Thanks both,
2 am start time will only be for Day 1 - with 2 young kids my body clock will be fine
4 am - Day 2
3 am - Day 3 - 380 km day
5 am - Day 4 - Shorter distance 310 km
Re hotels - I have premier inn/Travel lodges booked - all bike-friendly no issues leaving early.
I'll be sending a parcel on to each hotel - for the next day. Fresh kit, energy bars, spares etc. Most importantly, to address the breakfast talk... 2xpots of quaker quick oats
all the hotels I stayed in had a kettle in the room and two pots of porridge got me well on my way.
I did this last year on my St Albans - Aberystwyth - Lowestoft - St Albans trip, and it worked very well.
Re Day 1 acknowledge the comment on my first post but having spoken to a few people who have followed that revised Day 1 route it might not be as bad as I thought. I'm still undecided, but I might consider it and then pick up the rest of the audax route from Almondsbury. Will see how I go on the Cornwall tester next weekend.
100% agree on the time suck with stops - I have a 400km Paris Brest Paris qualifier on Saturday. The Gt North Road - I'm going to be practicing timings for sure. The one thing I've found with these audax's is the time vortex of doom when you stop. I'm going to be setting a 10 min alarm for the short controls - bottle fill up grab food etc, get receipt... go... then make sure I have one decent sit-down meal for 45 mins to make sure I switch off and get some different mental space and time away from the bike.
This should replicate what I do on LEJOG.. My controls are planned for every 100km. 2xshort fill-ups and go stops and one proper sit down meal. I'm sure I'll have one extra stop for the day wich I've allowed for but will see how we go.
Taking 3x 750ml bottles should cover me for each leg with the exception of the last.