What I learned in 2 days in Scotland on the Mille Alba

During the summer I took part in my first multi-day event, in Scotland, called the Mille Alba 1000KM. I know going into the event it would be hard, 12,000 meters in 100 KM on the first day gives you an idea. The weather was the worst, raining for most of the  first day. Did I finish, no, but is the best experience I've had on a bike ever. The experience of the event has only fueled the cycling sickness further. Would I do it again, in a heartbeat, even in the same weather.

I was disappointed I only got to 700 KM, but looking back now, this was some achievement, and a number of firsts; first night cycle, first multiple day event, and I learned loads that will help in the future.

What I learned:

• Recovery - Eat correctly when you get back, this is more important than sleep. I did not to this right on Friday night and paid for it on Saturday. Did not feel right all morning and it took me 8 hours to get to the first control. This set me up for a long day, and most of the day out on my own at the back. When I got some good food into me, I was flying and made up a lot of time on the people in front of me.
• Cycle with people, 6 hours of a head wind is hard going on your own. I would add cycle with people at or around your one speed and ability.

• Bring your phone cable, this is needed. IPhone with an external battery will not change on it's own :-) Your wife will appreciate it.

• You can keep going on very little sleep. I had only 2-3:30 hours sleep over 48 hours, after 700KM was still going and eating well. Don't over do it, short sleeps, are better that falling a sleep on the bike.

• Have a plan for each day, not just the first one, when you are going to finish, where the main stops will be, and what average speed you will keep. Have backup plans in case you hit problems; mechanical, etc.
• Pack you gear and food for each day, on this event we started and finished at the same place each day. So we did not have to carry everything. I had a drop bag for each day, with food and cycling gear needed. No thinking or wasted time, get up, dressed, breakfast, and out on the bike.

• Just because the guy has a GPS, do not rely on that he knows where he is going, navigate for yourself, even when your in a group.

• One tip I am going to take on for the future. Train with your own DIY route sheets, I found it very hard to calculate distances between points on the route sheets, kept stopping to check that I was still on the route, because I was underestimated the distance I had travel. 24km take a lot longer on a bike. This was harder on the second day as the computer reset overnight. This will become easier I expect the more events I do.
• Redo the route sheet before the event. My cycle computer reset after the first night automatically (News to me). Making the distances on the second day meaningless. The recalculation was hard when I got tired. In future I will be adding a new column on the route sheet for multiple day events resetting the distance each day.  This caused me to go off  route a few times the second day which all cost time. 
• Keep the time at controls short, this is something I did well and keep up with a number of faster riders during the first day and started off with them on the second morning.
• Cycle faster at a steady pace. Did not happen at all on the second day, back to not refueling correctly.
• Compact Double (50-34) and 12-28 may not be the best choice for 1,000 KM events, on the hills it was great, but the flats I was slower than most. Thinking of go back to a triple (50-39-30 or 52-42-30).
• Doing a 600KM before the event would have been useful. I had done long distances on my own over multiple days, but was not replicating event conditions; navigating, etc. which all makes a difference.  
• Just because you go through a closed control, does not mean you can not continue if you can make up the time. (Big mistake and something I will not do again, speed up, not down)
• Experience, and building up to a 1,000KM is the right way to go, riding smaller multi-day events would have helped greatly. Adding more experience and building up your conference to keep going when things get hard. This is something you can bring into other parts of your life too.

Looking forward to the LEL next year :-)