Great advice on long distance riding from FarRiders.com

[Streak]

Below are some great tips posted by members of FarRiders.com, who are a great bunch, and really know their stuff when it comes to long distance work, obviously a lot more into it than a lot of us, but they sure know how to prepare and do distance!

Quoted from Reader57 from FarRiders

Lots of advice around and a lot of it will be individual but a few things shine out.

Don't "add" or "Fix" something on your bike the night before the ride.  Trying to get the bike ready in a hurry affects the work on the bike and your own preparedness.

Avoid coffee and alchohol in the week/s leading up to the ride.

Avoid heavy meals on the ride.

Try and ride at times you would normally be awake.  It sounds silly but if you normally "hit the wall" at work at around 2:00pm but feel refreshed after that, then plan your ride around that.  If you are a late riser and don't go to bed until after midnight then plan your ride around that.

Hydration on a ride is important even in winter.  Small sips from a camel back or similar while riding is more efficient than downing 600ml at a fuel stop.

Gauge why you feel tired and realise why.  It could be that you need a small snack.

Start small.  Plan a ride without stopping till you need to fill the bike.  Then ride back.  LD riding is mainly just putting a lot of tank fills together to make a big ride.

And enjoy!   
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Quoted from Gateman from FarRiders

I was an absolute novice rider when I took to the blacktop. I new nothing of how weather could effect a ride or hydration.

Both those issues got sorted to some extent on an 800K round trip to Nabiac.
Lesson two was preparation of a route via google maps. This was something I had never done before so it was fun just doing that. I soon discovered this was great for daydreaming a trip.

I got a middle size tank bag. Probably the one really necessary item to put your camera within reach and help protect it and a place for the small creature comforts too.
Speaking of comfort....a roll on BO basher and little hand cleaner that needs no water soon followed.

The other big thing I found out on an earlier distance ride was that tyres need air and ways to fix that if the air goes out. So I bought one complete fix it kit for the style tyres I have and some extra big CO2 bottles. I guess this lesson was six months or so into having a bike.

And a stash of cash not just cards.
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Quoted from Grey Gentry from FarRiders

In my tank bag I carry beef jerky, for snacks, as they are an excellent source of protein, and protein stops me feeling hungry. 
On the other side of my tankbag I carry a ziplocked bag with a wet microfibre cloth, and a dry one, for cleaning the visor.  When the locusts were about the wet one was carried out of the bag.  (Thanks Marls for that one )
Plan the ride, the fuel stops, and the rest breaks.   I'm more comfortable doing an IBA ride on roads I know, than those I don't.  You know what to expect.     
The weather does impact on your ride, hydration is important, no matter how cold or hot it maybe.
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Quoted from Ghostrider from FarRiders

My pillion used to compare me to a camel! And it's true . . .
Coffee does not bother me (just the p.. stop!); hydration with larger gaps is ok;
food is hardly needed (just an icecream here and there).
Heat and cold I'm used to (always have been).
The most important part is sleep: I STOP asa I need a "catnap" (even standing against a tree - in rain).
On many solo rides I just stop, put the bike on the ctr-stand and "crash" over the tankbag, legs hanging over the pillion pegs.
5 minutes will do, 10 are better . . . then a quick drink and some nuts/sultanas, coffee if I carry a thermos!
I found that my endurance went down as my bodyweight went up! Back way below 90 kgs now!

Agree with R57 - never work on a bike just before a ride. Start with a distance given by your bike's tank.
Sidenote:
When I had my Vee with the two sidetanks I did the Darwin - PA with 2 stops (failed the CL24 for the 600ks rule!)
But that was 40 years after I started serious riding . . .

Take is slowly and stay safe! Oh, and remember (use!) what you learned . . .
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Quoted from Kim Rodger from FarRiders

All great advice.

Can I add with hydration, don't just drink water. I just learnt the hard way that drinking heaps of water in heat draws all the salt from your body, which water alone doesn't replace. So from now on I will use 1/2 Gatorade (or similar) and 1/2 water in the camelbak. Just remember to wash it out properly when you get a chance as the sugar in the Gatorade deteriorates the bladder over time and taints the taste.

Muesli bars and barley sugar are also ALWAYS pack in my tank bag - good for a quick fix, plus some panadol or such just in case. Nothing worse than riding with a pounding head.

[Streak]

Quoted from kwaka from FarRiders

Safety, first foremost and always!
Preparation and planning.
Fitness and stamina.

Keep a very close eye on how you are travelling, physically, mentally and emotionally. Be brutally honest with yourself, hard to do I know. Doing this will reveal strengths and weaknesses. Yes, you can even do a SWOT on yourself, pays to IMHO.

At a younger age, I'd dismiss what my body was telling me, E.G. hunger pains and sleep requirements. "She'll be right, nearly there, I'll wait 'till then." Wrong, wrong, wrong, oh how wrong I was. I've since learnt that keeping the hormones "in the zone.." (via food intake) keeps me fresher longer, more alert longer and I can ride a lot, lot further.

Regarding sleepiness, fatigue or whatever you call it, an example by way of a little story.

Returning home from FarRide East #17 and after last fuel up and some light food for the rider, I was feeling good so departed Cobar around 22.30hrs. It's about 460km on Hwy 32 to home and bed, an easy five hour jaunt but not long after the city limits the yawns and heavy eyelids started, felt like I was hitting the wall. It didn't matter how much wildlife and livestock jolted me into a temporary state of fight or flight, the adrenaline rush wasn't enough to keep me from wanting to nod off.

I made it to the first rest area, Meadow Glen 65km west of Cobar and immediately had a 'wake when your ready' power nap of about 40mins.

Woke up feeling no worse but certainly no better. I made it to the next stop Bulla Park 110kms west of Cobar and another 'wake when your ready' power nap. Did not pay any attention to the time spent here, wasn't on a timed run and even if I was, well more on that later. Awoke and felt positively unrefreshed but not sleepy.

Off I went and about an hour in, same thing with heavy lids, yawns, lack of concentration. Pulled into MacCullochs Range rest area 205km W of Cobar, the wind was blowning hard, dust and grit everywhere, left lid on and slept for a couple of hours. Ate some food, this got me into a better mood but feeling no better and so stopped yet again at the Springs Creek rest area, just a short 122kms from home and my bed. I had barely travelled 130kms from the last stop! Yep, another nap but didn't/couldnt' drift into a deep sleep.
 
Dozed here for awhile but the sound of rain and the sky becoming lighter to the east caused me to up and at them. Ate some more food then onwards into the wind and rain still rubbing sleep from my eyes, finally in the front door around 7.30hrs. WT?... approx. 9 hrs for a run which normally takes less than 4.5hrs.

Long winded I know but I've said all that to say this, Rule #1.

I know some think this rule is bandied about in an off-hand manner but following this rule will help you live, failing to do so could result in the opposite. Keeping this rule planted first and foremost within the tiny little grey cells has most certainly allowed me to stay safe and make it home in one piece and, on more than one occasion. The latest was aborting my 2nd BBG attempt on the way to BR12.

Once Rule One is safely locked in and second nature, the only things left to do is to plan the ride and ride the plan so as to ENJOY and have FUN