Ultracycling

Good luck! I really want to do HT550. Are you doing it SS?

Ha, No, I'm not stupid. Well, really, my knees just can't handle it anymore.

Makes sense! Would love to see your set up for HT550 when you've decided on it.

Sure, I'll get some pics with it all set up at some point as I'll be doing some training rides with all the kit. Probably gonna run flat pedals for it too, given that there's so much hike-a-bike and generally unclipping required, and that's likely to stress my knee injury.

So, Braunton 150 is ticked off the list. Brutal route, rough, and climb after climb, almost all in bottom gear. Descents are bloody brilliant and the route as a whole is really beautiful. Took 27 hours. Liam Glen got round without stopping in 18.5 hours. He did win Highland Trail race last year, he's a machine.

https://www.strava.com/activities/943550750

Here's my setup (had a camelbak too)

Route shots:

Looks like I have to start mountain biking.

Looks awesome!

Bought up on those trails. They are brutal and that route looks no different. Good work!

Good work bud!

Weren't those plant pots a bit heavy though? Arf!

Yeah. The trails are brutal, but really are some of best in the southwest. I rode with two mates who both did the Highland Trail last year in 4 days + something hours. They said Braunton 150 was more brutal, it think mainly because of the relentless climbing, followed by fast, bumpy descents.

Mark B has finished his route britian jaunt.

Interestingly he did 105h a week avg (for 2 weeks).

Steve A does 96h a week average, for 52! Puts steve into perspective, being unsupported (ish).

HR data is cool to look at - super low all day long! I guess that's the ticket.

https://www.strava.com/activities/946688431/heartrate

I'd say hr data is useless.

HR drops significantly with fatigue.
Power is more intersting. It dropped off significantly from day 1. (To be expected)

Edit: Actually power didn't drop off too much. Maybe he paced it from day 1. His first days was 185w average, which is pretty mediocre. So I think he went easy from the start.

Well done Gabes!
What size tyres are you running there? Look a bit bigger than on your divide setup.

Not much point boshing the start when you have another 79 days afterwards...

Showing good self-control. :)

Yeah indeed.

I guess he rode it like he will ride 80 days.

As otherwise, you should push harder at the start, for something 2 weeks long. It's a use it or lose it situation imo.

I'm torn between the two - I negatively split 24hrs but racing an ultra everyone seems to prefer the 'get a gap and hold it' method. But then Lael just sat in and rode past people later on so they're both effective.

What works for some won't work for all.
And did lael ride past? Or did people ride backwards... (slow down)

Well that's my point - others might've set out too fast and faded, whereas she had a more even pace and more regular sleeps and they faltered whereas she did not.

Ah see riding fast and sleeping are different things.
One can do both. Which might be advisable!

True, but then I'd need to examine average speeds to see if they slowed.
Also, some people slow more due to sleep deprivation so it's hard to say which is better/worse.

In TCR I probably should've got better sleep in the middle of it so I could ride longer in Greece but who knows? Maybe I'd be just as fucked in Greece and further back because I slept more earlier? I don't know what impact sleep has vs. physical fatigue.

Do I ride conservatively (W) at the start and forgo sleep, ride harder at the start and forgo sleep or ride conservatively and sleep well, or harder and sleep well? Which is best? Personally, I don't know.

On a different subject, I rode on the weekend with an undershirt, jersey, winter/windproof gilet, armwarmers, rain jacket.

The gilet is annoying me as it's a bit short, grabs my jersey pocket contents and drags them up my back and it's bulky so doesn't pack well. Also, my shoulders get noticeably colder than the rest of my body (feet were totally fucking numb but that's another issue I need to sort)

So, what can I replace the gilet with? I was thinking some kind of long-sleeve winter jersey that would go over my summer jersey, warm my arms and still fit under my rain jacket.

But what to go for?

Take into account when you might be able to make the most of your advantage vs your competitors? So try and be freshest for long flat fast sections in your case?

I guess the flipside to that is, maybe you should be well slept for the climby bits so you can lose as little time as possible, when you know you'll be pretty good on the flat fast bits anyway.

Yeah, I can see Kansas being good for me vs. others but then by the time I get there I might be too fucked to take advantage of it. My head is out of the game at the moment so now's not the best time to be thinking tactics, especially when my game plan for these is "rock up, ride as far as you can, ride a bit further, sleep, repeat".

It's going to depend on conditions too. I struggle in the real cold (altitude) but being over here so long I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the proper heat either - lots of days over 40degC in last editions.

Lael rested more during Kansas in order to be fresher for the hard finish (lots of short sharp climbs last few days). Seems sensible.

One option, which is arguably inferior to a gilet (have you tried different/better fitted ones?)

Jersey with windproof panel (Rapha Brevet windblock, for example) ?