endurance racing

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi Dirty girls...ha ha ha...

Any endurance racers out there?
I am doing my first 12 hour next Saturday. I am on a team, so we will be trading off laps. I think I'm ready. The only thing I am worried about is tightening up between laps. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. Almost all of the guys that I normally ride with include my husband are racing, so we will have a gang.

[velogirl]

I just did my first 24-hour mtb race (Laguna Seca in CA). I'd say the two most important things to focus on are your transitions (try to estimate lap times and have the next rider arrive 10-15 minutes early) and nutrition (eat and drink real food immediately after your laps).

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[rocknrollgirl]

Funny that you mention "real food" between laps. My husband and I talked about that yesterday. I mean really , How much GU can a girl eat? We were discussing what to bring, P and J, and some drinks other than Cytomax.

And I will talk to the other women on my team about the transition...

Thanks!!!!
I am excited.

[Adventure Girl]

There are lots of things to consider when planning for an endurance race. How many miles is the course? How long will it take you do do a lap? How many people are on your team? How many laps do you think you'll ride?

I've done 24 hours of Adrenalin in Monterey several times. In the past I've done it on a 5-man team. The lap is 12 miles (about an hour). So on a 5-man team you ride for 1 hour and rest for 4. We each did 4 or 5 laps. With a four hour break, you have to be pretty efficient. Cool down, eat, clean up, rest, get ready and wam up. I showered between each lap. My team members did not :(. That's about all you have time for. It is good that you can actually eat real food. But you don't want to eat just before you go out.

This year, we raced the corporate division. We had NINE riders. It was so much more FUN, but it wasn't that big of an accomplishment. I had 8 hours between laps :eek:. There was a lot more hanging around time. I felt like I was just out camping with my friends, and every once in a while I would go ride my bike....

[RoadRaven]

Never contemplated doing any kind of enduro myself :eek: but a few guys in the local club have (albeit n the road - not off) - I'll ask around and see if I can get any ideas.

I do know one of the things the guys in LeTour eat on their rides are soft bread rolls filled with custard... does that appeal??? :p

[DirtDiva]

EEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW! (No, in other words.)

[velogirl]

Another alternative is to do double laps. The nice thing about this is it gives you a longer break. With a five-person team, you really don't have that much time between laps because you have to get back to the campsite, eat, clean up, and then get ready to go again.

Most races allow you to rotate teammates any way you want as long as each racer does at least one lap.

For food, I brought a bunch of different pre-made deli salads from Mollie Stones. I have a wheat allergy (among other things), so sandwichs aren't really an alternative. I had some yummy orzo & feta salad, turkey salad, spinach salad, etc. I also brough hummus and corn chips. And V-8 is great! I was able to get a good mix of carb, protein, and fat and didn't need to cook. I also ate a lot of fruit. I made sure to eat as soon as I finished my lap so I could recover and digest

[mtbdarby]

Please check the rules for your race is you're going to ride double laps. The 24 hour race here has a rule that the rider with the least amount of laps cannot be more than 2 laps behind the next rider or you get penalized a lap. So if one rider does 2 laps and each of the other three riders ride 5 laps each, you get penalized. Make sense? Just check into your rules.

All good food advise. I'm not a big real food eater for endurance rides myself but to each his own. What I can advise is NOT to take a nap. It's too hard to get your body back into the groove. I've seen too many riders takes naps and they are done. Most don't even go back out. Most importantly - HAVE FUN!!!!

[crazycanuck]

Oh dear..:eek:

i;ve managed to wrangle my two friends into doing the 12hr in December...I'll be the slowest person there :(

We have just over 3 1/2 months to get ourselves ready...I'm beginning to panic...Please help me on this!

I swear I have a few sites i can learn about training but can't find them on my links..:mad:
this is one...http://thesportfactory.iuplog.com/default.asp?item=116457

Could someone please get me on the right track?

After the 6hr next weekend, i'm in training mode for the few tri's i'm going to do and the 12hr...

Any suggestions for training?

Thanks
c

[rocknrollgirl]

Hi CC,
Well,
I jumped on my first 12 hour in June without much "structured training". We had 4 riders,and a 7 mile loop, so I knew al I had to do was 28 miles unless somebody bagged out. The rules stated that all riders had to do one lap.

Questions I have for you:

1. How long is the loop?

2. What is the terrain like? Is it very technical?

3. What distances are you riding in training now...on the trails I mean?

Things that I learned:
1. Eat real food on your breaks.

2. Bring a change of clothes or two.

3. Bring a chair, sit down between laps and put your feet up.

4. Have a blast, it was the best race that I have ever done!!!!

My DH and I are doing the race as a team of two next June. One thing we have talked about doing for training this winter is riding like 12 miles, take a small break, eat, stretch, ride 12 more, eat stretch. We will eaxh need to ride 42 miles if things go according to plan, so we are increasing our distance.

Hope this helps....get back to me with some more info......

Ruth

[crazycanuck]

Good q's

Unless it changes, the course is a 12km loop. It has a log overs, a few rocky sections, up/down and a fair amt (well most of it...)of pea gravel & sand. We ride in the area normally once or twice a month.

The 12hr event is held at night 5pm-5am.(unless that changes...)

I ride up to 40km on the trails here at the moment. I feel i can ride longer distances but i'm slow and need to work on speed. In addition, the long distance mtn bike path gets a bit boring after a while-it's alot of fire roads, more pea gravel, -hard to explain. There are some really good trails out there & will try and devote more time now that we've found a house.

(hard to explain the trails without you being here & knowing the names of the sections)

The tips you provided make total sense!

I just want to go out and have fun and that be the sole purpose of being there. Next year i can improve on time, this year it's completing the event...

c

[rocknrollgirl]

Well CC,
It sounds like you are off to a good start. You are familiar with the terrain, you are already riding a fair amount, sounds like you have a good attitude.....

Night riding...interesting situation. Have you done that yet? Whole new ball game. If you have not, get out and do some....

As far as getting faster. I am sure there are all sorts of training techniques that you can find online, and that other riders will chime in with, but what worked for me is simple...

Ride with faster riders. There is a pain curve involved...yep, sometimes it ain't pretty, but it has worked. The other night in training I posted the fasted time I have ever ridden, took three full mins off my previous lap time.
All as a result of spending the summer riding with my Lightening Speed Boys....They ride, I chase, and the gap gets smaller!!!!

Please keep us posted on your training and your approach.....