PBP: lessons for next time
Aug. 25th, 2019 01:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bikingandbakingThere will be a next time, although only after I've done a domestic (cheaper) 1200k and at least one hilly, ride-straight-through 600k, I think. (Yes, these are common wisdom. But PBP only comes around once every 4 years, and I didn't want to wait for the next one to make the attempt.
1. Definitely do the cutting back on coffee ahead of time, because caffeine withdrawl migraines suck, and I got those all taken care of in late July.
2. Don't have caffeine on the ride, except maybe ONE small cup at breakfast to make it "morning" (it does not have to be morning), and only if I've actually slept.
3. Carry powdered something sweeter-than-Skratch; I desperately wanted my usual redflavor gatorade as it heated up in the day. (Enough Skratch to brew it double-strength would also probably work.) That was a big reason I was drinking things other than the packets I had with me.
4. The snacks I carried the first night were good choices. Though more salty ones that weren't nuts might be a good plan -- the cheetos I had in the drop bag should probably have been in my pocket.
5. Plan out food stops even more: there is jackall in France for vegetarians open that time of year in most places. Also, if those automatic pizza vending machines are still around in 2023, get a map of them; there was one just by the bakery in Villaines and I would totally have murdered an entire pizza then. The veggie burger place in Fougeres was perfect, though. This may also include having a support car at more stops. And getting dinner food ahead of time that can be reconstituted with hot water or something.
6. A less aggressive plan, or intentionally DON'T make one, because falling behind the plan was making me really upset, and that wasn't helping me fall back to plan B, when I did have almost three hours built up at that point, I just wasn't going to have enough at Loudeac for three hours of sleep AND leaving with a cushion; write up the no-cushion bare-bones plan and then I can be delighted to be AHEAD of it if I am.
7. Faster uphill -- lift and do hill work over the winter. Do more hilly rides in season. (I am intentionally not putting "lose weight" on this item.)
8. Get more sleep ahead of time, and really, really sleep in on departure morning. Not sure whether to look at an earlier start time (i.e. less trying to sleep in departure morning) or later (puts potential sleep stops closer to when I'd want to sleep), or similar. I'm never likely to be an 84-hour starter.
9. Learn from experience on other long rides as to whether taking a nap at Fougeres would have been a ride-salvager. I wasn't sleepy then -- it hit me ten miles later, but if that had been the plan perhaps I could have slept. Or if I'd planned sleep at Tintineac, I probably could have pushed harder to get there.
1. Definitely do the cutting back on coffee ahead of time, because caffeine withdrawl migraines suck, and I got those all taken care of in late July.
2. Don't have caffeine on the ride, except maybe ONE small cup at breakfast to make it "morning" (it does not have to be morning), and only if I've actually slept.
3. Carry powdered something sweeter-than-Skratch; I desperately wanted my usual redflavor gatorade as it heated up in the day. (Enough Skratch to brew it double-strength would also probably work.) That was a big reason I was drinking things other than the packets I had with me.
4. The snacks I carried the first night were good choices. Though more salty ones that weren't nuts might be a good plan -- the cheetos I had in the drop bag should probably have been in my pocket.
5. Plan out food stops even more: there is jackall in France for vegetarians open that time of year in most places. Also, if those automatic pizza vending machines are still around in 2023, get a map of them; there was one just by the bakery in Villaines and I would totally have murdered an entire pizza then. The veggie burger place in Fougeres was perfect, though. This may also include having a support car at more stops. And getting dinner food ahead of time that can be reconstituted with hot water or something.
6. A less aggressive plan, or intentionally DON'T make one, because falling behind the plan was making me really upset, and that wasn't helping me fall back to plan B, when I did have almost three hours built up at that point, I just wasn't going to have enough at Loudeac for three hours of sleep AND leaving with a cushion; write up the no-cushion bare-bones plan and then I can be delighted to be AHEAD of it if I am.
7. Faster uphill -- lift and do hill work over the winter. Do more hilly rides in season. (I am intentionally not putting "lose weight" on this item.)
8. Get more sleep ahead of time, and really, really sleep in on departure morning. Not sure whether to look at an earlier start time (i.e. less trying to sleep in departure morning) or later (puts potential sleep stops closer to when I'd want to sleep), or similar. I'm never likely to be an 84-hour starter.
9. Learn from experience on other long rides as to whether taking a nap at Fougeres would have been a ride-salvager. I wasn't sleepy then -- it hit me ten miles later, but if that had been the plan perhaps I could have slept. Or if I'd planned sleep at Tintineac, I probably could have pushed harder to get there.