I did 540k in one go in 2019. My personal take aways from that:
- learn to ride slowly/pace yourself (especially when fit and on uphill sections)
- Ride often and don’t worry about the distance per ride
- Ride in all conditions you may encounter: early, late, dark, cold, hot, rain etc. etc.
- Get comfy and be critical about that. Small things may become horrible after 200km of riding. Shoes, socks, gloves, bibs, gloves, seat, bartape, position. Don’t just change all of them. You’ll know which after riding more often.
- Learn to eat on the bike. Bring you lunch while riding, figure out how to pack and unpack it and get a feel of what your stomach handles well. (p.s. low pace makes it easier)
- Electronics like lights and computers may go empty after X hours, have a batterypack and test that on your rides.
- Have a little strategy to keep yourself sane and awake. Stop and stretch every X hours/k’s, divide the distance, count people with yellow jackets or something silly.
- Do a longer ride well before (1 month or more) your event to figure out if you’ve got things covered. If not you have time to fix those things and recover and train for the main event
- Start fresh and go with the flow
Probably forgetting stuff…