New randonneuse here. I have three rides that I hope to do, all with some gravel. I am currently using two bikes - Soma Double Cross and Salsa Casseroll. Both have 700x28 tires, but I am thinking to change one out (most likely the Soma). Fenders on both, and I do not know the exact clearance.

Recommendations for tires, please?

If it matters:

125K: 16 mi gravel. 32mm+ recommended ("Ride 42mm+ for speed & comfort on the gravel.")
300K: smidge of gravel, no notes about tires
400K: 7 mi gravel, 32mm+ recommended.

Maybe an unusual question, but I’m wondering how you manage your weight and whether it affects your endurance performance or not.

The reason I’m asking is, I figured that if I don’t okay special attention to my Weight , I always go back to around the upper limit of my BMI, meaning 180cm/84kg. It is not at all bad on the bike, but I suspect if I would be 78 it’d make a difference especially on those brevets where we climb a lot.

OTOH I see quite a lot of bigger riders.

What’s your experience ?

Thanks a lot !

Strava ride data

Ride stats:

Organiser: ARA Nord Bayern (Heidi & Karl)
Distance: 324km
Elevation: ~3100m
Moving Time: 16hours 10min
Elapsed Time: 19hours 46min
Avg. Speed: 20km/h
Calories: over 10,000
Start time Vfl Graben: 08:20
Official finish: 03:00 (302km in 18h 35m)
Finish Vfl Graben: 04:15 (324km)

Route summary:

The route went from Altmühltal to Danube through the asparagus country to Wöhrtsee. The first climbs welcomed us early in the morning on route to CP1 Bakery in Aichach Going up the steep climb to the Monastery in Andechs for CP2 by when half the elevation has been climbed. Following a fast descent along Ammersee to the north, the route until CP3 Altomünster was mostly flat. Passing CP4 Mc Donalds in Neuburg an der Donau awaited the final test with multiple hilly parcours leading into a steep climb to Ensfeld CP5, the psychological finish line. The Goal was just 4km away with a steady descent into Mörnsheim, then riding back to the start at Vfl Graben.

My experience:

My first brevet was not what I expected, having done a solo 200km ride in 2025 I had confidence in my ability to manage my efforts and ride at my own pace.

Day before the event: 17.04.2026

Had a packed schedule at work with deadlines piling up and at the same time had to pickup my Japan visa in Munich. My plan was to complete all the work and prepare my bike, accessories and nutrition by 18:00 and go to bed by 21:00 after a nice hot meal (lentils + rice) to get a good 7-8hr sleep. The train from Nürnberg to Treutchlingen was at 05:40. Unfortunately things never go as planned LOL, went to bed around 22:00, got about 6hr of good sleep.

I WAS NERVOUS

Day of the event: 18.04.2026

I was on the train at 05:25. My bike, body and mind ready for the adventure, I tried to catch some sleep and stretch my legs during the 1hr train ride. It felt colder in Trechtlingen than Nürnberg, probably the altitude. I quickly setup my new Insta 360 Go Ultra and headed to the start point at Vfl Graben.

At Vfl Graben there were not many bikes, I was early. I went to pick up my Brevet card, the people at the desk were nice to explain everything in English and Heidi and Karl, the organisers made sure someone explained the route and checkpoints to me in english, which was great, helped calm my nerves.

There was an hour to the start and it was cold outside, I was shivering, wasn’t prepared to stand in the cold. I waited in the changing room to warm myself up. Slowly more riders arrived, some with their fast looking aero bikes. At around 08:00 they began calling the groups to start, I was in group 6. I had some time to prepare my garmin computer, transferring the gpx from the Komoot app which didn’t work initially.

The Start – 08:22

I finally started at 08:22 after a quick briefing, the pace was fast, no way I’m keeping this up for 300km. I eased up sticking with an easier group as we passed through Treuctlingen and slowly headed to the early climbs of the day. A lot of riders passed me on the long climbs but I told myself to stick to my own pace than to follow along. We passed through scenic forrest cover in Altmühtal heading south.

Munching on loads of Haribo, I was enjoying the ride as it was getting warmer, I took off the extra layers. Saw cute horses on the way. I was experimenting with the ND filters on my Insta 360 Go Ultra, but the final footage turned out to be overexposed and shaky, probably the low shutter is not good for stabilization. Tried some other angles that unfortunately were aiming a bit too much at my crotch LOL and made me look like a huge spider.

CP1 – 12:10

3hr 50min later I arrrived at the Ihle bakery in Aichach, by now 84.5km 860m elevation were done. I guess it was too much Haribo and sugar early in the morning I needed something salty to balance the flavour, so I got some butter pretzels and walnut brownie (for later) and refilled my bottles. Got a bottle of Cola as well to get that caffiene kick.

A rider walks up to me and offers me a jar of pickled cucumbers, to which I was surpirsed and a bit hesitant as I’ve never had them before but she reasured me that its good salt intake. I was like WHY NOT, ate the pickles and even tried the salty water and it was great, balanced all the haribo sugars.

I resumed the ride after a good 30min break, now my legs didn’t feel stiff anymore but I’ve kept the pace, almost always on the smaller ring. We were headed towards the next CP approx. 80km, a monastery near Ammersee and not so far from Munich.

Winding roads, more cute horses, moss covered wooden benches, didn’t feel like a long strenuous ride anymore. I made sure to took a 10min break every 20-25km. Had a little picnic break next to the river with my walnut brownie. As we approached Andechs, there were some steep climbs waiting for us up the monastery, the last few metres I had to walk my bike up the steep hill. It was a great vibe, people enjoying their beer and lunch at the biergarten.

CP2 – 16:43

Arrival at the Kloster Andechs at 16:40, by now having done 151km 1490m elevation in 8hr 20min. Got my brevet card stamped at the souvenir shop that was also selling ice-cream but unfortunately they only took cash. Lot of others cyclists were taking a good break enjoying cold ice cream but I couldn’t even get a water refill, then I remembered from the briefing earlier that morning, Aldi was only a few km away so I headed there for a water refill.

Now I was headed up north back towards the start, riding along Ammersee, a nice early summer vibe at the lake. I felt like taking a dip to cool off ahaha! With each hour passing I was capturing less on the Go Ultra, didn’t have the same excitement from earlier that day. Mental fatigue was slowly kicking in, another 60ish km to the next CP.

The goal was to reach CP3 in Altomünster before 20:00 before all the stores close.

CP3 – 20:20

Didn’t make it in time for the grocery stores but hoped the gas station store was open. There was no physical CP to get our brevet card stamped but we had to take a picture with the town sign, my paranoia made me take twice once while entering and then at the exit. Having done 216km 1930m elevation after 12hr of riding, I was feeling a sense of pride and happiness with this becoming my longest ride ever. The atmosphere felt eerie, almost the end of golden hour, huge harvesting tractors that looked like the spice harvesting machines from DUNE.

Soon I realised I was running out of water and as per my plan this was the town to refuel but unfortunately everything was closed, even the gas station store. I saw some other riders, probably looking for water as well, I was desparate to ask them for a sip of water. 

But I went on, thinking to find something in the next town, each km felt longer than usual, I was completely out of gas. I was down to the last sip, tired, hungry, but I didn’t want to eat which would make me thirsty. Luckily I had a fructose gel on me, having never tried gels before this was a lifesaver.

A little sugar rush and I went on to the next town, which had a restaurant open, PHEW! Thalhausen I remember, the staff was super nice, they were closed for a private concert but were happy to sell me drinks. One of them with a curious look on his face asked me how far was the tour and if I was averaging 30km/h, responding with a faint laugh I said, “I’m just trying to get to the finish line”. Couldn’t think about my avg. speed anymore.

The next CP, MC DONALDS only 50km further, the thought of a hot meal & drink kept me going. But the distance just felt really long, I kept checking my Garmin computer every once in a while to see the progress.

I WAS MOVING REALLY SLOW, PITCH BLACK ROADS, HARD TO STAY FOCUSED.

I knew to survive this stretch I had to take it slow and easy, I listened to my body and took a short break on a moss covered bench in a small town. It was quiet and lonely as if it was past midnight but I guess that’s just how small towns are past 8pm. I ate the remaining pretzel I had saved up from earlier, for the climb. But I kept thinking, thinking about all the decisions made up until that moment, if it was all a mistake. I was ready to scratch from race and my girlfriend, worried, was ready to pick me up. But then I told myself I will take a decision once I’ve ridden a few more km.

It was only 30km from Kühbach, the small town. I kept on, passing through the forrest roads, clear starry sky, sometimes wild bunnies jumping across (or maybe in my head). It seemed very lonely until I saw bike lights, a cyclist. We both stop at an unusual rail crossing trying to figure out the manual switch that would get us through.

A POSITIVE SIGN THAT I CAN MAKE IT TO THE FINISH

We rode together, sometimes making light conversation, I felt relaxed knowing I wasn't alone. Getting to know the other rider, talking about our experiences, the starry sky in the pitch darkness, it seemed FUN again, distance to Mc Donalds wasn’t dauting anymore.

AND THEN I REMEMBERED IT WAS THE SAME RIDER WHO OFFERED ME PICKLES IN THE MORNING, WOW, THAT’S JUST CRAZY COINCIDENCE

CP4 – 23:57

We finally made it to Mc Donalds after 3hrs of mental struggle. 272km mark with 2200m of climbing in 15h 30min. It all felt surreal seeing lot of riders again, some happily enjoying a hot meal, while some completely defeated, beaten. I was probably one of the defeated ones, mentally.

I ordered a hot burger with criss-cross fries (my favourite) with a cup of hot chocolate and fresh cut apples. Plenty of sugar sachets too! I found a table and sat there trying to stay awake, rest my legs and glancing around waiting on my order. The other rider was chatting with a couple of grannies.

What a strange and lively atmosphere, all kinds of people present, young party kids grabbing food after a crazy night, grannies enjoying a late night snack, riders laying flat on the seats unable to move, helmets and bright neon vests taking up all the space.

My hot meal arrives, I was ready to stuff my face with all the food. But it was HARD, my body was rejecting any food but I knew I had to force it slowly or I wouldn’t survive the last leg of the ride.

HEARTBURN, EYES SHUTTING, BRAIN STRUGGLING TO STAY SANE

After a nice 35min break and putting on extra warm layers we set off to complete the last 30km to the GOAL, with successful calculations in our heads we were confident to finish the rest of the distance within the 4hr limit.

CP5 was supposed to be a the most interesting and fun checkpoints of all, a treasure hunt for a stone cross, yeh sounds stressful with all the fatigue and sleeplessness. The last 30km would be easy, is what one would think after a gruelling 270km but this was packing 800m of climbing across 4 normal and 2 very steep climbs.

The steep ones were averaging at 9-10% while some parts hitting 15-16%, we just needed to endure and get to the top, speed didn’t matter, nor the methods. I went up zig-zag to reduce the gradient feel while the other rider pushed the bike uphill. I surprisingly found the energy from the burger earlier.

EACH SUCCESSFUL CLIMB FELT LIKE FINISHING THE RACE

This new found energy and excitement of nearing the GOAL was a bit dangerous ahaha! wasn’t aware during the descent but now when I think of it, I was descending down recklessly in the dark, without a good front light. It was the adrenaline, the feeling of flying into the darkness that I almost flew off the road at a corner. This brought me back to my senses, I’m sure I would have approached things differently in the daylight, we never know.

CP5 – 02:41

We looked for the stone cross in Ensfeld after the final ascent, wrote down the latin inscription “QUIS UT DEUS” on our brevet cards. If I am not wrong it means “Who is like god?” a rhetorical question, a gentle reminder of humility.

298km and 2820 elevation gained in 18hr 15min, we were already celebrating the virtual finish in the quite town knowing that the final 5km to the finish was an easy descent.

ZIEL – 02:58

We stop right at the entrance of the town Mörnsheim, I was still in disbelief that I finished the 300km BRM, my first ever brevet, it was a very special moment considering all the emotions that I went throughout the journey.

WE MADE IT! ZIELLLLL!

303km 2900m elevation in 18hr 35min, well within the 20hr time limit, we got off our bikes to get pictures in front of the town sign, still very dark, we used all our lights and phone flashes to get a well lit picture as a proof of completion.

The ride wasn’t done yet as we still had to return to the start point 21km away, we had to get back home as well, at least I wanted to catch the 4:20am train to Nürnberg so I could crash in my bed as soon a possible, we said our goodbyes and I went on this time a bit faster. The other rider was camping at the start point so wasn't in any rush.

Fatigue and lack of sleep didn’t really help as I barely made it to the start point at 4:15am, I knew I had to take the next train at 5:20am so I went upstairs to the little Gasthaus where the organisers were waiting for the riders with candies and drinks. I handed in my Brevet card and got my completion certificate immediately, wasn’t asked to show any picture proof for checkpoints, probably because I looked beaten, fatigued and made it to the start just 5min within the 20hr limit.

Post ride:

Karl comes up to me saying something in German, guess he was probably asking me about the ride and experience, I could barely switch to my broken german at that moment so I simply smiled, my eyes still half shut and said, "Sonnen scheine, sehr gut route". He then offers me drinks and I say, "Mit karte bitte", one of those essential phrases that are burnt into your head when living in Germany. Him being a legend says no problem, gives me the water I asked for and says its on the house, with 2x Danke I thank him. I find a comfortable chair to rest my legs and refuel with water, candies and the cut apples from Mc Donalds.

I still had an hour so I take quick multiple naps whilst sitting there listening to people speak german. Another rider looking fresh comes up to me, asking me if I made it, then upon asking he tells me that he had to scratch at the 75km mark due to back spasms and had to take a train back, now he was ready to drive back home towards Stuttgart after a short nap. This brought me thinking about the riders in Mc Donalds laying flat on the couch, scratching from the ride with only 30km left. Must have been very frustrating.

I guess in endurance cycling a lot can go wrong unexpectedly, even the best preparations can be challenged, fortunately my first brevet went well and I am super happy to have finished it and experienced the journey. I stayed disciplined with the 10min breaks every 20-25km resting my legs, refuelling and stretching, although some issues like route prep and water intake/storage needs improvement.

I’M SURE THE FUTURE BREVETS WILL CHALLENGE ME IN WAYS UNKNOWN AND I AM READY FOR IT.

I finally got the train at 5:30am and spent most of the journey passing out on the seat and suddenly waking up to check on my bike. I finally arrive home and in bed by 7:30am.

I hope you enjoyed my adventure and are excited to begin your own endurance adventure. 

Hi! Last weekend i rode a 400km Brevet. The longest until now was a 300 last year. I have a question. I ride since around 8 years and I have a trainingsplan etc. For me the hardest Part of the brevets is the pain in the saddle area, hands, Shoulders… I had a bike fitting so Everything is ok. I bought assos mille gto bibs because i Read that those were the best for Long distances. They where really expensive and anyway after 12 hours i started to feel unconfortable. At the end i rode 17 Hours.
How do You Train for this Kind of pains? Because is hard to make 300s on the Weekends again and again…

Thanks for the tips!!

I just found a used, recently rebuilt Mason Resolution with sram axs 2x, hunt son dynamo wheelset with front/rear lighting and fenders. Guy wants $2,500. Bike is in like new condition. Seems like a decent price and thinking it would make a nice bike for long rides. Any thoughts?

Does that count as randonneur ?

Numbers ~6145km 26 days pedaling 2days off ~240km average 244 Hours pedaling total ~121000 calories ~34700 D+ ~25.2km/h

You can check the Strava details : Roberto Lemaire

https://www.polarsteps.com/RobertoLemaire/25681093-a-new-adventure

I've just completed my first 200km audax, which went well, I finished strong, and went a bit faster than my normal average. I normally ride alone, and was surprised by how long we stopped for breaks.

My experience is that stopping for too long is counter-productive, and can make it more difficult to get going again. The stops on this ride were sit-down cafe breaks, ordering drinks and food and generally hanging around for 30-50 minutes. Nice and sociable, and good to chat, but If I sit in a chair for that long after 100km, I get inner-thigh cramps when I stand and start riding again.

This is a me problem, and I can overcome the cramps by riding in really low gear and spinning for 10 mins, so I was OK, but I wonder if stopping for this long is normal for a 200km ride?

Moving time was just under 9 hours, total time was almost 13hrs, so around 4 hours for stops.

I started randonneuring last year, and I just thought of sharing an article describing my experience on my first 600km brevet. It's in Portuguese, but I guess it can be translated using Google Translate or equivalent:

https://www.dn.pt/sociedade/desafiam-corpo-e-mente-enquanto-exploram-portugal-de-bicicleta-lucas-fez-600-km-em-38h30#google_vignette

A month or two back I posted a physics-based brevet pacing tool here and asked for brutal honesty. You gave it, and a bunch of real rides since then have taught me a lot — including a few where the tool was clearly wrong. Figured I owed this sub the follow-up, warts included.

Where it held up:
- A full 16-day Transcontinental Race, day by day: ~6% average error at steady pacing, and the error didn't grow with race day — so multi-day fatigue carry-over mattered less than I expected for an even-paced rider.
- A 600 km brevet came in ~4% off.

Where it got beaten — and why (the useful part):
A rider ran his 400 km brevet through it. SaddleMath said 15h10 riding, RWGPS said 16:52, he actually rode 16:51. So RWGPS nailed it to the minute and I was ~10% fast. Two honest reasons:
1. The elevation source under-counted his rolling route (~2,800 m vs ~3,400 m actual). Less climb modelled → too fast.
2. He'd *calibrated* RWGPS with 13 of his own reference rides. So it wasn't generic RWGPS beating me — it was RWGPS trained on him. Fair advantage, and one a no-ride-history tool like mine can't match.

The bug a Norwegian route exposed:
Someone tried an ultra that starts in Trondheim (63°N) in July. My sunrise/sunset code quietly crashed that far north — the sun never dips low enough for the library to return a 'dusk' — and it silently fell back to a static 'dark after 21:00' rule. So it cheerfully told a rider he'd spend ~180 km 'in the dark' during Scandinavian white nights, where it basically never gets dark. Fixed: it now detects the white-night / polar-day case and treats it as daylight.

Where it's still wrong (the honest headline):
It's systematically ~10–15% optimistic on flat and rolling terrain. Root cause is the elevation source: coarse DEM data flattens all the little rolling ups-and-downs, so it models less climbing than you actually do and predicts too fast. Big mountain climbs it handles fine — it's the lumpy-but-not-mountainous stuff (much of France, the Baltics, a lot of the UK) where it's too rosy. Someone here tested a Baltic ride: tool 650 m vs Garmin 1,037 m, same problem. I know the cause; I don't have a clean fix yet.

And at the long end: a rider ran a hilly 1,200 he'd done in 89h — the tool said 119h. Way too slow. Beyond ~600 km my fatigue heuristic over-penalizes a strong rider, and 1,200 is outside anything I've validated. The tool flags >600 km as low-confidence for exactly this reason.

What I'm not claiming: still calibrated to ~600 km at steady pace. Beyond that it's a rough baseline, not a prediction. Power meter still required.

Two questions for the sub
1. For cutoff planning on flat/rolling routes, how do you handle the elevation-source disagreement — head unit, planner, or a personal factor?
2. Anyone with a flat/rolling brevet GPX + actual finish time willing to share? That terrain is exactly my blind spot, and real data is the only way I fix it.

Happy to drop the link in a comment if anyone wants to try it — genuinely here for the feedback, not the clicks.

Attempting my first 200km at the end of the month. Sanity-check my plan?

Hi folks, have been enjoying road cycling as a fairly serious hobby for the last 16 months or so, and did my first metric century about 9 months ago. I'm planning a 200km+ ride at the end of this month. I have bailout options along the route and no target time, other than leaving at dawn and arriving before it gets too dark. Would love any feedback. More specifics below --

The ride: ~215km / 134 miles in one day, solo, point to point, late July. South East England up to the Midlands to visit family, so there's a bed, a bath and a kettle at the far end, which is strong motivation. The route is pan-flat for the first 60km, rolling through the middle 100, and saves its only real lumps for the final 15km. Planning a 6:30 to 7am rollout, all-day pace around 20km/h, three or four proper stops in market towns, 11 to 13 hours door to door. No time goal beyond "arrive the same day". Am considering registering it as an Audax DIY 200, but honestly that's gravy.

Me: Early 40s, 6'2", ~88kg (down about 25kg over the last 14 months, and roughly 9kg lighter than my last big ride). Vegetarian. General fitness is decent and improving: lifting 3 to 4 times a week, biweekly 10km runs, some HIIT and swimming. The one unfortunate bit is that actual cycling volume lately has two or three short rides a week (~20km each) because the lifting and HIIT has been eating my schedule. I'm hoping the aerobic base transfers.

Bike and kit: Giant Contend AR1, owned since October, serviced last month, stock 11-34 cassette so I have a 1:1 bailout gear. Karoo 3 for navigation. Proper high-lumen lights front and rear plus a hi-vis vest (lesson learned the hard way, see below). Planning to take repair kit, pump, two big bottles, gels, tubes (just as an emergency, I'm running tubeless currently ), and a saddle bag containing emergency underwear and a toothbrush.

Previous experience: Longest ever is ~110km. Last September I rode to the seaside on a £300 hybrid with tiny commuter lights, got repeatedly sent over inappropriate fields and bridleways, but still somehow managed to roll in feeling rather sorry it was over. That ride has lived in my imagination all of the last year and is a big part of what motivated this one. Some encouraging signs: contact points fine on long rides so far, stomach was well behaved, I was comfortable eating/drinking on the bike, and I reliably ride better on the day than in training.

Weather: temperature looking good (expected around 24C/75F) but possibility of some showers.

Planned prep (next two weeks): 100-110km dress rehearsal this weekend at target pace in full ride-day configuration, one or two 50km rides after that, nothing long in the last four or five days.

Fuelling plan: eating from minute 45, aiming for ~60g carbs an hour (gels, flapjacks, electrolytes), caffeine held in reserve for the final third.

Mindset: fully expecting the last 50km to hurt, and I'm there for it (I have a masochistic streak). If I struggle at any point I'm entirely happy to sit on a verge for twenty minutes, eat a flapjack, and limp the rest at 15km/h. My only real goal is getting there.

Feedback & Questions

Would love to know if anyone has any thoughts or advice! I realise that going from 110km -> 215km is foolhardy and ideally I'd have a couple of intermediate rides, but for various personal reasons, this is the best chance I'll get to do this ride for some time, and I don't want to let the opportunity go by.

Otherwise, I'm curious, e.g., -

1. What do you wish you'd known before your first 200?
2. Fuelling reality check: is 60g/hr sensible, will I need to adapt fuelling for later in the ride
3. Any pacing notes? How easy should the first three hours feel?
4. What nasty surprises might I encounter after 130km that I'm not prepared for?
5. Is the final-two-weeks plan sensible, or would you change it?
6. Any non-obvious gear I should invest in?

Cheers in advance. Ride report to follow, whether it's triumph or disaster!

Last week I have completed a 1200 km brevet with the Dura. I was confident it would last with average weather and a day or three in direct sunlight. It rained every day though, and it was mostly overcast when it did not. Regardless, the Dura held charge very well and even had some solar gain, even though I barely saw any sun.

I'm very impressed. For reference, my old Garmin consumed a whole 10000 mAh powerbank over a 1200km. The Dura's battery life is just next level.

For those who cycle regularly, especially long distances, how has it affected your health and overall wellness?

Also, are there any long-distance cyclists here who still have pre-existing or chronic illnesses despite being fit? If so, what are they, and has cycling helped manage them?

Generally curios about how people prepare/train for such a thing if you haven't done any longer things yourself.

I can prepare for any kind of race (bike or triathlon), knowing the demands, make a race plan and execute accordingly. however these are all short (<6 hours). Knowing my numbers, this is easy to plan.

How to actually ride such 2-3-4 day events where 40hr cycling is required?

Is it Zone1 all day until you are deadly tired? Is it Zone3 on each climb and pray to recover downhill? Would the fatigue accumulated eventually chase you on day 3?

I always thought "ride as easy as possible and as long as possible" is the key (15 hours x 25km/h) is more than 13x 27km/h and the sleep required will be less) but then i read something down the lines of "go a bit harder and sleep an hour longer will get you further".

Doe people do exclusive Z1/Z2 long days every time they ride as training/preparation or is there still regular Threshold blocks included? I would have imagined that threshold isn't useful as a metric here and just the widest aerobic base is good. You skip Vo2 intervals completely for weeks/months to prepare as no anaerobic stuff is needed in such race?

Curious to learn something here

I'm writing an article for a cycling publication about randonneuring. When I describe randonneuring to people outside the realm, the comment is something like: "So you ride a bike 200, 300, 600, or even 1,200 kilometers through rain, darkness, sleep deprivation, and sore muscles… and at the end, you get a stamped brevet card ". It does seem somewhat irrational, but I've talked with randos and they believe the challenge is the reward. What are your thoughts?

A friend of mine was bitten by a stray dog while cycling and had to get rabies shots.

Since then, I’ve been a bit cautious.
How do experienced cyclists deal with aggressive dogs? And for those who ride in areas with bears, deer, or other wildlife, what’s the best approach?

Any tips or personal experiences?

I’m new to cycling and my long-term goal is to get into randonneuring. For those who have completed 200 km or longer brevets, what did your training look like? How many days per week did you ride, how long did your long rides get before your first brevet, and what do you wish you had known as a beginner? Thanks! 🚴

Hola a todos.

Soy un ciclista aficionado de República Dominicana tengo 19 años y estoy preparando el mayor reto de mi vida. Me gustaría recibir consejos de personas con experiencia en ultradistancia o brevets.

El reto

• Distancia total aproximada: 451 km
• Bicicleta: MTB rígida aro 29 (1x11)
• Salida desde mi casa hacia el lugar del evento (170km x 900m de elevación)
• Allí me uno a un evento (281km x 1700m de elevacion). En mediados de septiembre de este año
• La primera parte la haré prácticamente solo; después tendré apoyo del evento con vehículos de apoyo que tendra agua ilimitada (Si se que eso deja de ser un Brevet pero es algo positivo para mí como principiante)

El evento inicia a las 6pm y debo salir de mi casa el mismo dia (El dia anterior trabajo) estaba planeando llegar al lugar unas 4 horas antes para llegar a un hotel de paso cercano, bañarme cambiarme y dormir unas horas y salir un poco mas descansado Que opinan de esto? ustedes como lo manejarían

Mi experiencia hasta ahora

He ido aumentando el volumen poco a poco durante este año.

Mis fondos más largos han sido aproximadamente:

• 148 km (2,044 m de desnivel)
• 160 km (9 h 34 min de pedaleo)
• 170 km (1,328 m de desnivel)

Actualmente hago unos 900-950 km al mes y uso el commute en bicicleta como parte del entrenamiento 21km de ida y 21km vuelta a casa.

Lo que más me preocupa

En mi primer fondo largo, después de unas 9 horas, el estómago prácticamente dejó de aceptar comida. Sentía náuseas y seguí pedaleando sin poder comer bien.

Ahora estoy intentando entrenar la nutrición igual que entreno las piernas.

Este fin de semana

Estoy planeando una simulación de entre 200 y 250 km completamente a ritmo de Zona 2 (Nunca lo he hecho, todos mis fondos fueron sin medir ritmo lo cual casi siempre me paso factura al final) para probar:

• nutrición;
• hidratación;
• frecuencia cardíaca;
• comportamiento del estómago después de muchas horas.

Mis preguntas

1. ¿Qué fue lo que más les sorprendió cuando pasaron de 160-170 km a más de 250 km?
2. ¿Cómo evitaron el bloqueo estomacal después de muchas horas?
3. ¿Qué comida real les funcionó mejor?
4. ¿Qué error cometieron en su primer ultra que hoy evitarían?
5. Veo que muchos llevan bolsas grandes o mochilas. ¿Qué consideran realmente imprescindible para una ruta de unas 24 horas con puntos de abastecimiento?

Agradeceré cualquier consejo o experiencia personal. Me interesa especialmente escuchar a personas que hicieron este tipo de retos siendo.

I’ve been thinking about my setup for PBP and came to the idea of rear lights and radars. I am absolutely a Garmin Varia fan and have run mine on all my Audax rides for the past several years. I’ve never run it on “always on” mode, and it seems like that is required by French law. It also seems like that will be a massive battery drain.

So here’s what I’m wondering:
Considering just how many riders there are at PBP, does a radar add much to the ride in terms of useful information? Is your screen constantly filled with blips of riders behind you? Is there even that much vehicle traffic to warrant a radar?

If the radar isn’t worth it, then there are plenty of rear lights with massive battery power that can handle the French no-blinking policies. So what do we think - radar or non?

I have to choose a new bicycle.
As per advice from Jan Heine I would like to start from te tire width.
I live and ride in The Netherlands, and here most of the times roads are very well made.
I’d like to be able to ride in France and in UK also, though.
I see that many modern bikes can take 32-34 mm tires, and some (Endurace and Domane for example) can take up to 38mm.

Question is — will I benefit from this wider tires (38) or 32-34 is perfectly fine?

I’ve finished 400km BRM last month on my old 25mm tires. It was manageable but I’d like more cushioning.

Obviously every year is different and no one can predict the weather this far ahead. However, the heat waves in Western Europe the past couple years and especially this year has been concerning. I'm hesitant to participate in that time of the year. Maybe 1 or 2 days can be fine but multiple days in a row made the superhuman Lael Wilcox quit, most of us are no where near her level. I'm wondering if there has been any discussion from ACP about potentially dangerous conditions for riders.