PBP Experience Talks (2) 失敗經驗談

看了前面成功的經驗，來看看挑戰失敗的分享。

NJ’s Jud (我將會在brevet遇到他) 分享了他失敗的四個主要因素，”Four Key Mistakes I Made On PBP 2007“。

Jud在2007 PBP之前參加了6次600k，完成5次；其中三次是在2007年上半年度。他的NJ600k紀錄是28:08 (沒睡覺; 路線算平緩)。他也完成過1000k及1200k。然而，這樣有Randonneuring經驗的老手在PBP前300k只花14:08，卻在900k (Fougeres )左右，因Shermer’s Neck*而DNF。Why？

我看了他的文章，覺得很值得參考，請有志參加PBP一定要讀。

重點：

1. 休息的安排

when I arrived at Loudeac, there was no place to sleep, as I had caught up with the huge 90-hour group.
…
For some crazy reason, when another rider I barely knew announced that he was going to take a nap by the side of the road, I did, too. I didn’t sleep a wink on the wet grass and I wasted another 35 minutes.
…
Loudeac looked like a triage area for a major disaster. There were no cots to be had, it was raining outside and the dining area hallway was filled with riders trying to sleep on the floor. Desperately searching but unable to find my hotel in the narrow streets, I wasted another hour. I then tried to sleep in the hallway, and wasted yet another.

2. 同伴

I knew almost nobody in the 84-hour group so I rode alone virtually the entire event.
…
I met a lot of friendly, interesting people at PBP. After all, there were more than 5,000 participants. But I never stayed with anybody for more than an hour or two.

PS: 找不到旅館？在用我的PBP對策應該是不會發生，直接將旅館的位置加入Course Point就行了。

* 關於Shermer’s Neck的起源及避免方式。

PPS: 在2011 PBP，我騎到最後20幾公里頭也抬不起來了，正式Shermer’s Neck。不可輕忽。好在我還是完成了，以82多小時。但每每回想起來，還是心有餘悸。