# rest strategy during 600k



## bruni94 (Dec 20, 2006)

assuming you could do the 360 miles in 36 hours and have four hours of rest how or what is the best way to take it?

1. ride 24 hours rest 4 and then do 12 hours or
2. ride ten hours rest 1 hour 20 minutes etc finish last 6 hours or
3. ride 6 rest 40 minutes

some other method ie ride till you drop rest etc


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## Stumpjumper FSR (Aug 6, 2006)

bruni94 said:


> assuming you could do the 360 miles in 36 hours and have four hours of rest how or what is the best way to take it?
> 
> 1. ride 24 hours rest 4 and then do 12 hours or
> 2. ride ten hours rest 1 hour 20 minutes etc finish last 6 hours or
> ...


If you average 15 miles per hour you should be able to complete 360 miles in 24 hours and rest for 12 hours. I would ride for 12 hours, rest for 8, ride another 12 and have a 4 hour cushion in case something happens. I am planning on completing 300 miles in 24 hours in a few months and was thinking of riding 200 miles, resting for 4 hours and then riding the last 100 miles.
I plan on using Hammer Perpetuem, Endurolytes, and Water instead of eating.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

The course pretty much determines where you can sleep, that is, the location of controls, towns with motels, etc. Many controls have no place to sleep, too. 

I can't fall asleep if I'm riding so I ride straight through.


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## qwertzy (May 25, 2005)

Last weekend was my first experience with a 600 and first I then the guy I was riding with could physically not continue. We ended up sleeping in a town square on the floor and in a building entrance hall, both on the floor. Neither were ideal but better than falling asleep on the bike. 

Another guy I was riding with nodded off (for a few seconds) and hit a traffic dividing wall and crashed.
He had to go to hospital and get stitched up. That ruined his ride but hopefully he can find another 600 to qualify for PBP which is what his goal is.

I think sleeping is good to have as an option if you're too tired to continue and having a space blanket or sleeping bag widens your options a bit. I'm considering getting a bivvy bag to cope with rain, as I've heard Brittany can be wet as can the whole of northern France (as PBP 2007 participants can confirm  )


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## Ab24029 (Feb 20, 2006)

The faster you ride the more time you can sleep.

I just finished a 600k this past weekend. I rode for ~275 miles with 4-5 controls where I spend about 20-30 min each, then I slept for 6 hours and then finished the rest of the ride(~112miles). I was getting sleepy at the end of the first leg, but small reset stops, stretching and eating helped.

Usually I feel miserable on the 2d part of the ride(600k), because of lack of sleep( usually 2-3 hours) and fatigue, but this time I was fine. The point was to ride very brisk(not too hard, though) in the beginning and do not waste time at controls and sleep as much as possible makes the second part of the ride way easier. 

At the same time I saw a rider riding too fast for his ability, pulling too hard, sprinting up the hills, etc. He payed for that later on during the ride even before the sleep stop.

For me riding brisk (on flats) means 18-23 mph on the first day and 16-20 mph on the second day. If I try to stay with faster guys at 25 mph I will pay for that later on struggling to keep 8 mph in the second part of the ride.
It helps to ride with a group and take turns pulling to cover first 100-200 miles fast to build some time later on (hills, sleep, fatigue, etc)


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## thompsw (Jun 16, 2011)

I rode my first two 600's straight through and know from observation of others and personal experience that it is possible to fall asleep on the bike. Just try doing a very long descent when you are very sleep deprived ! I also know that without some rest I'll be slower ... and it isn't a race anyway.

I follow the same strategy on a 600 as I do on 1000's, 1200's etc. -- a five hour stop which includes three hours of sleep. I'll abbreviate that if the riding conditions have slowed me down significantly or if I have some other objective, but that seems ideal ... for me. I've never been close to the Control cut-offs, so I've earned my rest.

Generally I'll break down a 600 into 400 + 200 or as close to that as reasonable. Those distances do not have to tie into Controls. There's nothing that says that you have to rest at a Control. Case in point, doing the Miglia last year a pair of us picked rest stops by time of day, not by Control points. Drop bag locations did not tie into sleep locations so they simply because swap dirty for clean spots. Besides -- the provided accommodation was simply a mat on a gym floor ... so we got hotel rooms.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

I've got a Thermo-Lite emergency bivy sack which has come in handy a few times. It's much better than the mylar space blankets.

http://www.amazon.com/Adventure-Medical-Kits-Bivvy-Thermo-Lite/dp/B000NN2J4Y


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