First 400km Audax - any tips?

[frank9755]

I'm doing my first 400km audax next weekend. It is the 'Nae bother to us' ride from Galashiels. It's a 6am start.

I've not quite done this distance at one shot but I've done a couple of 250-270km day rides (or night rides as one was Dunwich Dynamo!) this month. However this will be a bit longer and it will also be hillier, so I am expecting it to be a challenge.

How do most people do 400s? Is it generally considered best to just ride through, to have a scheduled sleep stop, or does it vary from person to person?

I've not had problems with running out of steam and have managed to eat and drink enough to keep going. I have found the main constraints on my distances have been saddle sores and sore feet. The former get worse if I spend time off the bike without having the chance to shower / change, so my preference would be to ride straight through with meal stops - as long as that is not asking for trouble!

Any thoughts welcome.

Anyone else doing this ride, or done it in the past?

 

[yello]

Stay hydrated and eat regularly (little and often). Pace yourself and I reckon you'll be good for the distance.

I personally ride through, As a rule, I'm not really quick enough to bank enough time for a decent sleep so don't bother. I find it easier just to get it done, but then 400 is my least favourite distance! I might nap/rest once for 20 minutes but that's it. But everybody is different.

Saddle sores, etc could be a problem. When tired, such things seem to multiply and cause DNF thoughts. That's were the mental strength comes in. I've found just setting shorter goals helpful... just do the next 20km and then assess it. Then another 20, then another, etc.

Good luck.

 

[mercurykev]

On a 400 you can encounter quite a range of temperatures, especially after it's been dark for a few hours. I always pack a pair of longer fingered gloves and a base layer just in case it gets too chilly. Eat at every opportunity and pack a treat for when it's been dark for a while and you've been riding for 20 hours. My personal secret for the night section is an mp3 player full of radio 4 podcasts - at this point people tend to be out of chat, there isn't much to see and there's nothing like getting into a documentary about Iranian foreign policy to help the miles drift away.

I've entered the ride but I can't do it any more because I need to ride a 600 and that's the only weekend I can do it. It looks like a great route though

 

[Noodley]

Harder than a 600.

Much harder than a 300.

You'll learn a lot about yourself.

 

[frank9755]

Thanks everyone for the comments - very helpful.

Yello, I read the thread that you started when you did your 400 recently. Glad to see you survived!

 

[mercurykev]

You'll learn a lot about yourself.

Like how you react to drunks in Cowdenbeath at closing time on a Saturday.

 

[mercurykev]

You'll learn a lot about yourself.

Like how you react to drunks in Cowdenbeath at closing time on a Saturday.

 

[Ian H]

If you're fast it's possible to make a 400 with a 6am start a long day ride, finishing around midnight. Or Get to around 300 and sleep, leaving a morning 100k to complete before 9am the next day. Ride within your limits and stop for a doze when you need to. 20mins shut-eye can work wonders.

 

[frank9755]

I made it!

It went pretty well. Started at 6am on Saturday and finished at 03:20 on Sunday, having ridden through with normal breaks.

I ate and drank lots so never felt short of energy. Tweaks I'd made to my bike (raised stem, Brooks, fatter tyres, double-sided pedals) helped a lot. I felt much better than on my first 200, when I was aching in a few places with a third of the ride to go.

My only difficulties were a sore left foot around half-way, which got better after some stretches and shakes, then riding unclipped, and a sore right knee over the last 20 miles (which I think was due to trying to take some pressure off my left foot earlier in the day).

Lovely route - hard but not ridiculously hilly, with a couple of quite flat sections. Weather was good enough. One soaking in the morning then just a couple of light showers, but very mild so not a problem.

Thanks for tips and encouragement!

 

[yello]

Well done sir!

Tell me, at what point did that smile break out on your face? You know, the smile you allow yourself to have when you know you've got it cracked despite being knackered and x km from the finish!

I reckon for me even and steady is the key to getting through. That applies to both pace and eating/drinking. Drink & eat a little and often, and keeping the legs turning in a metronomic rhythm.

Aches, pains and niggles are also, I reckon, to be expected. Most of them, you ride off or forget about.

Always a learning experience I find too. I don't think there'll ever come a day when I don't add some new bit of info to the collection, or don't experience something different.

 

[stevevw]

Well done Frank.

 

[Fiona N]

Well done Frank

I was down to ride it as well but let Lucy know last week that I wouldn't be turning out due to a niggling injury. My physio told me in the severest terms that riding it was not a good idea but I think I already knew that after packing on a 200 on the weekend before with severe cramps at 50km. So I'm glad it went well, especially the weather - I was really expecting this might be the challenge element after the conditions hereabouts over the summer.

 

[frank9755]

Thanks everyone, and sorry you couldn't make it, Fiona.

Yello, good question. I suppose there were two moments when I felt it was in the bag:
- The first was just after half way when my foot settled down and I knew the hardest bit was done and I had 50 flat miles to look forward to (before the last 50 hilly ones, that was!)
- Second was during the last climb on the way to Selkirk (and the highest point of the whole route) when Lucy (event organiser) caught up with me and said 'nearly at the top' as she passed.

Having done half a dozen night rides already this year, I was less apprehensive about the night section than I would otherwise have been - drawing on the 'Dunwich Spirit' to see me through!

 

[Ian H]

Well done. I know the McTaggarts run a good event. I shall have to get up there to do one sometime.

 

[frank9755]

It was a very good event - worth the trip up to ride through very pretty countryside.  I  look forward to seeing the last bit in the daylight some time!

Fiona, particularly sorry you couldn't make it having read your piece on your Hewitt Carbon bike!  I went for a fitting and ordered one last week, and am now trying to decide what kit to put on it.  Hope you are still enjoying yours, and that your injury lets you get out on it soon!