Time to start DIY 400?

[Bianchi Boy]

I am riding a DIY 400 on Friday (and part of Saturday) and am pondering start times. I have planned a route that has a possible food stop every 50 or 60 km. Sometimes only a Tesco Express 24 - but I will get food and water.

I have pondered 6am (a little early for a DIY), 8am - current choice, mid-day (night time feed will be Tesco 24), 9pm time I started Kingdom of Fife last year - starting in darkness does not appeal at this time of year.

When would you start?

[recumbentim]

June 3.30am and try and do it in daylight???

[Bianchi Boy]

June 3.30am and try and do it in daylight???

Good idea - now that is an early start!

[Peter]

BB, I don't know what your route is but I did a 400 a fortnight ago and I set off at 8am.  The light isn't really a factor as you are likely to be out for a whole 24 hours anyway.  My thinking was to start as soon as possible after a reasonable night's sleep.  I actually got about 5 hours, which is as much as I get before most audaxes.  I carried more food than I actually needed because of warnings about remote places (it included Alston and Yad Moss) but in fact I could easily have re-victualed adequately on the route.  I had 3 squaddie towns to cross late at night or in the early hours but in fact I got no trouble at all - and like you I set off on Friday.

I'd definitely opt for starting as fresh as possible, though you may have a section that you really want to see in daylight?

[simonp]

We started our arrow at 8am and that worked reasonably well, we rode 430km (409km shortest distance).

[mmmmartin]

You will go through the night whatever you do. So you might want to have a good night's sleep in your own bed, a decent breakfast and a fairly relaxed preparation. The Invicta 400 starts at midday, which seems a good idea to me because you then finish the following afternoon, and can get home and eat then sleep all night and go to work on the Monday. An early morning start means fewer hours of sleep beforehand and that is not a good idea IMO.

[Lycra Man]

If you are doing a DIY, then you have the convenience of finishing at home. So I would time it so you get home at around 4.00pm. Have a leisurely bath, a good supper, and a full night's sleep.

Lycra Man

[Wobbly]

The last DIY 400 I did was late last September, so a similar amount of daylight to late April. I opted for an early start (5am-ish) on the grounds that that's what time I normally wake up. If you think you will finish in less than 24 hours then it benefits you to maximise the amount of daylight, so a dawn start helps.

As ever, YMMV.

[mattc]

The answer is entirely dependent on how long you plan to take. "400km" is not a duration!
For us full-value riders, we will rarely get much under 24hours, so daytime* starts make sense.

But if you're as fast as BB, this might apply:

June 3.30am and try and do it in daylight???

I do think Owls vs Larks is a factor too - I will rarely get a good night's sleep before a 6am start, but others are chomping at the bit by that time.


_{*I think lunchtime works best for me, but there will be so many other factors with the route, controls ... even weather if you're riding solo!}

[LEE]

For a solo 400 I would start around 3am-4am I think.

The roads would be empty and it would be light before you knew it.  You'd then have a whole day to get some quick miles done.

400km is 24 hours for me but I imagine you'd be coming home well before 3am which means getting a normal night's kip after you finish.

The best 400 I've done is the Denmead 400 perm with Chillmoister and Keeks.  We started at 7pm purely so we rode the 2nd 200km ( a very long, lonely and deserted stage) in daylight.  That was OK in company but I wouldn't be so keen on my own (although perhaps worth it just to be the only person in the Cheddar Gorge at 3am).

[mikewigley]

I'm planning on riding a 1000km Perm this year, with "day 1" being about 400km starting at 11pm.  The idea is that I would get to a Travelodge in the evening of the following day in time for a shower, something to eat and a few hours sleep in a comfy bed.

"Day2" and "Day3" of the 1000 would then be 2 rides of about 300km starting at dawn with another Travelodge stop after Day2.  That's the plan anyway and al least fits the control times, but whether it fits my abilities remains to be seen.

So a late evening start for a 400 might work out.  If you are think you'll be riding throught the night, getting it done early in the ride while you are still fresh makes sense.  This weekend's Plains 300 works very well that way, and I'll be on that unless the weather is unfriendly

[arabella]

As suggested above - plan your start time for how lonbg it'll take you, what time you want to finish etc.

I'm planning on riding a 1000km Perm this year, with "day 1" being about 400km starting at 11pm. 

If you'r planning to go through the night anyway why not start at lunchtime and be over 1/2 way before you stop etc. (depending on how you find 36 hours in the saddle on the trot etc.)

[GrahamG]

I'd allow ~18 hours if the route wasn't too arduous and leave at 6am with the intention of being back for around midnight. Just a day out then innit?

[Chris S]

A 400 as 2x200 with a return home half way, worked for me: Chris rides a Billy-no-mates 400

[PAC]

I think I'd go for a start between 7pm and 9pm....I actually enjoy riding at night when everything seems much calmer....plus the thought of only having to another 100-150k at about 10am would be encouraging!

[Peter]

You get to ride at night however you do it unless you are very fast.  I set off just after 8am on a hilly course.  I had a wonderful starry overnight section.  By 10am, I had only 20k to go.  For me the deciding factor was to set off as refreshed as possible; not very, in my case but more than if I'd set off in the evening.

[Bianchi Boy]

I am heading towards 8am I think. This would make a day of it and the route is really quite easy and heads out east to the flat lands. I predict a riding time of no more than 16 hours so with 4 hours off the bike should be home for what will be a very late night.

I was contemplating an 8pm start. I enjoyed the ride on the Kingdom of Fife last year that started at 9pm. But I did have company and a cake stop at a friends house to make the night go quickly.

So 8am it is. Wish me luck!

[Peter]

Good luck!  Though if you can do 400 in 16 hours riding time, you don't need anything from me!

[T42]

We start our set 400s at 8 a.m. in early June. This allows for a 4-hour halt around midnight, which allows most of the night-club denizens to get off the roads (one way or another) while we're not on them, and a restart just an hour before sunrise.

[Deano]

BB, I don't know what your route is but I did a 400 a fortnight ago and I set off at 8am.  The light isn't really a factor as you are likely to be out for a whole 24 hours anyway.  My thinking was to start as soon as possible after a reasonable night's sleep.  I actually got about 5 hours, which is as much as I get before most audaxes.  I carried more food than I actually needed because of warnings about remote places (it included Alston and Yad Moss) but in fact I could easily have re-victualed adequately on the route.  I had 3 squaddie towns to cross late at night or in the early hours but in fact I got no trouble at all - and like you I set off on Friday.

I'd definitely opt for starting as fresh as possible, though you may have a section that you really want to see in daylight?

Uncle Peter! Did you ride Martin's LCL? He said you'd bought an entry. Where's the ride report?

BB: if you're looking at 20 hours in total, it would make sense to start as early as 6 am (assuming the controls allow it), that way it's just a long day out. The one time I rode a 400 in that sort of time, a 6 am start made sense even for a night owl like me, as I was back in my bed by 2 am.

[jogler]

I'm reading this with no immediate plans to ride a 400 but for future reference you understand.