less than 2 weeks...

I found this quote last night:

"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew, and live through it." Doug Bradbury (Manitou)

and that kind of sums it all up for me.

Last Thursday I'd planned to ride all night in preparation for the Avalon Sunrise. Watching the six o'clock news, I decided against it after the second severe weather warning was announced (rain and high winds), though a part of me still wanted to venture out just to see how bad it was. The next day, as I surveyed ripped branches and fallen trees, I was glad I hadn't (though a part of me was sorry).

That was kind of my only chance at serious preparation.

Yesterday I was marshalling the Long Course weekend, manning a food station for riders doing 40, 70 and 118 mile rides. I saw the riders of the long ride twice. Some were prepared, some not so. A few had definitely bitten off more than they could chew, but they were carrying on. One guy near the back was looking close to collapse, and stated that he probably wasn't going to finish. Another rider overheard him and said "you've come too far not to finish, you'll do it!" and rode off up the lane. The food stop was at the 73 mile mark, he still had over 40 miles to do. The remark seemed to spur him on. I made sure he had enough water and food to keep him going, and off he went.

I hope he made it.

I tend not to prepare for anything really, I just do it. How can I prepare to ride twice as far as I've ever ridden in a day? I've no idea what cycling further than 200k in one go feels like, but I do know that cycling long distances over a few days gets easier as the days go by. The best way, for me, to warm up for a 100k ride is to ride more than 100k the previous day, so I know it's well within my capabilities, but 400k will never be within my capabilities, even when I've done one, the next one will be just as much of a challenge.

I think all I can realistically do is keep riding a bit each day, make sure my bike is in good order, and make sure I have enough food/drink/clothing to survive 24 hours in the saddle.

My route sheet is here.
My train tickets are here.
It's too late to stop now.