decisions on routes.
Some people will be happy to follow the route - and TBH, it'll be a more social ride, as you won't get to chat with other riders much if you flog along the A10, A19 or whatever - but the alternatives are available to anyone.
Post by: grams on 06 August, 2017, 12:01:46 pm
I know it's within the rules but is it common practice to make your own route between controls even if that results in an easier and/or faster time?
On most audaxes it isn't worth it, but LEL seems to have lots of entirely optional climbing that can be avoided with little distance penalty, particularly the Howardian Hills and the Lincolnshire Wolds. If you're riding at night or desperate for time or you've seen the scenery on the way up, there's not a lot of point.
Post by: mr ben on 20 August, 2017, 07:10:30 pm
Another thing - if they still fit I'll be wearing my YACF jerseys. I'm sorry I didn't recognise you Graham. I was Marcus, one of the volunteers at Thirsk. We've had a few forum members through I didn't recognise.
Hi Marcus, I saw you directing traffic in and out of Thirsk on my way south, it wouldn't have been an ideal place or time for either of us for to stop and say hello, so I'll say hello now instead, and many thanks for volunteering. I'm Ben from the 200 km on Mull earlier this year.