 | Riding Your First 300K Brevet by Ken Dobb
For many randonneurs, the 300 Km brevet is the event at which long distance cycling begins. A recreational cyclist, if he or she is reasonably fit and determined, can usually manage to get to the finish of a 200 km brevet ride in decent shape. For a 300 km brevet however, physical fitness by itself is not enough. Demands start to be made on the skill set that goes to make up a competent long distance cyclist.
The mechanics of a 300 Km brevet are identical to those for a 200 Km brevet Preregistration with the ride organizer is required so as to permit preparation of the cue sheets and control cards that will accompany the rider on the brevet. As with 200 Km routes, there is a variation in difficulty among different 300 Km routes. A first time rider should choose the event on the schedule that will be the most comfortable. The advice of the ride organizer, whose name is published in the club's ride schedule, will be helpful, with additional information on routes available from the club web site.
Most 300 Km brevets start at 6:00 am. There may be some variation in start times - the schedule should be checked carefully. Early arrival at the start point will permit familiarisation with the route sheet and the control card. This will enable a rider to geta mental picture about how the ride will unfold. Again, early arrival will permit a first time rider to greet the other riders - usually between six and twelve - who will be completing the route that day. It will also give the ride organizer an opportunity to ensure that the rider is in compliance with the club's requirements for a lighting system affixed to the bike, and a reflective vest.
As with the 200Km brevet, controls are spread along the brevet route, separated by distances that permit periodic feeding and small mechanical adjustments. Control cards need to be completed with time of arrival at the control, initialled by an independent observer. At the ride conclusion, control cards should be handed into the ride organizer, or mailed to the brevet administrator. The brevet administrator then sees that the completed ride is certified by our French parent club.
Like the 200 Km brevet, the 300 Km event is a timed ride. The time allowance is 20 hours - an average speed on the route of 15 kilometers per hour. In fact on average, a 300 Km brevet takes between 14 and 16 hours to complete. Since most 300 km brevets are scheduled in the late spring when there are long hours of daylight- late May through to the end of June - most riders will be able to complete the ride with a minimum amount of riding after dark.
This means that a first time rider, who is still feeling their way in the sport can finish the ride satisfactorily using a fairly inexpensive lighting system. A battery-operated white beam light mounted on a handle bar bracket together with a red LED light mounted on the seat post meets the club's minimum requirements for lighting and, for the twilight hours in which a first-time rider will be on the route, is probably all that is needed to complete a 300 Km ride.
Support on randonneur rides is permitted only at control points and, indeed, most club brevet rides are entirely self-supported. On a 300 Km brevet, a rider should carry additional clothing to account for inclement weather, and for early morning and after sundown chill. A rider's tool kit should be carefully considered to include all that may be required to handle a wide variety of mechanical breakdowns. One, or more, spare inner tubes are a necessity. Extra food for on-bike feeding becomes inrereasingly important as brevet distances inrerease.
This raises a second area of equipment choice - how is all of this to be carried. A fanny pack, which is a viable option for a rider completing a 200 km brevet is a less satisfactory solution for a 300 Km brevet. Some riders solve their cartage problems by the use of a handlebar bag - a solution that frequently gives riders a platform on which to place their cue sheet for easy reading. The drawback to a handlebar bag is a loss of ease with bike handling and some additional fatigue in the forearms. Alternatively, many riders place trunk bags on suspension racks mounted on seat posts. The use of a sport touripg bicycle frame for randonneuring events, permits racks to be fixed directly to the bike's frame - perhaps the ideal solution for stowing ride necessities.
A 300 Km brevet places a greater demands on a rider's fitness than does a 200 Km brevet - but the extent of the difference in those demands can be exaggerated. Cardiovascular fitness can be thought of in two dimensions - intensity and endurance. Intensity refers to how fast a cyclist can push a bike - flat out speed or hill climbing ability. Endurance refers to how long a cyclist can push a bike. Of the two it is intensity that needs to be trained more intensely as cycling distances increase.
If a rider's weekly training programme includes one shorter mid-week ride taken at a brisk pace - and it should - this ride should be altered to include some moderate hills. Training on hills both strengthens the legs, and provides a cardiovascular benefit that will translate directly into gains in a rider's speed and hill dimbing. By comparison, gains in endurance are far more easily won. There is a kind of rule of 2/3's which holds that if a rider can complete a ride of, say, 200 kilometers then the training effects of that ride - after a suitable recovery period - will permit a ride 1/3 again as long - 300 kilometers. Riding a 200 Km brevet is the best cardiovascular endurance training for the completion of a 300 Km brevet.
A rider interested in longer distances will also benefit from measures to strengthen the body -particularly the muscles of the upper back that support the head, and the muscles of the torso. Weight training programmes undertaken in the off-season, which include these muscle groups will materially increase a rider's ability to withstand fatigue on long rides.
What makes a 300 Km brevet different from a 200 Km brevet is the increasing premium that is placed on those skills that lead to the conservation of a cyclists energy - principally pacing and group riding skills.
Some riders ride hard between controls, taking a longer rest break at each control point A better energy conservation strategy is to ride the whole route at a steady, moderate pace, trying insofar as possible, to keep the heart rate low. Some riders pick a target speed - well below their top speed - and try to stick to this speed for the entire length of the route. Others regulate themselves by referring to a heart rate monitor. Part and parcel of good pacing technique is minimising time spent at controls.
Good group riding skills are fundamental to success in cycling the longer distances of randonneuring. The origins of randonneur cycling lie in groups riding in formation, under the eye of a ride captain, at a constant controlled rate of speed. While this style of riding has been largely eclipsed, particularly in North America, the ethic of cyclists working together in groups to cover long distances efficently is still pervasive. And there can be no doubt that as the length of the brevet attempted increases, the need increases for riders of similar levels of fitness to ride cooperatively together. Group riding skills - the ability to ride smoothly and predictably', the capacity to avoid and recover from contact with other riders, the willingness to take the burden of pulling a group into a wind at a pace that the group can maintain - become essential skills for riders contemplating the longest distance of randonneur cycling.
Group riding is an art, one that is picked up largely by riding together with the same riders over a period of time. By training in a group, a rider becomes familiar with the riding style of other riders, learns to anticipate and adjust to developing situations, and comes to appreciate the delicate art of riding sufficiently fast to pull other riders along without blowing them off the back. The best place for a new rider to learn group riding is in the club's populaire series of shorter, day rides - particularly the early season rides.
Completion of a 300 Km brevet is a significant athletic accomplishment. The average completion time for an Ironman Triathlon is between 13 and 15 hours - about comparable to the time a 300 Km cyclist will have spent in the saddle. But beyond this, the 300 Km distance is a fundamental building block of randonneur cycling. A 600Km brevet for instance, can be tought of as back-to-back 300km brevets: two rides on successive days. A 1000 Km brevet is two 300 Km brevets followed (or preceded) by a 400 Km brevet. Finishing a 300 Km brevet comfortably puts a rider squarely on the path to long distance cycling success. |  |
