I did a hilly 300K on Saturday, it took me about an hour longer than usual. I walked some of the 12-14% hills and was especially careful on the twisty, turny, bumpy descents. I actually wore a set of brake pads on the front out. They were pretty new and just toasted on one ride. I was either braking a lot or I am fatter than I think.
It seemed pretty much everyone was slower than usual. I suspect last year wasn't great fitness-wise for most randonneurs.
I think 34 miles had been my longest ride since January 2020 until Saturday's 300K. So, happy to finish successfully.
Instead of store controls where you get your card stamped, we were given locations of a QR code to be scanned with your phone to be sent as proof of passage. This is probably a good tool for permanents. I did not care for it on a brevet because it wasn't easy to find some of them and the controls these days are often very close to one another, sometimes around 10 miles. It seemed to take me forever to check in this way. When I would scan and send it, it would often fail to transmit and I would have to repeat. Then, you have to write a code onto the brevet card, which I did not understand clearly. I am considering a 600K in upstate NY and the cuesheet brings back memories of the old rando days where the controls were often 50-70 miles apart, like this one.
http://www.distancerider.net/cues/600LR_2.pdf