SIR Summer 600K

[Ed B]

Hi All,

So I just registered for this weekend's 600K.  This will be my first attempt at a 600 and I have some questions!

I'll be coming up Friday night and staying at the start hotel.  Is anyone interested in sharing a room and splitting the cost?

Since this will be my first brevet with an "overnight" I'm curious about what I can expect when I get there.  Will there be a place to catch a few z's for a couple hours (assuming i have time) or should I make my own arrangements?  Food?

The registrations page looks pretty slim.  Anyone else planning to ride this?

Any strategy suggestions?  How early should I leave the overnight on Sunday morning?  I'm not a fast rider, so I'm hoping to be able to catch a few hours sleep if possible but I'm not sure how to judge that!

Eddie

[Ron Himschoot]

Good luck  on your first 600K, Eddie. 

 

Clubs vary on the amount of support they give riders at the sleep controls.  Seattle is quite good.  If past performance is any indication, you can expect a bed, but not necessarily to yourself.  Don’t worry, you’ll get over it.  There may be some food, but if you want to be sure of getting the kind of nutrition you want, you should bring it yourself.  I think the mention of a 24 hr. I HOP on both the cue sheet and the RWGPS may be an indication that you are expected to fend for yourself.  I like to pack food in my drop bag so I don’t have to spend valuable time waiting for service at an IHOP.

                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Speaking of nutrition, I recommend consuming some carbohydrates before you sleep.  Pasta is good; pizza is not.  Your body wants carbs (and protein) for recovery.  I also like to have a hearty breakfast when I get up.  I usually bring some instant oatmeal to tide me over until I can find some place to get some ham and eggs and potatoes.  I might be in Snohomish before I get a chance to stop for real food.  The further you get into a 600K, the less you are able to store calories and the more you are riding on what you consume.  I recommend staying on top of calorie consumption, especially on the second day.

 

Sleep is good.  The more I can get, the better I will ride the second day.  I cannot waste time needlessly on the first day.  Time I’m not riding is time I won’t have for sleep.  If I can average 20 km per hr. (12.5 mph) over the course, I expect to get to the sleep control by 1:20 AM.  If I eat, shower, lay out my clean riding clothes, and get the bike ready to ride again, I can be in bed by 2:00 AM.  Some riders are surprised to find out how hard it can be to fall asleep at this point.  I just try to relax and concentrate on my breathing.  I try to sleep in 90 minute increments so I don’t wake up in deep REM sleep.  You’ll be really, really tired if you wake up from deep REM sleep.  Three hours of sleep (two full sleep cycles) will be 5:00 AM.  I don’t depend on the control staff to wake me up, no matter what they say.  I set an alarm on my watch and/or on my phone.  My body will want more sleep, but I try to hit the floor running.  I want to get dressed, get something to eat and be on the road before the control closes at 6:00 AM.

 

It is imperative that you leave the control before it closes.  The next control is only 23 km away in Carnation and closes at 8:16 AM and involves a nasty climb over the Issaquah plateau.  A flat tire or mechanical problem at that point spells disaster.  My advice is to give yourself as much time as you can for this leg.  Some riders like to follow the two hour rule: leave the control two hours before it closes so you are never pushing the time limits.  I would like to do that, but I’m not that fast anymore.  Truthfully, I never was.

 

In some ways I envy you.  At the end of the ride, you will have a new personal best for longest distance ridden.  It will be cause for celebration.  Be sure to take a nap before you try to drive home.

 

 

-Ron Himschoot

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[Ken]

Eddie,

Ron has wonderful advice. I really can't add much. If you feel that you need a bed to yourself than you may want to get a room on your own.

Also I would agree with Ron that if it doesn't seem that the ride organizers will have much food at the overnight you would be best served by having something in your drop bag. You need sleep time more than waiting at an 24 hr restaurant with limited staff for food. Pack a cooked potato or sweet potato in your drop bag that you can heat in the microwave. Even a can of soup or stew that you heat has worked for me a couple of times. Get some instant oatmeal in before you leave in the morning and stop for a real breakfast after the first control on the second day. I am a big real food proponent on long rides. 

My fastest 600 I ever rode was the one that I slept the least. But it was the one that took me the longest to recover from. I choose now to try to get as close to 4 hrs of sleep in order to feel better at the finish and to recover in a much shorter period. But that may not be feasible for all riders.

Have a great ride!

Ken Ward

Sent from my iPhone

[Ed B]

Thanks guys, this is very helpful!

[Theo Elliot Roffe]

Hey Ed,

Ron and Ken covered it well. We have shared beds for all of the registered riders and some food, though you can drop by IHOP of you need more. I ate at IHOP on the pre-ride and they served my food within minutes, despite limited staff. (That said, I sat there close to 30 min drinking coffee and playing with my phone...) If you're uncertain about how long to sleep, we can discuss at the overnight and I'll help you make a plan. 

There will be a night safety inspection at the start. Please bring your lights, reflective ankle bands, and a reflective vest (or sash). A rain jacket is strongly recommended.

-Theo

On Wed, Aug 23, 2017 at 9:49 AM, Ed B <eb9...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks guys, this is very helpful!

[Mick Walsh]

A rain jacket can be a life saver when you get cold, doesn't have to rain to need one.

[Bill Gobie]

My routine at an overnight is different from Ron's. I find a shower wakes me up. So I sleep first, then take a shower after I get up. Also I don't prep for the next day before sleeping. After riding 400k I'm mentally slow, prone to waste time making decisions and maybe making poor decisions. The most important things are to eat something, drink a beer for its sedative effect, and go to sleep. I set alarms on both my watch and phone.

Ron makes a very good point about leaving the overnight with time to make the first control. On other routes where the next control is far away I'm not afraid to leave the overnight at the closing time. On this route there are plenty of good spots to grab a nap along the Centennial trail.

So there you have two different strategies. There's also riding straight through, which some randos do by choice and the rest of us by necessity.

Bill

[Susan Otcenas]

Eddie,

I hope you had a chance to read the pre-ride report from two years ago that Theo posted.   I wrote that report.   Re-reading it, I think it does a decent job of not downplaying the challenges of this course.   It's hilly, and time management is key to your success.    The #1 thing you can do to put time in the bank is to not screw around at controls.  If you aren't peeing, eating or sleeping, you should be riding.  Keep your daytime controls as efficient as possible to ensure that you can put enough time in the bank to grab a few hours sleep at the overnight.  I'm a slower rider and consider anything more than 3 hours sleep at an over night to be a gift from the rando gods.  But to get that I need to get to the overnight with 5 hours in the bank.    I'm a diva, and absolutely must have a shower and something to eat before I go to sleep.   Having food in the fridge waiting for me at the overnight is important for me to not waste time.   But I'm generally tired of eating by then, so I'm big on easily digestible things like fruit smoothies, yogurt, etc.    Once I wake up, Starbucks Via in a microwaved cup of water gets me some caffeine to get moving.  Plus more food, of course.

This 600K has the extra challenge of being two loops.  That can be a big negative because it makes it easy to quit at the overnight.   Your car is right there!   I don't DNF often, but I DNF'd a tough 2 loop 400K last year at the end of the first loop.  And when I organized this very same 600K two years ago, we had more than one DNF at the overnight.    It's easy to be tempted.   Just resign yourself to the idea that you will be tired, sore, under-rested, your ass and legs will protest, etc.  And get back out there.

I recommend leaving 30-45 minutes in the bank at your departure from the overnight.   What Keith & I found on the second day was that we would plod along and gain another 30-45 minutes to the next control, then burn most of that time foraging for food, water and toilets (controls are always slower the second day), departing with that same 30-45 minute buffer.   That pattern repeated throughout the day.   Which would have been much more stressful had we left ourselves no buffer leaving the overnight!

My last piece of advice is to bring more cold weather gear than you think you need.   When I'm tired and low on reserve energy, I need clothing for about 10 degrees colder than it actually is outside, both for the wee hours of the morning before the overnight, and again starting out the second day.

Looks like I'll be riding this weekend as well, so I hope you'll introduce yourself to me at the start.  I'll be riding a red Thompson.

Best wishes for your first 600K!

Susan

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[Bill Gobie]

The weather in Packwood looks toasty in the afternoon. It's typically humid. Stay on top of your hydration and don't get too hot. 

Bill

[Ronald Long]

I've been quite impressed (and actually touched) by how helpful the responses have been to your question. 

Something that has been addressed indirectly, and a mistake I've made more than once in preparing for a long ride, is to focus on the predicted high temperatures along the route, rather than looking at both the highs and lows. Not fun at 10 pm to realize that the temperature is still dropping, you have a couple more hours of riding, including some descents, and you're already wearing everything your brought.

ronald

[Ed B]

I agree Ronald, I can't thank you all enough for this great discussion!  I'm looking forward to the ride this weekend and hope to see some of you there!  Susan, I'll definitely look for you.