Hello folks!
Just got back from meeting with some other riders.
They had some good feedback.
I pitched the idea of going 120 the first day to land in a real hotel (bed and breakfast actually). They were into the lightweight concept, and it didn't receive a lot of eye rolling either.
They pitched the idea of breaking it up into a 70/70/70 ride. The first night would be camping out, but the second night puts us strategically in a (large for WV) town with real hotels and better food options.
Between the two ideas, we merged a tenative strategy of shooting for the 70 as a known safety stop. If feeling good, we could shoot for the 120 on the first day. All the riders were dealing with the same first world problem-deciding between Lightweight gravel bike vs. paired down heavier touring bike.
The next order of business is riding the lower 50 miles of the course to get a better feel for the flow. I think once we've done that, we'll have a better idea of strategy.
I learned a lot from the other riders. While I might be the stronger rider, they have WAY more camping experience and know how.
There is also an EXTENDED version of the Extended version which is about 225 miles. This might give the stronger riders and opportunity to go longer, while the slower folks go shorter, and we all meet up at the same spots at the end of the day.
Aigel, you're right on the booze. They will have some flask, but I'm not into that. The only thing I would want is wine, and that's too heavy, so unless it's at the finish line, it's pretty much out.
Greg- Thanks for the offer! Laugh out loud- Yeah, I'm waiting for A-FIB any day now.
My dad had it, and I've been checked out for it twice so far. They just keep telling me I'm okay, and I'm like- "Well, when the big one hit's I will die chuckling 'told ya so!'"
Herr/rwest. The bike was loaded with a moderate amount of crap. If I took it, I'd need to load it with about the same amount of more pertinent crap. It was at least 50-70 lbs. I need to go weigh it. It really is true, the thing is slow. Something about mass. Regardless of gravity, mass takes energy to accelerate. It just doesn't want to accelerate, even on downhills. After the ride, my knees were spent. I pay a lot of attention to that. Usually that's just a setup issue, but I couldn't pin it down. If I take that bike, I need to work that out, otherwise a great way to trash my joints. I begin to fall over at anything slower than 2.5 mph.
A big part of the fun is mulling over the possibilities. A big ride like this puts the entire year into context. I can't wait!
(p-s- I dropped the Diverge off at the LBS for a warranty issue on the ultegra shifters- so it's out for a week or two)- So tomorrow's ride will be the pee wee barcalounger again. I'm planning on doing a ride with some roadies tomorrow. They tend to go easy, so if I'm working hard to keep up, everyone should be happy!