B600, Helsinki – Satakunta – Helsinki
The third brevet for my this year's randonneur goal was the main event of the whole brevet series – the 600km. Every year the 600km route organised by the Randonneurs Finland takes the riders to one of the world heritage locations in Satakunta region of western Finland. This time the route went through the old wooden town in Rauma.
Preparation
The preparation for B600 was not different from the other distances except for the fact that I had more to carry with me that on any other ride. This time I also took a handlebar-bag in addition to my saddlebag. The weather seemed to turn out quite nice but for a ride that takes two days I was packing my rain gear as well just in case. The only thing I didn't have were the rain covers for my legs which were out of stock in the local bike shop. I risked it that I would not need them. The gear list for this brevet:
Short sleeve jersey
Bib shorts
Spare bib shorts
Shoes
Socks
Helmet
Cycling cap
Cycling gloves
Arm warmers
Leg warmers
Rain jacket
Shoe covers
Sunglasses
High visibility gilet
2 x spare tube
Spare tyre
Tyre levers
Puncture kit
2 x CO2 cartridges
CO2 inflator head
Multitool
Mini pump
Spare chain
Entry fee
Cash for emergencies
Credit card
Brevet card
Pen
Waterproof protective case for phone and documents
Cycling computer
HR monitor
Mobile phone
Phone/computer charger
Camera
Lights
2 x 1000ml drinking bottles
U-lock
Energy bars
Energy gels
Sports drink powder in ready made portions
2 x liquid lunch
Chamois cream
Moisture cream
Sun cream
Spare contact lenses
Pain killers
In addition we were allowed one drop off bag to which we would have access at the 330km control. I simply took some gear for sauna and sleeping:
T-shirt
Hooded top
Sweatpants
Towel
Baby powder
The amount of gear was quite overwhelming but because of good bags it didn't seem to disturb my riding too much. All I could think of at the start was that if I use every single item in my bags it would mean a really miserable brevet. I could only hope that it would not be that way. The start was at 8am from the very center of Helsinki. We 40h to complete the 600km which meant we had to be at the finish no later than midnight the next day.
Leg 1: Helsinki – Somero (117km)
We started the brevet as a group ride. There were quite a few who did not know Helsinki that well so it was easier to navigate in one big group. Once we reached Bemböle the roads became easier to navigate but the group still held together. I was the only one who had to stay behind because I had forgotten to apply the sun cream. Apparently the group had split in two in Vihti around 56km from start to those who stopped to fill up water bottles and to those who continued without a break. I was riding behind the groups but my plan was not to stop before Somero.
Around 106km I caught up with the second group who had had a flat tyre and continued a little while with them to Somero. In Somero my plan was to have a quick snack, fill bottles, get the stamp and quickly continue. The others decided to stay for a lunch so I continued riding solo.
Leg 2: Somero – Oripää (178km)
The next leg was almost flat terrain all the way. The only thing slowing me down was the weather which suddenly got a lot windier and colder. I had to stop to put on my arm and leg warmers but other than that I kept a solid pace towards the next control. Around 170km the group who had had lunch caught up with me and I decided to tag along to their double paceline which was a lot more comfortable to ride with than alone.
Shortly we arrived to Oripää where we had a quick coffee break and continued our journey. I had had a liquid lunch just little before while riding so I did not need to eat anything larger at this point.
Leg 3: Oripää – Rauma (265km)
We continued in double line for the whole next leg and it was a bliss for me who has not ridden in groups that much. The main challenge during this leg was some major road works which we managed to pass without flats.
However, one of the riders in group snapped one of his gear cables and we had a good 30min break while he was replacing his cable. We continued and enjoyed the sunny weather while getting closer to Rauma.
We arrived to Rauma around 9pm and unfortunately missed the kitchen closing time at the control point. Instead we managed to find a pizzeria who were nice enough to make us pizzas before closing as well. This time I ate as my stomach really needed some solid food after all the liquid nutrition I had consumed so far. Once we had eaten, one of the riders announced that he is going to end his brevet here as he had not completely recovered from an illness earlier that week. The rest of us started heading towards Harjavalta.
Leg 4: Rauma – Harjavalta (330km)
The sun was already setting when we continued heading towards the control with the sleeping facilities. I put on my high visibility gilet and at some point we all rigged our lights on and rode through the silent, dark and misty countryside towards Harjavalta.
We arrived to the control just a little bit before 1am. There was some food and sauna waiting for us. I had a good wash and took care of all the places subject to potential chafing in order to avoid what happened during B400. While eating, Mikko who was the organiser of the event, gave us some information about the other riders. Most of the people from the first group had continued their journey without any sleep. Four riders from our group decided to continue with one hour sleep while I and another rider decided to sleep three hours. From the three hours I probably slept only one because after riding 17h it was really hard to fall asleep and I kept waking up all the time thinking that I had overslept. Yet I managed to rest enough because I did not feel any sleep deprivation symptoms during the next day.
We woke up around 5am and after a quick coffee we started heading towards Helsinki again.
Leg 5: Harjavalta – Forssa (472km)
The morning was sunny and we started our next leg by riding across a power plant dam. We continued around 35km until we hit a really long stretches of flat almost straight roads with constant head wind. I had had some trouble trying to wake up my muscles and it was obvious that riding today would not feel as good as the day before. I might have used a bit too long gear inches while crossing the plains for which I had to pay a price for later that day. Apart from the head wind the weather was perfect and I felt relatively good while heading towards Forssa. This was the longest leg between the controls so we decided to keep a good break at some point. When we passed Alastaro we suddenly saw some familiar riders. The group who had slept 1h had stopped to a small gas station to fill up their bottles. They told us they had to stop at some point to sleep some more. The gas station did not have any coffee so we continued immediately and did not wait for the others. We found an open gas station just before Loimaa and had a good lunch and coffee before continuing to Forssa. I felt really good after eating and the road to Forssa was quickly behind. We arrived to Forssa as the 1h sleep group were just leaving meaning they must have passed us while we were having lunch. After quick coffee break we headed towards the last control in Nummela before the finish.
Leg 6: Forssa – Nummela (570km)
Soon after leaving Forssa it started to drizzle a little bit so I put on my raincoat. It felt that riding almost 100km in one go at this point was too much for me. We decided to have one more break before Nummela control. We stopped at Räyskälä which was around 512km. Just before reaching Räyskälä we saw some familiar jerseys in the bushes at some point. It was the 1h sleep group who had needed another quick sleep break before continuing. While having a coffee in Räyskälä it suddenly started pouring properly from the sky. After a quick check on the rain radar we decide to wait until the rain cloud had passed.
After 30min wait it was sunny again and it did not rain after that at all at any point of the rest of the brevet. I still got to use my shoe covers as the roads were now wet but only for a short while. After Räyskälä I started to get gradually more tired while the roads started to get gradually more hillier. Around Karkkila I started to pay for the price for the earlier. My knees started to ache below the knee cap. I think it was caused simply by the strain from riding and my cartilages were getting inflamed. On top of that I started to feel really sick from all the sugar I had consumed so far.
Nevertheless, we reached Nummela where I felt instantly better after drinking some soda water and eating some salty crackers. There I poured my sports drinks down the drain and filled my bottles with water for the last 30km. Just when we were about to leave the 1h sleep group curved in to the gas station. We decided to wait for them and ride as a group to the finish. The original group from day 1 was reunited again.
Leg 6: Nummela – Bemböle (600km)
The last leg started off with a couple nasty hills but quickly the road became familiar and from somewhere I got more energy to ride to the finish. The finish was at the Bemböle coffee house so we did not need to ride though Helsinki street anymore. We rode almost in one row to the coffee house courtyard where Mikko was waiting. In addition the one who had retired at Rauma was at the finish as well so managed to take a nice group photo to commemorate the nice ride we experienced together.
Conclusion
The main event of my goal was now completed and I can not say it could have gone any better. The only surprises were the knee pains and the sugar sickness. The knee pains I can only prevent by getting used to riding more long distances and by learning to use gearing even better. What comes to the sugar sickness, it was completely my own fault for consuming too many gels in too short time span. I know better the next time. Other than that my body felt good, my stomach felt good, I did not feel sleepy at any point and I felt I had enough energy all the way to the end. During the ride I really could feel that I could trust the training I have gone through. This could be seen while riding with the group as our pace was a lot faster than what I had been used to while riding solo rides. After this the last brevet for Super Randonneur medal is the 300km brevet. I will complete it as soon as I have recovered from this ride.