Don't know if there is already a thread for this but what is everyone's experiences/opinions on the best start time for a 24hr bgr attempt? I am learning towards a start time of 3 am!
Don't know if there is already a thread for this but what is everyone's experiences/opinions on the best start time for a 24hr bgr attempt? I am learning towards a start time of 3 am!
It's a bit like writing a will or voting in a general election: not so much about what time you want to start but more about when you don't want to
Which way you going? cw or acw
Last edited by Derby Tup; 17-04-2015 at 07:35 AM.
Poacher turned game-keeper
That's a great time to start if you are going for 18 hours...Originally Posted by Bibster
I wouldn't want to be heading in to the last leg at 11.00pm
I'm wondering about 1:30am start for a 23hr attempt. The idea being that we can grab a few hours sleep before starting to stave off the worst of the sleep deprivation, but just about complete leg 4 in the light.
Or is the accepted wisdom that sleep is the least of your worries?!
Going CW, I think a midnight start is best. You get the easiest section in the dark out of the way first, and probably only have half of the final leg in the dark, most of which is road anyway. Some think leg 2 is better at night, but if it's claggy it can be very tricky, with more navigational decisions to get right.
Sleep deprivation for 1 night shouldn't be a big issue. It only becomes a big issue after 2 missed nights. Although everyone is different, that is my experience. The fatigue of keeping going will override sleepiness. As has already been said a 3am or 4am start would be best for a quick one.
The 7pm/midnight debate is very much about leg 2 (plus finishing before the pubs close). On a clear night (or with a very good navigator like Ian) leg 2 in the dark is no problem. On the other hand there has been many horror stories on here about Leg 2 nav cockups on dark claggie nights that have put paid to attempts. Leg 1 on a bad night is not too bad with a midnight start.
So many people have Garmin's, etc these days so I suppose going walkabout is less likely.
Last edited by DrPatrickBarry; 17-04-2015 at 11:15 AM.
On all 3 of my clockwise attempts Pat leg 2 was clagged out to the max. We totally screwed up the navigation on the second attempt on leg 2 especially ( I still have flashbacks), and that was with two support runners having garmins or gps, so don't absolutely count on garmins.
That said on my successful attempt in September 2013, legs 1 and 2 were full on clag, rain and wind and I blasted them really finely I thought - I well and truly knew the way by then though. The trouble was that I still then came massively unstuck in the same weather on leg 3 where, with a 6pm start at that time of year, it was still dark until something like 6:30 in the morning. We lost the path on the way to Calf Crag and never fully got a handle on the navigation, in attrocious viz admittedly, until the bottom of the ramp up Bowfell. The visability was also so bad that, even when on track, it was hard to make any speed. I think I turned 20 odd minutes up at Dunmail to 60 minutes down at Bowfell in that little spell..... and being an hour down at Bowfell on a 23 hour schedule is not ideal
The logic behind my start time of 6pm that day was that, having tried 11pm the two previous times, I found the hanging about waiting to start really difficult. And I didn't reall have much success trying to cat nap either. I'd still favour 6pm I think, especially as I now know the route even better. The main reason being that the pubs are open when you get back
Last edited by Stolly; 17-04-2015 at 01:24 PM.
Half past midnight or one am... have the advantage of having a bit of sleep beforehand; a 23.30 hour schedule means you do it "in the day"; and you come off Robinson before it's dark.
The long trek up Skiddaw is easy (but long) in the dark, navigation over Gt Calva is relatively straightforward, and you can hope to turn your headtorch off as you hit Blencathra summit.
If you set off a bit earlier you have the first part of the descent off Blencathra while it's still dark so you need to know that part of the route well. I think Leg two has lots of potential for navigational error in the dark unless you're simply following a GPS track, so I'd hit it in the early morning sunshine.
if I can't see blencathra it's raining
if I can see blencathra it's going to rain
Midnight didn't suit me at all. I'm not a "night-time" person and the hanging around was awful. 7pm is good for c/w
Poacher turned game-keeper
For me it is (or was): "On which leg will the darkness have least effect?" I.e. How much slower will I be because of the darkness and how much more will it take out of me.
Having supported on a 2200 start - didn't feel right somehow - and trying a 1900 start on my first attempt which resulted in nav blunders along the Helvellyn ridge I settled on a midnight start.
In addition to that there's the "night"/"day" type of person DT mentions but also it can depend on what time you can get to Keswick. If you live a long way away then a 1900 start can be awkward unless you take the day or afternoon off.
On a tangent at the committee meeting we were discussing why c/w was now more popular (by a long, long way) than a/c. One thing that just occurred to me was the ability to take a day or afternoon off at relatively short notice, say less than a week. If you only had the weekend to make an attempt then travelling up to Keswick after work and immediately setting off on a round might not appeal but a night's sleep and an early morning start on an anticlockwise round would make sense. Maybe a possibility?
Bob
http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bob_graham.php
Without me you'd be one place nearer the back
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