On Mon, 2010-12-27 at 15:51 -0800, Anne Paulson wrote: > Hi all. > > I signed up for my first brevet, a 200K along the Pacific on New > Year's Day. I know there are some randonneurs here-- any advice for a > newbie? I've done bike touring and centuries before, but never a > randonee. Given the time of year, I'm expecting quite a bit of time > riding in the dark. As of now, the weather is supposed to be fair, so > I'm planning on taking the non-fendered Roadeo instead of the fendered > Atlantis.
I'd commuted at night for almost 30 years when I did my first brevet. The big surprise was how very hard it was for me to read the computer and the cue sheet after dark. I had a small blinkie mounted to my handlebars pointed down at the handlebar bag, but it was so bright on the cue sheet I was dazzled by the glare, and it didn't illuminate the mileage readout on the computer at all (and I had trouble reading the street signs as well) so navigating after dark was a big issue. This year I tried to solve the problem with a helmet mounted PrincetonTech EOS, but found that although it lit everything up just fine when I was looking through my distance lenses, when I tipped my head up enough to see through the bifocals the light shifted so both computer and cue sheet were left in the dark. Good thing the guy I was riding with had a GPS that announced all the turns! I brought enough food this time for the entire ride, and that helped too - saved me a lot of time and made it possible for me to stay with the guy with the GPS. Those extra 25 miles or so over a century may be a big deal, or they may be nothing. Three or four years ago a century got extended by 10 miles due to high water (couldn't take the ferry, had to go the long way around) and those extra 10 miles were completely disheartening. Last year, the extra 25 miles were nothing when riding, but on the drive home I found I couldn't lift my leg high enough to move it over to the brake pedal, so I had to brake left-footed. This year, it was nothing at all. Speaking of the drive home, that may be the biggest factor for you. There was a discussion about this not long ago on one of the lists I belong to, and some of the experienced randonneurs said they made it a point to take a nap before driving home. It's a bad business to fall asleep behind the wheel! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
