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I'd be surprised if any 90 hour start riders stop and sleep before midday ...
You will see a surprising number of bodies asleep on the side of the road on the first night, and some not very far in. i can only imagine, a combination of travel fatigue, jet lag, a foreign country, and adrenaline wearing off being the reason. Plus as LEL 17 demonstrated a number of riders did not want to ride through that first night.
I agree a clear takeaway from Phil's 'bodies on the side of the road' experience is that it's foolish to start 'less than fully loaded' with sleep. So riders should design their pre-race timings (arrival time and extraneous activities) to minimise any risk of that.
Totally agree (and it's what made the biggest improvement for me when riding my 2nd PBP).
but ...
And from the starts later in the evening, if fuller value riders stop and sleep before dawn they risk being out of time at the following control unless they are quick on the road (in which case they'll surely push on anyway).
I can't agree with that as a blanket statement, sorry
Take the Bristol 9pm start 300km in November - I slept at about half-way (like perhaps 4-5 others). post-dawn I hoovered up at least a dozen riders who were looking dozy. Finished with an "adequate" time buffer.
PBP has more generous time limits.
Similarly, I recall Jo Wood passing me (at about Mach 3) in the early hours on PBP. He'd had a roadside nap - he said later that he just couldn't stay awake, but felt fine when after he got going.
If your body needs sleep, you will probably be better off sleeping (I'm not talking about 4 hours!). To quote Mr S.Abraham - "the best way to stay awake is to sleep". I wouldn't PLAN to sleep on the 1st night, but as people also keep repeating - you need to be adaptable. Likewise sleeping early on the 2nd evening/night - if your body needs it, and there is somewhere quiet/comfy, then do it! It doesn't matter if you haven't reached Loudeac/Carhaix/Brest/500km/whatever-crazy-fixed-target.
n.b. almost everyone will agree with YOU not me, if they've ridden PBP!