There were 10 finishers this past weekend out of 23 for the Princeton 600K brevet. Between the 80 mile and 200 mile mark (from noon Sat and 10 p.m. Sat night) we started started to see signs of dehyradation/heat stroke. This was the beginning of DNFs (riders abandoning).
Heat coupled with hills was the problem. Sunday was even worse. My phone kept ringing with riders asking to be picked up. Rider symptons were dizziness, nausea, vomiting and exhaustion. The route had long stretches without facilities. Riders were looking for water between 20-30 miles - most or nearly all carried Camelbaks and water bottles too.
Carrying Endurolytes is a good thing - E-Caps makes them and they work well, especially if you can't find water readily. The Fourth of July weather is looking good - at leat the temps. Keep hydrated - start now.
diane goodwin
BTW, the results with photos will be up by Wednesday for this event.
NJ 600K and NYCC Fourth of July Weekend
I have great respect for any riders who completed the brevet in such brutal conditions. Did anyone ride the 387 miles straight through without sleeping?
"By my own imperfect accounting, the following riders finished the brevet without ""proper"" sleep (i.e. in a bed, with a blanket) in Quakertown:
Chris Scherer
Steve Scheetz
Mitch Lesack
Bill Olsen"
A few years ago, Mitch Lesack was the second finisher of the 750 mile Boston-Montreal-Boston. Not a minute of sleep (off the bike) then either.
"... who should have finished first is Ben Tufford out of Princeton. Ben is our official rider photographer. How he manages to stay in front AND finish first is amazing. He's promised a writeup with photos ....
Ben finished the 400K section back to the hostel by 10:30 p.m. Nate Morgenstern showed up at the hostel early morning to ride the hostel loop (400K section) with the front riders. He ended up with Ben only around Wind Gap, PA and rode into Ahearn's Country Cafe controle with 50 miles to finish. Nate eventually had to leave Ben sometime during the last 50 miles because Ben was in his ""happy spot."" (this is some new term I didn't know about until this weekend).
Nate finished 1/2 hour ahead of Ben. So, Ben had until 6 a.m. to leave the hostel control. We think he slept around 11-11:30. When I arrived around 5:45 a.m., he was heading out. With all that sleep he should have been energized ... not really but he did manage to finish second.
More to come ...."
"""E-Caps makes them and they work well, especially if you can't find water readily.""
How do E-caps work without water??"
I know Steve Scheetz doesn't use thet capsules - I think they come in liquid form. Steve had 20 minutes of sleep.
Chris Scherer (riding partner of Sandiway Fong) was worried for lack of proper training early in the season. Chris teaches spin somewhere in Princeton and has ridden our series since it started. It was an interesting conversation at Doral finish.
Judson Hand was well awake - good thing since the errors in the cue sheet would have really gotten Mitch and Steve lost completely. Jud took the lead for these guys.
Mitch LeSack - great guy! Yes, Jeff, Mitch did really well one year at BMB. Jennifer Wise speaks highly of his cycling abilities and off the bike ettiquette (every organizer wishes for this). Mitch is going for BMB this year and this time, as a RAAM qualifier. If there's one person to crew for, it would be Mitch.
Bill Olsen is an interesting person. I rode with him on our PA brevets. He rides his bike to work (13 miles one way) and sometimes he just runs to work. He says it's difficult to run back home though. Bill lives in Califon - Hillier Than Thou goes through this area. He was the Lantern Rouge and proud of it - stealing the title from Laurent Chambard. He helped us with scouting and finding controle points as well. All the riders were happy to see him as one of the 10 finishers. Bill, BTW, signed up for every brevet we offered in PA and NJ. His training paid off.
diane
Huh?
There's capsules, powder and gel.
You need water!!
"Read Ben Tufford's excellent ride report. It may take a little time until the page loads, but it's worth waiting.
I met Ben on the 200 km Princeton brevet, snapping pictures while he was riding, and he's done the same on the 300, 400, and 600 km brevets. That hasn't stopped him from being one of the fastest finishers. Bravo, Ben!"
