Anyone here thinking about going? It'll be my first attempt and any pointers about roads, etc. beyond Velocio's 7 Commandments* would be appreciated. Thanks!


*(1. Make your stops short and infrequent so as not to lose your drive.
2. Eat lightly and often. Eat before getting hungry, drink before you are thirsty.
3. Never ride until you are so tired that you cannot eat or sleep.
4. Put on extra clothing before you're cold, and take it off before you're hot.
Don't be afraid of exposing your skin to the sun, air, and rain.
5. Don't drink wine, eat meat, or smoke---at least during the ride.
6. Never rush things. Ride within yourself, particularly during the first few hours of a ride when you feel strong and are tempted to force the pace.
7. Never pedal out of vanity, don't be a show-off. )

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Replies to This Discussion

i didn't find the road into Verona all that bad except for the long drag uphill and upwind the last couple of miles in. What broke my heart was when i was passed by the inbound lead groups outside Oregon while i still had 15 or so miles to get to Verona... ouch.

Night fell on me when i was about 6 or so miles past Milton homebound on M. i was deathly afraid i'd passed a turn marker but i was also afraid to mapcheck and lose what little momentum i had in that wind. Grim. Loneliest ride i'd done in years.

Don't sweat the series... just go one control to the next. i'm slowly gathering the gumption to try the 300 and play the rest as they come. My bigest enemy is cold windy rain. My old legs just turn to jelly when they get cold.

No clue in how to prep except ride ride ride. Hope to get in a 100-150K ride this saturday or sunday.

Other lessons learnt: Better rain jacket, lower bottom gears, eat/drink more, stretch more on the bike, better maps.

Next major investment: good dynamo lighting. Anyone have suggestions?


Joe said:
Yeah, that section was busy, rainy, and hilly, I wouldn't mind a different route between Oregon and Verona in the future :)

It wasn't exactly a "confidence inspiring" ride LOL, I did three solo centuries before this in training and figured this would be a cake walk.

I really want to do the series...but 600K seems impossible now. Maybe if we take it one ride at a time, one checkpoint at a time we'll make it?

How are you guys training? We've got 2 weekends off in between brevets....I'm not sure if I should go long or just do some shorter intervals and try to be fully rested. I guess I'm thinking kinda long on weekend 1...up to 100 miles maybe? Then just short rides otherwise, especially the week leading up to the next brevet. But I'd like to know what the rest of you are planning.


The 11 miles of County M on the last leg is a place very much like Hell.

Most of us were in our uniforms (IBEX wool knickers and wool jerseys) but a couple of guys were in lycra kits only. Half of us had rain jackets, and the rest didn't. Fortunately, everyone completed the course. If it had ten degrees colder, things might have not turned out as nicely. The real problem were extremities: a few were suffering from cold fingers and toes, as none of us brought weatherproof gloves or booties.

mike w. said:
There were a couple of folks out here (maybe some of yours?) who looked woefully underdressed for the conditions. One fellow i met up with on the way back through Edgerton was on the verge of going hypothermic. Managed to convince him to take the sag.

I have tried everything from low/high end bottle generators to Schmidt, Sanyo, and Shimano hubs. On a dedicated rando/touring rig, I prefer the bottles because they are light and simple. But otherwise, I prefer to just swap out a wheel and mount a light (I generally don't run wiring to a rear light, so this is very easy.) The current Shimano hubs are fine, and paired with any of the Busch & Miller lamps, you've got a great setup.

Next major investment: good dynamo lighting. Anyone have suggestions?
Dynamo Hum - Many buying a setup these days are going with the Schmidt SON 20R hub paired with the Edelux LED headlight. Sounds like there is a lead time though on the Edelux.
Check out Peter White Cycles



mike w. said:
i didn't find the road into Verona all that bad except for the long drag uphill and upwind the last couple of miles in. What broke my heart was when i was passed by the inbound lead groups outside Oregon while i still had 15 or so miles to get to Verona... ouch.

Night fell on me when i was about 6 or so miles past Milton homebound on M. i was deathly afraid i'd passed a turn marker but i was also afraid to mapcheck and lose what little momentum i had in that wind. Grim. Loneliest ride i'd done in years.

Don't sweat the series... just go one control to the next. i'm slowly gathering the gumption to try the 300 and play the rest as they come. My bigest enemy is cold windy rain. My old legs just turn to jelly when they get cold.

No clue in how to prep except ride ride ride. Hope to get in a 100-150K ride this saturday or sunday.

Other lessons learnt: Better rain jacket, lower bottom gears, eat/drink more, stretch more on the bike, better maps.

Next major investment: good dynamo lighting. Anyone have suggestions?


Joe said:
Yeah, that section was busy, rainy, and hilly, I wouldn't mind a different route between Oregon and Verona in the future :)

It wasn't exactly a "confidence inspiring" ride LOL, I did three solo centuries before this in training and figured this would be a cake walk.

I really want to do the series...but 600K seems impossible now. Maybe if we take it one ride at a time, one checkpoint at a time we'll make it?

How are you guys training? We've got 2 weekends off in between brevets....I'm not sure if I should go long or just do some shorter intervals and try to be fully rested. I guess I'm thinking kinda long on weekend 1...up to 100 miles maybe? Then just short rides otherwise, especially the week leading up to the next brevet. But I'd like to know what the rest of you are planning.


The 11 miles of County M on the last leg is a place very much like Hell.

At the moment it looks like i'll be setting up a SRAM dynamo hub -which looks a lot like the Shimano- with a Union halogen headlamp and B&M taillight. If i don't have the wheel dynamo built up in time for the next ride, i'll probably run the rig from a Sanyo bottom bracket mounted block.

i'd love the Schmidt/Edelux setup, but that rig would cost more than the rest of my bike did... maybe next year.

Anyone have a 1980's 60cm Specialized Expedition they'd like to part with?



Eric Peterson said:
Dynamo Hum - Many buying a setup these days are going with the Schmidt SON 20R hub paired with the Edelux LED headlight. Sounds like there is a lead time though on the Edelux.
Check out Peter White Cycles



>
Yes they are pricey that's for sure.
In the meantime...I don't know the light quality of the light you mention below for riding brevets, especially when going downhill at speed. Personally I would try and go with a dynamo hub rather than one driven from a tire. I'm guessing though that your setup is also for getting around in the city so that makes a lot of sense. For non-dynamo lights the B&M IXONs run very well on rechargeables which in fact can be recharged without removing the batteries. The light pattern is very good.

I occasionally see Specialized Expeditions on the BOBish Bikes newsgroup.

Eric


mike w. said:
At the moment it looks like i'll be setting up a SRAM dynamo hub -which looks a lot like the Shimano- with a Union halogen headlamp and B&M taillight. If i don't have the wheel dynamo built up in time for the next ride, i'll probably run the rig from a Sanyo bottom bracket mounted block.

i'd love the Schmidt/Edelux setup, but that rig would cost more than the rest of my bike did... maybe next year.

Anyone have a 1980's 60cm Specialized Expedition they'd like to part with?



Eric Peterson said:
Dynamo Hum - Many buying a setup these days are going with the Schmidt SON 20R hub paired with the Edelux LED headlight. Sounds like there is a lead time though on the Edelux.
Check out Peter White Cycles



>

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