Heltor Chasca wrote:I should get on a 200 by the summer.
If you can get to Cardiff and would like a recommendation for a first 200 - Dr Fosters Summer Saunter would be ideal, flat pleasant route, good controls and with a bit of light off road where a bike like your new one would be an advantage over the road bikes.
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/17-308/I'm doing the 100km rides in about +- 6 hours to give you an idea.
That's plenty fast enough to be sure you get round with a comfortable time buffer, particularly if that's on hilly 100s. How much of that is riding time? My riding time for a 200 is constantly 9.5 - 10.5 hours, the biggest variation in overall time will will be due to how much is off the bike. I can do a local flat DIY 200 with one half hour stop, or riding a tough route with friends it's likely to be a couple of hours. If I want to finish earlier that's where time can be saved. I've also found that although a touch slower my most comfortable bike can get me round in less time, simply because I don't feel the need to spend any time off it. On local Audax I'm often playing leap frog with a group of faster riders I know, they come past me on the road, I pass them in the control we finish at around the same time, it's become a bit of a standing joke...
There's also a tendency when riding at or near the back to think that everyone else is miles and miles ahead. While this is occasionally true, my experience from manning a control is that both those in front and those behind tend to overestimate the gap. All you can do is enjoy riding your own ride.
