The Plan

First things first, some folks have asked about the picture up at the top. That's my buddy Paul D of Richmond, leading us out of Deerfield, Virginia a few weeks ago on the ROMA 600K. Paul's an amazing rider. When his Rivendell is fully loaded, he's riding a 40+ pound bike. Yet he rides with us, even pushing the pace, in the middle of the pack. We kid him sometimes and say we're going to steal his Rivendell and replace it with a TTX just so he can qualify for RAAM. Here's another shot of him from an earlier ride..

From ROMA Lost River 400K

So, back to the post- my ride plan. I have one, though it's very basic and leaves room for improvisation. Normally, that's not my style- I set a goal and shoot for it. But this time around, I'm staying flexible.

The main reason is because of where the S1200's overnight controls are located. Unlike P-B-P, which has overnight controls at 400K intervals, the S1200 spaces them out at shorter distances. At P-B-P, the norm is to ride 400K, nap, and repeat twice. The S1200 seems to be ride 340K, nap, then repeat three times.

That may be a good thing. Though Mike D and I finished the ROMA 400K on some of the same roads as the S1200 in 22 hours and change, we only had to do it once. Two weeks later, on the ROMA 600K, we rode 400K in 22 hours, slept 3, then rode the final 200K to finish in just over 36 hours. The hills take a toll, and I learned that I'll have to be patient on this ride.

Most of my friends are planning to ride overnight control by overnight control. Respecting the terrain, and not pushing the pace too much. I'll plan on the same, but leaving room to improvise based on the weather. Rain at night isn't a lot of fun to ride in, so it becomes a struggle to keep the pace up. Blazing sun does the same thing. I'll wait to to see what happens, and make adjustments if I have to.