DWTK: What's your fatigue cut-off limit?

[Deano]

Given that being awake >20hrs ~ 0.08 BAC equivalency, how long do you allow yourself to be awake before you say "No, I'm too fatigued & my riding/reaction time will quickly be compromised".

NB: I'm guessing this will most apply to those who almost never get the minimum 7-8hrs per night & are consistently on the move.

[Murley]

Depends on how much meth I've smoked.

[fatoxious]

i've done some serious shifts when i first started theatre (the show kind, not the medical kind), an hour or two sleep a night for three or four days at a time. i fell asleep in bunnings once, so decided to go home... now days more than 20hours of consciousness i stop working.

[Waikikablukar]

ride faster so you get home earlier and will have less time on the road to crash

Everyone is different so you can't really put a figure on it

[igor]

Did a 24hr shift at a servo once.. Still rode home but was on auto-pilot.. So cut off point would be 20hrs..

[McGoo]

Worked two 14 hour night shifts over two night with about 3 hours sleep in between. Rode home from the second night and realised I was weaving side to side because I was so sleepy.

Now I have a powernap if I have been up for so long before I ride.

[chew]

As others have said, everyone is different and it depends what you have been doing.

I did reach a point recently where I was coming into a corner hard on the brakes thinking, "fuck I'm not gonna pull up" then I twigged, Ill just turn the corner. The bloke following was pissing himself when I told him as he saw the frantic braking and wondered WTF? We stopped at the next town for the night. Had been going fairly hard on some lovely twisty roads for a couple of days though.

In the past (read as, when I was younger) when I was getting a bit noddy I would just stop and have a sleep on the side of the road. Usually the second day of 8-10 hour days will do me in. As a few examples I have slept out the front of the Whim Creek pub at 02:00hrs, between Minilya and Carnarvon near midnight, out near Southern Cross at dusk. When I woke I would just jump on and go again. These days, its motels or caravan parks before dark.

[euphoric]

i get to about 20 hours and will need to stop, have gone as long as 34 hours in past though. my late father would exist on 3-4 hours of sleep a night...every night...35years of service will do that, but he was a bastard to sneak past as a young bloke!

[RubY]

My weekends usually consist of a night shift on Friday. Getting home at 2am is an early finish for me. Usually Finish around 5 am. Wake up at about 9:30, go for either a mountain bike ride, usually between 10 and 20 km. get home around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Do other stuff, have dinner, go to work and do it all over again.

I have gone 3 days with out sleep. Also completed the freeway bike hike after being awake for 20 or so hours.

[meatbag]

First night shift I have usually been up for 22 hrs by the end and choose not to drive home. However after a few years of doing it I can usually do about 30hrs awake until I feel fatigued. There's always a bloke there that has been on nightshift all week though and would have got a decent sleep the night before so I just prefer to let him drive.

On a bike? 24hrs at most. Though it would be a slow careful trip home.

[mekon]

The fatigue effect can be negated to a degree by medications like Modafinil (not talking about dexamphetamines though). I've stayed awake for ridiculously long periods due to work and other things and ridden with confidence I was still alert and not going to fall asleep.

Having said that I did smash into road cones on the M5 and wake up really quick after 38 hours of being awake, suffering jetlag and driving for the best part of 12 hours straight with a few petrol stops. You can tell when you're fucked and shouldn't drive.

[Stoneville]

minimum 7-8hrs per night & are consistently on the move.

what I'd think I was dead if I slept over much more than 5 hours!!!!

In bed most nights 11-10.30pm, up at 4.30am, swim training, work, home, out riding/meeting, home, bed, rinse and repeat for 5 days then add a competition or something like a country ride on the weekend, do that every week of the year, year in year out.

I have been doing much they same for the last 22 years mm maybe I should investigate longer nap times !

[ReCon]

I have an issue with sunrise. Can't drive during that 20 minute cycle either side of it. Doesn't matter how long I have been driving for, 23.5 hours , or 5 mins after I wake up.

[Old frt]

I wake as the sun streams through the window, regardless of when I went to bed. Can't lie in as I get bored and irritate the wife ( usually still asleep) by drumming fingers or suggesting certain things that mummy's and daddy's do. Make a coffee, wallk the dogs, shower, breakfast, off to work. Fatigue kicks in during the first inane phone call from some bastard customer who would not know his arse from his elbow. So in answer to the OP, bout 2hours 30 mins on average.

[thro]

If I feel too tired to ride, i don't.

[devolved]

^^^ What Thru said.

I usually will take the cage if I feel too tired to ride safely, or I suspect that's how I will feel on the return run.

This can depend on how many hours sleep I've clocked over the previous few nights - anything above 5 hours (broken) is a bonus these days. I've been working 7 days a week for most of the year, so managing fatigue has been a pretty big feature of 2011.

[lee]

I can't power nap, if I'm really tired and I touch something comfy I'm out for 8 hours. So I just ride home from wherever I am, unless it's more than an hour or two away.

I figure I'm that much better than most perth drivers, me being at 0.08 is about equivalent to how good they are normally, so I'm pretty right.

[Captain Starfish]

i can grab 20 mins and be good for a few more hours, but this has its limits. Did a 36hr shift in the 90s, driving home afterwards and woke up in a paddock on the side of the road.

Now I try and get 8 hours, but if I have to work I do. When I'm driving I'll pull over for a quick nap if I reach the point where those longer droopier blinks reach the point where I come back and the tune has changed.

[Bealz]

I rarely get more than 6 hours sleep a night.
Back In the day I would see the sun come up on a Friday, after a night on the piss, shower and off to
Work. Come home at 4pm and have no sleep till sunrise Sunday and then sleep till Monday morn. Aaaah to be 18 again.

[Pinkee]

I usually will take the cage if I feel too tired to ride safely, or I suspect that's how I will feel on the return run.

see now im the opposite. stick me in a car when im near my limit, and I wont feel in control. I know my absolute limit when i cant remember if the last three intersections had green, orange or red lights when I went through. But stick 20L of flammable liquid so close to my balls, and you have my undivided attention.
Dont know whether its the wind, the ride or what, but I have never been close to my fatigue limit when on the bike. And Ive had some benders.

12+8hr night shift (opposite was sick) 2hr sleep, then back for another 12+4hrs...or cramming for 4 exams in 3 days = not much sleep.