Lots of good advice, but allow me to add a couple of additional personal observations.
First one echoes the comment about trying to hang with some RAAM riders… I did the same thing on my first 200km brevet and DNF'd. Now, it was between 35 and 40 degrees, and the wind was blowing about 30-40 mph, and it was an out 'n back directly out into the wind, and I have all sorts of excuses, but it was my first lesson in riding my own pace. Over the next few years, doing a variety of solo and group riding, I developed the hypothesis that I ride faster solo than I do in groups. I ended up doing a test, riding with a fast group over a 100km loop one weekend, then repeating the same ride solo the following weekend. Sure enough, I finished the solo ride faster and feeling fresher. Okay, it's one data point, but I have done enough brevets now to have firmly confirmed the hypothesis. Interestingly, using a heart rate monitor, I've documented that my heart rate increases in the mere presence of another rider. What, me, competitive? The point of all this is that I suggest being open minded about whether riding alone is undesirable. You may find that you expend way more energy trying to stay with a group than you do riding by yourself. This is especially true in the brevets I have ridden, where the level of pack riding skills is quite low, so the yo-yo factor is quite high. Second, assuming your position on the bike is good, tires make more difference to comfort and speed than all the other things combined. Last, you're going to have to do a few 200+ km rides on each to decide. Now THAT's a first world problem!! Ted Durant -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
